Tag: Vacation

  • MEET VERONICA MATEO

    MEET VERONICA MATEO

    THE QUEEN OF CORDLESS GLUE GUNS, EMOTIONAL DAMAGE CONTROL, AND LAST-MINUTE MAGIC

    If there’s a crisis unfolding behind the curtain at your cousin’s wedding or a power outage threatening to derail a museum gala, chances are Veronica Mateo is already there—heels on, headset in, clipboard armed and eyes narrowed at a poorly secured centerpiece.

    At 32, Veronica is half of the dynamic twin duo behind V&V Creative, the city’s trendiest (and most terrifyingly efficient) boutique event agency. With her sister Vivienne handling client schmoozing and high-gloss branding, Veronica is the one backstage making miracles happen—and making them happen on time, under budget, and with just the right number of floating candles.

    “She’s like if Pinterest had a military division,” says one former bride, still misty-eyed when recalling how Veronica rescued her bouquet from a rogue raccoon.

    Veronica also moonlights as the best roommate ever—or worst, depending on your tolerance for 5 a.m. coffee brewing and spontaneous living room centerpiece trials. She shares her apartment with best friend Mimi Mahoney, a bond forged back in high school over shared snacks and boy drama and only deepened through heartbreak, career pivots, and one truly unhinged bachelorette party in Palm Springs.

    While she’s got a no-nonsense streak that could make Gordon Ramsay sweat, those close to her know Veronica’s tough exterior hides a soft heart, a wicked sense of humor, and the ability to rig fairy lights like a Broadway stagehand with a glitter addiction.

    She believes in timelines, tactical spreadsheets, and trusting your gut. She doesn’t believe in fate—but she does believe that if you hot glue rhinestones to your own shoes before a gala, you’re a hero and should be treated as such.

    And honestly? We agree.

  • Meet Mimi

    Meet Mimi

    from “Vacation” by Betsie Hill

    Mimi is not your typical protagonist. She’s flawed, reactive, insecure, and deeply, deeply human. What makes Mimi such a compelling character isn’t that she always gets things right—it’s that she’s willing to try again, even when the odds feel stacked against her.

    At her core, Mimi wants connection. Whether she’s managing chaotic library politics, navigating complex friendships, or stumbling into and out of romantic entanglements, she does so with a kind of reckless sincerity. She can be gaumless and sharp-tongued, but it always comes from a place of trying to protect something—her work, her sense of self, or the people she cares about.

    One of Mimi’s most defining qualities is her resilience. After heartbreak, professional sabotage, public embarrassment, and personal loss, she doesn’t wallow for long. She gets up, reevaluates, and reroutes. Sometimes she makes mistakes in those reroutes, but that’s the beauty of her arc: she grows. She reflects. She evolves.

    Her relationships—particularly with Veronica, Betty, and Henry—showcase her complexity. She’s not always the easiest friend or partner, but she’s always real. And when she does forgive, it’s big-hearted and genuine, even if it costs her emotionally.

    Mimi isn’t a hero in the conventional sense, and she’s not trying to be. She’s someone who lives through her mistakes, questions herself, and still somehow keeps going. That’s why so many people see themselves in her. Because life doesn’t always make sense, and neither does Mimi—but she tries to make it meaningful anyway.

    And sometimes, that’s more than enough.