Elegantly Random

WARSZAWA!

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to POLAND! Warsaw (pronounce it right), to be exact.

Why, you might wonder? My husband works for a big company based in Sweden. They do business all over the world, and every year they have a world communications meeting in a major city, alternating continents to make it fair and fun for their employees who are traveling from around the globe. Spouses are allowed and encouraged to come along. Last year the meeting was in New York. This year - in March - it'll be in Warsaw.

At first, we heard the meeting might take place in Helsinki, Stockholm, London or Prague. Awesome - I would have absolutely loved traveling to any of those places. My husband's already been to Helsinki and Stockholm, so I know how great they are. I got to travel to London last year, so that's an obvious win. And Prague? Well, that's just cool.

So when I heard earlier this week that it was maybe going to be in Warsaw, I admit I was a bit stumped. I thought the same thing you're probably thinking right now. Poland?! Warsaw?! REALLY?! If you're anything like me, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Warsaw is this:

Or maybe this:

 

Or perhaps even this:

 

I'm pretty well-studied on World War II. I even took a course specifically about the Holocaust in college. When I think of Poland, I think of ghettos, uprisings, concentration camps, bombings and thousands upon thousands of people starved, enslaved, beaten and killed. Warsaw doesn't exactly evoke thoughts of holiday at first - in fact, the entire city was destroyed near the end of the war.

But you know what? I love to travel. And I love history. And I'd basically decided that I was going with Jay no matter where the meeting ended up taking place. So when I heard Warsaw, I pushed aside the obvious thoughts of war and devastation and I got online to do some research. Fortunately, I have a very dear friend (hi, Kari!) who spend a good chunk of time living in Poland a few years ago, and I knew I could count on her as a great resource. And you know what? It only took about 30 minutes for me to get TOTALLY excited about the prospect of exploring "Warszawa," Poland. 

 

 

 

Isn't it neat-looking?

What's likely to happen is that I'll be in Warsaw with Jay while he has meetings, but before, after or both we'll be checking out some other spots - Krakow is high on my list. I KNOW - you think it's depressing. But it's not! Check it.

 

 

See? Krakow is totally adorable! Squee!

Or how about Torun - a medieval village that's, according to Kari, the "gingerbread capitol of Europe." MAJOR DRAW.

So here's what I have to say to the naysayers: I think if a person has the opportunity to travel, she should do it. I want to see the world - as much of it as possible. There's almost nowhere I would refuse to go - basically only the most dangerous spots on the globe, places where I'm likely to die from an exploding car bomb or the like. And what's awesome is this. If you asked me, "What are the top 10 places you want to visit," Poland wouldn't have been on the list. It wouldn't have been on the top 20. But that's really only because I don't know much about it post-WW2 - which means I really don't know it at all.

But a couple of days' research has convinced me there's a LOT of neat stuff in Poland and seeing it can only make me a smarter, more interesting person. And I don't think a person should ever pass up a chance to become more interesting.

So - I'm going to Poland. In March. And possibly to a couple of other places along the way. Unless Jay's company changes course and we end up going to Helsinki after all. Either way, I'm pumped.

She's only happy when it rains...

For the next couple of weeks the husband is spending a bunch of time doing some serious business travel. It's no fun being alone so much, but the good news? Next week I'll be jetting west to meet Jay in Portland, OR. I'm really, REALLY excited to check it out. For a long time now, I've felt sort of an uncanny draw to the Pacific Northwest, and I just can't say how pumped I am to finally check it out. And as if that weren't exciting enough - in December, I'll be joining him on a trip to Seattle! Swoon!

In my excitement, I've been doing a lot of reading up about Portland & Seattle and also chatting with people who have been there. I'm really excited to do some sight-seeing and just take in the glorious Northwest. It's gonna rule. Every time I've told someone I'm visiting these cities, the response is, "Oh my gosh, you are going to love both places! They're absolutely awesome!" However, many of these exclamations are followed by, "Oh, but it's so gloomy and rainy there."

Yes, it's a well-known fact that it rains a lot in Seattle and Portland...or is it? I was pretty surprised at what I found when I started researching the area. For instance - did you know that it actually rains less in Seattle than it does right here in Charlotte? Of the three cities, Charlotte boasts the highest annual precipitation at 43.52" per year; Seattle comes in second at 37.07"; Portland is last in line at 36.30" annually. Yeah, I know - I was really surprised too - because that's a pretty sizable difference between Charlotte and Seattle/Portland.

So it turns out that Seattle and Portland actually see far less precipitation than other areas in Washington and Oregon. A little time with maps and weather reports informed me that both cities seem to have far milder climates than points east. The biggest contributor to the rain myth seems to be cloud cover - Seattle experiences cloud cover more than 220 days of the year. People see cloudy and they think dark and stormy. Apparently, it's less about downpours and more often about misty dampness.

Further research informs me that both cities enjoy fairly mild temperatures with warm, dry summers and colder, wetter winters. Only on occasion do temperatures spike over 85 degrees in these cities, although heat waves do happen (this summer, for instance). Likewise, there's not a lot of snowfall, though that happens from time to time too.

As a person who likes snowfall and, believe it or not, honest-to-goodness LOVES rainy days, I fully anticipate 100% love of the Pacific Northwest and its climate. Because all that damp, cloudy weather yields oodles of luscious green foliage for me to drool over. And off in the not-so-distant-distance loom giant mountains, craggy and snow-capped. Count me IN! I know you think I'm nuts, but I seriously love dark, stormy and/or snowy days best of all! Besides, dark days make the sunny days seem sunnier.

I love exploring new places, and I just feel so lucky that I get to knock out 2 of the cities I'm most antsy to see within the next month! So if any of you have suggestions for things to do, food to eat and places to check out, please let me know! I'm up for your suggestions!

But first, a girls' weekend in Charlottesville, VA starts Friday - yet another new place to see!

Seriously, with all the amazing places in the world, who can stay home?

Weather you like it or not...

Big news! It's been in the 50s all week here in Charlotte! And it's been raining!

It's a magical phenomenon that happens every year. Two weeks ago it was in the 80s and people were whining their heads off about it. "I'm tired of warm weather! It's October! Why can't we have some fall weather?" Then, amazingly, when the temperature descends to a more fall-like number, everyone commences with the bitching. "It's freezing! Oh my god, I'm so cold, I can't stand it! It's freezing!" No, people. It's 56 degrees. It is most certainly NOT freezing. In Maine, where it was 36 degrees the other day? That's near enough to call freezing.

It's definitely true that if you live in the South all your life, your body isn't equipped to handle cold weather the way a Northerner's is. 55 feels like 35 to a Southerner. So I'll excuse the true Southerners on this one. But those of us who have migrated here really ought to know better. Our bodies acclimate so the summers are less brutal (but we still whine about them) and we become less tolerant of colder temperatures. But I like to remind myself this time of year that it's in fact not freezing, that somewhere a couple day's drive away my parents really ARE legitimately freezing their asses off in Maine. Perspective, people!

However, the Southerners aren't the only ones bitching up a storm. I've got friends all over Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York whining about how IT MIGHT SNOW THIS WEEKEND! OHMYGOD! IT'S TOO SOON FOR SNOW! Friends, I'm not sure where you've been for the last several decades, but October is not too soon for an occasional snowfall in New England or the Midwest. At all. And you know this. So shut up.

I guess here's the thing - in general, I just sort of hate it when people grumble about the weather. First of all, it doesn't help matters. Whining about the weather is most decidedly NOT going to change it. And it's gonna bring everyone else in the room down. Let's find something else to bitch about around the water cooler. Or maybe let's not complain at all! Why not focus on the positives, like the fact that 55 degrees means I get to start breaking out my cute fall/winter wardrobe? And if it snows this weekend, you'll have an excuse to hole up, drink a warming beverage (screw hot chocolate, go for brandy!) and build a fire in your fireplace. Awesome.

Those who are really chronic about their weather-bitching just absolutely get on my nerves. I've actually been meaning to say this out loud (or write this out loud, I suppose) for a long time and now I'm going to do it. If you hate the weather enough to consistently bitch about it, why don't you move? Hmm? No one forced you to live in New York where it's cold and snowy, or in Georgia where it's hot as balls. If you're so unhappy that you spend MONTHS OF YOUR LIFE whining and moaning about the damn weather, HOW ABOUT YOU MOVE? Because clearly it's a significant enough factor in your daily happiness that you should maybe think about it. Ever hear of seasonal affective disorder? It's a real thing. Maybe you have it. Maybe you should address it - BY MOVING. I think I hear Florida calling your name

And don't say you can't move. Because you can. I've lived in 6 states. I'm probably gonna live in a few more, too. I think the summers in the South are too hot but I really, REALLY try not to complain because I'M THE ONE WHO MOVED TO THE SOUTH. You don't get to OPT to live in the South and then whine about how hot it is. SERIOUSLY. If you don't like the heat, they make these awesome states like Washington, and Maine, and New Hampshire, where you can live most of the year without ever feeling too hot! Amazing!

So here's my big request. Do you think it's possible, people, that we could go through this fall/winter with a LITTLE TINY BIT less bitching and moaning about the weather? We get it. It's cold in the North, and it snows a lot. If you don't like it, move somewhere warmer, because I personally love winter and miss the snow. My parents may indeed be freezing their butts off in Maine, but they don't whine about it. Why? Because they CHOSE to live there. So instead of complaining, they just comment and move on. Dad, as he comes in for lunch after spending the morning in his workshop: "It's colder than a witch's titty out there!" And everyone laughs. That wasn't so hard, now was it?

And Southerners, why don't you pour yourselves a nice, WARM glass of shut the hell up, because IT'S NOT THAT COLD. Last year on Christmas day, temperatures in Charlotte reached 70 degrees and my poor dad, who is completely unable to tolerate the heat, was forced to strip down to his undershirt and mop sweat from his brow with his flannel.

Thanks, y'all.

And in a few hours, I'm off to LEGITIMATELY cold Ohio, and I plan to enjoy every minute of it!

Earning my asshole card.

It's only been four days since we returned from our week-long vacation at the beach (really? it feels like so much longer!) and already I'm completely amped up about my upcoming travels. Next weekend, I'll drive to Raleigh to visit my lovely friend Cheryl and attend a spinning workshop with three other fiber addicts in the Raleigh area. I'm so excited - I have been dying to learn to spin (that's spinning wool into yarn, fyi) and also to meet these ladies I chat with online all the time. *sounding my geekish yawp*

Similarly, in November I'm going on an awesome weekend trip to Charlottesville, VA to hang out with yarnies I've never met before (we all congregate on Ravelry.com, the Facebook of the yarn world). The weekend will be spent visiting wineries, eating great food, drinking and of course knitting. I cannot wait. Also this fall, I'll travel to Columbus, OH for my friend Carolyn's wedding. All three of these weekend trips will be fun-filled adventures for sure...but the big kahuna?

We're going to Portland, Oregon! Aaaand...

We're going to Seattle, Washington!

I am SO bloody excited for both of these trips. These are two of the four US cities I'm dying to visit, the others being San Francisco and Chicago. Last winter, when we booked our trip to London, we very seriously considered traveling to Seattle or Portland instead. And now I'll get my chance! We head to Portland for a long weekend right before Thanksgiving and then to Seattle for a long weekend in mid-December. Yay!

Opportunities for this arose because Jay's company now has him handling west coast territories. He's spending a lot more time out there, so it's easier for me to tag along. And get this perk - Jay signed me up for US Airways Dividend Miles, and it just so happens that they're doing a promotion where, if you fly x number of miles between October and December, you are automatically upgraded to Silver Status. And I will meet that requirement! I'm going on 2 cross-country trips in less than a month, people! I'm auto-Silver!

This means I'll get my Asshole Card in the mail! A bonafide CARD that says I, Sarie, have Silver Status and therefore I get Perks. I have a damn good shot at being upgraded to first class - it happens to Jay at least 50% of the time when he flies. I get to skip everyone else in line. This is HUGE. I get to avoid the waiting and go straight to security. WIN. There are other benefits too that mainly involve being an asshole, and I couldn't be more pumped about it.

I'm not monogamous about ticket purchases, friends. I buy airline tickets based on the flight times offered, followed by the price, and I don't much care which airline it is. But now that I'm gonna be a SNOB, I'm seeing it all in a different light. If I pay $30 extra for the US Air flight than the AirTran flight and then get upgraded to first class, that's a WIN!

So be warned. Not only am I going on a bunch of nifty trips this fall that you're going to have to be jealous of, but you're going to have to be jealous of MY ASSHOLE CARD as well.

Or you could take some trips and get one too. Either way.

And if any of you have tips on vacation fun in Portland and Seattle, share them please! I can't wait to see it all!

Eat 'til you hate yourself.

We just returned from our annual week-long vacation in Holden Beach, North Carolina. As always, it was a week of utter rest and relaxation. The sitting! The reading! It was also, as always, a week of utter and disgusting gluttony. The eating! The drinking!

I don't know what it is about being on vacation with a bunch of friends, but all of my normal healthy eating habits fly completely out the window. The funny part is, I still found myself getting 1-2 hours of exercise every single day on vacation, so that part of my routine is seemingly unshakable at this point. I can't just sit around all day - I've gotta go for a walk or do some Pilates or take a bike ride. But all the smart portions and carefully counted calories go totally out the window. If my friends are stuffing their faces with chips and salsa (and I will divulge to you that between all of us, over 150 ounces of tortilla chips were consumed), I cannot resist stuffing mine too. If everyone else is having 3 burgers, I'm gonna have a burger - even though I don't eat red meat and it makes me violently ill (EVERY DAMN TIME)!

I think at some point during the week I tweeted about this, and I got several responses to the effect of "Have you forgotten how to be on vacation?" "Don't you know how to relax and enjoy eating?" Yes, I realize that vacations are supposed to be about relaxing and indulging, but seriously - one OUGHT to be able to indulge without nearly killing oneself with food.

And that's precisely what we did. All week long. It doesn't help that we had SEVERAL great cooks at the beach, and every single night was a damn gourmet meal. We had a lowcountry boil, homemade pizzas made of homemade dough, pizzas made of filo dough and feta cheese, Cajun shrimp with steamed rice and veggies, a Mexican feast with fish and chicken tacos, some kind of outrageous chicken and pasta number concocted on the fly with found ingredients, and a ridiculous seafood dinner at a local shack. It was obscene. I probably gained 6 pounds in a week, and I'm not even lying. The jeans I had on the night before vacation were falling off, and when we got back they were snug. It will take me two weeks in the gym and several hefty shits to reclaim my former physique. 

This doesn't even allow for the drinking. I can't express to you how much I drank last week, except to tell you that Spragg and I decided it would be a GREAT idea to stay up till 5 a.m. the last night finishing off all the liquor. Including a bottle of Sutter Home chardonnay. Ew.

So now it's detox time, serious, intense detox. And what better way to kick that off than a final Mexican dinner Saturday night back in Charlotte with Jen and Matt, during which we killed 3, yes 3 baskets of tortilla chips and some kind of meat and pastry appetizer, huge entrees and margaritas the size of my head? The whole time we were going, SERIOUSLY GUYS, detox starts tomorrow! And then Sunday morning, Matt and Jen's last request before flying home to NYC was Waffle House. WAFFLE FUCKIN' HOUSE. The unhealthiest eatery on the entire goddamn planet. You know what I ate? Two sausage patties and a waffle. It was everything I could do to stuff that food down my throat, because by that time I seriously had food coming out my ears, nose and eyes. But Matt packed it in like a champ, ordering the biggest breakfast I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, he got just about everything on their menu and ate 90% of it. It was disgusting and AWESOME and Jen and Jay and I almost died with him in the car afterward. Way to go out with a bang.

So for the next several weeks, not only will I not be drinking (much), but I plan to eat nothing but watery soups, lettuce and teaspoon-sized servings of protein, in combination with 120-plus minutes of cardio activity daily till my muscles literally explode. I figure if I do that for the next 6 weeks I might fit back into my fall clothes by the time it starts to be cool outside. Maybe.

*Note: I've received more than a handful of personal notes and emails today from concerned readers who think I'm over-anxious about diet and exercise. Let me be clear - I enjoyed the hell out of my week of eating, and I did have fun and relax. This post was meant to be a comical musing on the sheer excess of eating this week by all of our party, not so much as me feeling bad about it. I feel fine - but it's definitely time to return to good form. I'm not REALLY going to eat lettuce and water. I totes had a cookie last night, and a glass of wine. But just one.

Petitioning for more R & R.

Whew! I just flew in from New York, and DAMN, am I exhausted!

Those of you who follow my adventures know that I have done a lot of travel this summer. I've touched ground in Pittsburgh, Bar Harbor, Savannah, Charleston and NYC since June 1, which might sound pretty damn glamorous and exciting to some of you. But before you get too excited, you should know that four out of five of those trips were just over a weekend. Even the trip to Bar Harbor was a whirlwind carried out in six days - not long considering how much time and money it takes to get there.

Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful to have been able to make these trips, and I realize lots of people don't have the aforementioned time and/or money to carry out so much crazy activity. I'm very lucky - I don't have a kid, I have a husband who contributes to the bank account, and I have a generous three weeks of paid vacation a year. So - with all these fortunes - why do I feel so cranky and disgruntled? I'll tell you why. Three weeks of vacation isn't really that much.

Many of you are likely shaking your heads in disgust at this point, but hear me out. My husband only gets two weeks, so right off the bat, there's a lot of scrambling to make our schedules mesh - and what really ends up happening is I take several long weekends to see friends or family with the five days I have that he doesn't. Also - because our families are scattered all over the place, a lot of time is spent visiting for holidays or major life events. This June's trip to Bar Harbor was for my brother's graduation, for example, and in August I'll visit my grandma in Missouri to help her recoup from a major surgery.

The reality is that we take one week of vacation every year at the beach in North Carolina and we try and squeeze out a few other things by stretching weekends and using holiday leave time. Our trip to London was famously brief, and so was our 2008 trip to D.C.

So, call me a whiner, call me spoiled, but I'm still going to say it - Americans don't get enough vacation time. I've thought this for quite a while, but my friend Nicole posted an article that I thought really summed it up well. Did you know that in most European countries, workers are granted more than 20 days of paid vacation each year? Don't even get me started on health care, maternity leave and other benefits - I'll be here all night and I'll never get to eat my fish sammich. Suffice to say, I'd gladly take a 5k paycut to get a full five weeks of vacation a year.

And think about it - we Americans spend more hours in the office by far than anything else in life. Most of us spend 3/4 of our week in the office, if not more - and as if that weren't bad enough, we take work home. We don't use all our vacation and sick time because we feel too guilty - well, I don't. To be honest, I use every single drop of vacation time I'm given and I don't feel one bit guilty staying home if I feel the slightest bit under the weather. Because I WORK ALL THE TIME AND I WORK REALLY HARD.

I have done a lot of travel, and I get to go on lots of trips - but I work really hard for that right, and I also haven't had a real week of relaxing vacation in over a year. It's tough to reconcile my desire to see the world and my need to relax. As Sally Brown famously said, "All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share!" And I don't care if I have to move to Europe to get it!

Behold my stubborn streak.

As I've stated many times before, it is my fervent wish to live in many different places before I die. This is likely the result of having parents who moved a lot, and having lived in six states already I'd say I'm on my way. I am loving life in the South, and would be up for living in another Southern city such as Atlanta, Charleston or Savannah at some point. Also on my to-do list? Living on the west coast - particularly in Seattle, Portland or San Francisco. It might sound funny, since I've never visited any of those cities, but from what I've read, I have a feeling they'd be absolutely perfect for me. Liberal? Check. Artsy-fartsy? Check. Cooler and wetter climates? Love 'em. I would love to live in New York or Boston one day, and if the opportunity ever presents itself for us to move overseas or to a major Canadian city like Vancouver or Toronto, I will not hesitate.

That said, my husband could tell you that ever since he's known me, I've been known to occasionally start ranting and raving about all the places I won't ever live. Period. And it's a sizable list at this point. My apologies if your state is on the list, but hey - it's MY list!

Illinois, Nevada, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Utah, Texas: I don't want to live in a state in which the city I'm in is the only city for miles around that I want to visit. And these are all states that have maybe ONE cool city and that's about it. And don't argue with me on Florida - my mind is made up. Tampa/St. Pete or forget about it.

West Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Arkansas: There's flat-out nothing there that I would ever want to experience on a day-to-day basis.

Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri: Just too effin' hot. Period.

Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin: Gorgeous, tempting...but just too remote.

Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and upstate New York: Been there, done that.

Connecticut, Delaware: Just plain suck.

#1 Non-Negotiable Most-Hated Place - New Jersey: I hate it with the fire of 1,000 suns.

So basically, that leaves California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii (heck, I could overlook the remote part in this case), Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine. And New York City. Those are the places in the United States I'd consider living in at this point in time. And honestly, I'm pretty steadfast about this. Jay knows all too well how seriously I take this stuff.

You may be wondering why I've arrived at New Jersey as my #1 Most Hated Place in the United States. Granted, there are several states I have yet to visit, and I'll allow that my opinion may change after I've seen all 50 - but I doubt it. Jay and I have had several arguments about which is worst, Connecticut, Delaware or New Jersey, and I am holding on to New Jersey as the worst. The people are rude and pissy - and I honestly don't blame them, given the fact that they live in New Jersey. Traffic is awful, the roads suck and people drive like absolute maniacs. Sure, it has a few lovely spots, like the Delaware Water Gap, but they're all choked among the grimy, polluted cities and railways, many of which are falling into decay. I can't tell you the number of times I've been lost and/or nearly died in New Jersey. I could go on but I won't, because thinking about New Jersey always gets my ire up. Sorry to all of you readers who might be from the area, but that place SUCKS. I cannot think of a single thing - not money, not absolute power, not a 100-day orgy with Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt, that would get me to move there.

Which is why I had to laugh today when a friend linked me to the most outstanding graph EVER on GraphJam - it basically sums up my feelings on The Garden State 100%.

Away we go!

Summer 2009 is turning out to be a whirlwind. It didn't start out that way; three months ago, we had nothing on the books but a trip to Maine in June for my brother's graduation and then our annual beach vacation, which we pushed from July to September.

But then it sort of dawned on me there was absolutely no chance I could make it till Labor Day before going to the beach. It was all downhill from there. So far, I went to Pittsburgh for a wedding in June, then we went to Bar Harbor, then Jay went to Pittsburgh for his grandma's birthday, and we just got back from 4 days in Tybee Island and Savannah, GA. Remaining on the schedule:

July 10-12 Charleston, SC to see Eric, Milay and Lillian
July 24-26 NYC (just me) to visit Jen
August - possible weekend trips (sans Jay) to Missouri (my grandparents) and St. Simon's Island, GA (my aunt), visit from my parents
September 5-12 Holden Beach, NC

The summer will be over before we know it! I feel so lucky to live in North Carolina, where we have all kinds of great weekend destinations available to us, and also to have awesome family and friends who help care for our dog so we can run around and do all this stuff.

Our weekend in Tybee/Savannah was wonderful. We headed down on Thursday and enjoyed three nights in a cute little beach cottage on Tybee Island with friends Cheryl & Josh. We opted to stay at the beach rather than in town, knowing that it was going to be HOT and we would likely want access to water. Boy, were we right. While we did spend a full afternoon exploring Savannah, the rest of the time was spent beaching, eating out and just visiting. It was a good choice. I was prepared for the heat, but I got an awesome sunburn nonetheless. Jay and I have already determined that we're going to have to return to Savannah in, say, November to check it out when it's cool enough to function. We did make it to the Telfair Museum, the River Street shops, the Colonial Park Cemetery and tooled around some of the most famous squares. My to-do list for our next visit is already a mile long!

I'm trying to post as many photos as I can on my Flickr site (see link at left) so you can follow along! If you're thinking about planning a vacation to Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia, chances are good I have travel pointers!

Gone sailin'...

I know I've been away for quite some time - usually before a vacation I try to put up a notice of some sort letting my rabid fans (ok, my 12 readers) know not to expect any updates for a few days. This time things were just too hectic. And then I was in Bar Harbor...

for my brother's high school graduation...



some amazing seafood...



a little whale-watching...



a bunch of hiking...



and a good time in general in one of the most beautiful places in the United States.

I've got some humdingers in the works, kids. Just hang in there and blogging will resume shortly.

Just do it!

I'm back! And it was awesome!

I could go on and on forever about London and how fabulous it was, but there's no time or space for that. In a few days, I'm hoping Jay and I can look through our hundreds of photos and get them on Flickr and perhaps do a video slideshow and put that online as well so that you can see all the sights - and there were many. In just a few days we managed to see the Tower of England, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, The Globe Theatre (from the outside), the Milennium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tate Modern, the National Gallery, Big Ben & Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and so much more.

I did manage to survive the flights (7 hours, 45 minutes to, 9 hours from) and no, our plane didn't drop into the salty seas. But I was definitely scared. Fortunately, there were drinks. Nothing like wine and liquor to ease the nerves. Jet lag was a problem on the way there, but a late-afternoon nap on Day 1 helped immensely and it didn't set us back much.

I was super impressed with the public transportation system in the city - it outshone even the New York transit options. Everything was clean, fast and efficient and most of all, easy to navigate. I'm terrible with directions, but even I knew what I needed to do pretty quickly.

One of the most incredible parts of the trip was being part of such a diverse mix of people. Everywhere we went, we were in the absolute minority - hardly any Americans were present, but there were scads of French, German, Scandinavian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Welsch, Irish, Scottish, Asian, Indian and other folks everywhere we went - and 95% of them were able to speak absolutely beautiful, flawless English in addition to their native language. It was quite impressive to be seated in a bar next to a bunch of French guys and then hear them break into better English than I am capable of at the drop of a hat.

The other thing I want to stress about this trip is how easy it was timewise, financially, etc. Before this, I was one of those people who only thought about international travel in terms of 7-14 day trips. No more. If you can get a direct flight, you can absolutely do a long weekend (4 or 5 days) in another country with very little hassle. It's totally worth it, especially if you can stick to a major city rather than trying to see EVERYTHING on one trip. Because you won't. I have a list 2 pages long of other things to do in the city of London alone, enough to fill several more trips, and that doesn't even include the list of things I would like to do in England outside of London. You can't ever do it all - so why not go do a little bit of it? I cannot say it enough - GO. GO OVERSEAS. I'm so glad I finally did it, it was one of the best choices I have ever made.

And don't let money be an obstacle. I will share with you that, for Jay and I combined, the total cost of our airfare (direct flight), hotel (simple but clean hotel with all amenities and in a GREAT area), food (we ate like KINGS!), shopping and sightseeing totaled right around $2,500. For the two of us. And yes, that counts the exchange rate. That works out to something like $250/day per person. It's not that bad. You could easily spend as much in NYC. And that was us not caring about money, not being overly cautious or frugal - I'm certain we could have done it for more like $2,200 total - maybe even less - if we had been pickier about how much money we spent on food.

So - if you've been dying to go overseas, cancel your annual trip to the same old tired destination and GO somewhere new. Do it now. Don't wait till there's more money, or more time, because there may never be. Don't worry about what time of year it is or whether or not the exchange rate is good enough. Just go. You will not regret it.