Happy New Year!
- Two posts a week, every week - I have gotten in the nasty habit of only posting while I'm away, and I want to become a more consistent blogger
- Improve my writing skills - This really is a terrible goal as it would be difficult to measure, but I'm making a conscious effort to develop my skills as a writer. I want to improve my
abuseuse of punctuation and make an effort to differentiate my writing voice from my speaking voice. - Learn how to do at least one cool HTML thing to improve the look of my blog - no clue what kind of functionality I want to add, but I'm sure going to try!
Wishing you a safe and happy New Year!
New Years Resolutions!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Happy New Year!
- Two posts a week, every week - I have gotten in the nasty habit of only posting while I'm away, and I want to become a more consistent blogger
- Improve my writing skills - This really is a terrible goal as it would be difficult to measure, but I'm making a conscious effort to develop my skills as a writer. I want to improve my
abuseuse of punctuation and make an effort to differentiate my writing voice from my speaking voice. - Learn how to do at least one cool HTML thing to improve the look of my blog - no clue what kind of functionality I want to add, but I'm sure going to try!
Wishing you a safe and happy New Year!
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, in addition to my usual excuse of work exhaustion, I snuck away on a week-long vacation with my mom, dad and sister to Puerto Morelos, Mexico; just south of Cancun.
I'll be honest with you, I was a little nervous about this trip. Not the travel itself, you see; it is traveling with my family that left me feeling cautious. By my records, the last time the four of us flew together was during the Reagan administration - no lie. Don't get me wrong, my family has flown since then, just not all together. All I could imagine was our own mini three ring circus - to quote Whitney, I knew the flights would be "like herding cats."
Thankfully, a couple of days before the trip, our family talked about expectations on the trip, etc. and one thing my dad said was along the lines of "Lauren is in charge on our flights and with customs and stuff. She tells us to do something, we do it." Naturally, I let this power go to my head immediately. Just kidding. :)
The trip was amazing, and could not have come at a more perfect time! Details to follow!
Family Vacation 2010! Cancun, Mexico December 15th-22nd
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, in addition to my usual excuse of work exhaustion, I snuck away on a week-long vacation with my mom, dad and sister to Puerto Morelos, Mexico; just south of Cancun.
I'll be honest with you, I was a little nervous about this trip. Not the travel itself, you see; it is traveling with my family that left me feeling cautious. By my records, the last time the four of us flew together was during the Reagan administration - no lie. Don't get me wrong, my family has flown since then, just not all together. All I could imagine was our own mini three ring circus - to quote Whitney, I knew the flights would be "like herding cats."
Thankfully, a couple of days before the trip, our family talked about expectations on the trip, etc. and one thing my dad said was along the lines of "Lauren is in charge on our flights and with customs and stuff. She tells us to do something, we do it." Naturally, I let this power go to my head immediately. Just kidding. :)
The trip was amazing, and could not have come at a more perfect time! Details to follow!
A few months ago, I invested in new luggage for my cross country/globe trotting adventures. I took some time to research what I want, plan a budget and took home some fabulous deals thanks to TJMaxx. My big purchase were two Heys expandable hard sided suitcases with 4 spinner wheels – one 20” one 24”. After a dozen flights, here is my review:
What I love:
- The 4 spinner wheels make such a difference. I’m able to push my suitcases (one in each hand) rather than pull.
- They are lightweight - I have yet to hit the weight limit for either bag (50 lbs on American Airlines)
- They are sturdy and have kept their shape (minus one small dent on a corner)
- A fabric divider on one side and a "seat-belt" for the other side keeps my stuff in place, and helps keep everything from getting more wrinkled.
What I don’t love:
- Limiting myself to one small and one medium sized bag has made packing more of a challenge. I've since added a Hey's Sidewinder 28" in silver - from Marshal's.
- If the bag is packed full, it can require both hands to collapse the handle (the handle frame is internal for ruggedness)
- The acrylic Heys' logo was scuffed up after my first trip. Obviously not a deal-breaker, but it bummed me out
- The outside has a few scrapes and scratches - nothing serious, but they no longer look brand new.
Overall Grade: Adding up the price, value and my overall experience with the bags, they deserve a solid A+
Luggage Review
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
A few months ago, I invested in new luggage for my cross country/globe trotting adventures. I took some time to research what I want, plan a budget and took home some fabulous deals thanks to TJMaxx. My big purchase were two Heys expandable hard sided suitcases with 4 spinner wheels – one 20” one 24”. After a dozen flights, here is my review:
What I love:
- The 4 spinner wheels make such a difference. I’m able to push my suitcases (one in each hand) rather than pull.
- They are lightweight - I have yet to hit the weight limit for either bag (50 lbs on American Airlines)
- They are sturdy and have kept their shape (minus one small dent on a corner)
- A fabric divider on one side and a "seat-belt" for the other side keeps my stuff in place, and helps keep everything from getting more wrinkled.
What I don’t love:
- Limiting myself to one small and one medium sized bag has made packing more of a challenge. I've since added a Hey's Sidewinder 28" in silver - from Marshal's.
- If the bag is packed full, it can require both hands to collapse the handle (the handle frame is internal for ruggedness)
- The acrylic Heys' logo was scuffed up after my first trip. Obviously not a deal-breaker, but it bummed me out
- The outside has a few scrapes and scratches - nothing serious, but they no longer look brand new.
Overall Grade: Adding up the price, value and my overall experience with the bags, they deserve a solid A+
Mark this day. Today is the day I realized that I *might* travel too much. Thanksgiving weekend I traveled about 3133 miles in about 4 days.
My travel started 10am Wednesday with a 147 mile drive from Augusta to Atlanta where I caught a flight from Atlanta to Denver (1197 miles) to catch a connecting flight to Scottsbluff, Nebraska (151 miles) for a fun, family Thanksgiving. And the following day, my luggage arrived :)
A few short days later, I drove with my family back to Des Moines (587 miles) and Sunday flew from Des Moines to Chicago (298 miles) to Atlanta (606 miles). Once I picked up my new rental car in Atlanta, I drove another 147 miles back to Augusta.
For comparison, that would be like traveling from Portland, Oregon to Portland Maine. Yikes.
And a big shout out to my extended family members who traveled to Scottsbluff, and the local relatives that made such a phenomenal meal. And the annual kickball tournament was a riot!
So while my travel this weekend was exhausting, I wouldn't have it any other way!
My travel started 10am Wednesday with a 147 mile drive from Augusta to Atlanta where I caught a flight from Atlanta to Denver (1197 miles) to catch a connecting flight to Scottsbluff, Nebraska (151 miles) for a fun, family Thanksgiving. And the following day, my luggage arrived :)
A few short days later, I drove with my family back to Des Moines (587 miles) and Sunday flew from Des Moines to Chicago (298 miles) to Atlanta (606 miles). Once I picked up my new rental car in Atlanta, I drove another 147 miles back to Augusta.
For comparison, that would be like traveling from Portland, Oregon to Portland Maine. Yikes.
And a big shout out to my extended family members who traveled to Scottsbluff, and the local relatives that made such a phenomenal meal. And the annual kickball tournament was a riot!
So while my travel this weekend was exhausting, I wouldn't have it any other way!
Too Much Travel?
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Mark this day. Today is the day I realized that I *might* travel too much. Thanksgiving weekend I traveled about 3133 miles in about 4 days.
My travel started 10am Wednesday with a 147 mile drive from Augusta to Atlanta where I caught a flight from Atlanta to Denver (1197 miles) to catch a connecting flight to Scottsbluff, Nebraska (151 miles) for a fun, family Thanksgiving. And the following day, my luggage arrived :)
A few short days later, I drove with my family back to Des Moines (587 miles) and Sunday flew from Des Moines to Chicago (298 miles) to Atlanta (606 miles). Once I picked up my new rental car in Atlanta, I drove another 147 miles back to Augusta.
For comparison, that would be like traveling from Portland, Oregon to Portland Maine. Yikes.
And a big shout out to my extended family members who traveled to Scottsbluff, and the local relatives that made such a phenomenal meal. And the annual kickball tournament was a riot!
So while my travel this weekend was exhausting, I wouldn't have it any other way!
My travel started 10am Wednesday with a 147 mile drive from Augusta to Atlanta where I caught a flight from Atlanta to Denver (1197 miles) to catch a connecting flight to Scottsbluff, Nebraska (151 miles) for a fun, family Thanksgiving. And the following day, my luggage arrived :)
A few short days later, I drove with my family back to Des Moines (587 miles) and Sunday flew from Des Moines to Chicago (298 miles) to Atlanta (606 miles). Once I picked up my new rental car in Atlanta, I drove another 147 miles back to Augusta.
For comparison, that would be like traveling from Portland, Oregon to Portland Maine. Yikes.
And a big shout out to my extended family members who traveled to Scottsbluff, and the local relatives that made such a phenomenal meal. And the annual kickball tournament was a riot!
So while my travel this weekend was exhausting, I wouldn't have it any other way!
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