Eye on the Prize

The prize is a loving, healthy, challenging marriage and life together right?

Wrong! It's the honeymoon! (ok, no. I don't really think that a vacation is more of a prize than our loving, healthy, and challenging - as in challenge each other to be better people - marriage and baby family BUT I do really like vacation too)

And even though we're only 5 weeks away from the big day and there are still plenty of wedding-related chores and decisions to be made....we've been overly focused on the whole 'let's take a trip' part of it.

As I've mentioned before, immediately following the wedding we are jetting off for a week of sunshine in Florida with my in-laws (yay!), my sister (another yay!) and my aunt (the final yay!). This was always the original Christmas 2010 plan and then we decided to throw the wedding onto the beginning of all that - and we're pumped for this (I keep working on my facial and full fist pump/knee on the ground reaction so that I'm totally prepared when I get my wand from the Wizarding World of HP!). However, it is NOT the "honeymoon".

Off to North Cackalacky

Off to Pinehurst, North Carolina for a nice four day vacation with a few of Marrvelous's friends - including our best man! Yay, I get to meet our best man. finally. I know, strange that I haven't met such an integral part of our extended family, isn't it?

Two of Marrv's best friends from Scotland live here in the States as well (Pinehurst and West Palm, FL), both are golf pros as well and are married to American women. The friends from FL will be there (as well as the Florida Scotsman's parents ... from Scotland. And yes, the father is a golf pro in Scotland. Over there they just put golf clubs in their hands as wee boys!)

I'm really looking forward to a long weekend with a group of people Marrv considers family. We spend so much time with my friends or friends he has made here in Philly since moving to the US, but these are the friends who have known him since he was a youngin' and will be the ones with the truly obnoxious, yet hilarious toasts at the wedding.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to it - but the best part has been the look on Marrv's face every day this week. He's like a child at Christmas, so excited to be on vacation, play golf and more than anything - spend time with his best mates. It makes me so happy to see him so happy.

Enjoy your weekend y'all!

Look Out Oprah!!

(And yes. There will be Cheezborger! Cheezborger! involved. And no pepsi, coke!)

I'm coming to your house! Or rather, one of your bajillion houses all over the world.

Heading to Chicago tomorrow morning for a quick mini girls' weekend away! My group of girl friends from college, who I've talked about on here before - see here and here - are spread out all over the country (and actually world...we've got one who currently resides in India with hubby and baby). Close friends for over 10 years now and I feel so lucky every day that these 5 fabulous women are still in my life.

With age though comes a)being spread out all over the world b)marriages c)real jobs that require us to actually work and not take as much time adventuring as we'd like d) multiple babies (!). We all decided at the beginning of this year that we could use a girls only weekend - it's been so long since we've done something like this and then it became a question of where. Since there is a west coaster and many east coasters, we settled on Chicago. And just as it took forever to find a weekend that worked for all of us, well, what started as a 6 person trip is now down to 3. Oh well, life happens.

But us 3 are planning on totally living it up with deep dish pizza, booze, bike tours (Oprah's house!), dinner at one of Rick Bayless's restaurants (I'm counting down the minutees), plenty of good old fashioned mid-western charm and more booze.

Enjoy the weekend!

Honeymoons (Part I)

So as it has become increasingly clear around here - I heart travel. To me, the honeymoon is where it's at! And recently there's been a lot of chatter in the interwebs about honeymoons - where to go, when to go, how long to go, how much to spend, and more. It got me thinking.

I feel like you often hear about these couples who go to Bora Bora, Fiji or some other far-off tropical locale. Do you realize how expensive it is to go to any of these amazing places? And this, after they've just typically spent a good deal on the wedding itself. Pretty astounding. Don't get me wrong, I am counting down until the day Marrvelous and I can jet off to the Maldives and shack up in a bad ass bungalow propped out over the water, where I can stare at the fishies swimming underneath through the glass floor and then just jump off from my own personal dock to go for a dip. I am ALL ABOUT IT. Trust me on that.

Home Away From Home

I believe life is marked by the relationships one cultivates. The people we surround ourselves with are so important in shaping the life we live and influence how rich a life can be. Some people come into your life for only a short moment (or in some cases, when you look back and see the toxicity with open eyes, maybe it was for too long a moment), though they all serve a purpose. There are the few individuals, however, that are always there and standing by you through your ups and your downs. Months can go by without seeing one another, but when you get together it's like no time has passed. You slip into that familiar and comfortable exchange and you realize, you are home.




J Train (not my nickname for her, but I'm not sure she would appreciate me revealing on the wide world web any of the hundreds of names I've called her along the way) and I met when I was eighteen and over 300 miles away from home - our freshman year of college. We have lived together (both in and after college), as well as traveled everywhere from Dewey Beach to spring breaks in Italy to backpacking around South America. We have spent numerous joyous occasions together - New Years Eves, birthdays, and weddings. As well as many of the more challenging moments of life: break ups, deaths, cross country moves to name a few.

Scratched from the List

So by now, we're all aware of my ever growing list of "Places to Go, See, Be, Explore". Two days ago that list just got one line shorter when Arizona decided to go racist. See here

Before I begin, I'll give fair warning - this is going to be long. With a Master of Arts in Political Science, heavily focused on Latin American/US Relations and several school papers written on this same issue, mixed with my affection for all people and things south of the border....I have a lot to say about this one.

Now, admittedly, I've been to Arizona before and have been to the big tourist draw - the Grand Canyon - several times. So it was not high on the list, but it was there. Mainly because Marrvelous has not been there and the Canyon, IMHO, is one of those places you should see. As soon as you walk up to the ledge you are struck by how small we are and how young; how this planet we live on has so many delicious secrets and has been creating beauty for so much longer than most of us can fathom. And I find pride in showing off these landmarks to my foreign-born fiance. A sort of Rah Rah America moment (which don't happen too often - that's an entirely other discussion, however).

Arizona is also located in a different part of the country than Marrvelous has seen before, the Southwest. It was fun to show him the Northwest last year and again, tied with that whole feeling of pride in showing off my home country, I liked the idea of helping him see what the geography, the history, and the food of that region was like. And of course Arizona is a piece of golf heaven. So it's been on the list for those reasons as well. No longer.

The Big Apple

Headed to New York tonight after work to spend the weekend with two very dear friends. Growing up only two hours from New York, I tend to forget how in so many people's eyes this is city of all cities. To me, it's where my friends live, where I've spent many fall weekends walking through Central Park or doing holiday shopping, where I've spent time exploring Brooklyn and Queens.

During our trip to Scotland for the holidays, I was reminded how amazing New York City is - friends' eyes lit up when talking about their upcoming holiday this summer, or the longing in others' eyes, with hopes of some day being able to get there. Then I remember that it's not only people all over the world, but people right here in the States. There are people that will live and die in the US and never make it there because it's too far and too expensive of a trip for them. They can't just jump on a bus and pay $10 and be in the Big Apple in two hours flat.

And I love Philly, this is my town. But I get it, I do - New York City, well, it really is that amazing. You may not want to live there, but it's hard not to have a ridiculously fabulous time even on a mini trip.

So I'm looking forward to a weekend just walking the city- popping in shops on 5th Ave (to drool and then move on with wallet still firmly in bag), conducting taste tests of all the fabulous cupcakes, avoiding Times Square like the plague, wearing my Phillies' hat with pride, and of course, lounging in Central Park and people watching.

Vacation, all I ever wanted

The first time I ever got on a plane, I was headed to California. A five-hour, cross country flight is a rather big one for your very first, and as a 10 year old. My second time flying, we took a month long trip to England and Australia. I was 12 on that trip.

People without passports astound me. Perhaps it's unfair, but I instantly judge those people (sorry for those reading who fall into this category - but consider this an offer, get your passport and I will plan you one hell of a trip and show you exactly why it is so important and so fun to see the world!).

I have learned that I'm happiest when planning a trip - whether it's a quick two day stay or a 10 night trip to a brand new spot. I really enjoy researching places to stay, where and what to eat, how to get from one spot to the next and also to learn, in general, the history and background of wherever we're going. I like finding the hidden spots and going where locals go, getting a real sense of how people live their daily life.