One of the absolute worst parts of traveling is airport food. When I'm excited and stressed about getting to the airport for a trip, the last thing I'm thinking about is food. I often get all checked-in for a flight and realize that I'm starving. Then I spend $15 for a bagel and diet coke only to realize when I get to my flight gate that they forgot to give me cream cheese. I end up eating a dry bagel that tastes like it was made four days prior.
One of my bestest gal pals' mother works for Delta. Every now and again I have been able to get passes for Delta's luxurious Sky Club and it has been such a treat. Delta's Sky Club is somewhat pricey for a year membership, $700 for a joint one-year pass. I don't travel near enough to justify the cost of a year membership. They do, however, offer day passes at $50/per pass. I'm not sure that I would get a day pass for a domestic flight, but if I was traveling international, $50 is worth it.
For me, the best part about the Sky Club is being able to carve out your own little space while waiting for your flight. The Club has a lot of tables, small couches, and other seating that is quiet, somewhat private, and most importantly close to an electronic outlet to charge your phone, kindle, ipad, etc. This is KEY at an airport. I will sit four gates away from where my flight is taking off just to get a seat close to an outlet.
The second best part about the Sky Club is the unlimited and free access to food and beverages. When Mike and I went on our honeymoon last fall, we had to be at the airport at 4:30 A.M. TERRIBLE! We had Sky Club passes and an hour to wait before our flight. We were able to nab breakfast, some snacks for the flight, and Diet Coke. There is no shame in a Diet Coke at 5:00 A.M.
As you can see from the picture, I was able to get a bagel (with cream cheese), a mini muffin and a small scone. I also grabbed a couple of pieces of fruit and had 2 (okay, maybe 3) glasses of the good stuff. The Club also offered many types of cereal, yogurt, granola, hot breakfast sandwiches, and other pastries. It got our morning off to the best start and made us feel relaxed and prepared for our flight.
It used to be that you could serve your own drinks, but now you have to ask a server behind the bar to pour you something. I really preferred the self-serve soda machines. Back in the day, (i.e. a few years ago) you could actually pour yourself an ice cold beer and get good and liquored up for FREE. I think you could also just grab mini bottles of alcohol and wine. I may have heard a story about a group of guys filling up Nalgene bottles of Heineken before a flight to Las Vegas all while wearing leisure suits and large sunglasses. Boys!
All in all, the Sky Club makes flying feel like it did in the golden age. Fancy and customer-oriented are things you no longer find in the flying experience, but it's nice to indulge in them every now and again.
I took a hiatus. It was a good way to refocus and recharge, like a vacation. The vacation got longer and longer and finally I realized that it was going to be more difficult to get back to blogging than I thought. I do, however, miss my creative writing outlet and decided to get back to semi-regular posting with a new theme. Nothing makes me happier than traveling. I just love it and love seeing and experiencing new places and things. Whenever I'm out of town I feel like I'm a grand adventurer. I wanted to bring that feeling to the blog, so for now I'm going to be more focused on my traveling explorations, advice, and funny stories. Plus, I just got back from two amazing trips in May (one to New Orleans and one to Washington D.C.) and will probably get two more in before the end of the year (possibly Denver and a fall colors tour of Maine). So, I will have lots to share with you!
I love hearing about other people's travel adventures and tips and I hope that this blog will get me back to my happy place. And for those fans who loved my "Random Acts of Douchebaggery" segment, never fear. RAD's are staying. Not only do I need this blog to be a place of fun and lightness, but occasionally I need it as a place to vent.
Without further ado, we are back to the place where my true vacation expertise lies, Walt Disney World.
When you get into the heart of Adventureland you will find yourself in a clusterfudge of people, strollers, flying water and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. This ride is in the weirdest place. Normally the WDW planners are really great at flow. There aren't a lot of human bottlenecks in the parks, and if there is a jam-up it's usually for a reason. So, maybe that is the case here, that there's a reason for the placement of this ride. However, every time I come upon this obnoxious spitting camel, I feel like the ride is terribly out of place.
The Magic Carpets are your run of the mill circular kiddie ride. You know the ones, you climb into your little car and the arm lifts you up into the air and you ride in a circle for a few minutes. It's the kind of thing that little kids squeal at and adults can feel the breeze in their face. So, it's pretty boring and basic until...
...Imagine, there you are enjoying your dumb old circle ride when you get smacked in the face by a shot of water. This is what can happen to you on The Magic Carpets. You see, down on the ground level, the other guests can pay a quarter to put into a golden camel and aim it at the flying carpets. They press a trigger button and the camel spits at you. It's really weird and kind of obnoxious. Maybe I'm a party pooper, but I revert right back to my junior high self feeling like I'm being picked on by cooler kids.
I wish I could get out of my own head sometimes and think that being "spit" on by a camel while riding a magic carpet is fun, but I don't. I just don't.
This is one of those rides that I tend to avoid. I realize, however, that it's not actually a terrible ride, so I'm giving it 3/5 or 6/10 stars.
I am officially a crazy dog owner. I embrace it by posting photos of my dog on the blog all the time. It's just...that face...that face makes me happy.
Here are some things that don't make me happy, work edition.
- Lunch hour meetings. I flipping hate when people schedule meetings or trainings over the noon hour. I work a full day, from 8:00 to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 I am at my boss' leisure. I have to do what they say when they say. But that noon hour is MINE. I like to online shop, read my kindle, make phone calls and sometimes just zone out for that one hour. I feel like I need that hour. My work is in the process of going paperless and so have been scheduling several mandatory trainings and meetings over the lunch hour. Attendance has been low, so now they are enticing people with pizza and cookies. Which almost makes it worst to me because I don't want to eat pizza and cookies for lunch.
- Misuse/No use of Email. I don't talk a ton about what I do. The easy answer is that I am an attorney. One would think that being an attorney means you are working with people who are really professional with their use of communication. If you think that, you would be wrong. I have realized that lawyering is a profession many people do well past the normal retirement age. Many times I have had to contact a fellow attorney only to find out that they don't use email. WTF. This is unacceptable. The real kicker is that these same people often don't use voicemail either. So, to get in touch with them, you have to call their office and have their secretary write down the message on a cave wall.
- Fridays. Seriously, does anyone work on Fridays? Even if you are at work, are you really working? On Friday afternoons, my office place looks like the scene of a wild west movie. Last Friday I swear I saw some tumbleweed rolling down the hallway. Sometimes I wonder what the point is. Even if I wanted to do work myself, since no one else is at work I can't achieve much. Although, it never fails that on Friday at about 4:00 P.M. someone calls with an "emergency."
- Co-worker happy hours. This is kind of an old bag moment for me. When I was younger, I liked the happy hours. Now that I'm old, I just want to go home after work. I'm not trying to be anti-social, but I spend at least 40 hours a week with my coworkers. I don't need another few hours on a Wednesday night. I want to see my family, my husband, my dog, my friends. I want to put on pajama pants and watch my tivo. Happiest hours I know happen with my pajamas, a couch, a glass of wine and the tivo. I would be remiss not to mention the fact that my marriage was started by a work happy hour.
Does this make it sound like I need a vacation?
When Mike and I were driving from San Francisco to Sonoma, we decided to make an impromptu pit stop. I had been reading about the Muir Woods National Park and thought it might be fun to see the great Redwoods of California. Holy Cannoli, this decision did not disappoint.
The road to get to the park is a little windy and narrow, but it offers some amazing views of the forest. The worst part is that we were relying on my GPS system to get us to and from the park, but once you get into the woods, you lose all cell phone service. So this wouldn't be a place to go on a first date or with someone that you think hates you.
When you get into the park there are boardwalks all through the redwood trees, so even if you are an inexperienced hiker you can still enjoy the forest. There were tons of different paths you could take. I think we could have walked for hours.
It's also extremely quiet in the woods. There was a light sound of water rushing and these gorgeous rays of sun that were piercing down through the tree canopy. It was beautiful and peaceful. I am not much of a nature girl, but I started to feel one with the trees.
And just how big are the trees, you ask? It's hard to put it into perspective, but if I were a tree hugger, I couldn't get my arms around one. There were some fallen tree trunks that you could look at and they were impressive. Here's the best photo that I could get of an entire redwood.
The leaves were huge, although I have baby feet, so maybe it's just that my feet are really small.
There were also so many weird tree formations in the forest. I couldn't get enough of the bright green moss that was covering these awkwardly bent tree trunks. Here are my two favorites:
If you find yourself in San Fran, take a little side trip to the Muir Woods for some peace and beauty. I left these woods feeling refreshed and clear headed. It's amazing what a little nature can do for you!
I am not a cheap person. I like to indulge, oh boy, can I indulge. My love for indulging has forced me to realize that if I want to indulge, I have to be frugal. One of the top lessons I have learned as an adult is that I have to prioritize my expenses. Would I rather have a new Louis Vuitton purse or go on a second vacation in a year? Would I rather have a new fence installed in my backyard or go out to a grand dinner at a new hotspot? You know you are an old person when your answer is: Fence!! I want the fence!
Here are some of my favorite lessons on how to be frugal without being a cheap ass:
1. Energy Saving = Money Saving. Duh, right. I remember when I was in elementary school they did this whole "energy awareness" thing where they handed out books about a girl whose parents got mad at her because she always left lights on and left the water running when she was brushing her teeth. What a bitch! Now that I pay my own energy bills, I have converted all of my lights to CFL bulbs and try to keep lights off as much as possible. Candlelight is so much more soothing. I also turn the heat and air conditioning temps down (or up) at night and during the day while we are gone. Right now, our heat goes down to 62 degrees at night and during the day and up to 68 degrees when we are at home in the evening and on weekends. During the winter, this saves us about $50 per month. Another thing that I try to do is unplug appliances when not in use. This is one of those things that I often forget about, but apparently it can make a difference in your energy bill. I've never noticed a huge difference when I've done this, though.
2. Desk lunch. Bringing a lunch to work can be a real drag. Sometimes I just don't feel like packing anything up and other days I just don't want to eat anything that we have in the house. When I started wedding planning, I knew that I had to save money somehow and I resolved to only go out for lunch once a week. I've stuck to this for at least a year and have to say that I can see the difference in my savings account. It's still a struggle some days. Eating at your desk can be lonely. I live for that one day when I get to go to a restaurant and socialize.
3. Credit Card Rewards. There are lots of credit card rewards programs that offer shoppers little incentives. My credit card allows you to earn points towards travel vouchers or restaurant/clothing store/gas station gift certificates. There are the famous airline credit cards for frequent fliers. My husband's credit card has an amazing reward that for every $2500 you spend and pay off you get a $25 gift card. We usually use these gift cards on our grocery bills and the combination of those gift cards and our wedding gift cards, we have paid maybe $20/week for groceries for the past three months. It's definitely worth investigating all of the different reward programs to see if one will work for you.
4. Pre-gift buying. I start thinking about gift-giving way in advance of the celebration day. For Christmas, I keep a list of people I need to buy for and ideas. I usually start looking at this list in September and try to have ideas for everyone by October 1. That way I can try to find the items on sale or take advantage of coupons. I usually can get really great gifts on a limited budget. I also utilize websites such as Rue La La and Groupon to stock up on gifts for birthdays or other occasions. Having a stockpile of fun gifts for people makes my life a lot easier.
5. Ebates. If you don't use ebates, you are selling yourself short. Har har. Seriously, though, ebates is amazing. Go to ebates.com and sign up if you don't have an account with them. There are hundreds of retail websites that use ebates and they each have a different percentage off. So, if I want to buy something at JCrew, I got to ebates first, search for JCrew and go to the JCrew website through the ebates site. Currently the JCrew website gets 3.0% cash back. After you make your purchase, your ebates account is credited. Every four months, a check is sent to your home with the total of your cash back. After Christmas this year, I received $85 cash back because I did all of my shopping online. It really pays off, as long as you don't forget to go to the ebates website first before you start your online shopping. I have forgotten this dozens of times!
6. Track your spending. I don't really budget, but I have a set dollar amount that I want to save each month. I then track every penny spent on a spreadsheet so that I can make sure I can save my goal. For me, this makes me think about each purchase that I make. Before I splurge on something, or even before I buy a $10 frame at Target, I have to stop and think about whether I really want it or whether I'd rather see an extra $10 saved that month.
7. Big box stores. When Mike and I moved in together, we talked about getting a Sam's Club membership. One of the big arguments against it was that why do two people need to buy things in bulk? Eventually we got a membership and it has saved us a lot of money. We buy all of our cleaning supplies, household necessities and more packaged foods (like oatmeal, granola bars, nuts, spices) at Sam's. They are ridiculously cheaper than at other stores. Plus, it saves me from a lot of extra trips to Target. I used to have to go to Target at least once a week for some household item, now I go to Sam's maybe once a month.
8. Spare change. Mike and I have a central spot where we dump our spare change. It's a big tupperware bowl in our spare bedroom. Once that sucker gets full we take it to the bank and cash it in. Usually it's about $70+ and we maybe take it to the bank twice a year. What we've done in the past is take it in right before we go on a vacation and use it as spending money.
Those are my (not so) original ways that I save my pennies. The only thing I love more than watching my bank account grow is a chocolate frosted donut.
One of my long held beliefs is that the Mexico pavilion at Epcot Center leaves a little something to be desired. They recently added a large restaurant right outside the main building that is decent. As a kid, I once begged my mom to let us eat at the "fancy" restaurant that is inside the big Mayan temple building and sits along the River of Time. She relented and the dinner was a big disappointment - flavorless and oniony.
The only bonus to the Mexican pavilion is that there is a ride inside the temple building. The ride used to be super dorky and I thought that there was not a chance in hell the ride could be made dorkier. WRONG!
A few years back, the ride was updated to include Donald Duck and his singing duck companions. Together I guess they make the Three Caballeros? I'm not big into the Disney cartoons, so I have no idea if this is a real thing? Or just a thing that was made up for the ride.
The "grand" result is that it's the exact same ride, using the same photos and videos from the early 1980's, except now there is a cartoon duck over the photo doing silly things. I don't know if kids will find this amusing. For adults, just visit the La Cava del Tequila first and then you will probably find it a gas. Me, most of the ride I'm staring at the scenes thinking "What in the hell is going on here?" I still don't quite understand if the point of the scenes is that Donald Duck is running away from the other two caballeros because he's afraid of performing. Does Donald Duck have performance anxiety?
The only saving grace is one of the final scenes where there is a "It's A Small World" type fiesta with only Mexican children dancing around and there are fireworks on the wall. Those make me feel good because I'm a Fourth of July baby.
This ride is pretty terrible. 1 out of 5 or 3 out of 10 stars. Suck city.
Since turning 30, I have learned a horrible secret. When you get older, a moment on the lips can actually mean a lifetime on the hips. Biology is no joke, my metabolism basically shut off when I turned 30. It sucks.
I've never really been one to formally workout. I have never had a gym membership. I hate the idea of spending money on fitness and I prefer to spend time with friends and family rather than in the gym. This doesn't mean I never work out. I go to community ed yoga/pilates classes and during the warmer months I love nothing more than long walks and hikes with my cutie Kirby. Let's look at a picture of the sweetheart.
He makes my world better. Okay, so back to being lazy and working out. Like I said I don't really like working out, but now that my metabolism has crapped out I have to fit in burning calories somehow. Here's some simple little things that I do to try and burn more calories throughout my day:
1. Standing as much as possible. This is kind of a new thing for me, but I actually have been enjoying the rewards of it. Have you heard of standing desks? Well, I have and would like one at my desk, but due to the cost it's currently out of the question. Which is a bummer, but I have taken to doing some of my daily tasks while standing. I have researched and found lots of different information as to exactly how many calories an hour standing will burn, but the average is 100. Sitting is around 70 calories per hour. So, just that little bit will burn you an extra 30 calories per hour.
2. Short walks. When my mom and I were last in Disneyworld, she wore an odometer, or whatever those things are called that count your steps. We were walking an average of 13,000 steps per day. And we were eating crap. And I lost weight. So, steps matter. I try to find little tasks at work that will take me on a walk. For instance, whenever I have mail I always take it to the furthest mail bin that I can find to get a little walk in. I also pace, which could be it's own separate category. Sometimes when I am thinking, I like to pace and lately I've been doing it for the calories burned benefit as well. It's a nervous habit, but stressed out people are usually thin.
3. Staying on my feet after work. Sometimes when I get home from work it's really easy to just sit on the couch and watch TV until Mike gets home. Lately, I have been avoiding this bad habit and staying on my feet until at least after we are done with dinner. My routine is to feed the dog, take him outside on a short walk to go to the bathroom, then start dinner and do any little chores that need to be completed. When Mike gets home we eat and then, weather permitting, take Kirby on a long evening walk. Again, it sounds really dumb, but I have found on those days when I fall into the TV trap, my waistline feels it.
4. Weigh-in every morning. I weigh myself every morning. EVERY MORNING! I like to know exactly what food does to my poundage. I think this is a good way to figure out what you can eat during the day. For instance if I have gained a pound from the day before, I know to cut back on my snacking throughout the day or increase a workout in order to get back to my base weight.
5. Five-pound weights. One of my problem areas is my arms and back. I always gain more weight in these areas and right now I'm feeling majorly top heavy. I try to do simple arm exercises every day with five-pound weights in order to tone up those key areas. They are simple to do and you can do them while watching TV, which is a huge bonus for me. With more toned arms, I feel better in sleeveless and summery clothes. Planks also help, but you can't do those while watching The Real Housewives.
I'm always trying to find good cheats to working out. My grandma was (and still is) tiny and she never had a gym membership, but she does stay on her feet all day every day. Just another useful thing I can learn from my grandma.
