Each year before Hanukkah, Jim and I have a discussion about budgeting for the holiday overall as well as specifically how much our budget is for each other’s gifts. When the holiday rolled around last month, Jim (once again) proved himself to be quite clever, as he came up with a gift that was not only way below budget but was romantic and pretty awesome: plane tickets to Key West. No, our budget was not THAT high. He bought the tickets with airline miles: it only cost him twenty bucks! See? Clever! With a little research and some more budgeting, we found a nice, very reasonably-priced guest house where we…
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On Re-entry.
Over the weekend, I was doing this: Jim and I made a quick getaway to Key West so we could forget all about January in Chicago for a couple of days, and we had a blast. Today, I posted this status on Facebook: “Proof that you can’t get magically whisked back to Key West by using coconut shower gel and then eating a chocolate coconut Luna Bar for breakfast. I’m still in Chicago, all bundled up. #nofilter #nomakeupeither #cold” And this picture: So while I catch up with some work and then assemble a blog post about our trip, let’s all focus on that top photograph rather than the bottom…
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The 2012 Chevrolet Suburban: Your Best Friend On A Roadtrip!
We just returned from a very comfy Thanksgiving roadtrip to Tennessee, thanks to Chevrolet and the 2012 Suburban. I tried out a 2011 Suburban last year (and wrote about it here) and there weren’t any huge changes between the two years so we had to get creative for my recap post. My seventeen-year-old son J and I decided to spotlight our favorite roadtrip features of the Suburban. It’s FANTASTIC for roadtrips, and I’m guessing tailgate parties too, and even…clubbing. You’ll see. I am very appreciative to J for helping me out with this one. He rocks!
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Record Store Day 2012!
Your Black Friday traditions might include trying to find retail bargains, sleeping off your food coma, or putting up your Christmas tree. As usual, my family goes in a totally different direction. Our tradition, which is in its second year, is twofold: some of us (Jim and the boys) leave bright and early to hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and some of us (my sister and me, joined by Mom this year) head out to celebrate Record Store Day! Record Store Day celebrates vinyl and the idea of actually holding your music in your hands rather than using a digital file: believe it or not there ARE…
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Being There.
I’m going to continue on the same travel thread that I started on Sunday. Well, sort of. Jim and I attended a fine arts fair a couple of months ago, when the weather was still comfortable enough for walking around outside and admiring artwork. Although the majority of the pottery, jewelry, and paintings was lovely, I was definitely attracted to the tents which housed the work of photographers. The sizes of the pieces ranged from 8″ X 10″ to oversized masterpieces that would look perfect over a couch, or even in a museum. The photograph subjects that were my favorite? No surprise: they were beautiful locations all around the world.…