Where In The World Wednesday - Washington D.C.

I have spent a total of five nights in my own bed in the last two weeks. I do not tend to sleep well in foreign beds so I cannot tell you how excited I am to be home. Yes, even avid travel lovers enjoy the comforts of home and the ability to sleep in their own bed.

This is me in front of the White House in Washington D.C. right after my little brother obtained his Master's Degree from Johns Hopkins University. As you probably guessed, he is clearly the smarter of the two of us. We took the slightly longer route while walking from his ceremony to Bistro Du Coin in order to swing by the President's home. If you like mussels, Bistro Du Coin is the place to go. On the advice of my brother's girlfriend, I had "Moules Roquefort" and they were tender and delicious and surprisingly not heavy. I expected Roquefort to be thick and rich, but this dish was divine in every sense of the word. Back to the photo, I love this picture because it captures me with a true smile. When someone points a camera at me and starts to count or says, "Smile!" I end up with this toothy grin that is somewhat squarish on the bottom half of my mouth and it just looks goofy and all wrong. My brother is a pretty cool cat and always makes me laugh.

The photograph to the right was taken at my brother's graduation just before the one above was taken. Notice how scholarly he looks in his graduation gown. We have had some really amazing times together over the years and I couldn't be more proud of him. He is going to make a huge impact in the world and I hope he doesn't become such a big wig that he doesn't have time to travel with me or visit anymore. <3

A Month Without Credit Cards

This seemed like a better idea when I read about it a few weeks ago. We are three days into the month of June and I am already struggling without my beloved AMEX. :( I am not close to being out of cash by any means, I am just not used to carrying cash. Resisting the urge to pull out my credit card for things like gas and groceries has been tough because I usually pay for these things on credit without a second thought. I earn 5% back on gas and 2% back on groceries so it makes sense. Why not earn a little money back on something you have to purchase anyway?

At any rate, this is a money-saving theory I read about here and here and I am curious to see how much truth there is to it for someone who is paid once a month. Yes, you heard correctly. I am paid once a month. I get a big, fat check on the last day of the month and after paying bills and putting money into my IRA and savings account there never seems to be much left by day two of the month. This is where my credit card comes into play.

Now, I never carry a balance on my credit card which could be the reason I never have oodles of dollars left to spend frivolously, but there has to be a way to keep the balance more at bay so that I can spend more money on fun things. I will post throughout the month with updates, obstacles and (hopefully) successes. We'll see how much of a difference it makes come bill paying time... 27 days from now.

Where In The World Wednesday

I love this idea (an idea I got from Classy in Philadelphia) for two reasons: a) last week I turned 30 (yay!) and I realized that I have only stepped on the soil of 15 countries. That may seem like a high number to most, but to someone who HAS to show up to work every single day because I practically use up all of my vacation and personal days before I earn them, that number is very small; and b) because when I originally started this blog, I wanted to focus on writing about my travels. So far, I only have this one lonely post about my first night in Thailand and I only have myself to blame for that. Where in the World Wednesday is very simple. To partake, all you have to do is post a picture of yourself someplace in the world. It doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. It just has to be a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling. Sweet. I'm in!

I am going to start this off with 2 photos from my most recent venture in Thailand again for two reasons: a) because you can't tell where my boyfriend and I are in the photo below just by looking at it and, b) because I am insanely excited about this new feature and had a hard enough time narrowing down the country to choose images from much less the photo.

In the photo to the left, my boyfriend and I were on a 2 week trip to Thailand to partake in his best friend's wedding. This photo was taken on the morning of our 1 year anniversary while watching the sunrise on the beach in front of our hotel on Ko Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. We were there for five days following our friend's wedding in Yasothorn. I wouldn't have wanted to be there with anyone else. I love this man with all of my heart and am incredibly grateful everyday to be his girlfriend.

This second photo was also taken on Ko Samui. Later that day, we rented scooters and drove to the other side of the island and rode elephants! Riding an elephant was the #1 "must do" item on my list. I was about as excited as and the 8km ride there seemed like it took an eternity. I thought scooters were faster than that. I guess not. Contrary to what most think, elephants do not stink like barnyard animals. In fact, they were surprisingly clean and didn't smell much like anything. Their skin is extremely soft (I thought it would feel tough and wrinkly) and they are so sweet and massive. It is easy to see how they earned their nickname, gentle giants.

Tomorrow, I head to D.C. to see my little brother accept his Master's Degree. I am excited as I have never seen cherry blossoms and they are in full bloom right now!

Six Months, Six Dresses - Dress #1

I stole this idea from Georgia over at The State That I Am In who got the idea from Kyla Roma who is trying to give her wardrobe a feminine overhaul over the next six months. I, myself, have been caught in a state of limbo between girly girl and tomboy for most of my life. I don't wear make up or do my hair all fancy on a daily basis, and I certainly do not wear things like high heels unless it is absolutely necessary, but I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a tomboy. I think I am pretty girly overall, but I could stand to beef up my wardrobe a bit and give myself a more polished look on a daily basis. I often wear yoga pants, t-shirts, and sneakers to the office which is very comfortable but is not very professional. I know this and yet I can only seem to break away from this for a few days before I fall right back into my comfortable, sporty style. Sporty. That's a much nicer word to substitute for the phrase "somewhat sloppy." So, here begins my stint to girly up my wardrobe.

Dress #1: Layered Commotion Dress
Condition: New
Purchased at: Francesca's Collections
Cost: $34

Last Day As A 20-Something

Today is the last day I will be able to enter 29 as my age on the treadmill at the gym. Happy (almost) birthday to me!

Grilling Out

When I moved to Chicago in 2005 I didn't know that it snowed. Well, that is not entirely accurate. I knew that it snowed, but I figured that snow was romantic and fluffy like it is in the movies. I thought it would cover the city in a soft, white blanket and I would be able to twirl in the park as the snowflakes danced down from the sky and onto my eyelashes. Oops.

Five winters later I am beginning to understand why people from the Midwest get so excited at the prospect of a 60 degree day. 60 degrees was an unimaginable cold in southern California, but I now find myself wishing for 30 degree days in the wintertime. While I can safely say that I will never love winter, I can say that I do love the changing of the seasons because every season comes with something that is indicative to that season that I look forward to. In the fall, I look forward to apple picking and pumpkin flavored food. In the winter, I look forward to snowboarding and baking Christmas cookies. In the spring, I look forward to my first outdoor run of the season and fresh fruits, and in the summer, I look forward to laying out in the sun and grilling.

The thing I love the most about grilling is that the simplest ingredients marry together into explosive flavor combinations. Take, for example, the photo to your left. 5 scallions tossed in extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Grill for about 5 minutes. You can eat them on their own or as an addition to tacos. They tend to be stringy and can be a little hard to manage if you place them whole in a taco so you might want to cut them into pieces if you care about maintaing proper table manners. Simple. Quick. Healthy. Delicious.

The same can be said for the photo on the right. 3 ears of corn still in the husk. Place on grill for about 20-25 minutes. Note: The cooking time may vary depending on the size of your corn and the temperature of your grill. We use a gas grill and set the heat to medium. I don't know how this would translate to a charcoal grill, but we just got one this weekend so I will test that out and update accordingly. Cool. Peel. Enjoy!

Seriously, can it get any simpler than that? I don't think so. I like to squeeze fresh lime juice and sprinkle salt and pepper on my corn, but you can enjoy this plain as well. Grilling them in the husk keeps the kernels brightly colored and crisp and gives them a nice overall earthy flavor. The best part of this is that it keeps very nicely unrefrigerated and can be enjoyed the next day for lunch. I like it room temperature. Microwaves freak me out so I try to avoid them at all costs, but I would assume you could heat these up the next day in the microwave. If you wet the husks and leave them intact, I would imagine they would steam as you heated them up, but I have no idea how successful that would be since I haven't tried it.

Tonight's menu will consist of grilled chicken, grilled pineapple, brown rice, steamed broccoli, and grilled romaine (something I have been wanting to try and that I am hoping resembles roasted brussels sprouts).

The Big Mango - Part 1

I have been back from Thailand for a little over 3 weeks and I think my jet lag has finally worn off. Never in my life have I experienced jet lag like this, it was awful. I was wide awake everyday at 4 a.m. and would uncontrollably fall asleep around 6 p.m. The strange thing about falling asleep was that it would just hit me. I had no inkling that I was getting tired. One minute I would be wide eyed watching television and the next minute it was 4 a.m. and I had been asleep for 10 hours. I imagine that is what narcolepsy feels like.

The first leg of our trip was a ~15 hour flight from Chicago to Korea. We had a 3 hour layover in Seoul and then a connecting five and a half hour flight from Seoul into Bangkok. It is absolutely retarded to be on a plane for that long, I never want to do that again. My feet and ankles were so swollen by the time we arrived I was wobbling about the airport, and my poor toes looked like little sausages stuffed into my flip flops.

After collecting our bags, we headed out to the taxi stand to grab a cab to our hotel. The cabs in Bangkok are all brightly painted in hues of pink, green, and orange and most of the cab drivers have their dashboards decorated with stuffed animals and various trinkets. Our taxi driver had his dash decorated with money and a hand grenade. Let's hope this guy doesn't suffer from a bout of road rage while transporting us from the airport to the hotel. Should I have been worried?

I must admit, I did little to no research before leaving on this trip so I had no idea what to expect when I arrived in Thailand. For some reason I had imagined Bangkok to be cleaner than it was and more futuristic looking. The traffic and exhaust fumes are both unbelievably dense and everything seems to have a rather thick layer of dirt on it. It is easy to see why people wear those hospital masks when they are outside of their homes. In contrast our hotel, the Grand Sukhumvit, was ridiculously amazing for $70USD/night. Our room was like a small apartment. It had a fully stocked kitchen, 2 flat screen TVs, a very big and comfortable bed (honestly, this was probably the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on in all my life), tons of pillows, a couch and sitting area, and a bedroom that is separate from the rest of the room. We were on the 29th floor and had a fantastic view of the city. The hotel also had a fitness center and a lavish brunch buffet that we took advantage of almost every morning. The only downside to this place (and this is a rather minor downside) was that the pool never got any sun. I would suspect that the pool and shaded area are refreshing in the hot, stickier months of the year. We happened to be visiting during cooler seasonal weather and desperately wanted to return to Chicago with golden tans. We had to wait to get to Ko Samui to accomplish that.

We arrived to our hotel around 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning where Shaun and Brendan were waiting for us in the hotel bar drinking whiskey. Johnny Walker Black Label is huge in Thailand which made me very happy. Soi 4 was the street adjacent to our hotel and it is littered with bars, clubs, and ladyboys. Holy crap, is it hard to tell the difference between a real girl and some of these ladyboys. Some of them are very obviously men, but for the most part you can't tell that a lot of them are ladyboys just by looking at them (I will go into more detail about this in another post). We were able to grab two drinks before the bars closed for the night and wearily headed back to the most comfortable bed in the universe for a night of much needed sleep.