jewel May 31st, 2010
Warning — this post is pretty long. Grab a cup of coffee or a pint and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed reliving it.
A few months ago, I decided that I would like to spend my 40th birthday in London, so I got to planning and searching for things I would like to do while there – keeping in mind that there is no way I would be able to pack in as much as I would like and still enjoy it. Still, I researched and consulted Google Earth when I wanted to see what places looked like and I planned and planned. I love doing that. Somewhere in the planning stages I decided that I would also like to go to Cardiff. And I am glad we did. So, anyway, I got the trip all planned out and booked and then we waited….for what seemed like an eternity for the time to come to travel.
Before I get into the details of our trip, I would like to say a few things about the weather this trip. We spent a week in London and Cardiff and not once did it rain while we were out and about. In fact, there was only one incidence of rain the whole trip and it was slight and while we were napping one afternoon in Cardiff. It was truly amazing. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather. It was sunny and the temperature was perfect for short sleeves for the majority of the time. We could not get over just how amazingly perfect it was.
Continue Reading »
jewel May 28th, 2010
We just got back last night from a week in the UK. I’m resting up and collecting my thoughts and going through pictures. I’ll write more about my trip soon. We had a fantastic time, and even though I wasn’t quite ready to come home yet, now that I am home, it is good to be here.
jewel December 20th, 2009
Cancun was a lot of fun! We spent a week completely unplugged. No phone, no email, no weather channel, no news. The rest of the world could have been blown to bits and we wouldn’t have known (well, I’m sure someone would have told us if it had). Every now and again it really is nice to just let the rest of the world fade away. Now we’re back to our normal life and I figured I would write about my trip.
Interestingly, nearly every time I mentioned to someone that we were vacationing in Cancun the first thing they asked is “is it safe there?”. Although Mexico has seen a lot of drug related violence, most of that violence is in the border cities far away from Cancun. Mexico is a large country with quite the range in safety and violence. One of my coworkers also vacationed in Cancun a few weeks ago and he said he had been warned against leaving the resort, so they didn’t. I find that sad, because all the warnings I could find really dealt with other parts of Mexico. Cancun and it’s surrounding areas really have so much to offer. To not see any of it really is tragic. I’ve been to Cancun and the surrounding areas twice now and haven’t felt the slightest bit unsafe. We haven’t gone exploring completely on our own because neither of us speaks much Spanish. Tourist Spanish really only goes so far. So we book tours to places we want to see. And even when we have had free time to explore the areas we have visited we have not felt unsafe at all.
Ok, on to the fun parts.. Continue Reading »
jewel September 29th, 2009
This past weekend, I traveled to Minneapolis, MN and I got to spend some much overdue time with my mom and all my siblings. It was a fantastic time and I cannot express just how glad I am that all of us finally worked seeing one another into our busy schedules (all at the same time!). We talked and ate and ate and ate and played some pool and some Rock Band and even some Wii Bowling (which our mom kicked our collective butts in, I might add – Go Mom!).
We found that even though we are pretty different from one another and have been apart for many many years, we have many similarities with each other. For instance, our sense of humor – we are all absolute smart asses. Also, we are all basically introverts and tend to be shy in unfamiliar situations. Continue Reading »
jewel May 11th, 2009
Holy fuck! I just read that the London TAM in October sold out within an hour of registration opening! That’s Amaz!ng! Sadly, I’m not one of the lucky folks going. Just don’t have the money this year, but I’m extremely excited that the event is so popular. This means they will have more and maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to go next year.
I’d been racking my brain and going through the closets for things to sell to go to London TAM, but it just wasn’t happening. With it being sold out, at least I don’t have to fret over it.
Damn. I’m severely jealous of everone that gets to go. But, I look forward to reading all about it. Plus, I will make it to a future one. Damn it.
jewel April 26th, 2009
In the spring and summer months, my husband and I periodically take a drive to a few of Virginia’s many wineries. There are dozens of them, so we haven’t even come close to visiting all of them yet. They all have their own styles and personalities and it’s fun to choose a few, every now and again, and see what they have to offer.
Yesterday, we took a trip to visit 4 wineries. Village Winery, Lost Creek Vineyard & Winery, Hidden Brook Winery and Fabbioli Cellars. I linked to the Virginia Wine pages rather than the individual winery websites here because the info given is consistent and compact. The individual winery websites can be found at the end of this post. Continue Reading »
jewel June 28th, 2008
To Star Trek: The Experience, while we were in Vegas. And it was fun. Ok, I admit, I’m a bit of a Trekker.
We had decided to stay an extra day in Vegas after TAM to do a couple Vegasy things. One of those things was spending most of Monday at the Las Vegas Hilton’s Star Trek: The Experience. We’ve been there before, but it’s been nearly 10 years and they’ve added quite a few things since then. Since our first trip, they’ve added a new ride – “Borg Invasion 4d” and a behind the scenes tour and several photo options. We went ahead and did all of it. Continue Reading »
jewel June 24th, 2008
My husband and I just got back from Vegas where we attended our very first TAM! Wow. We’re both still processing all of it. In fact, I’m not entirely sure what to write. Man o man, it was just amazing.
We got into Vegas on Wednesday night and got checked in and stuff and were even able to get a semi good night’s sleep. We were both awake at 5am because we were still on east coast time and that was great for us because we got to have a leisurely breakfast and wander around a bit and get our bearings.
I’m going to try to get to the real highlights of TAM 6. This is going to be hard, there were so many, but ok, here it goes, in no particular order: Continue Reading »
jewel April 16th, 2008
We got back Sunday night from our very quick trip to England. I think I am nearly recovered from all the walking and the 5 hour time difference. It was a fun trip. As can be expected in England, the weather was quite varied, from wonderful sunshine to steady downpours to hail and then back again to sunshine. Rinse. Repeat. On the whole, though, the weather wasn’t too bad. We got much much walking in and I got quite a few photos that I will put up in one of my gallery’s when I am finished with the processing. Continue Reading »
jewel April 6th, 2008
In a couple of days I’ll be heading out for a few days in the UK. I’m doing all those last minuty things, making sure all the shopping is done and I have everything in order, gathering stuff to pack. It’s so hard to know what weather to prepare for and still not over pack. Such is my dilemma. If only all of life were like this! Continue Reading »
