Plaid Could Suit Me

I started out scratching my head about Scotland. I wasn't sure where to start. Usually Trip Advisor is my go-to-site but I didn't feel like I could start there this time. You search by city and I didn't even know which city was the right one to start in. Once I get into the nitty gritty details of the trip I'm sure it'll be helpful. I'm just not there yet.

I ended up going to my beloved NYtimes.com. I typed Scotland into the travel section and got the best overview. It explained:

Loch Ness Monster aka Nessie

• Scotland has amazing seafood and restaurants. It also gave a short list of the best restaurants. Fiance loves seafood and has been slowly making me appreciate it more and more.
• Teeny tiny country. It really does make more sense to look at Scotland as a whole in planning your trip because it is so small. The major cities aren't far from each other. It seems totally feasible to rent a car and road trip from region to region. 
• There is a lot of deep history to explore. Castles, cathedrals, museums, William Wallace (gotta hurry up and watch Braveheart), Loch Ness monster, the list goes on.
• The end of May is the perfect time to go!

I've decided that even though drinking scotch isn't my thing, it would be dumb not to check out the whiskey region. Plus, Fiance loves scotch. I'll be the designated driver that day.

Next up, nailing down dates and looking at flights.

Navigation Tips That Will Keep the Peace in Your Relationship

Last weekend, Fiance and I went to Rhode Island. Usually when we go he drives and I navigate. It is a beautiful system. This time he wanted to do work in the car and was just being moody so I drove. It didn't work out so well. We switched half way through. Was it because of my driving? No, I'm an excellent driver. It was his horrible attempt at navigating. We didn't get lost (a miracle as far as I can tell) but it was a stressful experience for both of us.

In an effort to give both of us peace of mind the next time I have to drive I've broken down the correct way to navigate. So, for my dear Fiance:

1. You are in total control of the GPS. That means you put the destination address in, you pay attention to it, you make sure the thing doesn't die (we use the GPS in our cellphones), etc.
2. Repeat the next step in the directions at multiple time intervals so nothing sneaks up on the driver. This is also important because it is easier for the driver to understand you than the GPS's robot voice. Especially over the music in the car. Which brings me to my next point.
3. Navigator = DJ. The driver is focused on more important things like keeping you all alive. It is your job to handle the tunes and make sure they are upbeat if it's night. You don't want the driver to fall asleep at the wheel.
4. Look out for road signs. Obviously the driver is doing this too but it is good to help. Especially if the driver continually misses an exit even though you have clearly stated where he should go.
5. Stay calm. When you are sitting next to a frustrated driver that keeps missing exits inexplicably, don't get upset. Calmly repeat the correct way to go. Remember, this person is holding your life in their hands. It is worth it to stroke their ego and say, "Oh honey, anyone would have missed that again and again. That sign is impossible to see...at every angle."
6. Be on cellphone/blackberry duty. Read the driver's emails and/or texts to them even if it makes you incredibly nauseous to do this in the car. Answer their phone. They can't do these things themselves, nor would you want them to.
7. Trust the driver. Thinking that the driver might crash at any moment is stressful for everyone. Plus it just isn't true! I have never gotten into a car accident thank you very much.

These are my lessons from driving with him. I hope he learns to do the same for me. My mother always did say men need to be trained.

What tips would you add? He really does need all the help he can get.

Four States in 24 Hours

Two weeks ago, Boyfriend and I spent a Saturday driving all over creation.

Leg 1: New York to New Jersey. We drove to my uncle's house to pick up my TV from college. I've been storing it in his attic for the past 2.5 years. I promised the TV to my brother but have been too...I'm not sure if the right word is 'busy' or 'lazy'. Regardless, we decided to finally get it done and I got to see spend a little time with my cousins.

Leg 2: New Jersey to Delaware. Boyfriend's grandmother lives in Delaware. We have be meaning to visit her forever. Since we were already gonna be driving around this seemed like the perfect time to take her to lunch. It was actually a lovely visit and made us both wonder why we don't do it more often.

Leg 3: Delaware to Pennsylvania. We dropped the TV off with my brother in Philly. I got to see how truly disgusting the living quarters of college boys are. My mother would faint if not for the fear of what is festering in that carpet. Then we went to visit Boyfriend's friends that just had a baby. She was like a cute little ball.

Leg 4: Pennsylvania to New Jersey. We visited Boyfriend's sister this time. She and her husband made us a delicious dinner. We spent the night because we had enough driving for the day. Actually, Boyfriend had enough driving and I had enough sitting and playing DJ with my ipod.

We headed back to New York the next day. We were exhausted and Boyfriend was strung out on caffeine but this was probably our most productive weekend in months. I think it was definitely better to bang it all out in one day instead of dragging this out over multiple weekends.

Next drive on our list is Rhode Island for Christmas. While we are in that neck of the woods we'll visit my grandfather in Hartford and my friend in Boston. We're just checking things off the list all over the place.

My Ring

O, and the main reason we were destroyed after our tour of the least exciting states in the Northeast was because we got engaged the night before! We were up late celebrating. This is why even though we spent most of it running big errands we had been putting off, it was still an amazing weekend :)

Have you seen a ring nicer than mine? I haven't.

Fall Fail

This fall I had aspirations to take weekend trips to Boston and Philly (obviously not on the same weekend).  This was a totally reasonable and easily executable goal.

So why didn't it happen?  PURE LAZINESS

I really really really wanted, and fully intended, to go both places.  I want to see my brother in Philly and give him my old TV (which I promised him a year ago).  Also, a group of my favorite people are living in Boston now (a place I have never been). 

True, none of those people are going anywhere so the timeliness of my trips wasn't important.  I'm sure that was a blow to the motivation voice that whispers in my ear.

I think what really propelled me into failure was Australia.  Australia was an amazing trip but it was so much traveling.  When we got home, all I wanted to do was be at home.  The best time each week to enjoy being at home is on the weekend.  I just wasn't ready to give them up.

Of course now it is too late to make this fall a weekend trip success.  I'll be traveling for the holidays so it seems like my best bet for Philly and Boston is January or February.

This is exactly what I wanted to avoid because Boston in the middle of winter sounds horribly cold.  O well.  I did it to myself.