Crash Landing

This morning, I came across an awesome article regarding traveling without hotels. Hotels can ruin a travel budget. A good one will set up back over $500-a grand, but will ultimately set the standard of your trip. A bad one may save you some change but will cause you to pull your hair out from the thought of a cockroach infestation, gunfight down the road, or the various cases of herpes living in your sheets. I, for one, get skeezed out by hotels for those very reasons. And, let's face it, I'm a cheap gal and I cant justify spending half my rent on 7 days in a room smaller than my living room.

In the article, the author, Benji Lanyado, travels through Europe without using hotels or hostels. Instead, he uses three travel sites that provide room or apartment rental services. For a low to very high price, you can rent out someone's spare room, mother-in-law suite, or entire apartment and house.

I spent a good part of the day drooling over some of the options on the main site discussed, AirBnB. I of course went to my part of the city first. An apartment rental close next to me goes for $55-80 (for a studio near a beach). Next, I went through my terrifyingly large travel wish list and scoured for deals and oddball attractions that would interest and excite me. Here are some of the most unique options I found:

Everyone wants to go to Amsterdam when in the Netherlands... but I am more attracted to these little tipis on that aptly named Tipi Island. For $57 a night, you can sleep in the most remote areas of Europe while attending creative courses and receiving massages.

http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14936

And who wouldn't want to stay in a castle... and while England is not on my list of places I would kill to visit, I still want to include a castle in the mix:

Stainmore Castle

From South America, I am dying to get to Argentina to live out my Evita fantasies, but I cant ignore these awesome star gazing homes in Chilie. For 130/night, you and a guest can star gaze all night, take a late night horseback ride through the forests, and swim in a neon green pool.

ElquiDomos

Want some place truly unique? For $160, chant some nursery rhymes in this boot home in New Zealand. Stinky feet not included. (har-har)

Boot n Breakfast

I highly recommend checking out the site if you are looking for some travel options in some highly desirable places such as Orlando, Hawaii, and California. The site features real apartments, to villas, to backyard tent areas, and luxury resorts. If you are willing to give and take, a guest room or room share will cost you about half the price of a full home stay. Let me know what you find or where you would travel!

Shredding

Just wanted to quickly update my birthday woes. I was granted my wish of a birthday redo by my very fabulous and charming boyfriend. He totally surprised me at dinner last night- which I believe is the first he pulled a trick like this.

Plus, I spent all day yesterday and today shredding old files at my job. It was super therapeutic to do one activity over and over again... especially when that assignment is to destroy things. I just sang show tunes as I thought viciously to myself: "HAHAHAHA Applicant A from 1995... you FAILED."

I then started to feel some sympathy for them. Here I was, singing "What I Did For Love" while ripping apart their resumes, cover letters, and recommendations. One by one, I was erasing our department's memory of their application and credentials. After doing the job applications for awhile, I couldn't help but wonder if someone out there is currently destroying

my application while singing songs from Chorus Line. Allow me to cheese it up by quoting some Armageddon:

Grace Stamper: Baby, do you think its possible that anyone else in the world is doing this very same thing at this very same moment?

A.J.: I hope so, otherwise, what the hell are

we trying to save?

Oh God, now I have "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and various other Aerosmith songs stuck in my head. Damn my vast terrible movie knowledge... you fail me again.

Daddy-Daughter-Everyday

Like I mentioned in my other posts, I am sorry for my absence. I've been exceptionally busy with the transition from one home to another. Now, I am all (sorta) moved in and adjusted. It wasn't without its own drama. For example, the original plan was to move in on Tuesday, but my leasing company (Chicago Apartment Finders) couldn't get the paperwork to go through fast enough. I eventually signed my lease on Wednesday and I began personally moving boxes on Thursday night after work.

My ammmmmazing dad had pre-arranged to come help me move all of my stuff on Friday night. But we soon realized that if we were to move everything on Friday, we would be making about 10 trips until about 4am. He took the day off and I leased out my younger cousin to help him move. B was supposed to contribute but he had an emergency car repair and couldn't make it. So while I was working a very dangerous graduation ceremony and attempting to keep up with the World Cup action at work, my dad and cousin Kyle were roughing through storms, flooding, and the unpleasant parking conditions to move almost everything in my old apartment in to my new one.

When I got off of work, I ran through a lightning and hail storm to my new pad only to find that we had lost a much beloved member of my furniture family. I recently purchased an amazingly cheap, but still a splurge, mattress set. B struggled to pull up the boxspring by himself so I figured that would be the WORST part of moving. I was so right. My dad and cousin spent about 45 minutes until they broke it and gave up. Now I am sleeping on the mattress alone. I'm not going to lie, it sucks. Hopefully I can find a quick and easy solution that will get me up off the floor asap.

But really, I have nothing but thanks for my father. This is a man who has moved my growing amount of crap at least 10 times in the last 5-6 years. From tiny dorm rooms to 4th floor transition apartments during major baseball games, my dad has done it all... often with little to no help from this weak armed party.

Not to mention the fact that he has seen me through three cars, three major boyfriends, and three major life changing career moves... My dad is amazing. And I, of course, now have unobtainable expectations of what a man should and shouldn't do. But most of all, he has given me life lessons. These are just six of them that I take with me in my every day life:

1. Be kind to everyone you meet.
2. Trash talk and gossiping behind one person's back only leaves you open for them to do the same.
3. Create your own opportunities and never be afraid to say yes when possible.
4. Find a good man that will listen to you when you are sad and share in your joy when you are happy.
5. Practice, practice, practice.
6. Good movies can include Meg Ryan.

Oh, and listen to plenty of Paul Simon. Daily.

Another great man in my life is B. I spent most of yesterday out in the country at his family's home in celebration of the Solstice. It was a beautifully bright day, and I again loved meeting his family. They are such a wonderfully open group of people. And the kids are just adorable! Hearing little Logan tell B that he knew that his beer wasn't "big kid's pop" was hysterical.

Today, I woke up with to B moving and unpacking most of my stuff. He apparently got up and couldn't sleep, so instead of waking me up or just turning on the tv, he spent the majority of the morning unpacking, and organizing my desk. Later, we went out for lunch, saw Toy Story 3 (A+++++++++), and then watched the Guild while eating pita take out. Yummy weekend!

Anyways, I will make sure to pick up my blogging as I unpack and get acclimated with my new neighborhood. Hopefully I will have some time to check out the beach, see some of the shops, and learn the L line a bit better. Pictures to come!