I Heart Halloween!

Autumn is my favorite time of year...football, hoodie-weather and especially Halloween.  As a kid, I would give careful thought to what I wanted to wear for a costume to impress all of the folks that would be obligated to hand out candy just for showing up.  But it was inevitable that unpredictable Kansas weather usually meant that my mother would require us to wear winter coats and gloves on top of our much anticipated costumes.  Some of my more memorable costumes were cowgirl, a black and gold leopard, a cheerleader, can-can dancer and an angel.  Although I spend less time thinking over a costume for Halloween, I still enjoy the preparation and the excitement of decorating.

My favorite Halloween activity was when we would spend an evening carving pumpkins.  It was the same routine each year.  We would lay out the day's newspaper on the kitchen table and would watch as mom would draw asymmetrical triangle eyes and mouth with missing teeth in ball point pen.  Dad would take over and several four letter words would escape as he would slice his finger with the steak knife trying to pry the top off of the largest pumpkin I managed to find at the Pumpkin Patch.  At that point, the newspaper was useless because we would have seeds and pumpkin innards all over and there would be some talk about helping mom clean the kitchen after the festivities. We always would manage to escape and disappear as the fun part was coming to an end.

Now, it seems that every pumpkin I see is something that could be photographed for the H&G Halloween seasonal issue.  I wonder, how do people have time to not only put the thought into their decorative motif, go and buy supplies and then spend what I would assume to be hours on pumpkin decorating?  I am convinced these are people that, like me, watched their parents facilitate this type of messy and somewhat dangerous event year after year and decided to keep their kids entertained by making sure the pumpkin stayed intact while keeping the pumpkin tradition alive.

I am sure that the advent of Google and MarthaStewart.com is partly responsible for assisting those people who are missing the creative chromosome in order to cut the time deciding on an idea to avoid butchering their pumpkins every year.  Here are some creative ideas that I have seen on pumpkin decorating and, if I had the time or the inclination, would try to attempt a replica just to get into the holiday spirit.... As it were, I have a foam carved pumpkin that houses a single LED candle on my porch to avoid all the mess and unnecessary stress!


Autumn Pumpkin
If you have this kind of time, please call me. I will help you find more productive things to do with your time... like authoring a blog.

Blue Glitter Pumpkin

I have a feeling someone that DOES NOT have kids decorated this one....

Put a Bow on It Pumpkin
One more rhinestone and I would think it was the exact pumpkin that Cher put on her porch this year.

KISS Pumpkin Sculpture
There is a very proud dude somewhere in the world telling one of his pseudo-buddies over an Amaretto Sour how he won a $20 gift certificate to Sonic in the local Pumpkin Decorating contest with his "Gnarly" Kiss Pumpkin sculpture...

Leopard Pumpkin

Finally! A use for that leopard-print unitard from the 80's that is still in the closet...for some reason?

Zebra Pumpkin
PETA is going to have a fit if they find out about this one....

Moon over My Pumpkin

Twi-hards everywhere: Good luck with this one.

The Osbourne's Pumpkin
Before you try this, the only person that could pull this off would be a tattoo artist...I don't care how easy the kit instructions look.

Black Rhinestone Pumpkins
This person really needs to go on a date....

Blue Bat Pumpkin
I actually thought this was an advertisement for Franken Berry Cereal....which I was NEVER allowed to eat as a kid.

Bling Pumpkins
The older sister with 12 cats that also needs to go on a date...

Although I don't have any natural creative ability, this pumpkin art is fun to look at and hope al of you are just as excited for Halloween! If you don't have the time or artistic ability, you can always buy an pre-decorated pumpkin to get into the spirit.  I am sure the guy that spent hours on the KISS pumpkin would be willing to sell at a reasonable price!

Happy Halloween!!!!

A

The Sad End to Bathing Suit Season...But a Great Time for Deals!

Every year we would always go shopping around Memorial Day weekend for bathing suits for the upcoming and much anticipated grand opening of the Junction City Country Club pool.  I looked forward to looking at that year's limited selections and, without dating myself, usually included various geometric and polka dot designs.  We would each be allowed one suit so it was very stressful narrowing down exactly which one was cute enough to be my new favorite.  Either way, it was exciting and a mark that summer was just around the corner.... which meant being the first in the 70-75 degree pool that usually stayed that way until late June, the 4th of July, unlimited days and evenings playing in the fields and ponds at the farm, an expected visit from my cousins that lived in Dallas, and, finally, my birthday.  I love summer with all of the heat and fun afternoons at the beach or pool along with all of the activities that are great excuses be outside with friends and family.

Although I no longer get to look forward to "summer vacation", which I hate to say was the worst realization when I joined the adult working world, I still look forward to all of the same events that come each summer.  I can't say that the birthday is still met with the same enthusiasm each year, but I definitely still enjoy picking out one bathing suit each year.  Due to economic changes from when I was in grade school, I tend to shop for my bathing suit at the END of the summer, due to the hard-to-pass-up deals online or in the store.  Not to mention, there are usually plenty of occasions where a bathing suit is needed well past Labor Day in VA Beach.

Throughout the years, I have picked out many suits that I still dig out from time to time from various brands and designers.  Here are some brands that I like that offer quality and designs that will surely make you feel attractive at the beach or pool...even though you have cheated on your diet a little bit in the off season!

Billabong

This is a recent favorite brand of mine as I now have access to a number of surf shops living so close to the beach. What I really like about this brand is that it is more likely than other brands to "stay put", whether you are frolicking in the pool or in the ocean.  The prices are very reasonable and there is a fantastic selection of either solids or print in quality material.  I feel like when I have a Billabong suit on, I can be more athletic at the beach without worry.  You can find Billabong at most surf shops or at www.billabong.com.




Trina Turk

Usually, I am attracted to the Trina Turk brand because the designs are fun and feminine.  The cut of most styles are not nearly as revealing as what I may have been willing to be seen wearing in my 20's and, not to mention, in much better shape.  The drawback to TT suits is that the price tag is hefty and I always battle it out in my mind if I should justify the price....to date, it's about a 50-50 chance the credit card gets a workout.  Regardless, you are sure to end up with a suit you can wear for many summers that fit well and will solicit numerous compliments from fellow beach-goers.




Betsey Johnson

Quite the opposite of Trina Turk, you can find very attractive yet a neo-retro look when shopping in the Betsey Johnson section.  I love the colors and the cutting edge style that Betsey offers....and it doesn't stop at just bathing suits.  The cut can be a little questionable if you are moving into your 30's, but they are fun to look at and imagine what you would look like in the bathing suit if you were 2% body fat and 18 years old.  I enjoy looking at everything Betsey Johnson designs but it is not always fitting of my own style which tends to lean on the traditional side.  But, when I am looking for something "fun", Betsey Johnson is a great place to start! Also, price is lower that a Trina Turk suit but you are definitely going to be up there when you view your cart prior to check out.


La Blanca

This is a fantastic brand that offers cute styles without moving out of the traditional bathing suit style. Cuts are very conservative and I believe they have a body shaping aspect to them, although they are not advertised this way.  You can find a reasonable price with cute and trendy styles and colors at Nordstrom or on their website.




VIX Swimwear

A few years ago, I purchased a couple of VIX Swimwear bathing suits.  They are extremely glamorous and you are always sure to get compliments on their designs....think beads, jeweled encrustations and sequins!  Every SHAPE magazine that came in the mail had a model in the cutest bathing suits circa 2008.  I would look to see the brand and it was consistently VIX Swimwear so I looked into the designer further.  I knew the first step in this process should have been to stop flipping through SHAPE while having a nice big bowl of potato chips in the off season but I couldn't help but browse the VIX styles and designs.   The price tag can be on the high side but they hold up well...beware, it is hard to exercise any restraint when you see these beautifully crafted suits so view with caution!

A

Hurricane Supplies

Being a Kansas native, we would typically prepare for big storms by making sure we had shoes on in case our house blew away after running to the basement just in time.  Luckily, we never had to go through an actual tornado in the 30-plus years living in Kansas, but it was always a scary yet exciting ordeal when we saw the thunderheads start to build up and roll in from the west.

Once I moved to the east coast, friends and family would comment that I would be giving up tornadoes for hurricanes.  I always thought that at least with a hurricane, you would have ample warning and I would be sure to have my shoes, handbag and dog close by.  In a lot of ways, a hurricane warning is worse since the media hype starting in the month of August will make every small disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean near Africa the "next Katrina."  I fell hook, line and sinker because I have spent the last 2 days watching The Weather Channel and the previous 2 days going from store to store collecting the essentials for Irene.  All of the locals downplayed what was about to happen to a light breeze and a little more than a drizzle so I was torn on which camp of experts to believe.  My biggest fear is that I would be the person sitting on the roof waving at the news chopper after the storm surge while waiting for a kayak to come pick me up, handbag and all.  As I don't put much trust on the media with the weather not to mention any other "breaking" news story or "unbiased" journalism, I was rationalizing that if Irene wasn't as damaging as was predicted, I could always sell the high ticket preparation items on Craig's List to some other poor sap for the next hurricane...which is now possibly brewing in the mid-Atlantic.

Fine time for a leisurely stroll!

What follows are SOME of the many things I spent 2 days checking off the many to-do lists found online in preparation for my first hurricane which ended up being a day of rain and wind while I camped out on my couch.

Honeywell 5500 Generator

This was the one thing that seemed to be the holy grail for people preparing for Irene.  I was thinking that I would not want to loose all of my food in the refrigerator as well as my AC in the event we did not have power for about a week, which was the common opinion of locals that had been confirmed by the media hurricane experience.  So on Thursday, I strolled into Lowe's to pick up a generator.  I walked into chaos and a stressful energy only found if you knew nuclear war was immanent.  No later than 2 PM, there was a line of about 20 people forming at the front of the store of whom were waiting for a shipment of generators that were due out of Georgia sometime after 6 PM. As previously mentioned, I do not wait needlessly in lines so I grabbed a cooler and 3 cases of water and high tailed it out of that mess.   In the end, I decided to stay off the beaten path and went to a mom and pop hardware store at the beach that had a shipment due at 7AM Friday and got the last one upon my arrival at 7:10 AM.


Large Cooler and 7 bags of ice

In the event that I would not be able to get a generator in time, I wanted to have a plan B for the food in my fridge.  I thought I could continue to pour the rapidly melting ice over the food I wanted to keep from spoiling.  Also, I wanted to be able to sit in a bathtub of ice if it got too hot and sweaty.  Looks as if I will be having a snow cone party sometime in the near future!


Portable AC Unit

After finding out that the only way to connect a generator to your AC unit, you would need one much bigger than the one I purchased and with a price tag of about $4,000.  After ensuring that the portable AC unit would not qualify as a non-returnable emergency supply item, I did go ahead and put it in the garage to have it just in case.

Gas Cans
On Friday morning, I purchased 2 gas cans that were the last in the store.  There were people commenting they were going to follow me home to steal them.  Being at friendly neighborhood store, I was really glad I did not wait too long and have to go back to Lowe's again as I believe the customers there are not as friendly than the common thieves I encountered at the hardware store at the beach where everyone knows everyone.

Trying to not go home right away and making several left hand turns making sure no one was following me home to steal my gas cans and generator, I pulled off to fill my extremely valuable gas cans.  I stealthily double checked that my generator was in fact gasoline powered, and not diesel.  I quickly found out they had put the generator in my car with the Spanish translated side of the box facing outward. I do not know the translation for "diesel-powered" in Spanish, so I rolled the dice and hoped that what I was reading did say regular gasoline and made a mental note to learn better Spanish in the future.



Three cases of bottled water

Since I am a Brita owner and wasn't sure that Brita could filter the crap that could spill into our drinking water, I went ahead and got some bottled water as well.  Guess I will be back to bottled water for a few weeks...hopefully, my using Brita for 6 months allows me to be less conscious of the environment for a little while and I won't be stoned to death by local tree huggers.


Floating flashlight
Even I am embarrassed that I spend hard earned money to purchase a floating flashlight and even more so that I got an extra one for my unconcerned neighbor that has experienced upward of 10 storms since living in VA Beach.  The thought never occurred to me then that if I were in a situation where I would need a floating flashlight, I wouldn't be using one of my two hands to save what couldn't be replaced by holding a floating flashlight.  I didn't feel so bad when I found out one of my other friends walked around and slept with a headlamp strapped to her forehead starting on Friday night through Sunday morning.  I made sure to put that one on my shopping list as I thought that was probably a pretty good item to have around the house for a multitude of emergency and non emergency scenarios!

Patio Furniture
Starting Thursday evening, I moved all patio furniture through my freshly cleaned house to the garage along with all of my planters and very heavy umbrella.  I did feel as if I had worked in a really good workout that day despite all of the errands and preparations I still needed to make.  I decided that I may need to take up moving heavy furniture in my workout routine moving forward just to keep things interesting.

Filled both bathtubs with water
Apparently, you do this in case you lose water supply and was the first time I have heard of this level of preparation for a hurricane.  They made it very clear online that this is NOT FOR DRINKING WATER (thanks for that clarification!)....it is in case you need to flush toilets and for cleaning purposes ONLY.  I got right on that as I had never thought that would be an issue and definitely didn't want to be without the ability to flush my toilets for a week.  I ended up draining my huge 3-person tub on the third floor as I began to get worried about the weight becoming an issue after a few days....I would just have to pray that the normal size bathtub would be enough water for toilet flushing.

Cooked all frozen and uncooked meat 
I made sure all of the chicken, turkey burgers and bacon that wouldn't keep in the freezer or for very long in a cooler was cooked.  I figured that I wouldn't be able to keep up with "freezing" food for very long even with a generator or in a cooler.  This turned out to be very enjoyable as I ate several meals and snacks of bacon strips! I may start doing this on a regular basis as well...

Beer and Vodka

I purchased copious amounts of both for obvious reasons!  I knew hurricane parties were popular and, even though I wasn't willing to go to the oceanfront during the storm and find one to fit my needs, I didn't want to miss out on the one past time where you don't need electricity!  Turns out, this was probably the most useful emergency item to have during hurricane season...





In the end, we got a lot of rain, a ton of swirling wind topping 60-mph and lost power for about a day....Although it was my first of what promises to be many hurricanes in VA Beach, we were very fortunate that there wasn't more damage or flooding.  My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost life and property and will be dealing with flooding and loss of power for much longer than we did here in VA Beach.  Although I am relieved to have experienced my first hurricane without any notable problems, I am also reminded of how powerful mother nature can be and why we should always respect her temper tantrums....regardless if you are watching media coverage or talking to locals that have been through many storms before the one heading your way.

Pre-Irene: 7 PM Friday

Irene at High Tide: 6:30 PM Saturday

After Irene: 7:30 AM Sunday

Please let me know if anyone needs anything at all and I am happy to help in any way I can.  The one thing I noticed during the preparation process as well as after the storm is the incredible outreach of our community to help complete strangers as well as binding together to try and keep everyone safe.  The American spirit is alive and well here in hurricane country!

Be safe and always be prepared to help yourself and others....I know it is hard to believe but, it is a much better feeling than even shopping can offer!

A

The Perfect Handbag: A Woman's Best Friend

My new FAVE: LV Artsy MM

Most of my friends of the male persuasion have asked the question, "Why do women fawn over and make such a big deal over purses?" Unfortunately for them, the answer is neither understandable nor satisfying in their quest to understand yet one more detail of what makes women tick. I usually begin by correcting them on the difference between a "purse" and a "handbag" which happens to be the simple deciphering factor that anything with a price tag of over $500 would constitute a "handbag" or "bag." Don't feel bad if you didn't know this....I just learned this distinction about 5 years ago from my sister, Molly, who happens to be the Handbag Oracle of all things related to this most crucial accessory.

I believe that some things are inherent rather than learned and most people would say that individuals would develop their taste for accessories such as handbags over time and through maturity. I beg to differ. I distinctly remember Molly at 2 years old dragging around any purse she could get her hands on that would either go with her outfit or would hold the right portion of animal crackers based on the day's activities. I firmly believe that if she had the advantage of opposable thumb strength at an earlier age, this daily routine of searching out and carefully packing up the day's belongings in the purse of the day would have started much sooner. Unfortunately, that particular trait in our genetic code that predisposes her to handbag selectivity at such an early age was not dominant for me at birth but, through many years of observing and learning from her, I was able to develop a similar eye for handbags. I am resigned to the fact that I will never have her unique talent for seeing and calling out a fake designer bag from a mile away, but I have been able to learn enough to at least question the validity in close proximity and proper lighting.

What is most difficult for men to understand about this obsession for women to adorn themselves with bags that may cost more than the average car payment is that bags represent their personality with a touch of style. A bag is not just a purse or something to carry around your wallet and keys....It holds all that is most important to women when they venture out into the world whether it is for a carton of milk or a trip around the world.

That being said, I am always looking at all of the beautiful bags that are out there whether it be online, in a store or just admiring another woman's good taste on the street.  I tend to carry one designer bag pretty consistently for YEARS!  This is my rationalization when I decide to go all in on my bag purchase.  I just updated the bag I had been carrying to the new LV Artsy (see above) and I absolutely love it.  I can carry just about anything and I will definitely expect get my money's worth.   I have already had a consistent flow of compliments which always makes me feel good that my months of weighing pros and cons of all of the top contenders was well worth the time I spent to find my next bag.  The last bag I carried almost every day and had it for over 5 years. I fully expect to continue to have occasions to take it out of retirement in the future.  When you pick a designer bag with a hefty price tag, it is important to make sure you consider a balance of neutrality and style.  That way, you can get a lot of use and enjoyment out of the collection of purses you acquire for years to come.  See below for bags that are works of art with the price to match .... not to mention way out of the realm of possibility for the non-celeb civilian world, AKA the real world of which this crowd lives!

Here are my TOP 5 nominations for the Holy Grail of handbags....

5. Marc Jacobs Carolyn Crocodile Bag

Purple crocodile and absolutely gorgeous!  With this bag, you actually buy your wardrobe based on this bag.





4. Fendi Selleria Bag.....$38,000

Made from your choice of Sable or chinchilla as well as soft silver leather. At this price, it should definitely come with a Restraining Order against PETA activists.








3. Louis Vuitton Tribute Patchwork Bag....$42,000

This bag is a compilation of 15 different designs and styles trademark to LV.  Just an FYI, you don't have to be my sister to call this one out as a fake if you do ever see one in person...there were only 4 released in the US and 20 worldwide so it may be likely you have  encountered an impostor.








2. Hermes Matte Crocodile Birkin Bag.....$120,000

Absolutely beautiful and even if I was lucky enough to win the 3-digit million dollar lottery only AFTER being struck by lightning several times, still couldn't bring myself to spend this amount on a bag.  It boasts a whopping 10-carats of diamonds adorning the white gold clasp.  Hermes has really raised the bar over their traditional Birkin's with this one....seriously, only one was made worldwide!



1. Chanel Diamond Forever Classic Bag....$261,000....That's right!  Over a quarter of a million!

This bags totals 334 diamonds at 3.84 carats along with 18k gold chain and clasp.  What is more surprising?  That there are 13 people in the world that actually have the Forever bag....If you find a woman that owns a Forever, either become best friend's with her or find out if she has a son or daughter you can marry!!!!



Happy handbag browsing!

Lowe's Home Improvement

I purchased my very first home back in 2005 in Lawrence, Kansas when I moved for a new position at GSK.  My first experience with home ownership was a brand new town home in one of my favorite places in the country and home of the University of Kansas, where in earlier years, I mostly skipped classes and was a connoisseur of local nightlife.  Now that I was older and more established, I decided against renting and dove head first into home ownership.  As I put a lot of savings into the down payment and closing costs, I wasn't in a cash position to pay for any major upgrades or professional painting other than allowing them to go ahead with the no additional cost builder's grade Navajo white.  Anxious to decorate and turn the boring white walls into something that would reflect my style, I began thinking of color schemes that I could paint myself.  How hard could painting the white walls a fun color really be?  Since I was now the decision maker and didn't have to worry about getting a deposit back, I was really looking forward to accomplishing do it yourself projects in my brand new home with just a paint brush, a hammer and a drill....and it wouldn't take long at all, right?

Wrong.  After painting the first of many walls which I found out was extremely porous not to mention textured, it was much harder and more time consuming that I originally thought.  I had already used one gallon of Behr paint in a light mocha and still had a significant amount of coverage and cutting in to do.  Actually, the wall paint looked fantastic and was exactly the color I was going for.... if you didn't look too close at the paint drips and the inconsistency due to lack of primer...The entry hall was next and I knew that I wanted Ralph Lauren Venetian Red. It was after three coats in this process that I realized I needed to do a little more research on the projects I was attempting as well as outweigh whether or not  the cost was really going to be less if I do it myself rather than hiring a professional. Even after the painting debacle of 2005, most of the time I am willing to run the risk of waiting to call in the reinforcements because I love making my home better through various projects by at least attempting to do in myself.

Since 2005, I have learned a few things along the way:
1. Projects that seem easy and may be fun at first may be time consuming and back breaking work.
2. Just because you can buy almost every material and all the supplies you would need to build a house from the ground up at Lowe's, doesn't mean you can actually build your own house!
3.  If you do start a project and get in over your head, there is always a professional that can do it in half the time and will ensure the work being done to your satisfaction....so demo and remodel away! You can call a contractor later.

Here are a few projects that I have worked on that ultimately ended up looking really good but you can see why there are paid experts to help out if things go south:

Half-Bath Remodel, North Carolina House

Time: 3 Weeks
Trips to Lowe's: 10
Total Cost: $1200
Contractor Quote: $1500 (materials and Labor)
Contractor Work:  $300
Chiropractor Appointments: Yes






Popcorn ceiling removal and painting entry hall ceiling, North Carolina House

Time: 4 days...planned to do the entire main floor.  Stopped after entry hall was completed.
Trips to Lowe's: 5
Total Cost: $500
Contractor Quote: $1000
Contractor Work: None
Chiropractor: Yes
*Note:  Don't start in a place that MUST be finished right away.  The entry hall was not the ideal place to begin this project.  Also, this is a project you quickly find out why contractors charge so much for labor.  Gravity seems to be a big part of why this is such a hard project to try the do it yourself method.

Switch plate replacement to satin nickel, Lawrence Kansas House

Time: 2 hours for 15 multi-layout plates
Trips to Home Depot: 2
Total Cost: $90
Contractor Quote: None
Contractor Work: None
Chiropractor: No






Paint main level of Lawrence Kansas House

Time: 5 days (before I gave up)
Trips to Home Depot: 6
Total Cost: $250
Contractor Quote: None
Contractor Work: $800 (to fix my work and complete kitchen, entry hall and master suite)
Chiropractor: Yes



Bathroom faucet updates, North Carolina House

Time: 3 hours
Trips to Lowe's: 4
Total Cost: $150
Contractor Quote: None
Contractor Work: None
Chiropractor: Yes






Refinish spare bedroom furniture from oak to platinum paint, Virginia Beach House

Time: 6 hours, about 18 to go
Trips to Lowe's: 2 so far, but return trips are inevitable
Total Cost: $190 so far
Contractor Quote: $2500, to paint and cut, fit and adhere mirror flat surfaces
Contractor Work: Not yet....keeping my fingers crossed
Chiropractor: There is a strong possibility




Replace shower head to luxury shower head, all 3 houses

Time: 15 minutes (if you read the directions)
Trips to Lowe's: 1
Total Cost: $50-$100
Contractor Quote: None
Contractor Work: None
Chiropractor: Only if you have a bad back anyway and have a standing appointment



Lowe's is always running fantastic sales and they have friendly and patient individuals that are there to ask copious questions and get recommendations from.  For bigger projects, although I do not do this often, it may be worth getting a Lowe's credit card because most of the time they will offer 0% interest for 12 months.  Not to mention the inevitable multiple trips per project to return and purchase additional supplies may be easier if you are using one credit card.  I always pay the card off as soon as I can to avoid back interest from being applied after your 12 month grace period.  This way, if you are not in a cash position to replace washer and dryer or have projects that far exceed your budgeted amount, you don't get into trouble.

Happy remodeling!

A

Kayak.Com

Sometimes traveling can be a hassle....ok, with TSA becoming more interested in seeing me naked with the new scanners all in the interest of National Security, it is ALWAYS a painful process.  From booking a flight, to going through security, to wondering if you are going to get to your connecting city on time for you next flight and finally, what are the chances that your luggage will actually make it to the same place you are at the end of a very long travel day.  I always think about how I hate to travel while I am staring out the window of the plane, watching the guys in the earmuffs throw luggage around and hoping to get a visual of my bright lime green suitcase (which is now almost black) to be more confident that the business suit I MUST have makes it on the plane so I am not in my sweat pants for an important business meeting.

I always start out the day with high hopes and being ultra-friendly to everyone in my originating city....inevitably, I end up in a bad mood somewhere along the way and my patience and friendly smile doesn't end up with me on the other side.  As of late, I haven't had any major issues, but just the process can quickly diminish all of the excitement and pleasure that was once involved with air travel.  Probably because when it was still an enjoyable process, my parents were schlepping most of the luggage and my biggest responsibility was which coloring book or puzzles would I busy myself with between looking out the window to see if there was anything below I could recognize or track the exact proximity to our next stop.

The biggest issue with air travel is obviously the price of the ticket compared to what you know you will not be receiving for the exorbitant price you pay.  Anytime I book a flight, I say a little prayer that they will upgrade me to first-class depending on the status of my frequent flyer membership in the hopes of preserving some shred of decent treatment to preserve some of the pleasure that should be involved with air travel.  Since I am at least one connecting flight to my family back home in Kansas, I am always on the hunt for a flight that is reasonable either for myself or my parents on weekends that fit everyone's schedules.  Typically, I fly American back home as there is now one flight per day from Dallas to Manhattan, (Kansas) that boasts one terminal and vending machines with an excellent selection of mostly expired snacks that take debit or credit cards, but only in the pre-security area.  The drawback is always that there is only one flight per day serviced by a regional jet so these seats go very quickly and therefore, more expensive than one would think to end up at the center of the country without any notable attractions. The benefit to spending a little more to fly to such a low populated area is that I do not need to spend the addition $200 to rent a car and drive another 2 hours each way from the Kansas City airport.  I much prefer forgoing the flexibility of flights and lower prices to fly into Kansas City in order to avoid the additional travel time to get to my favorite small town the the whole world....Junction City, Kansas.

Last year, I started looking for flights for a multitude of trips I was taking by using Kayak.com.  I really like Kayak because even though it routes me to AA.com for my Kansas trips, I am able to find flights on Kayak that I can't even find on AA.com if doing a general search on my desired travel days.  Kayak can search flights from all of the major online low-fare travel sites like Hotwire or Travelocity as well as the airlines to show you everything that is available specific to the times you like to travel and dates that may be flexible.

Here are some flights that I searched for fun locations around the world from Norfolk to get away to next week....if I were able to jet-set like I didn't have a job:

Paris, France
$1010 (Delta, 1 stop)

Sept 9
3:25 PM - Leave Norfolk International
7:55 AM - Arrive at Charles du Gaulle
Total: 10h30m

Sept 16
11:10 AM - Leave Charles du Gaulle
4:45 PM - Arrive Norfolk International


Total: 11h35m



Key West, FL
$356 (American, 1 stop)

Sept 9

7:25 AM - Leave Norfolk International

1:19 PM - Arrive at Key West International

Total: 5h54m

Sept 16

7:00 PM - Leave Key West International

11:50 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International

Total: 4h50m

Las Vegas, NV
$438 (Delta, 1 stop)

Sept 9
5:55 PM - Leave Norfolk International
9:52 PM - Arrive in Las Vegas
Total: 6h57m

Sept 16
11:00 AM - "Leaving Las Vegas"
8:48 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International
Total: 6h48m

Prague, Czech Rep

$1281 (Delta, 1 stop)

Sept 9
10:10 AM - Leave Norfolk International
10:10 AM - Arrive at Prague International
Total: 17h50m

Sept 16
11:55 AM - Leave Prague International
6:15 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International
Total: 12h20m

Nadi, Fiji
$1642 (Continental, 3 stops)





Sept 9
9:52 AM - Leave Norfolk International
4:45 AM - Arrive in Nadi, Fiji (Sept 10)
Total: 26h53m

Sept 18
9:45 AM - Leave Nadi, Fiji
4:45 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International (Sept 19)
Total: 22h59m


Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
$1074 (American, 1 stop)

Sept 9
7:10 PM - Leave Norfolk International
9:00 AM - Arrive in Rio (Sept 10)
Total: 12h50m

Sept 16
8:10 PM - Leave Rio
1:50 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International (Sept 17)
Total: 18h40m

Rome, Italy
$1053 (Continental, 2 stops)

Sept 9
12:38 PM - Leave Norfolk International
9:30 AM - Arrive at Rome Flumicino
Total: 14h52m

Sept 16
2:40 PM - Leave Rome Flumicino
10:03 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International
Total: 13h23m


Sydney, Australia
$1536 (Continental, 3 stops)

Sept 6
2:40 PM - Leave Norfolk International
6:50 AM - Arrive in Sydney (Sept 7)
Total: 26h10m

Sept 19
10:25 AM - Leave Sydney
8:58 PM - Arrive at Norfolk International (Sept 20)
Total: 24h33m


Please comment and let us all know of some fun travel plans you are currently making and, if you haven't already booked flights, you should visit Kayak. Another benefit is you can sign up for email alerts based on a location you want to visit and want to be notified of low fares if your dates are flexible.

Safe travels and happy vacationing!

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