A Pinching Shoe

"The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that fits all cases."
Carl Jung

Never forget that you are each your own wonderful person and you must live the best life for you. It's hard, but try to not to give into the social pressures of life. You are you and that is always more than enough.

Happiness in my mailbox!

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Chris is away, as usual, at work Monday through Wednesday of this week and I miss him lots. He was working from home all last week and I think I got a little spoiled from being with him every day!

However, this little cutie arrived in my mailbox yesterday and brought a little piece of sunshine to my day:

I've never heard of Boden before; maybe I'm a little late on the game for this brand? Boden is evidently sold at Anthropology. I think I might be a little in love with "my" new discovery!

Here a short list of the items that I am dying for (please be aware that I LOVE surprise presents and feel free to gift accordingly!):

Scallop Trim Coat

Textured Cotton Shift
(I would seriously cut someone for this dress...)

Favourite Crew Neck Cardig
(Perfect for dear Stephanie who once told me that she was planning on dressing in all leopard when she was in her 80's-- because come on, when you're 80 you can do whatever you want!)

Rose Cardigan

Corsage Flower Necklace

I won't be buying anything since I'm leaving in just a few months with a backpack containing only the bare essentials but it was definitely fun to do some window shopping from my couch!

And lets be honest, how much cuter are the Boden models who are in natural-ish settings than the awkwardly posed models from some other catalog that rhymes with Schmay-Shrew?

VS.

Valentines Weekend in photos

Scrabble

Yum! Dum Sum

My Valentine!

Chinese New Year Parade

A lion to scare away evil spirits insuring us a year of good luck

I hope you all had an amazing weekend with the ones you love!

Not from this weekend but I melt a little every time I see this photo of a open grassy area in Berlin that had been mowed so that the heart was made of longer grass.

Leftover Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Happy Friday!

Chris and I have lots of plans for this Valentine's weekend; nothing romantic but I know that we will have an amazing time together.

Tonight we are going to a concert. We're seeing a Texas classic, Robert Earl Keen. We got our tickets for only $10 each (publicly priced at $25 each) on Groupon**. I'm really excited to see Robert Ear Keen, drink Shiner beer, and do a little two-stepping (you didn't know that I knew how to dance the 2-step did you?). Saturday we are going to a beer festival which is perfect because Chris L-O-V-E-S beer. When we lived in Dallas he brewed his own delicious beers! Sunday we are going to a Chinese New Year festival in Chicago's Chinatown.

One of my best friends from high school, Maggie, is also in Chicago this weekend visiting lots of friends (she used to live here) and I'm pumped to see her!

Get excited, I'm planning on taking lots and lots of pictures this weekend!

I also wanted to share the easy-peazy veggie packed dinner I made last night! It is super cold here in Chicago, I was starving, and I did not want to go to the grocery store; so I took a survey of what we had in the kitchen and ended up with these ingredients:

2 Russet Potatoes

1 Zucchini

1 container of cherry tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic

1 tupperware (I think about a cup and a half) of cooked chicken

1 scallion

Slice the zucchini long-ways into circles and then quarter, mince the garlic, and slice the scallions. I also pulled the chicken apart into bite sized pieces.

I "baked" the potatoes in the microwave for about 8 minutes followed my 10 minutes in the oven to make the skins a little crispy. At the same time I sautéed the garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, and chicken together with a dash of olive oil and sea salt. The last step was to cut open the potatoes and scoop on your warmed toppings! Don't forget to add the scallions (because I totally did!).

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with the ones you love!

** You are using Groupon, right? Each they send out an email with offers. They have coupons in almost 50 cities. Think $40 worth of dinner for only $20 at a great local restaurant. There are also local deals for shopping, spas, local bakery. The deal is only for that day so you buy the deal through the website with a credit or debit card and then are issued a printable coupon with the deal that you can use for about 6 months or so.

I would say I've chosen only about 5% of the deals I've been emailed but the ones that I have chosen were awesome-- including 50% the expensive photography class I had already decided to take!

Here's the link: GROUPON!

My Grandmother is wittier than your Grandmother

There were a lot of reasons that I choose SMU for my college career but one of the main reasons was I have family history in Dallas. My parents were born and raised in Dallas, my Dad got his MBA from SMU, I was born in Dallas, and most of my extended family still lives in Dallas. I wanted to get away from North Carolina which felt suffocatingly small and to move far far away.

BUT then at the same time I was kind of a wuss and moved to a city where my Grandmother lived only 15 minutes away from my dorm. I loved living in the same city as my Grandmother, I saw her at least every two weeks for a meal, or a movie, or to take a walk. My Grandmother is 72 and still works, she does the New York Times crossword puzzle every day and even finishes the incredibly hard Sunday editions in pen! Not only is she super smart but she's hilarious.

This email chain between the two of us made me laugh out loud:

From: "My Witty Grandmother" wittygm{at}att.net

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:21:57 -0600

To: 'meredith'goodbyedallashelloworld{at}gmail.com

Subject: RE: Hello!

Ha, ha. I heard your voicemail at home and I called you back and left a message! How long can this go on?

We have 4 inches of snow on the ground.

I’ll call you later today.

Love you!

From: 'meredith'goodbyedallashelloworld{at}gmail.com

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:53:12 -0600

To: "My Witty Grandmother" wittygm{at}att.net

Subject: RE: Hello!

4 INCHES IN DALLAS? And you're at the office? How did you get there? Sled?

From: "My Witty Grandmother" wittygm{at}att.net

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:23:34 -0600

To: 'meredith' goodbyedallashelloworld{at}gmail.com

Subject: RE: Hello!

Yes. My neighbor’s bichon frise pulled. She was heroic.

18 months: 1 backpack

I'm leaving May 29th for a world wide adventure. After leaving Chicago I'll be heading to South Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and maybe even Mexico for a wedding.

That's 3 continents over 18 months my loves! Over 20 countries! And now the all important question becomes:

WHAT CLOTHES DO I PACK?

Well, actually that question is kind of easy: not a whole lot. I learned tremendous amounts while backpacking in Europe.

**CAUTION CAUTION** If you are the type who gets grossed out when thinking about wearing the same shirt for two days in a row or going a few days without taking a shower then you should leave this post THIS VERY INSTANT! Even if you need to blow-dry every day this not the place for you my friend.

Let me take you on a guided tour of my backpack in a whirlwind of a budget travel packing list!

I am in the school of thought that when packing for a worldwide backpacking trip less is more. You have to carry that load on your back every time you go to a new city. You will have to trek up stairs, wind through large crowds, and face some monster hills each travel day. When you have been struggling up a hill for 20 minutes you really start to hate that extra pair of shoes in your pack.

This is my backpack. It's a woman's pack from Mountain Hardware. I schlepted it across Europe so I have undoubtedly broken it in. In backpack talk it's 50 liters. This isn't a huge pack for such a long trip; I met some people in Europe who were traveling for 3 months with 90 liter backpacks that weighed 75 pounds! That's just ridiculous to me. I would much rather do without a hair dryer and straightening iron!

I really like my pack: it's comfortable, it expands easily, and it is very durable. The only downside to my pack is that it only opens from the top or a zipper on the side. If I had my choice I would have gotten a pack that zips open all around the front. But those packs didn't fit my body and so here I am with this pack! Finding a woman's pack with all of your wants that also fits can be tough. I can't urge someone strongly enough to choose the pack that feels the best!

That's my pack from behind (and my behind!). I hope that it doesn't look too ridiculous on my body. I think of it as my snail shell-- my little home while traveling!

Now on to my clothes. This is the part where all of your mouths drop and you say "but that's NOTHING." I am bringing shockingly few pieces of clothing:

2 pairs of pants

1 long sleeve shirt

1 short sleeve shirt

1 pair of leggings/long johns

5 pairs of socks

4 pairs of underwear

1 pair of shorts

1 t-shirt for sleeping

1 pair of hiking boots

1 pair of flip flops

1 jacket

and that's it my loves. I've found that I can live with the bare essentials and if need be I can always buy a simple dress or skirt along the way. When Chris and I get to conservative countries in the Middle East I will be making some adjustments and adding head scarves and floor length skirts to my wardrobe.

The key to packing so little is to focus on comfort, durability, and washability. You want to be able to wear the same clothes several times without them stretching, becoming wrinkled or getting nubbly after a million wears. Without a doubt on a low cost backpacking trip you will be washing your clothes in sinks and showers around the world. The pants that I will bring can be adjusted to multiple lengths and are super comfortable. They also both have draw-string waists. I found out a draw string was really important while I was in Europe because over 3 months I lost almost 20 pounds and 2 sizes!

This post has already gotten kind of long so next week I will let you know about the toiletries, medical supplies, and random other items I will be packing!

I'm sure I haven't told you everything so If you have any questions let me know!

xoxo,

Mer

Oh and just an out-take that made me laugh:

A picture-packed post

Hello from a VERY snowy Chicago. It has been snowing for at least 9 hours here! I know it's not the snowpocalypse (I actually like snowmaggedon more) that DC is experiencing right now; but it's still a lot of snow!

(That's the lake in the background! What lake you ask? Lake Michigan!)

(And I couldn't resist taking a picture of these puppies playing in the snowy park)

Last night Chris and I took a little adventure to a Vietnamese neighborhood in Chicago (Argyle Street for those of you who live in Chicago) and had DEEEELICIOUS food!

Chris and I both ordered pho (pronounced fuh). Pho is beef soup with rice noodles, onions, and maybe some other magical tasty stuff; you can mix in lime, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and culantro (like cilantro but the leaves are longer). Chris ordered the extra large size and it was huge:

We took home a ton of leftovers! Tonight we might head out for dinner again since we don't have any groceries or maybe we will make our way the 6 blocks to the grocery store and cook.

I have exciting news! I now have almost all of the stuff I am taking on our trip. So tomorrow I am going to pack and take pictures of everything that will be going with me around the world to share with you!

And then just one beautiful picture from the weekend:

I hope you are all staying warm and dry!

xoxo,

Meredith