Living the Glam Life

I have a quick Joy of Travel for you all, though the "joy" in this one is not sarcastic....a bit excessive? Absolutely. But definitely not a bad one.

I took the redeye from Denver to Chicago last night - with an arrival into O'Hare airport at about 1:30am CST. After a long weekend of fun, dancing, jam sessions, awesome ridiculousness, and very little sleep...it was a rough night. My wonderful job, however, does make my arrivals much easier by taking care of a car service for me. (which I'm always grateful for, but even more than normal when it's almost 2:00am and I can barely keep my eyes open) Meaning that I make one quick call after landing, and a lovely car magically appears 5-7 minutes later with my name on it. Usually it's a very nice town car....which more than gets the job done. But very early this morning, this is what I found waiting for me:

Yup. That's a stretch limo...just for yours truly. This isn't the first time this has happened, but it is more of a rare occurrence. I mean...what do you even say to that? I'm pretty sure that thing can comfortably seat 10-12 people. But no...it was sent for 1 (fairly small) person. If I hadn't been so incredibly exhausted, I probably would have strutted my way over to it (in my hot pink sweat pants), pretending like I was a rock star. Unfortunately, I was using all my power just to NOT curl up on the airport sidewalk and fall asleep. So it was pretty much lost on my tired self...let's be honest...they could have sent a Geo Metro and I wouldn't have known the difference. Aaahhhhhhh, such a shame.

On a Midnight Train to Georgia...

Okay, nothing about that title is true. I’m actually on a 5:45pm flight to Denver. That just doesn’t sound as good set to music though. (And it’s a Southwest flight…which means no assigned seats…which means a higher blood pressure for me. I’m too type-A for that garbage…just give me a freaking seat number ahead of time, please!)

In keeping with my theme of “The Summer of Lindsay” (I haven’t previously proclaimed this to you all, but I have to myself, and maybe 2 or 3 other people…so it’s legitimate), I am continuing my USA tour today by flying out to Denver! I’m kind of ridiculously excited about the trip. I get to spend 3 days in a fabulous city, get to see a whole bunch of people that I adore and never get to see frequently enough, and get to do some really fun and funny things that are technically for my job with some of said people. And 3 gentlemen in particular deserve a shout-out – MJ, EW, and NM (my gracious hosts). Thanks for letting me stay at the House of My-Jarv-Berg (did I get that right?). I hope you guys are ready for morning-Lindsay though…you’ve never met her before. She’s grumpy until she’s had coffee, she takes pretty much a full hour to wake up, her hair is always a mess, and she may or may not be wearing a bite plate that makes her talk with a bit of a lisp. Oh, and she is almost never in the mood to dance…which I know is shocking to those who know rest-of-the-day Lindsay.

Look out Denver…here I come! I’m ready to take you by storm.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, HOT

This is such an easy follow-up to my last post...things I will not miss about North Carolina #2 - the heat. My God...the HEAT! How do people seriously survive here? I can't even tell you how miserable it's been. And not just the heat...the humidity! Even the walls sweat all day.

When I take Lalo outside for her first morning potty run, at around 6:30 or 7:00am, it's already 85 degrees. Which is so lovely when I get back then to have my first cup of coffee and my pajamas are stuck to my back.

When I drive home at 11:45pm (which I just did), my car still reads 92 degrees. So much for trying to be a little 'green' and turning down the A/C a bit overnight....evening chill? Doesn't exist here.

And finally, the big fat cherry on top of this sweaty sundae...here's the beauty I got to lay eyes on this afternoon:

Um...109 degrees...really, North Carolina? Really?! Come on...give a girl a break. And that PLUS approximately 100% humidity all day? I rest my case. 'Nuff said.

Me and My Sweet, Sweet Blood

Things I will not miss about North Carolina #1 - the...freaking...bugs. Now, I know that I must have sweeter than average blood, because ever since I was a wee little one, I've always been the one in any group that gets bug bites. Even when no one can see any bugs. And everyone thinks I'm faking. Until I swell up, and proceed to scratch the bites until they bleed. Lovely imagery, right?

But I swear, North Carolina has more bugs than anywhere I've ever been. The biting ones are my biggest problem, but even ones that don't bite are everywhere. All shapes. All sizes. All Colors. All numbers of legs. Ew.

I am not exaggerating in the slightest (Girl Scout's honor) when I say that I am currently able to count 29 bug bites on myself (26 of which are on my legs)...all fairly sizeable. And I am THIS close to taping oven mitts on my hands to stop myself from scratching. I am under the impression/have the expectation that this will not be an issue for me in my new home. Come on, LA...don't let me and my desirable blood down.

The Joys of Travel - Part 1

Unfortunately, I have to label this one "Part 1" because there will inevitably be sooooo many more of these to follow. (flying in and out of LAX airport is ALWAYS a treat) I know, I know...I chose a job where travel is part of the game, so I can't complain all the time, right? And I need to make sure that I state very clearly that "I love my job. Very much." And no, I'm not just putting that in there because my boss reads my blog :) But travel can certainly be tough...very tough...and stressful, and annoying, and infuriating, and exhausting, yada yada yada. The gosh darn airlines and airports make it incredibly hard not to moan sometimes! I swear they do ridiculous things to me on purpose.

Yesterday's story really isn't even one of my best, but I figured I'd share anyway. My itinerary was one of my (seemingly) easier ones - direct flight from Philadelphia back to Raleigh/Durham. Well, I had to drive first from Reading, PA to Philly - approximate drive time = 1 hour, 30 minutes (and that was with no traffic). Printed boarding pass ahead of time, check. Only carry-on luggage, check. Quick cruise through the "Experienced Traveler" (understatement of the year) security line, check. Walk directly to gate because I was cutting it close on time, check. Oooooohhhhhhhh....US Airways overbooked the flight by 12 people...and halt.

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that somewhere between 15-20% of all my flights end up overbooked. Really, airlines?! You can figure out how to get wireless internet service on a plane that's 35,000 feet in the air, but you can't match the number of seats on the plane to an equal number of bodies? Ugh.

So just short of 1 hour later, there were finally enough volunteers to give up their seats that we could board. Board the plane, pull out of gate, get in line to take-off....currently #2 for departure...and another plane has power failure AS it's trying to take-off (thanks to our pilot for the happy update)....and halt again. Runway is shutdown so that they can take all the passengers off that plane right there. Congratulations flight to Raleigh...you just got bumped from #2 for departure to #23. Get comfy...it's gonna be awhile.

Nerd Alert!

I am not even a little bit embarrassed to admit that this is my new prized possession:


Yes...don't adjust your screens...it's a book. Books have always made me happy, and this one makes me particularly happy. And giddy. And want to jump up and down. It feels like I'm one legitimate step closer! Somehow, having a book on any topic always makes me feel like more of an expert, and as if I know what I'm talking about. I don't even necessarily have to have read it...just holding it proudly in my hands ups my worth.

I have, however, started reading this one already (maybe "devouring" is a more appropriate word). Here are some of the more interesting things I've hit so far:

1. In the latest survey of FBI crime statistics, which ranked violent crime levels of the 300 largest metropolitan areas in the US, Los Angeles didn't even make the top 70. (GOOD)
2. The Los Angeles metropolitan are reliably ranks at or near the top of ozone pollution lists. (BAD)
3. LA has an average of 291 sunny days a year. (Out of 365?! VERY GOOD)
4. The city flower is the Bird of Paradise. (No idea what that is, but sounds GOOD)
5. There's a whole section on how to be prepared in the event of an earthquake (not that uncommon), which includes such nuggets as "Strap your water heater to the wall." (BAD)
6. There are more than 100 public golf courses in the greater Los Angeles area. (For this girl, who has just recently decided to take golf back up....GOOD)

Aaaahhhh...so much knowledge to be had. I think it's perfectly fitting that I'm overjoyed about a new book, seeing as how one of the criteria for my new apartment (wherever that will be) is close proximity to a library. No, I'm not joking. I'm just an LA-bound nerd...and proud of it.

12 is the Magic Number

That's right folks...after much moaning and whining, and procrastinating, and also many unsuccessful attempts at the Bewitched nose jiggle (I'm able to believe in magic when it can help me out), I have 12 whole boxes packed up and ready to move across the country!

Now, I'm not sure if 12 sounds like a lot to people, but to me it's a huge feat. Going from a giant stack of flattened boxes (and way too many minutes, maybe hours, of just staring at them in disgust) to the image above? Almost magical.

Obviously I'm trying to pack logically as I go, and keep out the things I might need in the next couple of weeks (on the days I'm actually home anyway) and pack the rest...BUT, who's to say I'm not going to be inspired to bake cupcakes and need my awesome covered pan? Or what if I get the urge to look at my 21st birthday photo album? Or what if I just really want to drink coffee out of a Christmas mug?! Theoretically, I now cannot do those things until I get to LA. So of course I realllllllly want to. Darn.