Short and sweet today. I’ve been interviewed over at The Marriage Project reflecting on life as a newlywed, and guest posted on Financial Samurai about my entire RTW experience – from how we decided to go, what it was really like on a daily basis, and wrapping up my thoughts on the journey now that we’re home.

(Hi, new visitors! It’s nice to have you here – stay awhile, won’t you? Read more about me, check out some of my top posts, dig a bit deeper into the RTW stuff or just poke around at your leisure.)

This week’s links:

Broke Millennial ponders the financial ramifications of a quarterlife crisis

Money Life and More is talking about expenses our parents never had to deal with

So true. When it comes to money, there’s always SOMETHING

Stephany lifts the lid on her debt and commits to decimating it. Let’s give her some props (and maybe recommendations for other inspiring PF bloggers in the same boat!)

Dinner:  A Love Story whips up some restaurant-worthy carbonara

Makin’ the Bacon reckons making friends is just like dating

20 Years Hence are entering the next phase in their RTW journey, as detailed in this thoughtful post

Marginal Boundaries reflects on living abroad and finding love and enlightenment

How novel – a dude who pushed his fiancee to keep her surname. Progress indeed. And how’s this for a zinger halfway through the story: “Liz also enjoys pole dancing. The couple have a pole in their living room so sometimes she will do a routine while Joseph watches as he cooks a meal.”

Lastly, my pick from A Practical Wedding this week is the spectacular Leaving and looking in the same direction. I can so relate to the dawning realisation that no matter how long and how intensely you’ve known your partner, you can never really *know* another human being; the contemplating how things might be easier if you weren’t together – because even when you’ve knowingly chosen a life together and committed to the hard parts, sometimes you still wonder ‘what if’.

Okay, so I saw Frozen this week … and I was pleasantly surprised.

It’s the most progressive Disney film yet – warm and engaging and hilarious.

Now I want a reindeer sidekick and a smartass snowman called Olaf to accompany me through life.

My only problem was with the music. Aside from the troll song, all the musical numbers were almost unbearable – trite and shrill.

Don’t get me wrong: I love musicals. If life were a TV show, I’d want to be dropped straight into the middle of Gilmore Girls, with Glee a close runner up.

But Frozen’s musical numbers just don’t hold a candle to old Disney

Have you seen Frozen? Thoughts?

This week’s links:

This perfectly encapsulates white privilege in a nutshell

The Savvy Explorer outlines the best way to get from the airport to town in top cities around the world (AirTrain FTW!)

Solange hits it out of the ballpark with these observations about growing up

Need some new year’s inspiration? Start here with Emily

Pushing Thirtyy has some money lessons for her younger self

Life, Etc provides a succinct guide (with examples) to negotiating freelance pay rates

What are we working for, asks Stacking Pennies?

At Brazen Careerist, what you need to know about the ‘hidden curriculum’ at work

I admire Penelope Trunk for telling it like it is: Men with families feel more trapped than ever and Three cheers for women who say they don’t want to work

Jen Dziura sheds some light on the business of egg donation

Cordelia is committing to doing more housework

At Married with Luggage, how to overcome different conversational styles

This post tugged at my heartstrings and so perfectly sums up how I feel about my own mother

Finally, I’m late to this incredibly affecting portrait of a homeless girl and her family in New York, but better late than never. I found it incredibly frustrating – you’re rooting for her and want a happy ending but you know how unlikely it is. While life is certainly not easy for this family, they do benefit from a lot of public funding/programmes and have squandered inheritances and windfalls. Just throwing more money at the problem – even if it was a possibility – isn’t the answer. There are no easy solutions.

Inspired by Stephany!

My favourite post was Can we all realistically expect to to love our jobs?

My most popular post was Sometimes we push people away when we need them the most.

My most helpful post was Couchsurfing vs Hospitality Club vs Staydu vs Global Freeloaders – what’s the best hospitality exchange site?

A post whose success surprised me was Food delivered to your door – what’s not to like?

A post I feel didn’t get the attention it deserved was Seven things travelling has taught me.

The post I was most scared to push publish on was Bullshit-free bride: on marriage and name changing

The post I am most proud of was After the wedding, some thoughts.

Apparently some of my best posts are also my most vulnerable. Perhaps that’s not all that surprising. Hard as they are to write, they’re also the most rewarding, which makes them some of my favourites.

I always get a kick out of reading over stuff I’ve written once a little time has passed in between. Sometimes I surprise myself and wonder if I can possibly do any better (which isn’t really as arrogant as it sounds, I promise – it’s more a function of impostor syndrome than overconfidence). But as Ashley points out, the beauty of blogging is that you have a record of everything – so don’t forget to look back on it once in awhile.