It’s funny how things happen sometimes. I’ve had Chicago mentioned to me multiple times in recent weeks in conjunction with our upcoming trip. Is this a sign?

I didn’t think we’d have time to visit the midwest, but I’ve been thinking…

Maybe we could take a couple of days out from our week in NYC to do an overnighter in DC. That would free us up to skip DC on the way back down – we could head to Chicago after Canada, then straight down to New Orleans, which would be the next major stop.

This would probably mean skipping Philadelphia, but is cheese steak really all that great? (The answer to your question: yes, i would visit somewhere purely for its food.)

Blast from the past

A year ago I survived a week without a smartphone, recounted all the crazy places I’ve lived, asked whether you find meaning in your work, and applied a few journalism lessons to life in general.

Two years ago I broke down my Myers-Briggs personality type and ran my first 10k.

Three years ago I got to experience living alone, very briefly, and asked what you cheap out on at the supermarket (ha, bread is so much more expensive now!)

And now, to the links! A fairly short roundup this week:

Fascinating: how women are invoking Sheryl Sandberg when asking for more money. I can totally see myself doing this in an attempt to negate any awkwardness I felt, though I imagine in certain situations it might not be appropriate?

Financial Samurai recounts three craptastic jobs that changed his life

Nicole and Maggie’s post in praise of their respective partners is rather lovely

A guide to cooking with vinegar, from Stonesoup

Save, Spend, Splurge explains how she’s made cold hard cash from virtual goods

Makeup and Mirtazapine shares some excellent dating advice for the diffident

And last but not least, I enjoyed Frugal Rules’ down to earth post on taking the plunge into self-employment

Happy weekends, all!

I seriously don’t understand people who go tramping/hiking for fun. Back in high school, my friends and I’d go roaming around the bush/creeks/cliffs/beaches just out the back of our suburb for hours in our downtime. Today, doing the same kind of thing is really not all that enjoyable, but at least it’s a good workout.

Last weekend we made the journey out to Kitekite Falls at Piha, which looks a heckuva lot like Karekare falls, but is much harder to get to.

It was way too icy to swim by my standards – wading around int he shallows for a bit completely numbed me from ankles to toes – but worth the trek anyway.

Along the way, we saw St John Ambulance staff helping out someone to the side of the trail – we’re still not sure what happened – and heard a rather loud alarm go off at one point … again, not quite sure what that might have been for (shark sighting? tsunami warning?) but there were no emergency vehicles or any sort of commotion when we left, so it can’t have been TOO bad.

To the links!

SO true. The best and worst things about getting older, by Obsessions of a Workaholic

And another hilarious piece by The Frugal Model: Friends don’t let friends…

Thinking it’s time to quit your job? Examine your reasons – remember, there is potential to be unhappy anywhere. Via Dumb Little Man

I can relate, very much, to Donna Freedman’s post today on family and forgiveness

Both Krystal and The Asian Pear just wrapped up their pescatarian challenges and have some insights to share

It is okay to be (relatively) unremarkable. We can’t all be rockstars, and that’s okay, via Grow. (Related: my ramblings on how my dreams have changed over time)

A cautionary tale from Social Diary for anyone who’s ever been filmed for TV broadcast in any capacity. Be aware of your rights…

Ashley totally killed it this week with all her posts. Here’s a quote from one that really resounded:

“I have known about myself for a long time that I am kind, but not particularly generous. I am especially selfish with my time. Most introverts can probably be accused of this, since we need so much time to ourselves, but even my introvert friends are more generous with their time than I am.  I hoard time and protect my freedom like the world is out to collect.”

Finally, I’m late to this one, but still wanted to highlight it anyway: true confessions of a mean girl. I wonder if this is true universally? Can one be popular without being mean and without the cliquey infighting? Thanks to one of my close friends in my younger years, I occasionally had reason to interact with THE single most popular girl (the most awkward point culminating in my dad driving us both to school one morning, without my actual friend there to act as a buffer – she stayed home sick that day, I think). And in about 8 years total of being at the same school as her, I really never got any of those impressions; she seemed above it all.