You Can Add "Travel Agent" to my Resume

Now that the Match is over, I feel like I can finally get excited for our trip to Europe in 1 week! I'm slightly insane and planned the entire trip last Spring. (The lady I booked with in Amsterdam wrote me: "Dear Caitlin, thank you for making the booking! Never had such an early booking before!")  Considering how crazy the first half of this year has been for me, I can't say I really regret getting all the reservations out of the way so early. The only issue I had was when I went to put together an itinerary last weekend, I had to remind myself about each detail I decided on from over a year ago! It was fun to see the B&B's and apartments I reserved in various cities, and some have even gone up in price from what I was quoted in Spring 2012!

Our itinerary is below:

Day 1-3 Venice

Day 4-5 Cinque Terre

Day 6-8 Florence

Day 9-11 Rome

Day 12-15 Paris

Day 16-17 Amsterdam

Chase's only pre-requisite for our housing was that there was some sort of terrace (probably since we have never had an outdoor space), so all but the first rental have a balcony. Here's to hoping it doesn't rain the whole trip!

Cinque Terre

Florence

Rome

Paris

Amsterdam (tiny terrace off the bedroom!)

It will be both of our first trips to Europe (gasp!) and could be our last if the horror stories of his future 90 hour work weeks become true, so we will try to soak up every minute of our time together. I hope I was able to channel enough Rick Steve's with my planning and our itinerary will fine!

Match Day!

I posted a little video about our Match Day experience. I mainly used my iphone, so I apologize for the low quality footage! My favorite part of the morning was watching Chase play with his band, and we had tons of fun celebrating with everyone throughout the day and at dinner. We didn't move from the couch on Saturday recovering from the day before and processing all of the changes we have coming up. I'm so proud Chase matched at one of his top programs, and he is one step closer to becoming a surgeon!

No More Four Eyes Jokes

I went to the eye doctor recently because I have abnormally dry eyes. I used to chalk it up to my computer work all day, but after getting comments from MANY people peppering me with their concern: "You must have an eye infection!"... "Are you upset about something?"...  "You look really tired today!" Nope, it's just how I look! ( I decided to seek a professional opinion.)

My doctor prescribed me drops and nightly eye ointment that take the red out, but beyond my chronic dry eye, I was also told I need a weak prescription for glasses. This was shocking to me because I always had my great eyesight as the one trait I could brag about. "Oh yes, contacts must be terrible to have to take out each night; did I ever mention I have 20/20 vision?" I guess all I have now is my arm wingspan and the fact that I can cross them weirdly behind my back (less of an envious trait). 

The point of this post is to review my experience with take home frames from Warby Parker.  The eye doctor only had terribly expensive options, but after a quick google search for trendy frames, I came across Warby Parker.  I'm pretty sure this whole internet glasses sensation is old news, but I'm a Glasses Newby and thought it would be nice to share my experience with others who may be in a similar situation.

I chose five frames from the site and within 2 days they were delivered.

I then had 5 days to try them on before I needed to use the pre-paid postage to mail them back.

You have the option to post pictures on Facebook for other Warby Parker customers to review, but I was scared for negative feedback so I just asked Chase, my sister and my mom. The consensus was that my face is too small for the large frames, so I went with the smaller brown frames from my box of five.

*Disclaimer: That was the first time using my iPhone for a solo shot. It might be my last!

If you like any of the Warby Parker styles, I would go that route. At $95 for frames and prescription lenses, it will save you a bundle.

Back in Action!

I've been on a blogging hiatus. Back in November one of Chase's friends from school mentioned that some of the doctors interviewing candidates for residency positions google all prospective applicants to dig up any preliminary dirt. I decided to do a test and google my husband's name and the ONLY thing that came up was my blog! This set me into a state of panic thinking I would destroy all chances of my husband securing a position because of my posts on crafting, family and weekend happenings. Of course this was ridiculous, but we have felt nothing but stress through this whole residency process, and I didn't want to add anything else to worry about--so the blog became private. Chase received the all important email today telling him he has matched to residency, so I decided to bring the blog back into action! I'm almost positive my readership consists of 2 people (mom and sister), but you can never be too careful in the world of google!

I think blogging helps me to feel creative, but beyond that I feel it's an excellent way to document important events in my twenty-something life. When I was visiting my parents a couple weeks ago, I found some old journals from Elementary/Middle school. They were slightly embarrassing to read next to husband (he had a field day teasing me about my love for Billy Joel and agonizing decision to choose dancing or soccer for an after school activity), but I'm grateful they exist. I now have trouble remembering how I felt as a teenager and the things I found important at that time in my life, so I'm sure in 10 years, all of that will change again and I can turn to these posts.