Oh, hello there!

Wowsers, it has been a long time since I've written on this blog! I'm hoping that you're all over reading my travel blog, View from the Middle Seat, which has really taken off since I started writing it in January. I promise new, fun, original content there every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! PROMISE!


So, lets see... what to update you on? How about a list? I love lists...
1. We went to Barbados in March to celebrate my birthday. I firmly believe now that all birthday's should be celebrated on a tropical island. Or at least by taking the day off of work. Really, life is so much better when you're not dealing with work email on your birthday.

2. While in Barbados, I kept up on my book reading New Year's resolution. My March book officially was My Life in France by Julia Child. It was excellent - well written, very descriptive of daily life in Paris and reassuring to those less-domestic like me that if Julia Child didn't start cooking until her mid-30s, well, maybe there is help.

3. My April book is going well, but slowly. I'm reading A Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns. It's fascinating. It's also 955 pages, so it might end up being my April/May/June book. Perhaps I'll have to plow through a short book this week so I can read a whole book in April as promised.

4. As I said at the top, my blog/Twitter/on-the-side-travel-thing is going really well. I'm meeting so many fantastic people in the travel industry. So many, in fact, that I decided to bite the bullet and attend my first travel blogger conference. So I'll be heading out to beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia in mid-June for a long weekend of blogging fun. I'm SO excited to visit this beautiful part of Canada (and excited for a six hour lay over in Seattle before I catch the train to Vancouver - just enough time to hit up my favorite restaurant there!).

5. Speaking of traveling, we finally decided on and booked our summer vacation. We're headed up to Maine for nine-days of coastal road tripping. We'll be using Portland, Camden and Bar Harbor as our "base camps." We can't wait to get out in the cool, fresh air and bike, kayak and eat our way up the coast of this beautiful state.

6. Next weekend, Brad is riding in his first century ride of the year in middle-of-nowhere-Cambridge, Maryland. The first weekend of June, he'll be riding in the Tour de Cure, much closer to home. If you're so inclined, head on over to his fund-raising page and make a little donation. I'm so proud of him and can't believe I'm married to a guy who can ride a bike 100 miles in just a few hours.

7. It seems like everyone around us is having babies. My best friend is due at the end of August. Brad's best friend (okay, really his wife) is due at the beginning of September. And my Facebook newsfeed is filled with pregnant people. But fear not folks, we are most definitely not expecting! Too many trips untaken :)

8. Speaking of trips, we've really cut down on our traveling this year. Unlike last year when we traveled 11 of 12 months, our only real trip this year is our trip to Maine in August. It has been really, really, really, hard to cut back on traveling, but it will be worth it when we go on a BIG trip next spring. More details on that to come, I promise :)

9. Also speaking of trips, we did head to Chicago for a long weekend at the beginning of April to see some friends and enjoy a weekend get-away. Except, the flight there was a little more eventful than we had hoped it would be. Just in case you were wondering: the bag may not inflate, but oxygen will be flowing.

10. And that's about it. Our life is not very exciting right now, but that's okay... everyday life is just grand.