Archives for October 2014

The Glorification of Busy

October 30, 2014 By Caroline Peterson

My iPhone screen shattered this past weekend. (I don’t want to talk about it…) I waited nearly 4 years to upgrade my old phone and fell madly in love with my new iPhone 6. We made out a couple times.

Anyway, I turned off my cracked phone earlier this week (as requested by Apple) untilÂ my scheduledÂ appointment to fix it yesterday.

I didn’t tell anyone aboutÂ turning off my phone, except the hubster, because 1) I know I’m not that popular and 2) I didn’t actually want to talk to anyone, so it worked out! Know what happens in 2 days when you don’t have a phone?

You’re quickly reminded how inconsequential your life is.

No, really. Not in a bad sense. In sort of a refreshing sense.

Sadly, I turned on my phone in the morning to see if anyone called or texted.

Just 1 text.

I kept it on throughout the morning (bad!) and I got 2 more texts.

That’s it.

The world still rotated on its axis. Stocks didn’t plummet. Justin Timberlake is still married. (sigh.)

In general, I’m a busy gal. Much like one of my favorite bloggers, I thrive on busy. As RoniÂ says:

“Not busy for busy's sake busy but truly busy with lots of projects, activities and things I'm trying to accomplish.”

I’m always, always juggling a few outside projects and I’ve had an extremely busy, pressure-filled coupleÂ months atÂ just work alone. Not to mention trying to train for a half marathon, this blog, etc., etc., the list goes on and on. But so does yours, right?

My point is, we’re not all as busy as we think we are.

Turning off my phone made that perfectly clear.

I’m so beyond all the excuses of how much busier another person is than me or you or your mama.

I have a girlfriend who I swear to baby Jesus is always sick. (Not life threatening. I’m not that cold.) Every single time I talk to her, she’s sick. Sick and busy. Just so so so so so SOÂ busy. You know what that’s like to call after a while? Sort of exhausting. I don’t want to add to her busy schedule that she makes abundantly clear to me by calling and interrupting. And that’s exactly how it comes across when I’m basically making her more busy by talking to me. This happened for years…so I stopped calling.

Ever send or returnÂ somethingÂ to someone and fail to hear if they got it? Even an email. Then you wonder if they got it,Â so you wait the appropriate amount of time (you know, weeks) to ask if they got it, only to be blown off with the incredibly clichÃ© and typical:

Oh sorry. Yeah. You know how busy we are.Â

Yeah, I do. Guess what? We’re all busy! Busy or not, rude is rude. I’m not even looking for a thank you. I’m looking for a “Hey, got it!” But that’s too much for people who are too busy.

Let’s set aside forgetfulness for the moment. It happens to all of us and people understand because everyone has been there. Sometimes I totally forget to call or text back or tell someone, “Got your email. On it. Sorry I haven’t responded yet.”

…I was “busy” taking selfies of perfecting my top bun and FINALLY earning my chick card.

But a constant forgetfulness that’s attributed to being “so busy all the time” is just a crutchÂ for being carelessÂ in my humble opinion.

I realize there’s a psychological undertone to all of this. People who are “always busy” probably feel they’re contributing something. There is a very primalÂ need for you and me to know weÂ are valued. Perhaps their value is wrapped tightly around the idea of busyness.

But atÂ what point do you become so consumed with your own type of busy, that you forget you’re not the only one who is?

Unless you’re a diplomat stuck in very real deliberationsÂ for world peace, your busy is no more significantÂ than mine.

Busy is such an incredibly relative term.

So let’s stop it. Let’s stop the glorification of busy.

Got Travel Questions? Give ’em to me.

October 28, 2014 By Caroline Peterson

We interrupted the regularly scheduled #TravelTuesday post for a special announcement. I’m going to mix things up a little.

Don’t worry, the details about traveling to Scotland will continueÂ in no time.

You may not realize it, but I’mÂ sent a lot of questions about traveling. So, I know you kiddos are reading and that’s freakin’ awesome! But, I want to open the forum for any of you shy guys and gals who may be nervous to send me a personal message. Knowing what you’re curious about or what you’d like to see more of is a huge benefit for me and also for any readers who may have the same thoughts.

It can be anything! I love sharing any and all information about travel.

I’m usually anÂ open book with traveling because, without trying to sound completely smug, I truly believe traveling is one of the most enriching things you can do in your life.

Ask me any travel questions:

Do you want to know how I pack a carry-on for 2 weeks?

How about the best thing to do in Chiang Mai, Thailand?

How do I get over jet lag?

Want to know what my favorite travel-size products are?

How do I know how to nab good seats on a flight?

Curious as to what’s next on my travel bucket list?

Do I wash my bras in the hotel sink and hang them on the curtain rod to dry, horrifying housekeeping?

What? Too far?

Ask me whatever is on your mind when it comes to traveling.

Tell me what you’d like to see more of in travel-related posts.

Post those questionsÂ in the comments below and I’ll answer them directly or, if you’re lucky, write a lovely post for my response. You could be FAMOUS. Until next time, travel pals!

Edinburgh, Scotland: Part 3 – Edinburgh Castle & The Whiskey Tour

October 21, 2014 By Caroline Peterson

Welcome to #TravelTuesday, a new series on Caroline Made This about anything travel related – from adventures to advice to allÂ out awesome stories about traveling.

Last year,Â we traveledÂ to Edinburgh, Scotland for a quick mini-moon after our wedding in Somerset, England. We spent 4 days exploring old castles, climbing rolling hills and of course, sharing some Scottish whiskey with friends. I want to keep each part of these Trip Reports as short and sweet (and maybe picture-filled) as I can, so you can easily pick out the major details.

This PartÂ 3Â in a series about our trip to Scotland. Â Stay tuned for more.

Edinburgh, Scotland – Â Trip Report Index

Part 1 -Â Planning & Introduction

Part 2Â -Â Flight & Accommodation

Part 3Â -Â Edinburgh Castle & The Whiskey Tour

Part 4Â – Arthur’s Seat & The Ghost Tour

Part 5Â -Â St. Andrews, Castle Course

Part 6Â -Â Conclusion

Edinbugh Castle

Our amazing flat we rented through Airbnb wasÂ a hop, skip and a jump away from Edinbugh Castle, so we coordinated with friends and decided to hit there first after we arrived and I got all jackedÂ up on cold medicine. Woo!

Tickets areÂ Â£16.00 each for adults,Â Â£9.60 for children. They have a “fast pass” option if you pre-pay your tickets online which means you don’t have to queue at the ticket office. We didn’t have any problem and just walked right up. Additionally, they offer an Explorer Pass which gets you into 78 historical properties in Scotland.Â Plus, it gets you 20% off the audio tour of Edinburgh Castle. We didn’t buy the Explorer Pass, but did get the audio tour, so it could work out well for your budget if you’re going to see more than a few properties in Scotland.

edinburgh castle audio tour — Audio tour nerds! (our friends and newbie hubby)

The history of Edinburgh Castle is incredible. But, I won’t lie.

I came for the views.

Since I had been here before, I was pretty well aware of the detailed history…and this scary looking wax figure.

Edinburgh Castle sits high on the “hill” overlooking the beautiful city and was a good way to intimidate anyoneÂ who wanted to conquer it.

You just can’t beat these views.

Give yourself at LEAST 3 hours in the castle. It can easily turn into a day if you want to explore every nook and cranny or giant artillery.

edinburgh castle tour — Boys and their toys

They offer multiple-day passes if your family enjoys history and you think you’ll be heading back for more.

edinburgh castle — I miss these cool cats.

Someone turned into her father...reading every sign. — Someone turned into her father…reading every sign.

An important note: The castle isÂ busier than usualÂ during the wonderfulÂ Military Tattoo. It’s an annual event every August and something to either avoid if you don’t want more crowds or go to if you love, love bag pipes. (raises hand.)

The Whiskey Tour

Remember how I mentioned I was sick? Perhaps not the smartest choice, but we went on The Scotch Whiskey Tour in Edinburgh. Hot Toddy anyone?

The Scotch Whisky ExperienceÂ is located steps away from Edinburgh Castle. It would seem it’s a tourist trap of sorts because the gift shop (read: WALL OF WHISKEY FOR SALE) is displayed proudly in the front. But, what can I say? It was a great little whiskey tour and we did find out a lot of about scotch whiskey.

Side note: The Scots spell whisky without an ‘e’. It’s not incorrect, but it’s tough for me to adapt to. Sorry if I switch back and forth. Actually, just deal with it, we’re talking about yummy whiskey, okay?

We decided on The Gold Tour. They had us at: “A tasting tray of four Single Malts with tasting notes.” You can choose from various tours and times, but we thought this was our best bang for our quid.

See what I did there? (quid = pound, like buck = dollar)

You begin your tour by riding in a whiskey barrel. No, I’m not kidding. The whiskey barrel takes you around the history of Scotch Whisky in Scotland via an automated ride. Think: It’s a Small World, but with alcohol and no scary automatedÂ children. Basically, it’s way better.

When we finished up the quick ride, the employee who was letting me out of barrel asked me where I flew in from. I enthusiastically said, “England.” She looked quite confused, but smiled nonetheless.

I looked at my newbie hubby and said, “What the blimey was that about?”

He said, “Well, basically, you were sleeping in a whiskey barrel before she let you out, so she probably thought you flew in from the states today and were jetlagged…”

Did I mention I was really sick?

Moving onto drinking…

We went into the “Sense of Scotland” roomÂ and got a quick lesson about whereÂ each scotch whisky comes from Scotland and how the notes taste different depending on which region they are from. I FELL ASLEEP AGAIN. I swear it was awesome, I was just so sick. Don’t base going on this whiskey tour on my sad state of sickness. It’s a great tour!

Next, we went into THIS ROOM:

the scotch whisky experience — Happy hubby

It’s the oldest and largest displayÂ of scotch whisky in the world.

And. it. is. glorious.

Glor-i-ous.

After that we had our flight, errrrr, tasting of whiskey. The water is given in case you want to put it in your whiskey. I didn’t use my H2O. I was feeling mighty good again! Thank God for good pals and their peer pressure ways.

Next up: Our trek up Arthur’s Seat (twice) and The Ghost Tour.

Until next time, travel pals!

Sobertober Update

October 19, 2014 By Caroline Peterson

I have 11 days and 3.5 hours left of Sobertober. But who’s counting?

Jokes.

Sadly, there isn’t much to report. It’s certainly been different watching football with the hubsterÂ without a beer. I also had to turn down Happy Hour with my fabulous female coworkers. They even posted pictures which made me insanely sad I wasn’t there. Truth be told, I didn’t go because we finally got time to sit down and do our finances and I didn’t want to delay that anymore.

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What? How do you guys do your finances?

View on Instagram

It was a RIVETING Friday night.

That said, it has made me realize how “easy” it was for me to just pour a glass of wine when I got home or after a long week. It had become a habit and while kept in moderation, it’s still not a great habit to have. I feel like I can hear one of my dear friends, Stacey, yelling at me right now. “THEY SAY A GLASS OF RED WINE IS EQUIVALENT TO WORKING OUT. Sheesh.”

I also haven’t exactly been having a stress-free month. So that bottle of port wine I brought back from Portugal is just stare-ing at me. Jerk.

The Sobertober Good

I can wake up at 5:30 am on a Sunday to go for a 4 mile run on Ft. Lauderdale Beach and see this:

And this:

I’ve been able to focus on getting back on track with running and meal prep because I do feel a bit cleaner not drinking. (I’ll blog about meal prepÂ later this week.)
I go to the pool without a fruity margarita and survive!

The Sobertober Bad

I’ve taken to eating ice cream moreÂ (see above)
I have had Diet Coke way more than I care to admit as a replacement
The social aspect. Saying “no” to a beer or shot turns heads. Maybe I should surround myself with different people. I’m looking at YOU bad influencers. ;)

So that’s the dealio-yo. I’m sure I’ll write a conclusionÂ after all of this to let you know if my skin is glowing or I’ve suddenly dropped 25 pounds or I’m swearing off the stuff for life.

After I have a glass of that port wine, that is.

Where are all my participants who told meÂ they were joining Sobertober with me? How you doin’?

Find out how I did:
Sobertober Conclusion

The Bitch List

October 16, 2014 By Caroline Peterson

My mind is full right now. I’m stressed out. Thoughts are fuzzy. Having a blog can leave you a bit vulnerable. There’s some value in opening yourself up though – others can relate so you don’t feel so alone. So they don’t feel so alone too.

I want to be authentic with you. Yes, you. The people who are reading these very words.

I make an effort toÂ balanceÂ sharing humorous anecdotes about travels or life with being real about real-life struggles. But sometimes, I don’t say things overÂ concern about soundingÂ whiny. I have a wonderful life and I don’t want to ever take away from that.

ButÂ let me set the bar for honesty. It’s all not sunshine and rainbows, pictures of beaches and posts about traveling.

I’m on the struggle train right now. Choo choo.

Here’s why:

I haven’t been training for my half-marathon like I should and I feel like shit for it. I tell myself “Start Monday.” “Okay, start Wednesday.” “Dude. Get OUT of bed.” And another week has passed by where I missed another conditioning run.

I haven’t been back to Weight Watchers since I got back from Portugal and Spain because…duh. Did you SEE the pictures of tapas and what I mentioned about not training as much as I should?

I despise this time of year because of planning upcoming holidays with family. It always, always bring on a myriad of crappy feelings for me. Some, perhaps, I’ll write about soon.

I’m working a lot, staying late, working on weekends and sleeping very little.

I’m finding because of the above, I’mÂ stressed out and have lost a bit of weight. Bonus?

I have several posts written that I’m mulling over because I’m not sureÂ how I’m coming across, even if it’s honest, because I may offend someone. Then I’m reminded ofÂ this:

I’m a one-woman show! My site is a constant, constant work in progress. Maybe more than you know. I want the design of this site to be cleaner. I want my SEO to be better. I don’t get why Twitter is still the least clicked social media for my posts.

I need to edit over 1,000 photos that IÂ started a couple weeks back but haven’t gotten to because of work.

I overthink things. Moving 1500 miles put some friendships in clear perspective. A majority of time, it’s a cathartic feeling to know the truth. Other days,Â it hurts and I question a zillion things. Perhaps, I’ll write about it soon.

I’m at a weird “stage” where it’s tough to connect with women my age because I don’t often want the same things in this moment (or maybe ever) that they have. Like Coach purses, Tory Birch flats (Seriously. You paid how much?!), kids, a mortgage or stupid stick figures on the back of a minivan.

Because I don’t have the above items, my contributions feel discounted. Forget if I work through another weekend, I don’t have kids so I couldn’t possibly be drained. But IÂ AMÂ ex-hausted.

I’ve been strugglingÂ with the “b” words. Bossy and bitchy. Those two terms that come up when you’re confident in providing direction or being assertive. I get annoyed that I have to even think about that and then second guess myself. That’s come up a bit lately for me. Then I read something like this:

“What women need to understand is that the fear of being seen as “not nice” or bitchy comes from social messages about how they should behave. It’s the way men have gotten women to acquiesce for centuries. Just the thought of being considered less than nice makes a woman feel less than feminine. Each time you hesitate or avoid asking for what you want you’ve bowed to these messages. The vast majority of women could be more assertive and still be far from bitchy in reality. When you’re called that, it’s usually because you didn’t do what someone else wants —- in which case, kudos to you!”– Dr. Lois Frankel

So there you have it, my Bitch List. It all seemed to come to a bit of a head right now.Â One of my perceptive and hilarious girlfriends said I was just having an off week. I think she’s right.

This bossy bitch will take it in stride.

Edinburgh, Scotland: Part 2 – Flight & Accommodation

October 14, 2014 By Caroline Peterson

Welcome to #TravelTuesday, a new series on Caroline Made This about anything travel related – from adventures to advice to allÂ out awesome stories about traveling.

This Part 2Â in a series about our trip to Scotland. Â Stay tuned for more.

Edinburgh, Scotland – Â Trip Report Index

Part 1 -Â Planning & Introduction

Part 2Â -Â Flight & Accommodation

Part 3Â -Â Edinburgh Castle & The Whiskey Tour

Part 4Â – Arthur’s Seat & The Ghost Tour

Part 5Â -Â St. Andrews, Castle Course

Part 6Â -Â Conclusion

Flight

We got married in Somerset, England which is about 2 hours southwest of London.

Quick! Cute wedding break:

Instead of going back to London, Heathrow, we took a one-way flight from Exeter, England to Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s a quick 1 hour 30 minute flight from there. London would have been more expensive and added another 2 hours (driving) to our trip. We chose the ultra-cheap carrier, Flybe, at the recommendation of a seasoned-traveler friend of mine who was actually going with us too. Ever heard of Flybe? Neither had I! I usually just flew Ryan Air while trying to save money flying in Europe.

Anyway, had I known then what I know now, I probably would have tried to use points, but that said, you can’t pass up $125 (including luggage) for tickets to fly to Scotland with your friends. It was well worth it!

The Exeter Airport is adorable. I mean that in the nicest way possible. The security line was quick.

And we were on our way to Scotland in no time.

Exeter Airport Flybe — Look at those props!

Did I mention I was really sick? All the stress and travel related to a wedding overseas hit me in one snot-filled swoop and I had the nastiest cold known to (wo)man-kind. Super, right? So the plane ride wasn’t anything spectacular to me. I basically was just trying to not be that annoying person blowing her nose a lot.

But I was. Sorry ’bout it.

exeter airport — I actually used that scarf as Kleenex.

We landed a bit late and shared a cab with our pals to our separate, respective accommodations. It would have been cheaper to take the Â£4 Airlink bus that goes from the airport to the center of town.Â Check it out. But, again, I was feeling like shit and blowing snot out of each nostril like it would earn me money, so I just wanted to get to our place.

Which ended up being spectacular.

Accommodation

I found our flat through Airbnb. I really enjoy saying, “flat.” Our flat. Ha! Anyway, I didn’t have enough points for a free hotel stay yet (now I do *dusts off shoulder*) and I wanted to get a unique experience, not just a buffet breakfast in the morning.

Airbnb is great for an authentic, local experience. If you haven’t heard of it before, the basic gist is that people rent out their apartments, houses or rooms in a house for a pre-determined amount of time. Airbnb has a great satisfaction policy if you aren’t happy with your stay. In my opinion, the owner takes on more of the liability. That said, be smart. Only rent from people who have good reviews and you should be fine. If someone doesn’t have many reviews or has a bad response rate, even if the place looks fan-fucking-tastic…NEXT! We’ll definitely being doing this again after such a great experience.

After narrowing down our Airbnb options in the city and generally knowing we wanted to be close to the “Old Town” area, we decided on this gem. We were greeted promptly (even after our flight delay) by the owner’s friend who helped us up 4Â flights of stairs with all our luggage. No lift. That’s elevator in British, mates.

Hey, so, have I mentioned yet that I was really sick? No? I could barely breath as it was. 4Â fucking floors with luggage, a backpack and my purse, which was essentially another piece of LUGGAGE…?! No way! I stopped on the 3rdÂ floor, waving my white flag, gasping for air through my mouth, desperately looking for a snot rag. He probably thought I was just some out of shape American.

Wait a second…

Anyway, the trek was worth it. I mean…come. on.

airbnb edinburgh — That view. FROM OUR LIVING ROOM.

The flat is right next to Edinburgh Castle, with stunning views of the entire city, as well as a fully equipped kitchen, double bedroom, TV and free wireless internet. Oh and a washer and dryer, which any long-term traveler knows isÂ brilliant. (Trying to sound as British as I can.)

After explaining we could call with any questions, giving us some great pub recommendations (duh) and telling us to enjoy our mini-moon, we were left to enjoy some bubbly.

How sweet, right?

Next up, Edinburgh Castle and The Whiskey Tour. Mmmmm.

Until next time, travel buds!

Have you ever done Airbnb? Have you ever thought about renting a place instead of a hotel? Any questions about our fab flat?