Not Your Average Gal

Copywriter. Content Creator. Constant Sassypants.

Caroline Peterson

Off to the Frozen, Cold Tundra

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I live here.

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Ft. Lauderdale

 

I’m going here.

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NOT Ft. Lauderdale

 

My family owes me.

Tomorrow I’m off for the frozen, cold tundra of Minneapolis. It will be a quick trip, but one that was deemed appropriate since we didn’t have plans and the hubster is on-call on Christmas. Plus, Christmas alone with my ginger cat didn’t sound as appealing as spending it with THIS little nugget.

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Oh yeah and I needed just a few more MQDs to make my Delta status for next year.

Love you, family!

Last night I asked the hubster where all our sweaters were. No, I’m not joking. These are very foreign objects in South Florida. He pulled out a box of his from under the bed of all his sweaters, you know, that have yet to be worn. After fumbling through them we determined I must have donated all my sweaters because, you know, I don’t wear them. It was a ploy to never live in a cold state again. Shhhhh.

So layers for me! Weeeee.

Flying on Christmas Eve isn’t ideal, but I have a non-stop flight and I’m well prepared because I know How To Survive Holiday Travel. The holiday travel Gods liked me enough to get me upgraded for my flight already!

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Did you see the TSA even got in the holiday spirit with this hilarious video? When government organizations can make fun of themselves, I call that a win.

I’m looking forward to quality family time, but I also can’t wait to get back and celebrate a belated Christmas with the hubster. He’s sort of my favorite.

To all my friends and family near and far: safe travels and I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

A Holiday Change of Heart

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I had a whole wonderfully witty but sad post written earlier this fall about why I hated the holidays. I was ready to post it when some nagging feeling kept telling me to wait. I try to listen to these nagging nuggets of wisdom as much as I can. So I waited. And waited.

I’m glad I did. Because something happened this year that has taken me by surprise.

I’m actually fucking enjoying the holidays.

omg

It’s started at Thanksgiving this year when I had an incredibly good time with family. Who knew?!

Okay, back up the train. Maybe it started last year, when the hubster and I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas together in our new home in Florida. We had just gotten back from our honeymoon in Southeast Asia. We didn’t decorate anything. We didn’t travel anywhere. We had no guests. We ordered Chinese food. We watched football. We cried over a glass of wine after a family member pulled a fast-one on us again. Oh wait, no. No, that was me. That was only me.

But you know what? It was one of my fondest holidays until this Thanksgiving.

I never quite understood, as an adult, how the holidays could be so magical for people. Dare I say, I was even, cynical about it.

No. Who, me?

In complete honesty, there are some pretty legit reasons why the holidays have sucked for me that I won’t go in depth about. In a nutshell, the holidays have always been a mixture of feeling like an inconvenience and when I was younger, being shuffled around seeing who I could go visit. I still try to coordinate schedules and am finding that since we don’t have kids, we have very little pull over who will come see us. This may be our reality from here on out or we may have to resort to begging?

That’s a good reason to have kids, right? Presents and shit.

This year, I really focused on the wonderfully supportive people I have in my life. I reminded myself again, that I’ve been given a chance to start my own traditions, create my own less drama-filled holidays. I absolutely love that feeling!

We may be small, but I have my own little family of three, if you include my overweight, ginger cat. Said ginger cat also looooooves being dressed up for the holidays.

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I love our little family. We create some hysterical memories. One of the best things about meeting my husband has been the life we’ve brought together, just the two of us…and said ginger kitty.

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Just another Sunday morning around here.

I wanted to celebrate and embrace this newfound love of the holidays, so I busted out our holiday decorations. Remember how I didn’t even want to decorate for Halloween? What is happening to me?

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I noticed, quickly, that I donated a majority of items a couple years ago. So, of course, I had to go to Target to get more. Then, the hubster was on-call on a Friday, so I went back to Target after work…and got more.

I was Clark fucking Griswold. I just couldn’t stop!

I spent the evening drinking wine, listening to Christmas music and decorating with all my new and old goodies. (It all still fits in 1 Rubbermaid bin, my practical mind wouldn’t allow too much.) I think the results are quite pretty!

The hubster keeps walking around our place saying, “I really like all the decorations, honey.”

Maybe he just likes that I’m not totally annoyed by the holiday season and I’m actually pretty happy.

And I have to admit it…I am too.

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Happy Holidays, guys!

Running towards sanity

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This post may seem a bit disjointed, but bear with me. I promise there’s a point.

I had some nasty stomach bug last week that left me in the fetal position for most of Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday, I just wanted to go run.

My grandpa passed away this weekend. When Sunday came, I was really happy I had a long run scheduled in my training.

Running has always been intertwined in my life somehow basically since college. It’s my go-to workout, but has turned into so much more than just exercise.

Running is my sanity check.

Over the last two years, I’ve certainly picked up my mileage by training for half-marathons and I’ve noticed that on some runs I couldn’t tell you what songs were on my playlist. I was too lost in thought. Don’t get me wrong, there still are runs when I’m hitting NEXT trying to find the right song to get me motivated.

Turn Down For What works every time.

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While I was bowing down to the porcelain god last week, my writing took a backseat. So when the hubster asked “Are you sure you’re okay to run” by Thursday, I was itching. I needed to get out!

When I got the news about my grandpa, I digested it as much as you can in situations when it’s not totally unexpected. After our long run the next day, while cooling down, I started crying. I had opened up to the hubster while we were walking about how I was feeling about things and the tears just came, not uncontrollably, not in a rush down my face. They just brimmed to the top, watering my eyes as if to say, “Thank GOD you went for that run so we could get out.”

(We also clocked our best mile-pace to date.)

I hate the bad runs, I often question why I’m even running during those times.

I exude confidence during the good runs and find myself asking when the next one is so I can kill it again.

Regardless of the type of run, my mind seems to require the solitude and solace that running gives me. I’m very thankful I have it.

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The No Candy Bowl & Office Goodies Pledge

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Candy. Donuts. Pastries.

They have been non-stop in my office since October.

I turned around the other day and watched someone open ANOTHER bag of candy and put it in several bowls. These bags have to be from the store that gave birth to Costco. They are HUGE. When will the madness end?

Now, I say. NOW.

I’m taking the pledge not to eat from the bowl of candy garbage or yummy holiday goodies in the communal area in my office for the rest of the month.

Would you care to join me?

Listen, I realize everything in moderation is key. I’ll have a piece of candy some days, and other days one piece will turn into two or three.  And even 2-3 pieces isn’t bad…but guess what, they add up!

No, one candy won’t make me fat, but at the same time, one apple won’t make me healthy. I want to make better choices and having my hand in the candy bowl “just for 2 months” isn’t a great choice.

Side note: Did you know the average American gains 6 pounds over the holidays?!

That’s half my cat! (Okay…probably more like less than a third…)

"Which ornament shall I knock off this fucking tree next?"
“Which ornament shall I knock off this fucking tree next?”

 

In my humble opinion those 1, 2 or 3 pieces aren’t worth it.

I’d rather spend it on salty fries.

The No Candy Bowl & Office Goodies Pledge

So, I, Princess Caroline Peterson, vow not to eat anything from the office

holiday candy/deliciousness/sugar-filled bowl

and yummy holiday goodies in the communal area

for the rest of the month.

Want to join me? We can share in our misery here. It’s less than one month, people!

Copy and paste this in the comments to join in:

 

I, _____________, vow not to eat anything from the office

holiday candy/deliciousness/sugar-filled bowl

and yummy holiday goodies in the communal area

for the rest of the month.

 Let’s do this.

A Time for Thanks

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I really don’t like the holidays. It’s something I have a future blog written about, but in general, it brings up lots of mixed feelings for me. All that said, I think there’s always time for gratitude and I’m very thankful for the time I just spent over Thanksgiving.

I may need to rethink my stance on not liking the holidays because lots of smiling occurred, which makes my heart incredibly grateful.

Take a look.

I took an early flight out of Fort Lauderdale on Thanksgiving.

Ready. See you soon #LAS. After a layover in ATL. 💃

A photo posted by Caroline (@carolinemadethis) on

 

Landed in Vegas just in time to see this turkey.

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Enjoyed this amazing Thanksgiving spread from my sister-in-law’s parents.

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Had one of my girliest moments ever when the hubster surprised me by secretly flying out to join us. (Med school rotations often throw a kink in holiday plans…or plans of any sort.)

(it’s playing sideways. I’ll fix it later…) 

Saw another glorious Nevada sunset.    

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PAID to be cold.

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Took a wonderful, non-sweaty run. Even clocked my best mile pace in years. (So what if the last .15 was all downhill…)

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 Went shopping with Carlos…errrr, my niece. 

 

I mean…COME ON! 😂 #adelynnjo

 

A photo posted by Caroline (@carolinemadethis) on

 

Put those pants we got her in Thailand to good use.

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Hiked around Valley of Fire.

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Sipped one last Vegas margarita at Chili’s in the airport because that’s mandatory when you take a red-eye.

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Somehow managed to get upgraded with this clown on our way home.

Somebody let these nutbags in first class today. Jokes. I earn those freaking upgrades. 💃 A photo posted by Caroline (@carolinemadethis) on

 

And in between all of that, we laughed. Oh, did we laugh. I’m so thankful for laughter. I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with lots of laughter and love…and a crazy family, of course.

What did you guys do for the holiday?

How to Survive Holiday Travel

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I’m traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday (NOT the Wednesday before, see below) and I figured I’d give you a few tips to make it through the mind-numbing process of waiting for someone to put their overpacked carry-on in sideways into the overhead bin.

 

How to Survive Holiday Travel

(without wanting to gouge your eyes out)

1. Avoid the busiest travel days

Unless you enjoy amateur hour, don’t travel the day before Thanksgiving or the day before Christmas Eve. People are trying to get the most bang for their buck with their time off and it shows. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the busiest day at airports all year. You’ll also often find that the Sunday after Thanksgiving and Christmas are incredibly busy too. I’m flying out super early on Thanksgiving to Vegas, to arrive just in time to squeeze these cheeks.

Adelynn Jo

Then, I’m taking a red-eye back to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday evening. Sure, it’s not ideal. But I get a better chance of an upgrade with less people clamoring for seats and I’ll be home to see my hubby for longer. (Yes, I plan trips on upgrade potential.) Plus, I avoid the larger crowds and it’s often cheaper. Win-win.

2. Carry-on only

You can do it. I promise. Even if you’re gone for an entire week, you can do it. I will write a post about how I packed a carry-on for 2 weeks for Thailand & Cambodia soon.

How to Survive Holiday Travel
That’s my blue backpack/carry-on behind me in Tokyo-Narita Airport on the way to Bangkok, Thailand.

But in the mean time, grab some of my favorite eBags packing cubes and go at it. You’ll save time at baggage claim and more importantly, you’re forced to pack less and therefore have less to lug around.

3. Get to the airport early

My flight leaves at 6:45 am on Thanksgiving. We live about 15 minutes from Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. It’s REALLY tempting to take advantage of that. That said, my anxiety prevents me from ever living on the edge and leaving for the airport late. I will try to get to the airport no later than 5:30 am. I have Global Entry, which also includes TSA Pre-check so if security is a breeze and I have a lot of time to kill, I’ll grab a Bloody Mary Starbucks.

4. Find your happy place

See above. Starbucks is a great bribe to get me to the airport early. Similarly, if you have a long layover, check out the airport prior to leaving and scope out any place that may interest you. Somehow my nose always heads to the local watering hole, but airports have tons of things to do now. San Francisco Airport even offers yoga!

5. Remain calm

Don’t be the asshole yelling at flight attendants when things go wrong. Do you honestly think that will get you anywhere? And more importantly, do you want to be that guy? We’re all in this together. No one actually likes flying. Okay except me. I sort of love flying. Keep your cool, find your zen place and chill the hell out. More than likely you aren’t the only one delayed or inconvenienced. A crazy thought, right?

Fun side story: On my way back from JFK to FLL this September, I got upgraded. (SCORE!) I watched a lady with her toddler board the plane very last and in a rush. She was incensed that there wasn’t enough room for her baggage left in First Class. She took it out on the flight attendant and inferred that we all did this to her on purpose. Yes, lady, I specifically chose this precise flight because I knew you’d be on it and I wanted to take up “your” overhead space. Her poor son was being quite fussy, as kids get on planes, and she was on the struggle bus trying to calm him down. I felt bad for her, but the thing was, she was such a wretched person to all of us, including the flight attendant, that none of us offered to help. When the FA asked if I wanted another glass of wine (The answer is always, duh) he asked if he could have some of mine too and then moved his eyes towards the nasty lady. Ha! I feel like we could have done shots together in the galley… But, I digress. Just don’t be a jerk!

6. Bring entertainment

I bring a fully charged: iPad, iPad keyboard, iPhone and IV of caffeine. My iPad has all the books I have from the Kindle app and if push comes to shove, I’ll buy a trashy magazine. Only if push comes to shove though… I’m also a big people watcher, you can see a lot of funny shit just by watching people. Okay. That sounded creepy.

7. Don’t get hangry

Hungry + Frustrated + Hungry + Large Crowds = Angry. Hangry. The hubster has called me a squirrel because I bring nuts on long trips. If it prevents Hangry Caroline from emerging, I think he should count his blessings. amiright? I usually toss a couple granola bars in for good measure. Airport food can be awful. But granola bars and beer can be glorious.

So those are some things I’ve learned from years of traveling. Probably most important though, just remember how lucky you are to be flying and enjoy the view. Even if it’s for a brief moment.

Hasta luego, Ft. Lauderdale! ❤️

A photo posted by Caroline (@carolinemadethis) on

Have I missed anything?  Are you traveling this holiday and what do you guys use to survive?