I was also excited about getting away from my parents. We were at that stage where they weren’t sure if they could still tell me what to do and I wasn’t sure I would do what they told me to do. It’s was a very slippery slope and none of us were handling it very well.

It was an emotional (read: stressed) time for teenage Isabel.

What made things even more emotional was the fact that winter was sticking around that year. There was snow on the ground when there shouldn’t have been any freakin’ snow. My heart was black and the black sky wasn’t helping.

At some point I had a dream. I don’t remember the specifics of this particular dream. I just remember I woke up and knew that if I killed someone the snow would stop and the sun would shine again.

Dude, I told you I was pretty stressed.

Of course I didn’t kill anyone (that you know of!). But you get what I’m saying; I hate the snow. I hate lack of sun. I crave nice sunny weather.

And yet, again, we wonder why adult Isabel lives in Seattle.

I’ve been wearing my winter coat every morning on my way into the office. It’s the middle of May, and yet, still wearing the winter coat. While my coat is pretty cute and cozy, it’s a little too late in the year to still have to wear my winter coat.

My alarm went off this morning at 5:30, like always. But unlike always, I awoke to the sun peeking in through our bedroom window. At first I thought I had over slept. But then I realized, I hadn’t over slept.

The sun was actually shining in Seattle.

I walked into work today, sans my winter coat, with a smile on my face. (See, that’s me in the picture…with a smile.) (And that’s the actual reflection of the sun on the building!) (The sun!!)

It’s supposed to get up to ninety degrees today. Which is awesome considering it hasn’t gotten over forty degrees yet this year. (That may be a slight exaggeration, but you get what I’m saying.)

It’s the perfect way to start a weekend. A weekend where my bestest friend, May, will be in town visiting from Reno.

Bring on the sun, the crafting, and the outlet mall shopping.

I’m ready for it.

So tell me, have you ever thought about killing anyone? 

So tell me, do you like waking up to the sun shining in your room like I do? Or are you one of those freaks people that hangs black curtains in your bedroom so that you never see the sun?

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Holy crap, I don’t know why I had never seen this video before. It’s the music video for the song Rhett Miller did with Rachael Yamagata for their song “Fireflies”. And it’s awesome. Dude, you should really watch the video.

My college boyfriend bought me one of my first CD’s. It was Jodeci’s “Diary of a Mad Band”.

You’ve never head of Jodeci? Yeah, I hadn’t either. But dude, my boyfriend loved them. And he wanted their CD. And it was close to Valentines Day. So he just went ahead and bought it, wrapped it, gave it to me and then it conveniently stayed in his CD player for the remainder of our relationship.

My birthday, 2008.

My dad sends me a card with an iTunes gift card slipped inside.

“Sweet, I like music”, I tell The King as I hold the card up to show him what I got.

“Wait, it’s only for $15″, I say as I get a closer look.

(Look at me being all unappreciative on my birthday. It’s not a good look on me.)

And then I read what my dad had written inside the card:

“Happy Birthday, Isabel! I didn’t know what kind of music you would like, so I figured you could buy whatever you wanted with this gift card. If you download something good, make sure send me a copy!”

Right.

Maybe I’ll download some Jodeci.

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Babboo got bit at school. But don’t worry, he totally ratted The Biter out. Read all about it over at SeattleMomBlogs.

We got a free month of Netflix. It’s my latest NewThing. Wanna know what’s on my queue?

Amalah posted the follow-up to my question at her AdviceSmackdown.  Check it out!

You heard the Old 97’s released a new album this week, right? And you know you want to watch the Old 97’s performing some of their new album live. Of course you do. (You do!) Check out the video. And then come back and let’s discuss how awesome they are.

Okay, so remember how The King, Babboo and I are going to Europe in September? Remember how I told you how we used frequent flier miles to get us all FREE plane tickets? In the weeks after I posted that, I assume you all switched over to a credit card that offers you FF miles, right? (I hope you did!) (If you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for?)

The King and I are trying to get as much of this trip paid for before we actually take the trip. We figure it will be easier to swallow this bill if he slowly pay a little of it every month. This means trying to book and pay for our hotel rooms each a little every month. This is hard to do since we’re still trying to plan our complete itinerary. What we do know is that we’re starting out in Berlin and ending up in London. We’re prepared to get those hotel rooms now.

And so the hunt for our perfect hotels has begun.

We all have our own personal levels of comfort when staying in hotels. Some people demand a turn-down service and mints on their pillows. Some people only demand clean sheets and a door that locks. And others are only looking for a roof over their head and maybe indoor plumbing. Before shopping for a hotel you must come to terms with what you are personally comfortable with.

The King and I have different comfort levels based on whether or not we’re staying in a hotel in America. While vacationing in the U.S. of A, we like to stay at your typical old run of the mill hotel with a clean bathroom.

This picture was taken at a hotel we stayed at in Washington DC last summer. I’d say that the average we’re comfortable spending on a hotel room in America is about $100.

Of course that’s just an average of what we “like to” spend. When we stayed in NYC, also last summer, we paid about double our “like to” price for a hotel with a shared bathroom. New York city is an expensive place. We had to adjust our hotel comfort level to accommodate our location and the cost of hotels there.

While our hotel in NYC wasn’t ideal (as is apparent from this picture), it was cheap enough (and clean enough) to make their rate what we were most comfortable with.

While we’re on the subject, let’s quickly discuss this whole shared bathroom trend. I admit that before I actually tried staying in a hotel with a shared bathroom, I was skeptical. Here’s the thing, every single hotel I’ve ever stayed at with a shared bathroom has been no big deal. Really. Sharing a bathroom in a hotel is like when you go to visit your aunt and you stay in her guest room in the basement. You have to share the bathroom at your aunt’s house with your teenage cousin that you don’t really know. You see remnants that prove your cousin is also using the bathroom, but you never see your cousin actually using the bathroom.

It’s like that when you share a bathroom in a hotel.

I swear to you, I have never seen another person using the bathroom while I’m also using it. Never, ever, ever. It’s really no big deal. Plus, the hotels with shared bathrooms are extra good about housekeeping keeping the bathroom tidied throughout the day. They are extra clean. At least the ones we’ve stayed at are.
The only hotels I’ve ever seen shared bathrooms offered in America is in New York City. I think it’s pretty common there. And while the hotels with shared bathrooms we’ve stayed in NYC aren’t as clean as the ones we’ve stayed in in Europe, they are sufficient for our needs and fit into our price range.

What I’m saying is that don’t pass up a hotel with a shared bathroom, if the price is right. You might be surprised. And save a few dollars at the same time.

Okay, so once you’ve figured out what your hotel comfort level is, you can start looking for a hotel. Hotel shopping, for us, typically starts at the top with your typical travel sites like travelocity, orbitz, hotels, and expedia. This is a good place to start. This way you can look around and see what hotels are offered in your area and how much they are going for. It’s good to familiarize yourself with what your options are going to be. A website that we’ve had good luck with for hotels in Europe is venere.

Yes, there is some leg work in finding your hotel. But the right hotel is a top priority in helping to make your vacation memorable. In a good way.

Usually, when looking for hotels in out-of-the-way locations (like some of the places we’ll be visiting on our upcoming trip), we just google “hotels in name of town” and see what comes up. This is a good way to find locally owned beach front houses, or weekly vacation rentals, and not just chain hotels. You can usually contact the owners directly, via e-mail or phone, and ask questions and maybe even do a little bartering.

After we find a few hotel options online, The King and I will both scour the interweb for reviews on the hotels we’re interested in. The King usually reads the reviews on the individual travel websites while I’m a fan of the reviews over at tripadvisor. I typically read all the reviews and try to weigh the good and the bad ones. My personal thought is that someone who has stayed in a hotel and been completely satisfied won’t typically come home and get online to write a review about their hotel stay. I think only those with either super bad or super good experiences will take the time to post their reviews. So, I read all of the reviews, but take them with a grain of salt.

(We stayed at a hotel years ago in NYC where one tripadvisor review mentioned HUGE RATS in their room. We took a chance and stayed there and loved the place. No rats anywhere. See, grain of salt.)

A few years ago I found a website called BiddingForTravel. Basically it’s a message board for people using the NameYourOwnPrice option over at priceline. If you aren’t familiar with how this works, basically priceline let’s you bid on a hotel (or plane tickets, or a car rental) without knowing what hotel you’re going to get. You can put restrictions on your bid, like you want a 4* hotel in a certain neighborhood for a certain (lower) price. And then you just hope and pray you get a hotel you want. Once you win your bid, there is no turning back. You’ve paid for your hotel.

Using Priceline is a gamble and had always made me nervous in the past. That is until I found BiddingForTravel.

The beauty of BiddingForTravel is that the people on the message boards are keeping track of how much people are getting hotels for using Priceline. They also teach you how to use Priceline to the best advantage. They teach you about “free rebids” and how to work the system.

Be assured, it’s all legal. And it rocks.

The King and I have successfully used BiddingForTravel to get awesome (super awesome!) hotel deals in Vancouver, Canada. I’m talking $300 a night 4* hotels for $60 a night. Dude, you can’t beat that.

Okay, to use BiddingForTravel, you do need to do a little footwork to get help with your Priceline bids. You must first post a “Bidding Assistance Request” form on the message board. They want to know where you’re traveling to, how long you’re planning on staying, how much you’re willing to pay for your hotel room, what the hotels in that area are going for online, and where your “free rebid” areas are, etc.

The King and I used BiddingForTravel last month to get our hotel in London. We were able to bid and win a hotel for $70 a night. That specific hotel was going for $200 a night on the hotel’s website. Do the math. We saved $130. That’s a huge deal to travelers on a budget. Which is what we are.

We are now trying to get our hotel for Berlin booked. Last week I posted on BiddingForTravel for assistance on bidding for our hotel. I’m hoping to win a hotel for no more then $90 a night. The hotels in Berlin are going for over $200. We can’t afford that.

So, the people on BiddingForTravel suggested I start my bids at $70 and work my way up from there. Not going over $80. On Priceline you can only bid every 24 hours. And so, that’s what I’m doing. I’m bidding everyday, just hoping and praying that at some point I’ll actually win a bid.

While I haven’t had a successful bid yet for Berlin, I’m not nervous. We still have a few months left before we board the plane. Plus, we have a back up plan on a hotel we’ve stayed at in the past. Our backup plan isn’t as cheap as it has been in the past, but we’ve stayed there and know what we’d be getting ourselves into with it.

I’m in charge of working on getting us our Berlin hotel and The King is in charge of setting us up with a sweet (and by “sweet” I mean “inexpensive AND awesome”) hotel for the week we’ll be touring around the Balearic Islands in Spain. He’s deep in the middle of e-mail negotiations with the English owners of a beach front rental that we’re dying to stay at.

I’ll keep you posted.

Until then, tell me, what are your secrets to finding a good deal on a hotel room? I’m very curious to hear some more secrets. So, please share.

I’m older now, and some might say a little wiser. I am no longer satisfied with a bright pink cake to make my birthday complete. Plus, I’m doing Weight Watchers (again!), so there will no cake.

(No cake!?!)

(Okay, I might stop at the bakery on the way home tonight and buy a small cupcake to split with Babboo.)

To make this day complete I demand more then a cupcake. You know, things like:

More quality morning snuggle time with my two boys. (Could they be any cuter?)

I hate to admit it, but I love Papa Murphy’s pizza. The King hates it which, I think, is why I always ask for it for m birthday.

I’m hoping for a chance to hit Ann Taylor Loft on my way home (you know, after I hit up the bakery) to spend the gift card I got for Mothers Day.

“Lonesome Dove” should arrive today from Netflix. For years I’ve asked The King to watch this with me for my birthday. I’m hoping this year is the year he actually does it.

The Old 97’s have a new album out today. I’m sure it’s in honor of my birthday, and I thank them for that. I didn’t preorder it, for fear that it wouldn’t arrive on time. So, as soon as I hit “publish”, I’m heading out to pick up a copy. This is the best birthday present ever.

And tonight, while eating pizza and watching “Lonesome Dove”, I’m hoping to do more present opening with my boys. Because, let’s be honest, that’s the best part about birthdays.

Thanks to Rhett (and Carly) for this awesome birthday wish.

Screw the pink birthday cake, today’s gonna be better then that.

So tell me, how do you like to spend your birthday?

I wasn’t sure what to write. Or how to write it. I took a cue from every TV show I’d ever seen and started with:

Dear Diary,

Today is my birthday.

And then I sort of drew a blank on what else to write. So much so that I really wasn’t that loyal to my journal. Sure I would write someone every few weeks, but I didn’t become a daily journal writer until I got into junior high and fell madly in love with Shadrach Roundy.

Shadrach Roundy was a grade older then me, and thus attended high school. The only time I would see him was when my bus from the junior high made a stop at the high school to pick up more kids. Every other day I would see Shadrach walking from his last class back inside the building to his locker.

That’s it. I saw this kid for a total of about five minutes each week. And it was only through the bus window. I never talked to him. I never waved to him. I never tried to have him notice me. I just oogled him through the window.

And then I went home each night and logged into my nifty journal whether or not I had seen Shadrach Roundy that day. I also made it a point to write down what he had been wearing, who he had been walking with, and how dreamy I thought he was.
Dude, it’s a good thing I had that journal.

I don’t remember when this fascination with Shadrach Roundy started. I think maybe I saw him at a church function and feel madly in love with him. It sure didn’t happen because of a magical encounter since Shadrach Roundy and I never spoke a single word to each other. Not once. Not ever.

During my three years in high school I continued to keep up with my daily journal writing. And for those three years my journal entires continued to be solely based on Shadrach Roundy:

I passed Shadrach Roundy in the hall today after I left English class. I think he smiled at me.

Shadrach Roundy is wearing his blue baseball team shirt today. It’s my favorite. It makes his eyes shine.

Today Shadrach Roundy had one some new white tennis shoes. His feet are so small and cute. I hope our kids have his feet.

My dad drove me past Shadrach Roundy’s house today. I think I saw his mom through the kitchen window. She’s seems so nice.

Of course he was always referred to in the journal by his full name, and of course I always journaled about what he wore that day. And, of course, I never got up the nerve to actually speak real live words to Shadrach Roundy. He was simply out of my league. Speaking to him would have opened up the opportunity for rejection. It was much easier to worship Shadrach Roundy from afar and merely dream of the day when our eyes would meet on the dance floor at prom, he would then walk over to ask me to dance, and eventually ask me to marry him.

We would live happily ever after.

Gag. I was such a loser.

It wasn’t that Shadrach Roundy was so popular and such a snob that he wouldn’t have talked to me. He came from a good family and, I think, he really was a nice guy. I’m sure if I would have approached him he would have been pleasant and cordial. I don’t think he would have fallen madly in love with me, but he wouldn’t have been rude.

Shadrach Roundy just wasn’t that type of person.

Which made me love stalk him even more.

Shadrach Roundy didn’t date much. Until the end of my junior hear when he hooked up with a girl in my grade. They began dating and even though I wanted to hate her, I couldn’t. She was just a nice girl. Dang it. I wanted to trip her when she walked down the hall. I wanted to key her car and write bad things about her on the bathroom walls. But I couldn’t damn it. She was just so likable.

No wonder Shadrach Roundy liked her and not me.

Since Shadrach Roundy was a year older then I was, he graduated and moved on with his life before my senior year even started. And so did I. My journal (journals, actually, since I now had three completely full journals) devoted to Shadrach Roundy sat untouched on my book shelf. When I moved away to college, the journals were boxed up and stored with the rest of my junk in the basement.

A couple of years ago, while in Utah visiting friend and family, my mom handed me the box containing my journals. She was cleaning out her house and wanted me to take my crap back with me to Seattle. The King and I had driven to Utah, so we had our car and plenty of room for my boxes. During the 14 hour car ride back to Seattle I decided to bust out my old journals and revisit my past.

The car ride was long and I was bored. I was also feeling brave.

I started to read my journals, starting on my first entry on my twelfth birthday, outloud to The King. He sat there (he had no choice, since he was the one driving) and listened as I read through three years of journals all about Shadrach Roundy. At times he forgot he was reading about his wife’s childhood. He forgot he knew how the story was going to end.

“When do Isabel and Shadrach Roundy go on their first date?”, he asked half way through journal number two.

“You know I never actually talked to Shadrach Roundy, right?”

“What? You liked this kid enough to document his every wardrobe choice and you never spoke to him?”

“Never.”

And then I continued reading outloud.

I finished reading the journals and going through the newspaper clipping about Shadrach Roundy (or anyone he knew or was related to) and closed them back up with the rubber bands to make sure nothing was lost. I put my journals back in the box in the back seat of the car and we continued on our way home to Seattle.

I joked with The King about finding Shadrach Roundy and just shipping him the journals with a note telling him he might as well have them. I mean, come on, they were more about him then they were about me. It would be more useful for his posterity to have them then my own. (Dude, teenage Babboo would mock me so hard for those journals.) Of course when I google Shadrach Roundy’s name, nothing comes up. At least not for the right Shadrach Roundy.
I wonder if I could just mail the journals to his mom’s house?

If I did do that, what would Shadrach Roundy find creepier, my three journals devoted to him, the fact that I mailed them to his mom’s house, or the current picture of me, looking much better then I did in high school, that I’ll include in this shipment to his mom?

So tell me, what were your high school journals like? And um, does anyone know how I can get in touch with Shadrach Roundy?

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Head over to SeattleMomBlogs to read about what we all did for fun a few weekends ago.  And enter to win a chance for a FREE WEEKEND at the Great Wolf waterpark!