Deep thoughts on ... life outlooks (or something)

So, I have this problem. When anything starts going my way, I get really scared and weary and pessimistic. I'm basically waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it too often seems to do. I even freak myself out if I start feeling optimistic about a situation -- I have to remind myself, "Look, it probably won't pan out. Actually, just assume it won't." I've always tried to expect the worst and just leave it at that, but sometimes, in a weak moment, I break down and cautiously hope for the best. It's not so bad if the situation is totally or mostly in my control ... but when I only have a little bit of influence or say, it really drives me crazy. I've been dealing with one of those situations recently, and I periodically catch myself spontaneously exclaiming, "What the F---, dude!" Very ladylike.. but I'm just ready to come out on the other side, you know?

Anyway, not to be all mysterious and vague; I had bad insomnia last night and started self-analyzing and decided to share.

Eventful night in downtown Seattle

An evening earlier this week, I went straight from work to downtown Seattle to attend one of those free movie screenings, this one for the movie "Leap Year" (yes, I'm a sucker for rom-coms, and on top of that, I love Matthew Goode). Once I got downtown, I had just over an hour to kill, so I walked to Pacific Place, a huge mall/restaurant/movie theater complex across the street from the theater the movie would play in. I went inside the mall, and then as I headed toward an escalator, I walked by this questionable-looking guy (read: a bit unkempt, shifty). Right as I walked by he said "Follow me out, OK? Let's go." I pretended I hadn't heard anything -- at this point, I thought he was maybe talking toward someone already on the escalator -- so I kept walking. I got on the escalator, and as I was going down, he said "They're watching you." I stealthily looked around, and didn't see anyone he could've been talking to. So.. he was either just talking to no one, or just to me. Um, yikes! He got onto the escalator a few stairs behind me. As soon as I got off, I booked it to the other side of the mall. Thankfully, I didn't spy him again.

I wandered into some random stores with "Sale" signs out front, making sure to quickly walk past Victoria's Secret (where the big Semi-Annual Sale was going on) and Express (where the famous Box Sale was going on), two places where I have little will power. Swung through J. Crew, and then went next door to BCBG Max Azria (which, as I side note, I used to think was Max "Azaria," as I confused it with the actor Hank Azaria), a place I normally would never go into, but this time I was lured in by the "Extra %30 off clearance items" sign. Most of their clothing, even marked 50% off, and then an additional 30% off, was still waaay too expensive for me, but I found a casual jacket and a couple skirts to try on. A saleslady led me over to the dressing rooms and then opened up one for me. I walked in, closed the door behind me, and then turned around and around in confusion: There was no f'ing mirror in the room!! I then remembered that as I'd waited to be let into the dressing room, I'd seen a man and two kids sitting on this large sofa thing, and the mom of the family had come out to show them the dress she was trying on. There were mirrors on the outside of each dressing-room door, so she was obviously showing them the dress while also getting a first look herself. BCBG is such a high-end store -- and yet they only have mirrors OUTSIDE their dressing rooms?! Luckily, I at least didn't have all stubbly legs, as I'd had swimming the night before, but there was still no way I was going to step outside to show off every bulge and dip. The jacket I'd took in to try on was much to short -- I didn't need a mirror to figure that out -- so that immediately went back on the hanger. Next, I tried on the two skirts. Herein was where I ran into a bit of a problem.. I tried to take some self-photos on my iPhone, but as all other iPhone owners know, this is a pretty impossible task. At right, you can see the results of those attempts. The skirt was actually quite cute, but being that it was all black, the details don't show on a low-resolution/badly lit iPhone-camera picture. The lack of being able to truly see how the skirts fit, combined with the still steep price of them, led me to easily decide to not buy either of them (though I could've of course bought them, tried them on at home at my leisure, and then returned them). One of my friends suggested that the no-mirrors-in-dressing-rooms thing is so that when you step outside to look at yourself, the salespeople can come over and start lauding you with compliments, so you get all excited to buy everything you try on. I definitely don't mind stepping out for some compliments/affirmation on something that looks good on me, but only after I've looked at myself for 10 minutes and from every angle in front of the mirror inside my dressing room. So...yeah. Now we all know!

After wasting some more time at other stores in the mall -- and not spending any money: snap! -- I headed back out to walk over to the movie screening. About 20 minutes into the movie, the screen suddenly went white, and we saw the film literally melt right there. It looked like someone stretched some thin caramel across the screen, and then it just tore apart and disappeared. The theater was at full capacity, and we all laughed nervously and were like, "What the--?" About 10 minutes later, we were back in action, though the film obviously started again at least a minute or two from where we'd last seen it. Twenty minutes later...another film meltdown! This time, it only took them about 5 minutes to fix things (after each meltdown, the rep from the film studio told us "Sorry about that! They say they'll have it fixed within a few minutes!"). Once again, the film started up. And then 20 minutes after that...a THIRD meltdown! Jeezus! I heard later that a couple people walked out during one of the meltdowns, but in general, everyone took it with good humor. Certainly, no one was yelling or complaining loudly or anything. And after the third fix up, though the screen definitely had a blurry section right in the middle, it was smooth sailing through the end of the movie. As for the movie itself, well, it was up and down. The best part, for me, anyway, was Matthew Goode. Oh, and as a bonus -- on our way out, we each got a free ticket for an upcoming movie as the theater's way to apologize for the technical problems. My boss was like "You attended a free movie, and got a ticket to see another free movie?" Um, yes. And why not?

The saga of ... rain boots

Though I've lived in Seattle basically my whole life, and own a couple pairs of waterproof shoes (of the hiking variety), I was surprised to realize a few months ago that I've never actually owned a pair of rain boots. So I made it a quest to find my first pair. As I began shopping around, I made some discoveries..

A lot of the fun/funky boots are waaay too big at the top for my non-existent calves. I knew that I'd only occasionally be wearing them with pants tucked in (which would still not fill up the calf areas completely), so I also needed to find a pair that wouldn't bulge out awkwardly from underneath jeans. My quest got sent into high gear when I first received a $20 gift certificate to Nordstrom (a side bonus of having a Nordstrom Visa as my main credit card), and then a $40 certificate. For some reason, I got it in my head that I needed to look into buying a pair of boots by Hunter, a British company who I believe first designed the original wellington style of rain boot. Their tall boots are pretty high, so I figured I wouldn't have to worry about the calf issue as much, and though they have a $115 price tag, I knew I'd be taking a $60-chunk out of my final price. A few days before Christmas, I was out to lunch with some friends from work, when Ben mentioned he wanted to make a quick stop at Nordstrom to buy a present for his wife. I happened to have my gift certificates with me, and knew that the Nordstrom by work has a bigger shoe section than the one by where I live (but it's not convenient for me to go there in general), so I was like "I'm a-comin' too!"

Once we got to Nordy's, I made a beeline for the Hunter display in the women's shoe area. While I was waiting for a sales person to come help me out, I heard two other Nordy's workers discussing the special Jimmy Choo-branded Hunter boot that was on display. I overheard one of them say something about it being "so cute," and "they're $250." When someone finally came over to me to help me out, I told him I usually wear an 8.5, but since Hunters only come in whole sizes -- as do a lot of rain boots, it seems -- he went off to get a 7 and an 8. I first tried on the 8, which was way too big. Then he pulled out the size 7, which was the Jimmy Choo-branded boot. He said, "We don't have the boot in the original style in a 7, so I brought out this one." I suavely said, "Oh, uh, those are the really expensive ones, right?" He said, "They're $250." I was feeling a bit stupid from my first remark, so I just mumbled, "Oh, well, they're a bit out of my price range." They turned out to be too small anyway, and neither pair was very comfortable, so I crossed Hunter off my list. As a side note.. turns out those Hunter by Jimmy Choo boots are actually $395!!

So...I then wandered around looking at the various other rain boots. My eye was caught by a pair by Kamik. I liked that they had a bit of shape to them in the foot area, and looked both functional and fashionable. I tried them on, and bonus: They were super comfortable, and fit just right. They even have a thin Polartec lining for some added warmth, and, interestingly, they're made by a Canadian company, in Canada! http://kamik.com/.

I initially bought a shiny black boot with a bright red foldover thing at the top of the boot (made of a sweater material). After I got them home, I decided that I didn't like the bright red color, as it was a little too attention-getting. I went online, and happily discovered that the boots also came in the same shiny-black shade without the red foldover. And then, bonus upon bonus, I read the fine print on Nordstrom's Web site and found out that they do price matching, and then, I found the Kamik boots in my size, in stock, in Altrec.com, for $25 cheaper! I immediately went back to Nordstom, exchanged the boots (and made use of their price-match policy) and in the end, taking into account the $60 in rewards certificates, got the boots nearly for free! I never knew Nordstrom did price matching, and it turns out they do on all their products. Details here.

Anyway, I wore my new kicks over jeans for the first time earlier this week, on a day when it was raining pretty much non stop. As I walked to my bus stop, I stepped around puddles as usual, and then went, "Wait a minute!" and started walking through them instead, since I had no hems to worry about soaking (or leather/canvas to worry about dirtying). Puddle stomping is so much fun! Of course, only really skinny girls with no hips can carry off the whole jeans-into-boots look, but I'm going to force myself to tuck 'em in once in a while anyway, and try to feel less self-conscious about it. I also may invest in another, more fun pair of rain boots down the road. I live in Seattle, after all!

Yes, I'm one of 'those' girls ...

... and am a HUGE "Sex and the City" fan! Sure, last year's movie definitely had some slow/expendable parts, but even after seeing it in the theater, I've since watched it at least 10 times on DVD. A friend gave me the DVD for my birthday last year, and I ended up buying the Blu-ray version just last week.

Anyway, "Sex and the City 2" will be coming out next year. Don't know much about the plot lines, but you can bet I'll be seeing it soon after its release! The first trailer (just a teaser) came out yesterday:

Can't WAIT!

Avoiding a pick-up ... at 8 a.m.!

I walked up to my bus stop one morning last week. I was about the eighth person in line. A few people ahead of me was this Indian dude talking on a cell phone. He looked to be about my age, was shortish, and wearing a really strange/funky hat with crazy red, white and blue fringe on top. He looked my way a couple times, but I made sure to avoid his gaze. A couple minutes later, the bus pulled up. He got on, then a few people later, I followed. As I started walking down the aisle to the back half of the bus, in my peripheral vision, I saw him standing in an empty two-seat row. He looked at me and said, "You want to sit here?" pointing to the window seat. I pretended I hadn't heard him as I stepped into another row on the other side of the aisle a couple rows in front of him (my stop is the first on the route, so there were plenty of open seats). Then I pretended I'd just realized someone had said something to me, so I turned to look at him. He was still standing, and said "You can sit here," and I just kind of shrugged and said "Ohh...that's OK" as I turned around and sat down.

I must admit I was a little shocked that the guy was so bold at 8 in the morning! Sure, maybe he just geniunely wanted to meet someone new, or someone else Indian, but that 30-minute ride to work every morning is my time to read, listen to music or just tune out the world in general. So unless you're really, really cute, I'm likely not interested!

The entire bus ride after that, I was all paranoid that the guy was going to get off at my bus stop, and then try to talk to me on my way to my office. Thankfully, he either didn't get off at my stop, or else just didn't try to approach me. And then the next morning as I walked to my bus stop, I was all worried that he'd show up after me, and then rather than offer me a seat, he'd just come sit next to me (which I guess he could've done anyway that first day, but there were a lot of people still piling onto the bus at that point). I was relieved when he didn't show. Though I've been taking the same bus at the same time nearly every day since June, I'm pretty sure I'd never seen that particular guy before (much less any Indian guy, really!).

Some readers will think I'm being a bit cold with my attitude/avoidance, but it's more my fear of having to give someone the brush-off/heave-ho/rejection down the road. In my (perhaps overly optimistic) mind, I feel like I'll know when a guy is someone I'd be interested in talking to or getting to know better. At the very least, I'd like to think he'd be a bit more smooth -- and subtle -- in negotiating our first contact!

Trip reflections -- the good and the bad

The good:

The XE currency-converter application for iPhone really came in handy. I downloaded it before I left Seattle, and made sure to add my preferred currencies (for this trip, the Euro and Icelandic Kronur [didn't know then that I'd also be in the Czech Republic]). The app caches the latest exchange rate of your favorite currencies every time you go offline, so though my phone was in "Airplane Mode" (and thus not sending/receiving any kind of signals) my whole trip, I could still open that app to check the prices of things in U.S. Dollars. Since I hadn't made the Czech Koruny a favorite currency, before we headed to the country, I went to XE.com and ran the converter to find out that 100 CZK is about $5.80, so I just did the math whenever I had a price in CZK in front of me (yes, we chose three countries to visit that are on three different currencies!).

I borrowed my friend/boss' wee netbook to take on the trip. I think it weighs a couple pounds, and is about the size of a personal planner thingie. The computer was super helpful, and the only reason I was able to blog consistently at least every night. My cousin U, whom we stayed with for a week in the Netherlands, took her laptop with her to work (and didn't have a desktop), so that way we could still get online in her absence. Both the hostels we stayed in had (free!) WiFi, so we then didn't have to compete with other boarders for the shared computer, or deal with worrying about what sorts of exotic bugs we might pick up by using said shared computer ...

Wool socks rock! I have a few pairs of wool hiking socks, and they were my favorite pair to wear, especially since it was cold most places we went, and we did a lot of walking. The wool socks were warm, and because they were of the hiking variety, gave my feet a lot of support and cushioning.

Shoes were key. I think I spent most of my time in my Keen tennies. Thankfully, anticipating the cold in Iceland (but not yet knowing A and I would do the glacier hike), I also had on hand my new Merrell boots, which are insulated and rated to -25F. I must admit that even with those shoes and wool snowboarding socks on, my toes started getting cold a couple hours into our glacier walk. But overall, I was mostly semi-comfortable. I had taken my Converse lace-up boots, but my feet would start hurting towards the end of the day; they don't have good arch support, and we were doing a TON of walking. So next time, I'll either take low-tops (for casual/evening wear) and/or get some insoles to put in them.

Organized tours, though sniffed at by most people my age and younger, can be an awesome thing. It's so nice to hand over the reins to someone else, and then be led around the city. Plus, the guides give you all kinds of cool background info on what you're seeing. We also liked meeting some new people from other countries. Being that we were in Prague for only two full days (and an evening and morning on either side of those days), the tour helped us see the city's best highlights. And then, on our second day in the city, we had a bit of familiarity with the sights' layouts, and could go back and spend more time at our favorite places.

I highly recommend http://www.picnik.com for on-the-go photo editing, when you don't have a photo editor on your computer. Yes, it's a bit time-consuming, but they have all the tools you need -- crop, resize, sharpen, adjust exposure/brightness/colors. I used it to prep all the photos I ended up posting on this blog. Thanks for pointing me to the site, Noah!

The bad:

A and I had good intentions when we left Seattle -- we packed a bunch of fruit/nut bars, fruit leathers, applesauce containers and easy mac 'n cheese, intending to save money by eating those as snacks/meals whenever possible. However, once we got to one city or another, the draw to eat locally -- though not necessarily local -- was too strong. So we ended up bringing a lot of that stuff back!

We tried to rely on the maps supplied in our Lonely Planet/Time Out guidebooks, but those weren't always comprehensive/detailed enough to prevent us from getting lost at least once a day. As we didn't know we'd be in Prague before we left Seattle, we didn't have a guide book for it, and instead bought a city map at a convenience store as soon as we got into town. That map was so helpful, and made it very easy for us to navigate the city. Yes, it was a pain to have to unfold/refold the full-size map, but again, it helped us get around town more efficiently than we had anywhere else.

I didn't know in advance that money-exchange counters don't exchange coins -- though they're happy enough to hand them out to you in the local currency! So I came home with pocketfuls of change in Euros, Czech Koruny and Icelandic Kronur. We were happily able to get rid of some of the Euros on the Icelandair flight from Reykjavik to Seattle, though, as you can buy menu items in USD, Euros or with a credit card. We spent 6 Euros (about $9) on a sparse fruit salad and some nacho Doritos. Hey, at least the coins didn't go to waste ... the universe only knows how little USD those Euros will have next time (if ever) we're in a country that uses them!

I need to do a little test and weigh my suitcase when it's empty. I honestly didn't over pack (too much), but my bag when I first packed it was 60 pounds!! I was able to get it down to Icelandair's limit of 50 lbs, but I was scratching my head over why it'd been so heavy in the first place. In the end, it didn't seem like the Icelandair check-in folks paid too much attention to our bags' weights anyway, but I'm sure my arms appreciated those 10 extra pounds being gone.

Next time, I need to pack much lighter. A and I each had a 50-lb rolling suitcase, and then we had a third checked bag, which was a smaller suitcase that pretty much only held our sleeping bags. Then for A's carry-on, she had a duffel bag, and I had my purse (which was a bit on the bigger side, but small enough to stow under the airplane seat in front of me) and a rolling carry-on (with my neck pillow, extra books, travel games and computer). On the way home, we also ended up checking in a day-pack, as both our suitcases were over the limit. All these bags made getting around on public transportation (trains and buses) a bit sweat-inducing and stressful. But, bear in mind that traveling in winter time inevitably means packing bulkier and heavier clothing, plus shoes for rain/cold/snow.

Overall, I'm happy with how everything on our trip went in general, considering that I hadn't really traveled anywhere in seven years. I didn't forget to pack anything major, we did successfully get our bags lugged around everywhere, we enjoyed the sights in all the cities we went to, and the hostels I ended up booking for us turned out to be really good (yes, even the 10-bed place in Reykjavik!). Certainly, it'll be much easier to plan and then go on my next travel adventure!

Day 13: Last hours in Reykjavik (and on our trip)

Due to another 10 a.m. check-out time at our hostel, A and I got up around 8. I hopped in the shower, and then we began packing up the last of our belongings. We parked our bags by the front desk, and then set out on foot. We mainly wanted to do some shopping.. We saw and fell in love with some jackets at 66 North, and Icelandic outerwear company, but everything was super expensive (the thin down jacket I liked was $383), so I only left with a kids' hat (and A with nothing). We found a random store a block away called The Viking, where we each picked up a much cheaper jacket (though wind/water proof, not down). A also picked up a cute wool hat at another store. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at a famous hot-dog stand where Bill Clinton once ate. I got a hot dog with gremolata (? it's a variation of mayonnaise) and fried onions. SO GOOD! We were tipped off to the place by Johanna, of course.

Here's a shot of downtown Reykjavik, which is, conveniently, about three blocks from our hostel:

And finally, we made one last stop, to the harbor, and took some shots of and in front of the beautiful scenery we saw for the first time (all our other outings in Reykjavik were in the dark).

Thank you, Island, it's been great, and we hope to experience more of you sometime in the future!

With that I'm officially wrapping up the extended blog coverage from our trip ... see you in Seattle!