I turned 24 on May 29th. I don’t think I’ve ever had a birthday outside of Illinois until this one, and even though it was fabulous, it was also definitely costly, and a bit surreal. You must be thinking, “24?! That’s so young!” And yes, it is young, yet I have this overwhelming feeling that I’ve lost something. What happened to all those ages that you look forward to? Driving at 16, voting at 18, drinking at 21… my big years have come and gone and here I sit, a 24 year old woman with nothing left but the chance to rent a van at 25 and social security.

For many years, I have been mistaken for way younger than my actual age. You know, the usual, “Are you even old enough to drive?” when paying for gas at the age of 19, the intense scrutiny of my ID when trying to get into the bars, and my favorite, “What high school do you go to?” Then abruptly something seemed to change. Instead of asking me what high school I went to, they started asking when I was going to get married. Instead of examining my ID with a microscope, they let me slide through the checkout with a case of beer and not a second glance. At what point did I go from looking 16 to 24? All this has really added to the surreal vibe of my latest birthday.

Even so, Brian has done his best to make it a great one. No surprise party this year, but with all the drama in our lives recently, I told him that I don’t care what happens as long as we have cannoli. And that we did! With a trip into the city, a museum, dinner, wine, dessert, trains, and subways, we were well over $100 on this birthday outing. It hurts a bit to think about since $100 was my monthly fun budget back in Normal, but I needed it. I needed the fun, and I definitely needed Brian telling me that 24 might be the best year of my life.

*The picture to the right is of me and a fantastic cannoli in Sicily 2004. I cut most of me out so you can’t see how insanely obese I became from my semester abroad.
Update: Even with all of our recent splurges in NY, we are well on our way to our 50k goal. We have 35-ish grand between us, and 7 months to go! Now if I could only get a dollar for every time a bum hit on me or I got yelled at out of a car window…

The past week has been non-stop:

–move out of old apartment
–set up at mom’s to work for the week
–family dinners
–a long drive out to New York
–move into new apartment

This might explain why I could barely make it out of bed today. I’m beat! However, it was well worth it. I love road trips!

We left on Friday, the 18th, early. And by early, I mean like 4:30am we were out the door. Our first stop was in Normal, IL to drop off the keys in our old apartment. That took a whole 10 minutes, then it was on for I-80, our favorite interstate. This is where we stayed for the rest of the day, watching the scenery change from state to state, which really isn’t much. Indiana and Ohio basically look like Illinois - boring, but I will give the weather a two-thumbs-up. As you can see here, the sky stretched on and on.

We made few stops along the way, the main one being at Cracker Barrel for some breakfast. Seeing how I used to work there a long time ago, I’ve had a lot of Cracker Barrel, but this one was the best ever. For some reason that smoked sausage was *excellent*, and it basically made my meal. Wow, way to go CBarrel. Just when I think I have you figured out, you go and surprise me once again. Brian had to do the usual and ask for a bottle of syrup that he didn’t need just so that he could pocket it and run! I won’t let Brian buy the real maple syrup at the grocery store since we rarely make breakfast and it is so expensive, so he has to resort to stealing it when he can. Way to keep up with tradition, Brian!

The real scenery began in Pennsylvania with the rolling mountains and lush greenery. The last time we did this drive, we hit Pennsylvania around 3am, and it was foggy (not my fondest memory of NY trip ‘04). I’m glad we both got to see it this time in the daylight.

Day 1 ended in Stroussburg, which is on the edge of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and the home of the cheapest gas we’ve seen the entire trip! (Definitely photo-worthy) We found a cheap hotel to spend the night recuperating for our big move in day that followed.

Day 2 began early. We drove the rest of the way to White Plains, found the apartment, and started the dreaded process of unpacking the jeep. For thinking we didn’t have too much stuff, we sure did make plenty of trips up and down the stairs! I definitely enjoy our apartment when I’m not thinking about how much we’re paying (3 times more than back in Normal for half the space!) But, that’s ok. I’m sure if you give me a few more weeks, I’ll be used to the extravagant prices.

We’ve really only been here 1 1/2 days, but I can already tell that things are a lot different out here.

There are rarely any beater cars driving around. We actually spent the day counting the rare few - 6. Brian definitely feels out of place with his jeep’s replaced panel.

Apparently, it is extremely common for people to bribe their cable person to get free cable - so common that a landlord might condone it. I was upset that we couldn’t get the same stations with our TV antenna as back home, but we still couldn’t do it. I guess we’re just goodbodies!

New Yorkers like to do things up big, even their bagels. I was actually removing cream cheese from my bagel today!

Overall, I’m excited for the change in pace. I love discovering a new place, and I especially love the convenience of the train system. I have a feeling this is going to be a great summer, even if I can’t pick up the Fox station with our bunny ears.

P.S. Anyone want to let me watch the House Season Finale at their place the 29th?

Can you kill your car twice? Well, yes, metaphorically. The first time I killed my car, I had just paid off my loan for it. This time, I’ve simply sold the bugger!

How exciting is that?! I am now officially car-less (and no longer directly contributing to global warming), but don’t you worry, I don’t really need one on a regular basis (lucky me!). I put an ad in the local paper on Tuesday, and by Saturday afternoon, it was gone and out of my life forever!

I didn’t have a very grand car, so I only sold it for $5500. Five thousand will be put directly into a CD for a return fund, while the other $500 will go directly to my trip fund. I love making leaps and bounds in travel funding like that

So, I bet you’re wondering what else has been up with us? Nothing except just working on getting out of here and to NY. Brian is finishing up his busy semester, and I have been packing/cleaning the apartment. On top of that, I have been working a part-time job scoring tests to make some extra money. But, before you get your hopes up, this month is not going to be so hot in the money sector. I have a couple of doctor appointments coming up, one of which was not planned and very necessary, that will drain the funds pretty heavily.

To make up for this little setback in funding, Brian and I have decided to downgrade Western Europe. We’ve been talking about it for some time, but finally made the official statement, “no, we can’t see every country in Europe on this trip.” The main course of our Western Europe stay will be Spain & Italy, with a touch of Greece and a sprinkling of Portugal and Switzerland. Mmm, I can taste Western Europe now.

P.S. - Only 8 months until we leave, 7 1/2 months until I’m done with work, 6 1/2 months until I put my notice in.

P.P.S. (or is it P.S.S.?) - Oh, and we bought our first flight to Guatemala on Dec. 27th! Take-off is confirmed.