When I put in for a two-week vacation at my office, it raised some eyebrows.  See, two weeks is all the vacation I get for the entire year, and it’s definitely unusual for someone as junior as I am to take it all in one fell swoop.  But John and I had been saving and planning for this trip for two years, and there was no way I was going to make it just a week because I was worried about violating some silly office social norms.

The main street in Dubrovnik

May I say: that was an excellent decision.  The first week of vacation was truly great, and included some of my favorite destinations, but it took until the second week for me to feel like I forgot I even had a job, to feel totally relaxed and focused just on what fun and relaxing thing we wanted to do that day.  It was heaven.

A cove on Palmijana, an Island off Hvar

We spent a week in Croatia, a destination which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone considering it (just look at that clear blue water!) with some friends, and then a week in Italy on our own (this just in: pasta in Italy is way more delicious than here).  We did a lot of walking around, stopping for drinks and/or food.  Basically, we walked until we thought “I could use a libation!” or “I am craving a snack!” and then we would stop and drink and admire the views and pat ourselves on the back for planning such a lovely trip to such cool places.

Bar at the top of a castle turret in Korcula

There are lots of stories I could tell you about our vacation, but I realize that a twenty-paragraph post on all the funny/weird/annoying little things that happened on my two weeks away would be achingly boring for most, so I have decided to take a poll.  I have, in my head, narrowed the possible stories down to the three that are the most funny/interesting/compelling/tragic, and I am going to put it to a vote!

Duomo at dusk

Which story would you most like to hear:

• The time we almost killed our friend Will in a freak dinghy accident
• The time when we tried to travel from Venice to Rome and realized that yes, in fact, we ARE in Italy, which means no, in fact, you will NOT get to your final destination at anything approximating the scheduled time today!
• The time I learned to fillet a whole fish (including cheeks!) in a trial-by-fire way involving a stern waiter and a bottle of Croatian white wine

I’ll take the most popular answer and regale you with that tale of woe in my next entry.

********
Oh, and by the way: I’ve started a little side project with my awesome friends Sam and Kori, and it launches today: it’s called LiveWellSpendWell, and it’s a shopping/review/giveaway blog that focuses on items that cost less than $15. We all like shopping and review blogs, but were growing weary of sites that claim $50 tshirts are “bargain priced!” and exhort you to purchase $900 grills. So, we started our own! Go over to livewellspendwell.com and check out the best in truly bargain-priced beauty products, home goods, kitchen gadgets, and kid stuff.  We hope you enjoy the fruits of our labor!