How long is the flight to Australia? Oh, not too long - just 16 hours (!) or so from LAX to Melbourne.

Of course, few of us start in Los Angeles. Our journey took us from Albuquerque to LAX (5 hours because there were no nonstop options available), from LAX to Melbourne, and from Melbourne to Hobart (another hour or so, plus several hours to kill at the airport). By the time we arrived at our hotel, the fabulous Maylands Lodge in Hobart, we were understandably exhausted...and then my husband took me on a surprise, multi-hour hike. Uphill!

Do I even need to say it was a surprise? Surely no sensible person would have agreed to strenuous activity after all that flying unless they didn't understand what they were getting into. Then again, after that much travel, is anyone still sensible? Can they understand anything?

(Honestly, I think SN just got lost and he wouldn't admit it.)

I'd been dreading the long flight even before booking it. I tried to convince my travelmate of the meri…

I'd love to blame this one on jet-lag.

This morning, I rolled off of my Amerisleep mattress feeling completely unlike my usual, lazy self. Today, I was full of determination. I was going to accomplish everything (everything!) on my To Do list, even the items that have been there forever. Yes, I was finally going to tackle the mess that is my office.

And exercise!

And stop eating sugar!!

And write a stack of long overdue thank you notes!!!

It was going to be quite a day. With the help of Alexa, guiding me through my Amazon Echo Dot, I completed a meditation session before I'd even had my coffee. Feeling very zen, I decided I would practice mindfulness while making my morning latte - feeling the weight of the cool mug, listening to the sound of the milk being poured, inhaling the aroma of the freshly ground beans. I rejected all outside distractions and was 100% in the moment. Aaaahhhhh.

I don't think I did it right.

While engaging in my mindfulness exercise, I was feeling …

We've been home almost a week and I still haven't done any serious Tasmania blogging. Jet lag is no joke! Plus, we seem to have brought home a cold (me) and the flu (SN) from when we visited my family in Perth at the end of our trip. (His is totally the same thing I have, morphed into a man cold.) When traveling to Australia, keep in mind that it may be their flu season when you visit.
Here is the detailed itinerary we began our trip with, including notes on the best restaurants per stop. Locations that are in bold are the main focus of the day. I'll share the changes we made to the actual trip (and the ones we wish we'd made!) in the coming days. 

You can also find lots of photos and funny trip stories on my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

If you've ever wanted to visit Australia, now is the time because of the generous exchange rate compared to the US dollar. Be sure to make Tasmania a priority. My husband and I have visited Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne …

We just got home from 3 weeks in Australia and I'm crazy jet lagged. (And heading to work right now - yaaaay.) Photos, trip details, and travel tips for your own Australian adventure are coming soon.

If you've ever wanted to visit Australia (who hasn't?), now is the time because of the exchange rate. With the value of the US dollar compared to the Australian dollar, we basically received a 30% discount on every purchase.

This was taken at the Cohunu Koala Park near Perth, which was one of the highlights of our trip. It's one of the few places you can pet kangaroos, wallabies, and other Australian animals.

It turns out kangaroos love popcorn.

When you started living on your own, did you ever do anything stupid? Like really, really stupid? I did and Sexy Nerd is never going to let me forget it.

Geez, I was stupid. Perhaps I'm not the only one though. Let me ask you a question...

What is this?
If you answered "I don't know what the heck that is," you'd better read on and learn from my mistake.
I have a little disorder known as 'frugalitis'. Some people would insist that I'm just very cheap, but I assure you that it is a serious condition that's completely out of my control. I don't normally spend money on anything frivolous, but I love those little candy bars that used to go on sale for 10/$1. There are a lot to choose from. Kit Kats, Milky Ways, 100 Grands, etc. A few years ago, Hershey changed these to 8/$1 - a 20% increase! I have not purchased them since. This story takes place before Hershey jacked up the price.
The packages of candy bars were on sale for $0.89 for a 10 pack (a…

Sexy Nerd and I are the worst aunt and uncle in the world. The last time we saw our little niece (10 months ago?) she wanted nothing to do with us, which is understandable since we never, ever spend any time with her. Truth be told, as childless thirty-somethings, we were probably more scared of her than she was of us. 

I tried to win her over by sitting to watch Aladdin, but my presence in the room was too much. She didn't want to watch a movie if I was also going to watch it. Sexy Nerd was zero help, declaring it a hopeless effort to get to know his niece and saying that maybe things will be easier when she's older.

 Maybe we can bribe her with some McDonalds? Kids still love McDonalds...right?
I brought the issue up again yesterday, stressing to Sexy Nerd that we really should make more of an effort, and that it's only going to be harder the longer we wait to get involved. He explained his feelings, in complete seriousness, as follows:

"It's hard to be around kids.…

Many years ago, when SN and I tackled our first major decorating and remodeling project in our first home, we played it safe. We ended up with a beautiful kitchen and received many compliments. It was great...but also sort of underwhelming. Granite counters? Us and every other kitchen in America.
For future projects, we knew we wanted to amp up the "wow" factor, even if it meant taking on more risk. Go big or go home, right? And we were already at home! A waterfall running directly over our patio. An arched wall with a chandelier over a Jacuzzi. A dramatic stripe of river rock running along the floor. A pitch black painted ceiling. (That last one actually turned out to be the ugliest thing ever. SN is never going to let me forget it.)
One of our favorite dramatic decorating choices in our last house was the wallpaper mural we installed in the dining room, framing each side of the fireplace. It was a single image that we split into two halves. I don't think a visitor eve…