If you’re not already planning a summer trip, get cracking.  Good weather is not to be wasted at work or doodling around the house!

That being said, packing for a vacation can be pretty nerve-wracking.  It’s hard to come up with all the possible combinations of clothing that you’ll need, and hardly anyone always brings all the right stuff.  When it comes to accessories, it’s even worse; you don’t want to schlep piles of small items that are easy to lose, but you don’t want to end up forgetting something that will be genuinely useful.  It’s a fine line to walk.

This is how I see it.   (more…)

Everyone needs spring break.  No, I don’t mean the kind where you spend a week getting drunk in Cancun (although if that’s what floats your boat, who am I to argue?).  I mean that the weather is taunting you with the occasional ray of sunshine, even a warm day sandwiched between the cold rainy ones, and your allergies are due to break out at any moment.  THAT is the time that you need to take a day to sleep in, eat some waffles, and possibly leave the house to do some shopping.  Before all the activity – whether holidays, sports, yard work, whatever – associated with spring and summer sweeps you away. (more…)

When you travel to a foreign country, do you spend weeks ahead of time immersed in Rosetta Stone software, or do you figure that if you say it loud and slow enough, everyone will understand?

If you’ve ever had the experience of shopping across a language barrier, you know how awkward it can get.  That’s why I put together this handy-dandy guide to how you say “hat” in 30 different languages.  Save it for your next vacation!

Arabic: kobba’a (Well, that’s classical Arabic.  My friend Nour says that in Syria, they say ta’yeh, and other places have different dialects, but that everyone would understand if you said kobba’a.  They just might giggle a little.)

Chinese: màozi (I listened to the pronunciation on Google translate, and I would never have figured out how to say it otherwise!) (more…)