Roadtrippin'

Tomorrow evening on embark on my first real roadtripping experience. Sure, I've been on countless family vacations, but at the time, the driving part of those seemed closer to torture than a fun, bonding time like no other. After having plans to go to Daytona Beach as part of a larger group, a friend and I decided to throw caution to the wind and make the drive to Miami ourselves. Actually, I'm still hedging my bets to see this pulls through as he is notorious for flaking last minute! However, the plan is to leave late tomorrow evening and drive through the night to Myrtle Beach. In an effort on my part to prevent us from killing each other due to 14 hours of silence (or rather kill him me for talking too much!), I spent several hours perfecting a playlist for our listening pleasure.

I believe the perfect playlist should listen like a conversation. It should start low, calm, and grow from there, swelling to a peak, and slowing dying out. By no means should it just be a random compilation of songs. For this reason I spend hours not only carefully selecting the music, but also organizing the order. A sampling is below, but unfortunately, some of the songs I'm most excited about could not be added there. Those can be found on Marc Johnce's website - he is an amazing mashup artist that I cannot get enough of! Seriously, check it out!

Other than that, I'm just trying to rest up and get ready for the long drive - and psych myself up for the fact that not only is this my first road trip, we've only reserved a hotel for one night out of the 8 we plan to be gone. We've packed a tent, sleeping bags, a cooler with plenty of alcohol, bathing suits, and not much else! Wish us luck!

**Edit: turns out my car doesn't play MP3 CDs, so I had to trim the list to fit it on 2. Sad.**

Klout

There is nothing I love more than getting a good deal. I can never keep it to myself when I score something for a fraction of the original cost. To this effect, Marshall's and TJMaxx have been a girl's best friend for years, but due to their natural of ever-changing inventory, they are not online retailers. As a self-professed shopaholic, I have to get my fix when the mood strikes, which has lead to an increasing amount of online shopping over the years. That's where designer shopping sites like Gilt Group and Haute Look come in to play. All the discounts of TJ's or Marshall's from the comfort of my home. Or office. Whatever. Anyways, in addition to their already-discounted merchandise, Gilt is partnering this week with Klout, a website that aggregates your social media activity to "measure and leverage" your influence on the internet. All this week, Klout is offering a perk of discounts on Gilt, ranging from 20-100% depending on your Klout Score. So find out your level of influence and save on some new designer clothes, home goods, and food while you're at it!

The World of Whiskey

I am a vodka girl. Always have been; always will be. So much so that I once referred to myself as Vodka, a nickname which (thankfully) only stuck for a short period of time. However, after reading this article about the image your drink of choice gives you, I decided to branch out.

Last night was the much-anticipated opening of a new (to Lansing) bar called The Black Rose. According to the background information on their menu, the bar itself was first built in Ireland in 2004, from where it was transferred to Grand Rapids, MI, and now has come to rest on Washington Square in Lansing. It's on the small side, which to me translates to cozy, and it has a slightly upscale atmosphere. Overall, I've got a good feeling about this one, and I hope it works out!

Anyways, I mentioned to a friend that I wanted to try whiskey. The combination of the Irish-themed bar and the article got to me. He suggested I start with Johnny Walker Black, neat. I compromised and ordered it rocks. This was not a good start to my whiskey-drinking career, let me just tell you that.

At this point, a colleague stepped in and introduced me to The World of Whiskey, as he put it. He explained that there are several types of whiskey, each with different characteristics. We reviewed Irish whiskey, scotch, bourbon, and Canadian whiskey. His thoughts and my observations on each:

1. Irish Whiskey (Bushmills) - Triple-distilled and aged in reused oak barrels. - This one was by far the smoothest, and to me, the best-tasting. I ended up finishing this one on the rocks once the lesson was over.
2. Scotch (Glenfiddich) - Twice distilled, the grains are roasted over peat fires. - Oh my god, no. No, no, no. No wonder I didn't like the Johnny Walker - too much of a smokey aroma for me.
3. Bourbon (Woodford Reserve) - Distilled once and aged in fresh oak barrels. - Ok, I really liked the flavors of this. Very robust. However, it was not smooth by any means. It was just too harsh for me, but I'd like to try it with soda sometime.
4. Canadian Whisky (Canadian Club) - Grains are blended before barrel aging. - This was my second favorite. It just had a more complex flavor, almost hinting at amaretto.

Overall, I think whiskey is something I can get used to drinking. In the meantime, I may need to refer to this article about 4 steps to drinking whiskey neat, but I think I'll get there!