Summer travel plans...

Since my mind is always dreaming of ideas for the next adventures, I thought I'd share what some of those might be within the next few months...

1. Tampa, FL - The bro just returned from the war, so my parental desire to go visit him. Additionally, my mom has it in her head that she may want to retire to Tampa, and she's heard that you can dive with the manatees in Crystal River (equi-distant from Orlando or Tampa). Thus, my mom is combining all of these into a week long trip in March. She wants me to come and make it a family reunion, but it will just depend on how much time I can afford to take off of classes and how much money I have after Italy!

2. Chicago, IL - This year the Forte Conference will be held there in June. I'm hoping I get a stipend again (and a day off of Amazon) so I can go out there for the weekend. I'd love to see Wrigley Field, the Bean, the trains, Sears tower (I know it's been renamed, but who cares), etc.

3. Las Vegas - I know I've been a million times, but it's always a good time. My darling friend Holly (who lives there) is getting married there this summer, so it's a great excuse to go. Also, my friend Katie (who is also getting married this summer) is having a bachelorette party there sometime within the next few months!

Sailing off the British Virgin Islands...

My fabulous friend Sally (AKA my partner in crime here in grad. school) and her sister are licensed sailboat captains, and occassionally decide to rent out a boat. This year Sally decided it'd be fun to get a group of our classmates together to go on a week-long boat trip in the British Virgin Islands for a crazy week of tanning, snorkeling, scuba, and leasure. We got together a group of 10 (5 guys, 5 girls) and are headed down to Tortola right after classes end (and we all go our separate ways for our internships) in May.

Since Sally and sis are captains, we don't have to hire any crew members, and we were able to get round-trip flight tickets for only $500 from PIT - score! Plus split 10 ways the boat/food/alcohol was a totally reasonable price.

Here's a picture of the boat we are renting:

I am so excited! Just now have to get in bathing suit shape and figure out how to get a tan!

Seattle here we come...

I have wanted to go to Seattle for as long as I can remember, but can never find a good excuse. Well now I finally get to go! My good friend Katie is getting married there in May, so I had planned to go for a few days anyway, but today I found out that I got the internship I wanted (Product Management) with Amazon.com this summer, so I get to move there for 12 weeks! I am very excited to see the city in the summertime and hopefully make some great contacts so I can move there after I graduate. Hooray!

EDIT:
It looks like I will be living there from May 22nd - Aug. 17th, so feel free to come visit me during that time!

Additionally, my great friend Sally also got an internship with Amazon in Seattle this summer, so it looks like we'll be sharing a place in the Corporate housing to save money on rent.

Traveling solo for the first time...

I've just decided to go on a trip to Italy over Spring Break. Probably not the greatest idea on a student budget, but a close friend is studying abroad in Florence (where I could stay for free) and the flights are really cheap right now, so I've decided to go for it. It would mean traveling solo and spending a few days by myself, which I admit scares me to death, but it also means 4 days in Rome and 3 days in Florence.

Have you been to either of these cities? Recommendations of restaurants / shops / hostles?