Peaches Prattlings











{November 21, 2016}   Welcome home!

We’re back! I really wanted to say ‘Back in the USSR’, well, I really wanted to sing it! ha ha

We got back Sunday afternoon, picked up my bag from PSM’s Boston office, then headed to GES’ house. Our welcome was just what the doctor ordered!

I opened the door, MGS saw me, screamed my name, jumped up, ran and jumped into my arms, oh I needed that! 

We caught up with GES and MGS, played games, enjoyed the fire in the fireplace, talked until ACS and EJS got home and it was more of the same, fabulous. We did that until it was time for bed.

Today, I got to get MGS on the bus,  hung out with AS, ACS’ sister-in-law, then u drove EJS to school, PSM had an appointment, I made some calls, then we had breakfast at a local place with great pancakes. Back to the house to work, more phone calls and then all of a sudden it was time to pick the girls up from school. 

Back home, dinner and silliness until it was time for bed. What more could you want. 

Welcome home. 



What do you do in Iceland? Lots of stuff, but today… The Blue Lagoon!

Our reservation for The Blue Lagoon was for 1pm, we got up leisurely and moved from the air bnb to hotel, I’ll tell you about the hotel later, yum!

We went to breakfast at a fun place called The Laundromat, good breakfast, fun atmosphere and decoration. And the sun peaked through! Even a rainbow on the walk back, stunning. What an amazing and beautiful city. 

We got our stuff together and waited for the bus. The bus that took us to the bus station for another bus, go figure. We drove about 45 minutes to our destination.

The Blue Lagoon (Icelandic: Bláa lónið) geothermal spa is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. The spa is located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwestern Iceland.
We got checked in,  received our towels and wristbands.  The wristbands were cool, all charges would go to it, instead of having to carry money or a wallet and when you hold it over the sensor it locks and unlocks a locker in the dressing room. 

We met outside changing rooms, hung up or towels and stepped into the warm water. After a bit we waded over to the bar and applied silica masks and later algae masks, smoothing the skin and supposedly make your skin look 10 years younger.

We spent a few hours enjoying the lagoon, the sauna and waterfall. Then took showers and went to dinner in a wide open room with windows looking out onto the lagoon. We dined on reindeer, celery root and poached pears.

Then it was time to head back to town, drinks and pots of tea until it was time to head to our room and plan our  next adventure! 

Keep you posted!



{November 6, 2016}   Vacation!!! We’re going to…

Iceland! 

I have been promising to tell you where for a few weeks now and now you know!

Iceland has been on our bucket lists for years and last year while we were in Nova Scotia, I asked PSM where he wanted to go for his birthday next year, his answer, without hesitation…Iceland! Done!

The only drawback, since he moved to Hawaii in January, not as easy to get to from Hawaii. We postponed our big trip to the fall, worked it with Thanksgiving, perfect!

We are on WOW Air, $99 one way,  can you beat that?! and as of this moment, we have our flight there and a place to stay for the first two nights. Sounds just like us!
We have a list of suggestions from people, apps download and the travel spirit. What more do we need? Oh, and PSM started with his traditional bloody mary.

The plane is pink and flight attendants match and aren’t the seats inviting? 

Keep watching, you know I’ll be posting every day our adventures! see you in a few hours!!



{November 4, 2016}   Seriously? Oh Delta…

Terrific, now what?

I checked two bags, left Springfield and got on the jet plane. I’ve got two bags again, one for work and one for our trip,  wasn’t sure when I’d get home again. 

When I picked up my bag from the carousel, which changed and no one told us…the zipper was ripped, really? so I call Delta, they send me back into the terminal to the baggage office. 

After a long back and forth, my choices are get it fixed myself and submit the receipt or send my bag in to be repaired, um, what should I use as a bag?

They ended up giving me a bag, I divided my stuff between the two bags and got a label to send the broken bag to UPS.

How/where do I turn the bag back in? I’m here for about 36 hours,  then I fly back to Boston for a few hours then vacation. not coming back here until Christmas. finally said I could drop it off at a Delta counter somewhere. Ok..I wonder how long all this will take.  

At least they’re  doing something about it and not just saying “sorry”.



{November 4, 2016}   AirBnB.. I’m in!

I booked my first air bnb for our trip!

Nope, not telling you where we’re going just yet,  you’ll find out soon enough! 

We were looking at hotels on different sites, including Hilton and then I got an email from Delta about air bnb, I could get sky miles, bonus, let’s check it out!

I have heard about air bnbs from a few different people, even some friends who advertise their own places as an air bnb.

I looked at a few with PSM on the phone and we discussed. We decided  on one that had quite a few good reviews and we only booked for 2 nights. Let’s see how we like it and go from there. 

Cross this off the list of new things to try. Who knows, maybe some day I’ll have a place I can turn into an air bnb.

Adventure awaits!



I flew in from Hawaii this morning to Chicago,  hung out for a few hours aa the airport, then flew to Springfield.

When I got to the hotel my room wasn’t ready so I went to Starbucks for a few hours to work and then I went in search for lunch. On my way I found some great sights, beautiful graffiti, charming of houses and stopped in a few shops and even got some Christmas and Chanukah shopping done! Springfield really is charming!

And of course, it’s Halloween and I loved seeing all the costumes I had the pleasure to get for my nieces and grandkids, such a treat! I missed being there in person but the smiles on their faces helped!

There were so many great pics of costumes on Facebook and great memes and cartoons. I thought I would share with you. 

Happy Halloween!!



Let’s talk about my travel day. Now, technically by the time you get this, it’s Monday, October 31st, but I left Hawaii on Sunday, so here goes. 

I’m home for the weekend,  first time in almost two months. That’s too long! Last night was fun, we went to one of PSM’s co-workers homes for a BBQ with his family and another co-workers family. We had to prove that I wasn’t a figment of his imagination! 

Today, I realized,  it may be another two months before I get home again, although I hope not! That being said… I had to pack for four weeks of work with a two week vacation planned and the holidays with the family back on the mainland. 

Can my clothes overlap? How much should I take for work? for the trip? for the holidays? PSM will take some stuff  back after our trip,  but what will I need for Christmas and Chanukah? Normally, I can pack for work in less than 20 minutes,  this process took over an hour! So not me!

Then we chilled out and then it was time to head to the airport. I think Mollie knew what was up….she followed me around a lot, it was sweet.

Flight was long. Only 7.5 hours, which isn’t that bad, but when you’re in the second seat,  you can’t always get out that easily to walk around or go to the lavatory. I’m glad I remembered to make some sandwiches for the trip, there is nothing for me to eat on these flights and unless you’re in first class,  they don’t feed you. 

The wifi was having issues,  the entertainment was having issues. The good thing…United gave us something for our troubles, 5000 miles or $100, I took the miles. 

Now I’m sitting in the United Sky Lounge, which is nice. Breakfast, drinks, comfortable seats, charging sstation. This is the way to go! I’m glad I have some passes for the lounge, although,  if I spent more time in the airport, meaning time before my flights,  I would consider getting a membership. It’s a nice way to kill a few hours before my next flight.

There was a rainbow as I left Hawaii I thought I would share it with you and the benches are from O’Hare airport, I love walking by and seeing art like this. i hope you enjoy them too.

Can’t wait to see all the Halloween posts later today! boo



{October 29, 2016}   It’s nice to be home

It’s been a while since I’ve been home, it’s nice to be here. 

Today was simple enough, PSM got up far too early, he had a 6am flight to Molokai for work and I had gotten my 5 hours and woke up just after he left, just before 5am.

This was an advantage, I was up,  so i started working, 430am here,  930am in Chicago. I worked until about 1130m/12 pm, 5pm Chicago and I had the rest  of the day to myself. 

I did some cleaning, Mollie and I went to the grocery store, top down, listening to music and enjoying the sun and wind. 

I unpacked, did laundry, homey stuff. Even cooked dinner for when PSM got home, a hot meal. We had soup and toasted bagels, it was nice and relaxed to catch up over dinner.

Then it was relax and hang out until it was time to crash. 

It’s nice to be home. 

My view of the sunrise from my kitchen table. 



People have started singing that at me!

Do you remember that song and show? She was a detective and you never knew where she was while she was following a lead. It was an educational show,  this piece was teaching you geography and maybe some history. 

The theme song “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?” sung by an acapella group.

So…I post when I’m taking a trip, sometimes checking in on Facebook. My friends and family seem to like to know where I am and where I’m going. One or two even said they’re traveling vicariously through me! I’ll take it! 

So…where have I been on this date in history?

October 27, 2012…I completed my first half marathon! How many have I done? Sounds like it’s time for another! The last one was almost a year ago! Who’s with me?

October 27, 2015…PSM and I took a cooking class in Barcelona! We cooked that amazing paella!! [And I ate every bit of it, seafood and all!] And learned how to make tapas and sangria! We need to do that again! But where? Hmmm…

And today…October 27, 2016…I’m flying home,  for the first time since I moved to Hawaii! Very long overdue! Let’s hope the trips home are not so few and far between. I have a feeling PSM would agree with me. 

So…where will I be October 27, 2017? We’ll have to wait and see!



{October 27, 2016}   An interesting place for dinner

Another roll-off diner. Another see you soon. Another good luck with your next endeavor. 

And…another great restaurant! We went to The Bedford, the building used to be a back which they converted. It was a great concept! The bank vault was a separate party room, the bathroom doors look like office doors or the room you could look at your private property if you have a security box of your own. 

It was dark and they had it decorated for Halloween, all the touches were subtle and fit in perfectly with the decor. 

A good atmosphere for a private party, intimate dinner or just stopping in for a drink at the bar [to watch the Cubs beat the Indians 5-1…go Cubs!]

The food was interesting, creative, like deviled eggs on bacon dust. Have you ever heard of bacon dust? Me neither! The nice thing,  it was creative and good. No,  I did not have the bacon dust!!

You know my team goes to some nice and fun places,  this was one! Good luck NW, you’re going to rock your new project! See you when you’re in Chicago!

http://www.bedfordchicago.com/



et cetera