Hello, week № 25!
Gosh, I sure miss writing. I recently got to travel again (first time in a plane since COVID, and first time flying solo in several years), so like usual I am inspired to share. This week’s picks are obviously influenced by this recent travel, so please enjoy my Picks of the Week № 25; Weapons School Summer Graduation Picks.
“That’s specific.” You might think to yourself. Yes, yes it is…but only because that’s the setting that inspired me. Obviously you do not need to attend an A class graduation to enjoy the following picks.
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Here are my five favorites this week:
- Rental Car
- Travel Steamer
- Chubbies Dress
- Planned Relaxation
- Planned Indulgences
— RENTAL CAR
I’ve been in rental cars, but until recently I’ve never picked up a car solo.
Usually when I travel I have simple transportation plans; someone will pick me up from the airport, or I just hail a taxi to my hotel. But recently when I flew to Las Vegas, nobody could pick me up from Harry Reid (formerly McCarran) and drive on Nellis AFB.
I could take a taxi or similar to Nellis AFB, but then I’d have to walk to the Inn with my luggage in the 100°F heat of a Las Vegas summer night…with heat radiating from the asphalt. Renting a car ensured that I would arrive at the Nellis Inn without suffering heatstroke – and it was worth it. This was also convenient upon exit from Las Vegas because I needed to leave before Mister Jupiter – so I was able to drive myself again.
We bought the rental car when booking air travel, so the bundle (roundtrip airfare, plus car) was under $1,000. I got a car from Budget (the most affordable compact for just me), and was given a silver Kia Rio with local plates. The rental was as different as possible from our Tesla – that was an adventure. Good thing I still remember how to buy gas!
- Bundling the rental car with the air fare saved the most money, and everything was booked about two months in advance.
— TRAVEL STEAMER
This was a gift to Mister Jupiter that I love using also.
Mister Jupiter travels for work a lot, and we don’t like wearing wrinkly clothes. Traveling with a little bitty steamer makes it easy to knock out wrinkles in any hotel or motel. All you need is a cup of water, an outlet, and a place to hang said wrinkled clothes.
My breezy dresses burn easily under an iron, so I don’t trust myself with heat anymore. Steaming is the perfect solution to tidy up my synthetic fabrics. Thanks to this little tool, my serious dresses were wrinkle-free all weekend.
— CHUBBIES DRESS
Remember how I love thrifting in the middle of the night on ThredUp.com?
Well, one night my “Chubbies Medium” search populated with an obnoxious pink flamingo chino-like cotton-blend dress. I needed it so I bought it right away.
My original plan was to bring it as a bikini cover-up, but I realized that it would be perfect to wear at the Nellis Club because it’s bright (so my husband can find me), and still breezy without being overly sexy. For the record – sexy dresses are great, and the club is fine with them. My issue is that I wanted to wear casual shoes and eat tacos, so I wanted a similarly casual dress.
I still wore it as a cover-up on our pool day!
This dress was a success all around, and I can’t wait to thrift another one because it seems that Chubbies stopped making dresses long ago (I don’t know when the women’s section was phased out -oops).
— PLANNED RELAXATION
Mister Jupiter works in Vegas a lot, but when I visit, we carve out time to relax.
Graduation weekends are a combination of lots of work, and lots of celebrating. We knew that scheduling a nice long pool day was what we needed.
We nailed down our pool day at least a month in advance. Any invitations were politely declined, and we paid the several-hundred-dollar rental fee to have shade in the middle of Caesar’s Palace Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis (the pool area that’s surrounded by the hotel).
We arrived within an hour of opening, and remained until my eyes were in physical pain from all of the sun – about five hours. We had buckets of beer, a bucket of water bottles, a personal assistant who put sunscreen on our shoulders, a server who kept us hydrated, and I definitely had a piña colada for lunch. It was the best afternoon full of friends, sun, and fun.
- If you’re planning a pool day in a downtown Las Vegas hotel, check the pricing for shade, and expect to pay premiums for weekend use.
— PLANNED INDULGENCES
This pick speaks to my love of fasting, and how there’s no cheat days on a lifestyle choice.
If you eat with me (or try to), it may seem that I am very regimented. I’m not. I’m honestly not hungry upon waking, and “lunchtime” always comes a bit early for me. On the occasion that I do want to eat before 3pm, I stick to just-protein, and I keep it small. Dinner is wide open for anything, but I avoid refined carbohydrates and sweets because I’m a little insulin resistant.
All this to say that a fun weekend definitely involves some food-related indulgences. There is no cheating on my fasting lifestyle -or dietary preferences- because those things just keep me happy and healthy. We happily indulged on rolled tacos and cheap liquor one night. The next night we enjoyed fancy cocktails before a fancy dinner. Nothing was off-limits.
We definitely indulged that weekend, but it was all planned, and well within our tolerances. There was no cheating, and no “falling off the wagon.” I still fasted each vacation day, because I feel great when I’m not digesting all day.
When we got back home I jumped back into my usual schedule; no need for longer fasts to balance out the indulgences. In fact, the day that we both traveled back home…I ordered pizzas. If you’re kind of interested in fasting, I have a running series of updates available! The most recent will be nearest the top of the page, start where ever you like (link opens new tab).
And that’s it for this week! I love attending Weapons School Graduations, and am happy that I got to enjoy a “normal” graduation again; COVID made things weird for a few classes.
Looking for something specific? Scan the Picks of the Week, Index.
Otherwise, here are more picks if you’re feeling clicky ↓
Lady Jupiter 