Going Topless...So to Speak

Why is driving around with the top down and the wind whipping around you so much fun?  Maybe dogs had it right all along when they rode in cars with their heads hanging out the window!

I have always owned sensible cars in sensible colors.  You know the kind of car that I am describing.  They have four doors, get good gas mileage, have superior crash test safety ratings, and exude comfortable.  Case in point, my last car (purchased at age 24 I might add) was a Saturn Aura, much like the one pictured below:

Doesn't it just ooze young and hip?

Despite my typical sensible selections, there has always been a part of me that has romanticized driving in a convertible.  Who hasn't?



 So, today when I went to replace my old car with its 200k plus miles, I decided to throw caution to the wind and live out the dream.  I bought a convertible.  Well, to be fair, despite its being a convertible, it is probably the most sensible convertible one can buy: a VW EOS.

I've barely owned it, and I love it.  It's a little classy and a little sporty.  Perhaps even a little more youthful.  But what I love most is that it is just fun to drive.  Riding around town with the top down is just relaxing.

I hope all of the new things I try go this well.  For now, I'm off to take another drive!!

Age Thirty Cometh: The Birthday that Inspired a Change

Quickly approaching the age of 30, I've realized that, in my zeal to advance my career and rack up professional accomplishments, I have allowed way too many things to slip onto the back burner, particularly things that are simply for recreation or enjoyment.  So while I have a resume, I don't know that I have a well-rounded life.

With that thought haunting my mind, I started to make a list of all of those things sitting on the back burner.  Arguably, I'm too young for a bucket list, so it's a by 31 list.  It is full of things that I have wanted to try from riding in a hot air balloon to learning how to cook at least one amazing meal to attending the opera.  The list is long and it is varied, but hopefully ticking my way through it will help me discover aspects of myself that I never knew were there. 

This blog will chronicle my experiences along this thirteen month journey.  Maybe it is a little narcissistic to think the world will care to join me on this journey.  But then again "Eat, Pray, Love" was a New York Times Best Seller and was made into a movie.  Could a young bachelor-based journey of self-discovery also induce an Oprah fueled frenzy?

I'm sure that making the radar screen of Oprah and her audience would cause me to do leaps of joy that rivaled Tom's!


Or maybe it will just serve as an occasional good lifestyle read that features wonderful experiences in and around Baltimore.  I guess we will see.

I'd be remiss if I did not mention two bloggers, who have indirectly inspired this very amateur blogger.  While I have never met their authors, Pigtown Design and Reggie Darling have become must read blogs.  Their writers are captivating, and their posts are entertaining.  But more importantly they demonstrate the camaraderie one can develop sharing their stories via blogging.