Check out Tweets from the Arctic Circle here, and a map of the travel plan here.

Get on your boots

Personally, I think the best tip is the first one – be a deal watcher! In the weeks since that crazy Ireland deal, I’ve seen flights to Dublin advertised as deals for over $500. A year ago I would have agreed, but now I’ll hold out for something in the $350-$450 range thank you very much.

Set up fare alerts on Kayak, Airfare Watchdog or whatever your favorite travel aggregator is, and keep an eye out for the real deal. Soon you be jetsetting with extra cash in your pocket for fun adventures when you get there!

MMMM... Reese's

OK, so it’s not made with any Reese’s cups (sorry Hershey’s), but I SWEAR this pie tastes EXACTLY like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup! Trust me, if you are a peanut butter and chocolate fan – who isn’t – you will love this pie. Be warned: you’ll want to cut very small pieces because it’s the richest treat I have ever made!

I used this recipe and altered it a bit:

1 prepared graham cracker pie crust
1/2 cup peanut butter (JIF is best in my opinion)
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup confectioners sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 package (about 4 ounces) instant chocolate pudding
1/2 container whipped cream

Crumb Topping:
1 Tbs peanut butter
Powdered sugar

- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine butter and peanut butter. Heat in microwave until soft and mix well. Gradually stir in confectioners sugar until the mixture resembles a soft dough. Spread mixture into pie crust.
- In another bowl, mix the milk with the instant pudding. Pour this mixture over the peanut butter mixture and spread around. If you like it to be a bit more gooey increase the milk, and use less milk if you want it to be firmer.
- Top with whipped cream as much as you like (a thin layer should do it).
- In another bowl, combine 1 Tbs peanut butter and some powdered sugar with forks until it resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle these crumbs over your pie for a delicious and pretty topping.
- Chill until firm. I only needed about an hour, but my pudding was already very firm.

If anyone has a recipe for a better Reese’s pie, share and we’ll compare. But so far this is the best Reese’s like dessert I’ve ever made! Remember: small slices!

If anyone out there is able to take advantage of similar deals, Gadling has posted a bunch more from various US cities to other European destinations. The airlines vary as price wars continue to the benefit of travelers.

This is turning out to be an amazing year for deals so far, hopefully it can help both the industry and opportunistic explorers. Bon voyage!

Virgin America, how awesome you are

So Norway is almost totally booked! I’ll share the plan here soon, but it definitely includes Svalbard - the Norwegian island about halfway between Europe and the North Pole. I’m hoping for a trip chock full of northern lights and a few polar bears.

As for the rest of The Year of Six Trips – we still have four to pick out (the first was obviously DC for the Inauguration). Here’s thoughts I have so far on trip number three, and I’d appreciate any suggestions in the comments:

Trip 3: “The Long Weekend”

My boyfriend has a voucher for a free one-way flight on Virgin America that has to be used before Memorial Day. We’ve also already accumulated a ton of Elevate points, so we’re talking two r/t flights anywhere VA flies. We’re thinking a long weekend in either Seattle or NYC (VA is awesome, but destinations are limited). Neither of us has ever been to Seattle, but we’ve also never been to New York with each other. We were thinking New York to get the mileage out of our free flight voucher, but then again that’s a lot of flying for one weekend. (For those of you new to the blog, we live in LA)

Thoughts?

Once we do pick a city, I’m sure I’ll just monitor TravelZoo for hotel deals in spring and that’s how we’ll decide the dates. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

I used Susan Meyer’s recipe and altered it a bit:

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp cinnamon (just a shake or two)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Press the pie crust in to a 9-in pie pan & flute the edges. Place blueberries in pie shell (make sure they are fully drained, and you might want to add a dash of flour to the crust beforehand.
- Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl. Add eggs, sour cream, cinnamon and vanilla, stirring until blended. Pour mixture over blueberries, as evenly as possible.
- In another bowl, combine sugar, flour, and butter until mixture resembles course meal. I don’t have a pastry blender, so I find it works best to beat it just a minute or so, then use two forks or my fingers to create the meal-like consistency. It works wonders! Sprinkle this mixture over the pie evenly.
- Bake for 55-60 min, until top is lightly browned. Cool completely (the longer you cool it, the more your pie slices will remain triangles as opposed to pie mush).

The vanilla and cinnamon add just a bit more oomph to the custard filling, and it is worth it! This was an amazing, and refreshing pie. As usual, I recommend it with some vanilla bean ice cream!

The Neighborhood Ball

In addition to having Silver Area tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, we managed to score tickets to the Green Inaugural Ball on Inauguration Eve, as well as the big party – the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball where the Obamas took their first dance as President & First Lady! I was literally jumping up and down when we got these tickets because I knew it would be the party of a lifetime, and it did not disappoint. Tuxes and ballgowns were purchased, and we were off!

The most exciting was the Neighborhood Ball – where A-list performers mingled with regular DC folks (my boyfriend actually ran into Denzel Washington while heading for the drink line). Everyone was hoping to catch a glimpse of our new President and First Lady. And boy did we! I believe the Neighborhood Ball was one of the smallest parties the Obamas attended that evening – merely 3,000 people. So no matter where you were in that room, you had a great view.

Though I’m sure you could get a better look by watching it on ABC, nothing could beat the excitement of that moment! Beyonce performed wonderfully as the Obamas danced to “At Last”, then got down to a few more hits, including “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”. Our President has some moves! And of course Michelle looked as gorgeous as ever in a stunning white gown. They left after about 20 minutes, but the crowd continued to celebrate our renewed patriotism with some great performances. I barely even cared that I’d been on my feet for 18 hours (much of it in heel), this was a night to remember!

Check out the pics and video below…

Click through to YouTube to see the higher quality…

via cnn.com

I’m going to let the pictures tell the story, as no words can truly describe the awe of Inauguration Day in DC. I grew up here, and have never felt the energy of the city like it was last week. People were letting others in front of them in metro lines hundreds deep, giving up seats, and joining voices in welcome to our new president.

You can obviously tell from my tone that I am a huge Obama fan – I worked for the campaign and supported him for a long time. This is not a political blog, but I can’t help being biased on this day. No matter where you fall in the ideological spectrum, we can all agree that the trip to DC for this historic moment was worth it. It was electrifying, whether you trekked 30 minutes or 3,000 miles to get to the Mall that day.

So without further ado, here are the pictures that tell the story of my Inauguration Day experience – from the crowded metro, through the hours waiting in the silver ticket line, and finally to our ideal spot for viewing history. Enjoy!