One of my MOST favorite things to do to cheer me up is to plan our next vacation. Or weekend getaway. Or day trip to the farmer’s market. Or any little trip to be completely honest. I love to plan trips! I lived in China for a year after I graduated from undergrad and one of my biggest happinesses while I lived there was planning trips to other cities or to other countries. Here are some of my favorite spots I was able to go to while I was living abroad! Here, Here, & Here!

So much of the winters here are miserable, so daydreaming about and making plans for a trip helps me focus on other things! Since this is my last semester of school, we don’t really have any time to take any major trips until I graduate! (I CAN’T WAIT FOR MAY!) At least it’s something that I can look forward to. I need all the motivation I can get before graduating, and there is no better way to do this than planning a vacation.

There are just so many places that we can visit. Would I prefer to go somewhere hot, or would I like to go somewhere cold? The decisions are so hard. I usually like warm countries, but my friend has recently come back from Iceland, which tends to be a bit colder than your average vacation. But it sounds like she had an amazing time. It was a good job she hired a rental vehicle from somewhere like Cars Iceland, as her trips to the many volcanoes and waterfalls they have would never have happened. Her pictures look great too, and her memories of the Northern Lights sound incredible. So, even though I never would’ve considered a country like this before, it definitely sounds appealing to me now. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, especially because I need to graduate first.

But in the meantime, we could do little fun trips like, heading to a bed and breakfast and going hiking, spending the day at an antique mall, or even wandering through our local Asian market and planning to make a cool dinner together. My favorite adventures are the ones that I spend with my husband, discovering new things together!

And in addition to planning on satisfying my wanderlust, by Wednesday, I need a drink and my friends. Thankfully I don’t have class on Wednesday’s so I can meet up with my girls for a cocktail somewhere. Seventh Son is a local brewery and bar here in Columbus and they have the coolest little spot to hang. Getting together with a group for dinner or drinks is one of the easiest ways for me to leave my work or school stresses aside and just be happy for a while!

What are your favorite mid-week little happies?

Head to the Elm & Iron Instagram page to see which item from today’s post they are offering to giveaway!!!!

XOXO – Em

| Madewell sweater | Madewell skirt | Geoffrey Scott bracelet | Geoffrey Scott necklace |

all map/adventure materials/Bar sign/marquis light letter from Elm & Iron

all photos by Emma Parker Photography