4/13 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  Well it turns out that the "great" air-fare my husband found for Paris was one-way.  Back to the drawing board.  We are going to Vancouver, BC, Canada - flying up on Business Class and flying back on coach - all with redeemed airmiles.  We have enough Hilton points to stay at Hampton Inn Suites in Vancouver - but my husband is going to make sure they have availability today - and then will "pull the trigger" on the flights - they said they will hold the reservation until Sunday - we believe we will be charged "security" fees - so, not totally free - but had we had to pay for equivalent seats/flight and hotel - we believe we would have had to pay close to $5K - so, we are happy with our savings.  Hotel has free breakfast and kitchenette - so, we will probably eat out once a day - and it looks like there's a lot to do.  Next year, we will plan a trip to Europe - a whole lot earlier.  In other news, I got my precious gems from shopgoodwill.com - and I have to say I am a bit disappointed.  They were probably accurately described - said they could be lab-created/natural - and they look created to me - although they didn't in the pictures - so, my fault.  But one looks to me like an amethyst - which was described as a sapphire - looked medium blue to me in the pictures - so, I will take it to the jeweler.  I will have them set, and they look beautiful - but I would have rather had natural - and I don't think an amethyst and sapphire are the "same".  So, we shall see.