God bless Chapters.

On our way home from Toronto, my mom and I thought we should stop in Starbucks for a decadent Chantico. One thing led to another and suddenly I was buying $45-worth of reading material.

I spent hours sitting on the floor, pouring through travel magazines. I settled on Transitions Abroad and Budget Travel as well as the Utne Reader.

And then I realized that we didn't have a travel guide for the Netherlands yet and how are you supposed to plan a trip without a good travel guide? Well, the answer is you're NOT. So we went over to the section I try to stay away from because I inevitably start to salivate over there. We weighed a couple of good options and settled on the Lonely Planet standard. It's got the stuff that we need; everything else will come from people's recommendations.

This weekend will be a good reading and planning weekend, I say as I struggle to keep my eyelids open.

OK, maybe I'll get some sleep first.