During Fashion Week in October, the spring trends of 2012 were shown. The trends include bird patterns to pastel colors. As much as I adore the designers, the runway looks are expensive, so I’m going to show how to stay on trend this spring with six of my favorite trends for less.

Yesterday, I chose to embark on a journey doing something I never thought I’d do ­— gardening. And I was somewhat successful.

Although I appreciate nature, I would never consider myself outdoorsy by any means. When I think of the outdoors, I immediately think of getting down and dirty in a place where facing my fear of bugs is completely unavoidable. You can see how gardening has never particularly come to mind.

I’ve learned well from the lessons of experience the importance in commuting, as in so much else in life, of effective communication.

Every Tuesday, Thursday and occasionally Friday, a high school friend of mine and I trade off making the drive from Joshua to Arlington. We save money on gas and ease the travel burden on our vehicles. Thanks to conveniently synchronized schedules, the system works out perfectly — usually.

During the weekend, I found myself discussing some future rides multiple times, most likely because we can finally see that the light at the end of the winter-season tunnel.

I thought I’d share a couple of my favorites here, one for each distance level. I’ve shared routes for practical things like grocery stores and restaurants, but these are less destination based road rides for fun.