I want to get away...

Someone needs the sand and the sun. This dreary, grey city is getting to me sooner rather than later am I am loosing have lost my summer glow. My fortune even suggested I would be on vacation near great water soon!

Ace in the hole.

Today Gilt featured the amazing Ace Hotel in NYC. This hipster hotel features urban style with some serious thrift store finds (a Hubble telescope chandelier) and curious collectibles (stuffed badgers-think Hollister Hovey). The hotel is decorated with original art installations. I think I need a vacay, stat!

Happy {no} labor day!

No vacation, but a little time by the water was enjoyed. Cheerio~

Take me home.....

....country 30A roads. It feels like a lifetime since I last visited these sandy shores. Granted I live at the beach {more or less{ but I adore Destin and 30A, and this weekend thanks to the suggestion of a friend and some help from my aunt and uncle for a place to stay I made the journey once again. And it felt good. I was not returning home, but it felt like a homecoming, it was a place I had gone a million times....a place I know better than my current residence. The irony of feeling at home in a place that isn't your home.....

Leaving on a jet plane....

......Well actually more like living on a jet place. Most of us are certainly aware of home rental sites such as vrbo, but have any of you heard of Airbnb? Yeah, neither had I, but upon closer inspection there were a variety of interesting homes and up popped this crazy, Costa Rican creation. Da same plane I had blogged about earlier.....for only $400 a night you can stay in this reconstructed fuselage. Let's just say I'm not booking my next vacay but I have spent quite some time browsing.....

Who needs sleep??

Wow! I'm in Hotlanta for a few days and time/time zones have always given me a little trouble....FYI I made a very bad, no good grade on a time test in the second grade and my mom never let me live it down. She drilled me on time zones, telling time, borrowed the clock from the teacher....reviewed and reviewed some more. Well people I did pass that tests and all subsequent tests there after.......but this trip rekindled all my time insecurities. I woke up an extra hour early to realize 2 hours later that the alarm clock in my room was set on Central Standard Time. My hotel room felt like a little time zone purgatory for a moment this morning...but hopefully everything will be right in the world tomorrow when I wake up. I just have to remember to add an hour to everything. 6am is 7am and 7am is 8am.....even my Blackberry refuses to reset itself.....how annoying? I figure the only reason I learned to tell time was to be able to wear a watch with hands because digital is not tres chic.

I'm baaaaaccckkkkk......

Safe and sound, well I'm back maybe not safe and sound. Turns out on our flight from Vegas to Atlanta to Florida my bag was a few steps {or planes} behind us. We arrived at the airport to watch the baggage tracks go round and round and eventually stop to find that my ever so noticeable leopard print baggage was not on it! I was shocked having never lost a bag or had one arrive late....this is my worst fear mind you (well one of my worst). We hurried to the tiny baggage claim office and waited in line to fill out paper work. Finally we get to the lady...."where's your ticket?" she quizzes....I did not have a ticket. I handed her my boarding pass only to be informed that this would not work and that she would let it slide this time. Finally scrounging through my laptop bag/purse I found it! She then tells us that my bag will not arrive until tomorrow....but wait they won't deliver it to my apartment. WHAT??! I have to go back to the airport at 9:03pm. I complain to the beau but to not avail he drops me at my apartment and leaves me by myself to go back to the airport. Begrudgingly I get in my car and drive back....OK so I hate going places at night by myself. Not to mention I had to lug the 40 pound bag up the stairs myself. UGH! All this reminds my of what someone once told me, You've got baggage. {Just like in RENT--No one's perfect. I've got baggage! Baggage, wine and beer}

I like it, I love it....

....I want some more of it! Yep, you guessed it Diet Coke. Turns out not everyone shares by affinity for this tasty beverage, nor does everyone understand my need for this cold treat. It could be a worse addiction right? Well on my trip to Vegas after my shower the first morning I realized CRAP?! No Diet Coke in the room....wearing PJ's and having wet hair I was not stepping out.....I called room service and ordered 3 at roughly $2.50 for each plus the room service charges. The total was roughly $16, but so worth it....I drank two and stowed one in the mini bar for later. Guess what people I forgot to buy some the next day as well....so I drank the two in the mini fridge. Total $10......on the third day I remembered and stopped by the gift shop and bought 3 20 ounce bottles. Heaven! Then on the day we checked out my date storms in the room....saying "Did you order room service?!" I said "yeah some Diet Cokes"....he says "from room service or did you get them out of the fridge?" "Both," I said....little did I know how bad this was going to go over.....I will probably never live this down, but really I would have done the same thing had everything been on my tab. Actually some guys would have known that they did not want to face me without caffeine and gone to buy me some....trust me--little things mean a lot and getting me that Diet Coke mitigates any animosity I would have otherwise. In my defense I got about one meal a day because I brought my breakfast, missed dinner one night, barely had it the other, and bought my lunch one day...so really in the whole scheme of things can't I trade that dinner for $40 in DC? {I have the uncanny ability to justify anything, I suppose.}

But the real kicker is that the beau proceeded to complain and complain about it even telling the taxi driver....really I thought....finally at the airport I popped out two twenties and muttered irritatedly exclaimed bluntly, HERE! I really don't want to hear about it. That did not work-he refused to take it. I think he was shocked...but really what else was I to do........but order another.

....here's to you Diet Coke!

Just can't wait to be king!

Okay, Okay I guiltily admit that I was the one who wanted to see The Lion King. I think I injected the words lion king into random conversation enough to kill someone (well not quite). I can't help it, I share an affinity with Disney classics and could watch them for hours on end (well used to be able to); my top picks would include Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Mulan, Pochahontas, Lady and The Tramp, 101 Dalmatians.......and that's just the animated classics. Thankfully my date caved and told me on Tuesday morning that if I went and got the tickets we could see the show. I got up and busied myself to see if tickets were still available. Hooray I found some....I called mom to see what I should do. I felt so guilty getting them.....especially since I knew the man of the hour really really really did not want to go. I think it must have been an age thing and he missed the cult-like following Disney had. Oh well I was about to enlightened him. I phoned the concierge to see if they could find me better tickets than the ones I saw online. To my surprise they did! I quizzed them about if I could pick them up and they said yes...well through some miscommunication it came down to I had to pick them up from Will Call at The Mandalay Bay....all the way down the strip. I met the boy for lunch once again. I felt guilty not meeting him since he was going to see The Lion King. Well I was so excited I had texted him earlier and told him we needed to get the tix by 6:30...he said sure, then to my surprise at lunch I find out he's in class until 6:15......looks like I would be tasked with going to the opposite end of The Strip to pick up the tickets....and that I did. Bummed I was missing some prime shopping but excited I was going to see The Lion King I headed to The Mandalay Bay. I entered the hotel and wandered aimlessly heading toward one Will Call area to later find it was closed. I think I circled the casino several times before I finally got a lay of the land and found the right window. An hour and a half later I had the tickets and headed to shop....an hour later I was back at the Mirage to get ready for the show.

The show was great, long, but great. Just as I had expected, I had not seen the movie in years, but I remembered all the characters names and loved every minute of it. Sure it was geared for kids, but hey aren't we all kids at heart? Glad I got to see this one, but I would rank Love and Santana higher for the record I was wrong.

They say you want a r{evol}ution!

Vegas Day 2: The plus one went to his conferences and lectures while I slept after a grossly sleepless night thanks to my inability to set an alarm and calculate time zones (go ahead, laugh mom!). The alarm charmed and chimed enough to wake the dead. I slept...not soundly....but I slept. An hour later I woke up and got ready to shop. Anthropologie here I came! I headed to the shops at Caesar's and wound my way around to find THE one and only Anthropologie. I shopped my way through several stores and met the guy for lunch then quickly continued my rampage through the Vegas stores. I headed back to the hotel at five to get ready for the show....The Beatles: LOVE Cirque du Soleil performance! I was a little iffy on going to a Cirque show.....but Beatles music was a no brainer....I knew I would at least enjoy that. We met a group of his friends at The Revolution before grabbing a quick sushi dinner. The Revolution bar was cute, quirky Austin Powers inspired hangout. Based on some of the photos I have found online the inside takes you into a more of a "Yeah, baby" frame of mind. The show turned out to be more than I expected. I 100% loved it. It was like a So You Think You Can Dance performance choreographed by Wade Robsen. It was genius, light on contortion but heavy on the dance moves, costumes and choreography. It was Broadway meets Cirque. Every song was perfect. The Octopus' Garden was created with a series of dancers draped in white spinning from the air......Here Comes the Sun yielded a giant orb and Lucy.....what else but a sky of diamonds. I could not have asked for a better performance and I would definitely watch it again! I give it a TEN.

Viva las Vegas.

The good, the bad, and the Vegas. The good: a trip to Vegas since I had never been, Santana, Beatles: LOVE, The Lion King, Anthropologie, Juicy Couture, 7 jeans and other miscellaneous shopping. The bad: baggage {literally}, communication, tickets, Diet Coke, and more baggage. The Vegas: bright lights, tourist destination, desert.

I admit I had mixed emotions about leaving the Sunshine State it could have been the fact that my travelling partner failed to phone me for three straight days before our departure on Sunday so that left me a bit disheartened. A finally got the call on Saturday and began the ritualistic packing. A few hours later I was miraculously packed, zipped and ready to Viva Las Vegas, or so I thought. I was picked up a little after 6 am. I was quizzed and quizzed....was I sure my bag was under 50 pounds? I said absolutely.....well it had weighed 53 pounds....but really in the whole scheme of things what was three pounds.....well those three little pounds turned into 13 big ones! We dropped my bag onto the scale and were greeted with a "WOW" by the angry, uncaffeinated airport employee....63 pounds.....63 pounds.....she kept asking if there was anything I could take out or move to another bag. I was like no....no way. Did she not see my bag? There was not one cubic inch of space left...not to mention I wasn't going to move my handbag from my carry-on to the checked bag for fear of losing the Gustto. "Hhhhufff" I exclaimed, "let's go to the truck and unload." I started unzipping and removing a ton...a few pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of shoes (who knew Converse were that heavy) several shirts and several more expletives later I felt like I was well on my way to flying freedom. With the help of my date we zipped up my bags and headed back to the scales. The line had doubled. We inched toward the scale and lo and behold a whopping 39 pounds...no way there was simply no way that my bag had lost 24 pounds of clothing and accouterments....10 maybe but not 24. Oh well, the scale was off but there was no time for a challenge. We had 30 minutes to make the flight...would my bag make it?
Well our flights were for the most part uneventful except for the 3.5 hour one from ATL to Vegas...we sat for a little bit on the tarmac as we were informed that there was missing foam around the door....that is was unnecessary. Great, why not duct tape I thought? They also had to replace {yet another unnecessary} part, this time the engine....so many unnecessary parts....so little time but we landed safe and sound with bags to boot. We hopped on the bus to the hotels and were quickly at The Mirage. There were Vegas Valentine's brides everywhere...scary I muttered. We quickly changed for an early dinner. Forgoing red and opting for my traditional black on the plane ride over, I had a red Vivienne Tam dress calling my name for heart day. Dinner-check now on to Carlos.....SANTANA at the Hard Rock. Great band...great energy and close seats=perfect.
.....on to Day 2.......

SEC-ya later Gators.....

It was the best of times....it was the worst of times.....I made the journey to A-town for the SEC Championship. My first one ever....and I think I rooted for the wrong team! I went with a Florida fan so I was left with no option but to proudly don my orange and blue. I must admit it took a lot of work to find those colors in something fashionable and ALOT more work to convince my travelling companion the many reasons I did not need a Gator t-shirt or other team apparel. It took many many dialogues about what I wear to games, but finally he was convinced....it only took two unsuccessful trips to sports shops and trying on several ill-fitting shirts. Thank goodness nothing fit and thanks to Claire for lending me even more orange options! It would have been easier to wear crimson and black....I even have a hounds tooth coat...but no, I did the right thing and cheered for those Floridians.....I cheered and I cheered and I cheered.....but to no avail. One touchdown after the other for Bama and a million Rooooolllll Tiiiidddeeesss later we {the Gators} lost. Their defeat undoubtedly tugged at my heart strings as I watched all the exuberant Alabama fans, for a few moments I felt as though I abandoned my home state and my parents who wear rooting for Alabama....my heart strings were being pulled....but hey it's just a game and I think it was just me wanting to be on the winning end!All in all, even with a defeat it was a good game and the excitement and football pageantry was great. There was so much energy walking from our hotel to the Georgia Dome--I loved it and might have been even more excited than my plus one. I kept saying we have to get there early...can't miss kickoff...can't miss kickoff!!! I definitely went with a trooper who wanted to go ice skating after the game. We also had a great dinner at Ray's despite being surrounded my more Bama-ites..... Who knows.....maybe next year I'll be cheering for the right side~

Tuesday afternoon....

For anyone living in the Southeast you have no doubt heard the Moody Blues playing Tuesday Afternoon from your tube and walked in the room to find a commercial for the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. I visited the aquarium over a long weekend in Atlanta.....and yes just like at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, I touched a sting ray and a shark. Here are some of the photos I managed to snap while dodging kids screaming "SHARK!!" Admittedly I wanted to run around and point and scream....and really wanted to pet the otters or penguins, but no dice. Sebastian.Whale Sharks.A jellyfish that reminded me of Seven Pounds and a walk at Ft. Pickens where we saw a ton of beached jellies.

Go speed racer....

Last week I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take this Tesla for a swing around the block. The novelty of it could have been the $100k plus price tag and the story that aired months ago on CNN, but novelty is one thing...performance is another. The sheer power of this vehicle I cannot describe. I waited for what seemed like days to drive this car. I feared that the opportunity to get behind the wheel was going to escape me, but last Thursday I managed to snag a ticket to hop in the drivers seat. I crept out of the parking lot in this low slung car and eased onto the blacktop. The only noise was the purr of the cars wheels on the pavement. There was no engine noise. And when I gave it gas accelerated the speed was amazing. 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds. There was no hesitation. Once you accelerate the car is small jet taking off and once your foot eases off the accelerator the car immediately stops. That's all electric for you--there is no circuit completed and no electricity being produced. Although this car has just enough space for two smallish people and won't get me to Disney World, if I had extra dough laying around, this baby would be mine......amazing! Half a week later I am still dreaming about this Tesla and there is still a twinkle in my eye....now I truly understand the love affair people have with sports cars....pure adrenaline, but for now my sport ute is doing well and hauls things quite nicely. I love my Henri!