Archive for the ‘TRAVEL’ Category

You may or may not have noticed that I have been totally MIA the last few days…. WHY? Well, The fam and I decided to make our way up the California coast, on Highway 1… all the way from Laguna to San Francisco! It was something I always wanted to do and deciding to do it last minute was so exhilarating! Here is  a little photo tour in order from south to north:

Sun dappled street in San Jaun Capistrano.

Surf City, USA- Huntington Beach

Santa Monica

Santa Barbara, view from our room at the Canary Hotel.

 

Turquoise grasscloth and framed ikat and suzanis at the Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara

Hitting the open road in our red convertible(rented!), farmland  and vineyards north of Santa Barbara.

Hearst Castle- the only view we got, the last tour left 20 minutes before we got there… and there was no mention of this on their website!

Elephant Seal Beach. Molting by the side of the road. Literally.

Approaching Big Sur.

Big Sur. The view from the one restaurant/bakery/gas station/general store. Surprisingly super delicious food.

Sunset on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Morning at Carmel.

Horse at the Equestrian Center at Pebble Beach.

Monterey Cannery, site of the famous Monterey Aquarium.

Jellyfish, Monterey Aquarium.

Jellyfish, Monterey Aquarium.

Apple “Campus” Cupertino. (Going there was like me going to Kelly Wearstler’s studio- for my husband!)

The Presidio, San Fransisco

The Presidio, San Francisco.

Golden Gate Bridge.

Now I get why Californian’s are so into Conservation: They have what to preserve! And why so many people out here are into hiking: you are never more than 10 minutes from some kind of mountain.

Also, I dont think if I lived out here I would give a crap about interior design. What’s better than being outside when you live somewhere so beautiful?( I’ve been to the far reaches of the earth and California could be one of the most beautiful places Ive ever been.) I probably wouldnt blog or tweet either… Do you ever get the feeling that everyone else is out living while you are home blogging? Yea? Me too.

Dreaming about summer vacations and opening new doors!

 

Photo 2.

I saw these two photos separately and their similarity really struck me. One made me instantly think of the other.

Is it wrong that I now want to go to Morocco? Meaning: the little stunt Bravo and the tourism dept of Morocco pulled  by sending the cast there for 3 episodes actually worked on me?

Wanna know what I do every day now? I look through my photos to find pictures of myself in bathing suits from pre-pregnancy. Its actually not even the body that bothers me anymore, its that MY FACE got so fat.

Its kind of like pressing on a black and blue because you know it will hurt.

This is me taking a hit to the face in a Muay Thai boxing ring  in Thailand in 2003, while backpacking with my brother. I was on the boxing team in college at the time, so I thought Hey- why not- this could be fun?!?! Even though I am getting punched in the face- I love this photo. It makes me smile every time I see it because it is so ridiculous.

What do you do to make yourself feel better and worse at the same time?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This post is for all of you that are traveling… or planning exotic vacations this year!

(I’m officially homebound till after the baby arrives.)

When I was backpacking I used to think everyone looked sexier in transit…. Well… not everyone, and definitely not me, but the potential is there… the excitement of going someplace new, energy charged air just made everyone and everything seem so young and fresh!  (To be fair that was before you had to take your shoes off at airports let alone get fondled…)

I dont know when I decided that I was too old to travel in sweatpants but that ship has sailed and left me at the dock.  Pajama Jeans, anyone?

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful journey this year, be it by boat:

{Via Because I’m Addicted.}

Elevator:

Taxi:

Or even hitchhiking:

{Photo: Josh Goleman}

I hope you have a glamourous, exotic, exciting new year….

{All other photos: Arthur Elgort – Tatler Russia 2010 via FGR via Imagine Design Blog}

A few weeks ago there was a little fire in the basement of my building. No one was hurt. Butttttt, the entire building smells like fire and the scent sticks with us. Cookie smells like a Slim Jim every time she walks through the hall!

We have a storage unit in the basement where we keep all the luggage, a folding table and chairs, and all of Cookie’s old toys (re: old exersaucer, bouncer, baby bath) and all that is pretty much ruined. We had the insurance people come check it out, and they agreed that everything fabric in the basement + all the baby stuff needs to be tossed and bought anew.

MY HUSBAND THINKS HE WON THE LOTTERY. Even though we had two relatively new sets of luggage that functioned PERFECTLY, he is so damn happy that he gets to buy new luggage. He has been doing all this research on all the different types of luggage and asking me at least 10x a day what I think we should do. (Now I know how he feels when I ask about wallpaper!)

Personally, I cannot get my panties in a bunch over plain old ugly luggage. In fact, I couldnt care less about it. Instead I suggested that we take the entire luggage budget and spend it on ONE awesome piece of luggage.

Hahahaha! Yea right! You know I want to take that money and buy furniture! What else would I possibly want to do with it?

Anyway, I did a little round up of luggage that does get me a little excited. And I included number 1, a Tumi duffel with wheels, because its really the best travel bag I ever had and for real- if you are going to buy something – buy this. Also, number 3 is cute for the price, and numbers 4 & 5 are affordable and useful.

1. Tumi Alpha Duffel $650

2. Valextra $7180

3. Kimchi Hard Rolling Luggage $128

4. Tagsmith on Etsy $32

5. Henri Bendel Jewelry Roll $55

6. J Crew Limited Edition Globetrotter Collection

7. Marc by Marc Jacobs Duffel $495

8. Swain Adeny Brigg

9. Globe Trotter at The Conran Shop $1825 -$2335

Is anyone going anywhere fun for the holidays?

I have no plans, but this month is kind of the last month that I can travel and if I dont go away then I will pretty  much be stuck in NYC until summer, so I may plan something last minute. My husband will be SO HAPPY that he gets to buy the luggage sooner rather than later.  Is luggage a male thing? Or do any women care about this? Great luggage, including brands like Hartman Luggage, DOES make your trip much easier!