Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Travel Thursday: Another trip to Louisiana

Posted in Travel, tagged , , , , on May 16, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Two weeks ago I had to go to Louisiana for a client. I spent maybe three hours in New Orleans and then headed to Baton Rouge. I encourage you to spend more than a couple hours in NOLA, but I got to rush in a couple of things. First stop was Central Grocery.

20130509-083938.jpg
Muffalata goodness

Then, I walked around. It was around 10 in the morning, so the streets were not that crowded. I saw some pretty things.

20130509-084119.jpg

20130509-084147.jpg

20130509-084215.jpg

20130509-084231.jpg

The last imagine is the entrance to Rouses. I went in to buy some beans.

20130509-084401.jpg

I’ve never had them but I should have gotten a can for myself. I bring them back for a friend. He loves them beans.

I stayed at the Hilton Baton Rouge, which I had stayed at before. It has Art Deco decor. These are photos from the bathroom – wallpaper and tile.

20130509-084724.jpg

20130509-084820.jpg

My client was some distance from Baton Rouge. I stopped at Rayne to get some water and found out they’re “The Frog Capital of the World.”
20130509-085046.jpg

My first clue was the sign above. Second, I noticed their “mural.”
20130509-085146.jpg

Third, I went to the restroom and heard some weird tapping above me. I looked up and saw this.

20130509-085311.jpg

There were also some dead ones on the floor. Rayne is not somewhere to visit again but Baton Rouge and New Orleans are great. Last week, The Mister and I went on vacay and it was great. It may be a few days till I get back to regular scheduled programming.

Read Full Post »

Random Thoughts with RA

Posted in Parties, Travel, YouTube, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

If you’re getting married, you need to do a few things. For one thing, don’t listen to anyone but me and Emily Post. So, you need to know about Goodwill’s Wedding Gala. Most of the dresses are brand new and donated from local shops. I wish I would have done it. I loved my dress but it’s almost embarrassing how much it cost. You need to get to the Rivergate store tonight. Yes, it’s Saturday morning but these folks are playing around. Here’s some advice from Goodwill’s blog. 

Next, you’ll need me to review your invitations. It’s a not so secret passion of mine. For real. Send them. I’m on a mission to rid people of poorly written and inappropriate invitations. I judge them. I always have. I’m not proud of it. I almost always find something. I’ve thought of making a list of rules, but most rules can be found in any and all editions of Emily Post’s Etiquette. Your grandmother will thank me.

This week I was back in New Hampshire and Maine. I returned the rug and it pained me a little. I didn’t have a place for it, but that’s never stopped me from wanting. If you’re ever near Portsmouth, New Hampshire – go.

portsmouth

A bunch of tasty food and cute shops. What else do you want?

I have an idea of what The Mister does when I’m on the road.

I wish. 

Read Full Post »

Crate and Barrel Outlet

Posted in Shopping, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on January 15, 2013 | 5 Comments »

While on the road last week I purchased a rug at the Crate and Barrel rug outlet in Kittery, Maine. There are only a few outlet locations and that’s a damn shame because there were some great finds.

It would match my CB2 acrylic console. I have figured out how to bring home a good number of things on the road, but I knew this was beyond my abilities to fit in a suitcase.

CB2 acrylic coffee table at outlet

This lampshade was huge and quite on sale.

lampshade at outlet

They had a lot of ornaments.

ornaments at outlet

I especially liked these ornaments.

pulp ball ornament at ornament

A grouping of them together would be a cool baby mobile. There is nothing to read into that except that we have a good number of friends that have babies or have one on the way.

bottom of pulp ball ornament at outlet

I found a 4′x6′ Zola rug and loved the colors. I purchased it and tried it out in the hotel room.

crate and barrel rug 2

I sent the above photo to The Mister and asked him to measure out a space on our leopard rug.

leopard rug 1

We tried it out and it was a disappointment.

zola on leopard rug

Good thing I have till early April to return it and will be back in the area in March.  It’s a great rug but I don’t have a place for it. If they had a smaller one I would use it in the kitchen.

Read Full Post »

What I did two weekends ago

Posted in Holidays, Travel, tagged , , on December 6, 2012 | 2 Comments »

We liked getting away last year during the holidays. So, this year we decided to go to New Orleans during Thanksgiving. It was a good time and we really enjoyed it.

We had plenty of these.

20121203-144021.jpg

I liked them a lot.

20121203-144524.jpg

We saw the typical sights.

20121203-144306.jpg

 

We shopped on Magazine Street, caught a parade and ate a bunch. We look forward to going back. I’ll share more of the trip later. Right now, I’m still trying to get over this cold.

Read Full Post »

Thankful for frequent flyer pounds…I mean miles!

Posted in Diet/work out, Travel, tagged , , , , , on November 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

I’ve been traveling a lot. Most of it for work and some of it for fun. With just a few days shy of a month, I’ve been to the following:

  • Orlando (New parade idea here)
  • Charleston (Lustful thoughts here)
  • St. Louis
  • The Bahamas

You guess which one was for fun. You’re right. It was St. Louis.

Now, we have Thanksgiving. The scale was already tipping and after this week I think I’m going to gain all the weight I lost. Hello again 25+ pounds. Let’s here from the place I get all my advice – Pinterest.

here

Damn you Pinterest. You beautiful genius.

Read Full Post »

Doing the Charleston

Posted in Travel on November 2, 2012 | 3 Comments »

This past weekend I was in Charleston with my mother. I was her plus one for a conference. Charleston is one of my favorite cities. The food is ah-mazing. Seriously. I tired to fit as much of it in my mouth as possible. (That’s what she said.) I paid for it on the scale.

We were there Wednesday through Sunday. Though we had a busy schedule, we had the chance to do some fun things. One of the events was at the South Carolina Aquarium.

The coloring of this eel was beautiful.

20121101-163701.jpg

Gorgeous albino alligator

20121101-163914.jpg

I can’t lie to you good people- I wondered how beautiful his skin would be on some softgoods. Then, I prayed for my soul.

This sea turtle followed me. Seriously. People were asking me what I did to get the attention. Beyond repenting for my animal cruelty thoughts and pressing my face up to the glass to pretend kiss it, I’m unsure.

20121101-164030.jpg

I geeked out for a moment.

20121101-164233.jpg

Then, I lusted over this coat at Christian Michi.

20121101-164408.jpg

Seriously, I’ve thought of that coat a dozen times since Sunday evening.

Read Full Post »

What I did yesterday

Posted in Travel, tagged , , , , , on October 22, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I’m at two conference this week. It’s gonna be cray. The first one is in Orlando and ends on Wednesday. A co-worker/friend (Marisa) and I arrived early yesterday so we could go to Animal Kingdom. I had never been, she’d been a couple times.

It was an overall good time. I’ve tried telling The Mister that he’d like Disney World (he’s never been) even as an adult. However, after yesterday, I know he’d have to accept the following:

  • Slow walkers
  • People that stop walking for no reason
  • People that decide to stand in the middle of walkways to talk, look at their map and/or spank their child
  • Wish people would spank their child
  • Getting hit by a strollers
  • Screaming
  • 11 year old girls wearing tube tops and cut off shorts with their pockets hanging out

Seriously, some of the clothes on young people was disturbing. I accept that this makes me sound like a Memaw. Marisa and I decided these people needed their own parade. I dubbed it “Hartlots and Hooligans.” (TM) If don’t know how trademark on my WordPress app, but consider it done. Here is a fine specimen of parade goodness.

20121021-214149.jpg

Here are some great shots of the actual “Jungle Parade.”

We were able to get in the back of the parade.

20121021-214257.jpg

20121021-214312.jpg

A million high fives

20121021-214902.jpg

Whatchu say girl?

20121021-214929.jpg

He will duck you up

20121021-215334.jpg

I need a polka dot jeep

20121021-215537.jpg

Beyond what you’ve seen, I got a bunch of animal photos. One of the odder things we saw was someone was skywriting a sentence. By the time a new word appeared the previous one was smeared. We didn’t notice till a few words in but it appeared to be a bunch of nonsense beyond this word.

20121021-220316.jpg

I’ll keep you up to date with any more character sightings or words in the sky.

Read Full Post »

I only bought four things

Posted in 30 before 30, The Mister, Travel on August 27, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Part of my 30 Before 30 was for The Mister and I to go away during the holidays which we did and you can read about it here. However, in this follow up post I will share our purchases. We went to a good number of stores but my favorite way we spent some time in NYC was hitting up some thrift shops and flea markets. It was the highlight of the trip for me. Though there were many, many things I wanted to bring home I showed great restrain (hence this post’s title) and here were my purchases.

I bought the pink bowl at Goodwill for $4.99.

It sits on our CB2 shelves in the dining room and hold my favorite candies – Kermit’s Key West Lime Candy. Love that stuff.

Better photos of the CB2 shelves will come when I find the charger for my camera.

Across from Goodwill was The Garage Antique Flea Market.

There were some good finds there but all I bought was the trim. I bought three yards of it that I still haven’t used and I’ve been sorry since that I didn’t buy the whole spool.

We went to a few other places but bought the map at Housing Works for $25.00. Here is The Mister walking the streets with it.

Here is The Mister on the ferry with it.

Then, because we’re nerds, we thought it’d be funny to stand around and pretend to refer to the map for directions.

The bamboo bangles came from Housing Works and were 3 for $1.00 and I’ve worn them multiple times. I really like them. Later this week I’m sharing how I organize my bracelets and bangles.

Read Full Post »

Random Thoughts with RA

Posted in Not Lovely, Travel, tagged , , , on August 23, 2012 | 4 Comments »

My head is full of voices. Luckily they don’t say things like “kill ‘em” instead it’s “I think you should buy that” and just random thoughts. You’ve been subjected to my random musings and I believe it’ll become more of a habitual post.

1. We have a nephew arriving today! Love to Amanda (my sister-in-law). It’s crazy to think that she knew last night that it was her last night with only one bambino. I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep. I’d probably be on Pinterest all night making sure I was getting solid parenting advice from the depths of the world wide web.

2. I feel pretty certain that some sicko has a video of me in a gas station bathroom somewhere. I saw something on tv once about dudes putting cameras in public bathrooms and now I can’t shake it. I do my best to stop at “nicer” fast food joints but that’s not always possible. For example, I had to pee in two gas station/ truck stop/”casino” (there was an attached room that had glass walls but the smoke was really thick so all I saw were a few machines and sad looking people) establishments yesterday. It’s always a toss up.

I’ve tried to limit my water intake but that’s such a bad decision and my skin is always ticked off about it. I hold it as long as I can hoping for the best facilities option possible but my bladder is gonna start giving me the finger on that because that’s not a great idea either.

3. Travel purses need to be able to hang from your neck like a feed sack. Many of these restrooms do not have hooks and there are no surfaces you want to come in contact with. Next time you buy a purse see if your head can fit through the straps. If yes, it’s a winner. Thank the heavens I had a cross body (my usual travel inclination) this week.

4. I found my way around Louisiana this week via memory, TeleNav (GPS app that has replaced my need for an extra gadget to pack) and a large set of directions I was provided.

20120822-231116.jpg

5. Amanda Bynes is Driving Miss Crazy. I can’t tell you one thing she’s been in except car accidents. When you’re in an accident in a rental car because your car is in the shop because it was in an accident I think you’re getting signals. God is trying to tell you something about getting your life together.

6. I don’t think you should be buying this.

20120822-230338.jpg

It needs to be tested at the Health Department before you bring it home.

Your “Shopping Week” post is coming later today.

Read Full Post »

Travel Thursday: To go or not to go

Posted in Travel on July 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

UPDATE: I realize that the pictures and the end did not post. I’ll work on it and have an update tonight/tomorrow.

The Mister and I are in talks about vacations and holiday escape routes. I suggested Disney World and he looked at me like I suggested we go “for real” camping in the desert or Gatlinburg. (Sidenote: I give Gatlinburg hell too but I admit to suggesting it for New Years. I think a cabin, holiday crap everywhere and ease sounds pretty on point when all your friends have babies and nobody wants to go out. Sidenote #2: When we have babies I think I’ll want to go out a lot.)

So, where should we go? I’m not gonna make Number 20 by my birthday, so I was thinking somewhere beachy. However, The Mister and I struggle with beachy. We recently went to Naples but we only went to the beach for one afternoon. I work hard for the money and it was a work trip. However, I can’t say either one of us was dying to go back out. I’m sure us being pale adds to this. I’m allergic to the sun and, yes, that’s a real thing. Plus, I’m not able to complete the “killer bathing suit” part of Number 20 yet either. I’m working on it.

Do you have any beachy suggestions? Do you have any travel suggestions at all?

We considered another cruise even though we swore we’d probably only do one again with children. However, we need forced relaxation. We typically go places that make us feel like we got stuff to do/things to see and we don’t chill out. A positive thing about the cruise was that relaxation was forced as there were not things to see or do sometimes. There were no phones or laptops so you couldn’t busy yourself with electronics. So, I did things I’ve never done before like took naps.

We’re struggling on what to do and where to go. With my travel, I either want my vacay to be at home or I feel like “Oh yeah, that place.” Other vacation contenders:

New Orleans around/on Thanksgiving (I’ve been to New Orleans once and it was super brief. I figured Thanksgiving makes sense as New Orleans is known for their food.)

Seattle

San Fransico (I have a long time friend that lives there, so I would get to see her. I love her. Her husband is pretty great too. True Story: First time I met him he said, “I heard you like to sleep with a heavy blanket.” He’s referring to the fact that The Mister is a big boy. He still calls The Mister “Heavy Blanket.” Then, their daughter is hands down the most beautiful child I have ever seen. This is not up for arguement. I’m not sharing photos of a child that is not mine, but trust me on this. It’s be a little over a year since I’ve seen them.)

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »