Vernazza, Italy { via }

We are close to booking a flight to Italy and I am so excited! Todd’s parents are going to rent a place for around 6 weeks and stay largely in the Tuscany region. Todd, Tate, my parents and I are flying over early next September. No details as of yet, but Todd and I will probably spend time in Italy and then he will head back home while I go to the UK with my parents and Tate. I’ve been wanting to go back to London since I studied there 10 years ago–and my parents, who so generously sent me abroad, have never been. I’ve always wanted to go with them.

The only things on my list so far are a visit to Lucca (I know someone from there) and a stay in the cinque terre region. It’ll be perfect for my mom, who loves to hike.

So, I have a whole year to freakishly plan and save up lots of money for LONDON SHOPPING!

{ via }

Todd’s parents are currently in Greece, while he and I are currently en route to Maui. It seems like a lot of people are off to sunny locations all over the globe. So, I have to ask, what is your dream vacation this time of year? Do you head for the beach? Look for something active? Or do you give the finger to tradition and head somewhere chilly?

Do tell….

I love flying. I am one of those types whose travel lust has not been squashed by too much work travel, constant unfavorable weather, lost luggage or unprofessional airline staff. I used to hate flying. Or, rather, I was terrified of flying. And, to be perfectly honest, I haven’t flown in years without the aid of Xanax and wine, both of which I can no longer take as I’m pregnant. So, I’m a bit nervous about hopping onto a plane in a few days.

That said, my uber-organized side gets its kicks preparing for travel. That is, unless I ignore said side and spend the night before my departure doing anything but packing, forcing myself to wake up at 4am the next morning and shove random crap into my luggage while simultaneously blow-drying my hair or brushing my teeth.

I doubt this will be an issue with our trip to Hawaii, as we leave on a Monday. So, I have the entire weekend to do laundry, buy last minute toiletries and pack. No excuses. When I do manage to pack in advance, I usually lay out my plane outfit and any bits I want to bring with me on the plane.

What To Wear

I veer away from dresses and skirts when flying and I never, under any circumstances, wear sweats (and yes, Juicy velour pants are sweats) or, God forbid, Uggs. Occasionally if I have a long flight and I have room in my carry on, I will pack my short Uggs, especially if it’s a red eye.

I usually opt for a pair of ankle-length jeans with some stretch and multiple layers on top. Shoes should, obviously, be easy to remove, so I wear either flats, heels or slip on boots. For this flight, I plan on wearing black jeans with an airy top and my new linen motorcycle jacket from H&M’s garden collection (shown above). I will pack a J Crew cardigan in my carry on as I find them more comfortable on the plane. A scarf, of course, is an absolute must. Sometimes I wear a scarf and pack a cashmere wrap, but I doubt I will for this trip. I got an adorable pair of basket-weave oxfords (also shown above) that are easy to slip off for security. I tend to stay away from jewelry, but if I do wear something I choose a ring or bracelet, both of which are easy to remove.

Toting My Crap

I always use a cross-body bag for travel, so I will likely bring my Tano Mona Lethal purse and use my Kale turquoise tote as my carry on (both bags shown above). I’m always careful to remove and bag any of the liquid makeup in my purse for security as I absolutely hate having to toss expensive makeup. My essentials for the plane are Kiehl’s Lip Blam #1, Stila Convertible Color and L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Creme.

On The Plane

When booking and if traveling with Todd, we always select an aisle and window seat in the same row and cross our fingers that the flight is not full and no one claims the middle seat. This way we can spread out a bit. When traveling alone I always try to select an aisle seat, simply because having to climb over two people in order to get out and pee (which happens because I drink a lot of wine and…now I am pregnant so I pee every 5 minutes) is annoying.

I generally don’t pack snacks but seeing as how I am constantly hungry these days, I may rethink this for our Hawaii flight. I am absolutely addicted to Archer Farms fruit strips, and I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that my mother will board with a huge bag of raw almonds.

Entertaining Myself

If I know I am traveling I try and put aside my favorite magazines (any international issue of Vogue, Saveur, etc.) for the plane. I always bring a book. For this trip I am deciding between Guns, Germs & Steel and The Demon Haunted World, for the plane ride. I have no clue why, but I prefer more serious books while flying. One of the main reasons I own a laptop is for traveling, so I always try to have movies or television shows spooled up in my iTunes. For this trip, I am thinking of Coco Before Chanel, An Education and A Single Man. I am totally addicted to playing Scrabble on my phone, so I am sure Todd and I will indulge in a few games.

Here’s hoping the flight is smooth and short, and that I don’t miss the cheap wine selection too much.

What do you love about traveling? Do you prefer flying or driving? What are your travel secrets, or must-haves?

Feel free to share in the comments!

You may recall that my parents, Todd and I had a trip planned to the UK in September. We had already purchased our tickets a few weeks ago and were scheduled to depart on September 9th…five days before the baby is due.

Whoops.

With that trip cancelled, we decided that a relaxing vacation in the sun was in order. We landed on Hawaii in May. I’ve never been to Hawaii and the thought of loads of sun, reading and good food was too wonderful to pass up. And, my lovely aunt owns a condo in Maui that we can borrow!

The place sounds great, and I believe her condo is on the 9th floor so I am keeping my fingers crossed for a great view! It looks as though the kitchens are fabulous and there is a nice market on site, so perhaps I will have the opportunity to cook with some new ingredients.

I will be pushing on 24 weeks and nearing the end of my second trimester by the time we go, so hopefully I am not obscenely huge. My mother is very active and my father is gung-ho on seeing Pearl Harbor and volcanos. We haven’t made any solid plans, and while I am planning on spending most of my time in the sun and pool (I bet the pool will be so nice on my tired body) I would love to hear your recommendations. Have any of you been to Hawaii? Any favorite spots or must-sees?

Photo: Veer

We bought tickets today for London!  My parents and I are flying to the UK this September.  We’ll be traveling up to Scotland for a week or so, and take a train down through northern England into London for the second week, where Todd will join us.

So excited!

Thursday – The $17 Glass Of Wine

• We flew the red eye on Virgin to JFK.  Todd slept at the airport and on the plane.  I mostly slept on the cab ride in.
• We stayed at the Intercontinental in Midtown East.  They would not check us in before 3pm, which we were not expecting.  We waited until 11am and then headed to the hotel bar.  I paid $17 for a glass of Sonoma Cutrer Chard.  Granted, it’s around a $25 bottle of wine here in California, but still…fuck.
• A long walk was in order, so we he headed down to the East River.  I always forget how ugly Roosevelt Island is.  We then hunted down a greasy spoon and ate some bacon and eggs.  There are lots of dogs in Midtown East.
• Todd and I are a sucker for a red pub front so we headed to Parnell’s for a few more drinks.  A nice, dark, neighborhood spot with a moderately cranky proprieter.  Who I loved.
• Picked up some wine and Pellegrino and walked back to the hotel.
• I took a long, hot bath and chatted with my friend Hana.  We arranged to meet up later that night.
• In the evening, Todd and I walked to Pescatore, sat at the bar, watched the Yankees/Angels game and had some calamari.  Hana picked us up and we drove to Stonehome Wine Bar in Greenpoint, where her boyfriend Jonathan works.   I had been before and forgot how yummy the food is, I highly recommend it.  Their simple green salad with pumpkin seeds is the best house salad I’ve ever had, it’s smoky and perfect.  Hana and I also shared their roasted chicken with wilted kale.
• Jonathan makes fun of me for drinking chardonnay.  A lot.
• At Stonehome I briefly met a coworker of Jonathan’s, Blair, who recently released a documentary called The Fire This Time, about the New Jersey Seven.  When she handed me her card and spoke of the film, I immediately remembered hearing about the case on Jezebel (of course, I can’t find anything on the site because their search function sucks).  I won’t dive into specifics here, because Blair provides a lot of information her site, but I have provided the trailer and her director’s note below.

Friday – Maurice Meeting, Batali Sighting

• Todd was sent out on his own so I could spend some time with my Hana.  We slept in and he took off to explore.  I went back to the hotel bar and had two more glasses of that Cutrer.  Don’t tell Todd.  The bartender, Jose, offered me a margarita.  I never drink them, but once he confirmed it was on the house, I accepted.  BEST MARGARITA EVER.  From what I recall, he used Blue Agave tequila, Grand Marnier, lots of lime juice, and maybe something else.  I have his card so I might email him and ask, because it was deeeeeelish.
• Hana swung by to pick me up and we went to the Ace Hotel for a Stumptown coffee.  They were closed!  Assholes.  I’ve never seen so many hipsters in my life, I thought I was in Williamsburg.  I am going to Portland in a few weeks so I will send her a few pounds.
• She and I headed to Rivington to eat at Inoteca and Todd joined us.  The white bean bruschette was incredible.  Our waitress was rad.
• We took off for a little walk and popped into Bag, where I bought a Tano bag (the mona lethal in oasis) and we met Maurice, the cutest dog ever.  He’s an Italian greyhound and he loved Todd.



• Sugar Sweet Sunshine for cupcakes.  I forget which ones we ordered, but they were good.
• Hana dropped us off at the hotel where Todd and I relaxed for a bit.  He and I had a date scheduled with Hana and Jonathan but had not landed on a place.
• We headed to Babbo and asked about a table for 4.  Two hours.  We’ll wait!  We got a bottle of wine at the incredibly crowded bar and when Hana and Jonathan showed up, he pointed out that Batali was at the bar, in the corner.  It took a lot of discipline to not run over and ask him for his autograph.  The maitre d’ approached us and confessed that there was “no way” we’d get a table.  So we went to Boqueria.  It was good.  I can’t remember what we ate.  Although I do remember sitting down with a friend of Jonathan’s and drinking some wine from the 80′s that had a lot of sediment.  Jonathan is a wine snob, but I like wine snobs.
• I took Jonathan outside for a friendly “you’re dating my friend” grilling, and we smoked some of his hand-rolled cigarettes.  This ended up being a big mistake.  But I suppose you could have guessed that.
• We then went for a drink at the Flatiron Lounge.
• Then I thought it would be a great idea to have some falafel.

Saturday – And It Rained All Night

• I was incredibly hungover.  And I smelled like garlic.  My friend Carly arrived in town from Boston and met me at our hotel.  She and I had a reservation at Perry Street.
• Todd dropped us at the restaurant and then headed out on his own.  The food was great, but the service was only so-so for a place that puts on such airs.
• I’ll say one thing, the lunch prix fixe is a deal, $26 for two courses and a dessert.  I ordered the sauteed shrimp with fennel, tarragon and chorizo sauce (it was green and tasted like sausage…how do they do that??) and calamari with yuzu dipping sauce.  I had a hard time with the food, to be honest.  Not because it wasn’t good, but because I was sick.  I focused more on eating bread and butter to settle my stomach.
• We met up with Todd at Brass Monkey and then went for a walk about the MP district, including High Line Park, which was totally amazing.  It was crowded, even though it was raining.  I will definitely go back.
• Ended up at Diesel.  I bought two pairs of jeans.  My ass looks goooood in them.

• At this point it was raining.  Hard.
• They wouldn’t let Todd pee at Diesel.  Or Topshop.  He was pissed.  As you tend to get when you need to pee.  He landed at L’ecole while Carly and I finished up at Diesel.
• We joined him for a drink and then sent Carly to the UWS, where she was staying with our friend Sunni.
• Todd ran out to get me some water and wine.  He came back looking as though he had jumped into a pool with his clothes on.
• Otto‘s for dinner!  My very favorite place for a casual, alcohol-soaked Italian meal.  We ate A LOT of food.  Todd ordered ALL of the seafood and pasta.  Hana brought me a bottle of wine and a slice of red velvet cake from Cake Man Raven.  Horray!

Sunday -Whatever, Yankees

• I went to the UWS to meet up with Carly and Sunni for coffee.  Sunni had to run as she is in med school hell.  Todd met Carly and I at The Mermaid Inn for brunch.  I’ve never seen so many kids in my life.  The food was just okay.  Carly and Todd had fish tacos, I had a spinach salad.  They don’t serve oysters at brunch.  Boooooo…
• Carly and I had a shopping mission, so we headed to Topshop.  What a clusterfuck.  Seriously.  I powered through, though, ending up with a few items and hunting for shoes on the third floor.  Carly had left for Pearl Market across the street, and just as I had found a worker to get me my shoes, Carly called.  She was about to miss her bus!
• I dropped all of my shit and ran out to meet her so she could make it back to Boston.
• Todd and I walked from Penn Station to Jack’s for a drink, and Hana and Jonathan met up with us as they headed into Philly.
• Todd and I kept it very casual for my birthday, as we were both tired and kind of food-ed out.  We went back to Pescatore, sat at the bar, and watched the game.

Monday – United, The Unfriendly Skies

• Todd and I packed up and headed off to La Guardia for our flight home.  I had wanted to take another direct flight on Virgin from JFK to SFO, but Todd wanted to fly back into Sacramento, so I had booked a Continental flight on Orbiz.
• All flights into Houston (their hub) were delayed.  After a half hour or so, they rebooked us on a United flight.  The lady sent us to the wrong terminal.
• The United flight was into Denver, and Todd and I were put at the back of the plane in separate middle seats.  It was a full flight.
• The flight was delayed, twice.  The pilot rejected the plane.  We changed gates.  Twice.
• I carried my sad looking piece of red velvet cake with me all the way home.  It was sooooofuckinggoooood.
• After finally getting onto the plane, they started drinks service.  And you KNOW I needed a drink because…ta da!  La Guardia does not have a bar beyond security.  They start at the front of the plane and move to the back.  By the time they got to me, they were out of wine, and just about everything else.
• Fuckers.
• The flight from Denver to Sacramento was better, although we barely made it to the plane because we had a 20 minute layover and we were at the back of our other plane.  We had been upgraded to business class on the second leg, so I was much more comfortable.  And they had wine.
• But, we sat next to a guy who was sick, and now I am sick as well!
• My parents picked us up at the airport and I handed them the 1/3 piece of mangled red velvet cake I had left.

I had a great time, as always.  I am looking forward to Hana and Jonathan coming out for a wine week in February, and I am planning on heading back to the city in the spring.  My week back was stressful.  I had my first photo shoot on my own, work was insane.  And, as I said, I have been sick.  Now, it’s the weekend and I plan on resting up, doing laundry and watching movies!

xo

Photo: Veer

New York, New York.

So, yeah, I’m going to New York City in 1-2…7 days.  And I haven’t planned a thing.  This is where you all get to chime in and tell me what I should do!  Any favorite restaurants or shops?  Favorite corners of the city?  Have you heard of any must-see shows or museum exhibitions?  Feel free to chime in.  Here’s my list:

• Dinner at Otto with friends for my birthday. I love the easy-going atmosphere and wine selection. I also need a really great restaurant recommendation for Todd and I, on my actual birthday.
• Visit to the Costume Institute at The Met.
• Pilgrimage to the newly launched Topshop.
• Possibly a play.  Last year I saw Spring Awakening, which I doubt can be topped.  A coworker (and writer) told me about Nora Ephron’s play, Love, Loss & What I Wore.  I’ve also heard great things about Wishful Drinking. For musical fun, Rock of Ages?
• A walk through Central Park (the leaves are changing, after all).
• Anyone ever been to the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market?
• Companhia de Danca, 4 x 4.  I’m a sucker for all dance.

Any other ideas?

Hana and Kari at…..some club in NYC.

Todd and I just booked a long weekend to NYC, just around the time of my 30th birthday in October.

I have been watching the first Harry Potter and it’s so….comforting.  When I lived in London in 2002 my friend Gene would let me borrow his laptop all the time and I think I watched this movie 15 times while I was there.

Oh, yeah……I’m also going to London in a year and a half.  With my parents and Todd :-)  It will be my parents’ first trip abroad and I super excited.

My number one stress reliever?  Planning vacations.

Do you have any planned for the coming weeks, months, year?

For Todd’s birthday I bought tickets to Portland and took care of our hotel (sorry Claudia, not fireworks, I’m not that awesome).  For the first time, I used Hotwire, albeit nervously.  I lucked out, though, and ended up with a room at The Nines, a five star-rated hotel in downtown Portland.  It seems quite nice, and although I am a little bummed that we will not be at the Ace (for the immediate proximity to Stumptown), I am eager to try something new.

Have any of you made travel plans for the summer?  I have two trips to Portland in June and July (one work-related, although casual, and one for vacation), but other than that, nothing on the books.  I’d love to hear about your plans!

Photos: The Nines

The photos I am sharing are not superb, my dad took most of them and it was raining terribly while we were there.  And, hopefully my aunt doesn’t mind my plastering photos of her apartment on the Interwebs!

The view into the city from the apartment.

The balcony.  With hot tub.  Sigh.

Yes, that would be the view from the BATHTUB.

They had an espresso machine built in above their stove.

David dyed his hair BRIGHT blonde.  You can imagine my surprise when we met at the airport at SFO (I flew in from NYC to meet him and my parents).  We then got on the plane and he informed me that his passport had expired.  Thankfully, Canadians will let anyone into their country.

Kidding, of course.

I thought this sign was HILARIOUS.

I was obsessed with these leaves.

At this point I was probably waxing poetic about how we must move to Vancouver.

These next photos are from another building, called the Shangri La, which my aunt’s partner built (he’s a developer).  It’s a hotel with apartments on the upper floors.  We were taken up to the penthouse, which is shown below.  The elevator up to the 60-something floor was all wooden and janky, and I just about peed my pants.

Um, can you imagine having a pool like this 60 floors into the sky??

Some views.