me and the city

Just got back from San Francisco and I am pooped. Mark and I love the city, so we were happy campers walking blocks and blocks and blocks. But it's not too shabby coming back to the St. Regis after a long day's walk! Maybe after my feet stop throbbing I will post a few of my favs from the weekend. Until then, I'm off to bed!

lunchtime

Piper's a big girl now and she doesn't eat just baby food, she eats real food too! However, I'm not exactly ordering for her at a restaurant yet. So, I recently purchased one of the Mackenzie lunch bags from Pottery Barn Kids for $19 and I take it everywhere! I got the one on the far left, but in the pink and green, and I can fit a jar of baby food, a storage container of fruit, a cereal bar, a bib and a big thing of puffs and off we go! I truly love it and I really use it almost every day. I know it will be beat up by the end of summer which makes me soooo happy.

let's rewind

We went to Georgia & Alabama a few weeks back and it was my first experience in the South. We had an amazing time exploring and visiting family. Some of my best moments were just driving and look at the landscape before us. I have to share some of my favorites from the trip.

First, a shout out to all the really nice people in the South. I get what people have always been saying. People were genuinely nice and had a deep respect for each other.

So, I am a bit of a hotel snob but I let my dad do the hotel booking in Georgia. After all, there are not many hotels in Americus, Georgia. So he booked us at a particular hotel (no names) that was pretty disgusting. It wasn't his fault, he didn't know and my dad has great taste. There is something about being a mom that makes you see exactly how dirty things are. I many not have cared as much before I had kids, but watching my daughter crawl on that floor made me want to vomit. So, after one night I told my dad that I couldn't do it and we drove over to the Hampton Inn next door. Wow, when we walked inside it was a breath of fresh air. There was actually someone on their knees scrubbing the tile floors. So I have to say that my hero of the vacation was the Hampton Inn, a hotel I probably would have never gone to before, but I hold dear to my heart now. And of course to my dad for moving us.

I had sweet tea for the first time. Okay it wasn't a favorite but I was really excited to try it!

All the beautiful churches everywhere you went. They were all different and amazing in their own way. 

The run down houses, although sad for the people who no longer have them. They added a realness to the landscape that I found beautiful and both sorrowful. 

There were so many of the same So Cal restaurants on our trip that we always eat at. I was a little disappointed. Plus, we had home cooked meals every night so we didn't get to explore too much. On our last day there, we stopped at a Zaxby's, which I had never heard of, and it was good! I wouldn't eat there every day since everything is fried, but it was yummy and so clean.

My true favorite though, of all the vacation, was just spending time with my dad, my kids and my husband. Sitting in a car for four hours is not a bad thing when you get solo time with busy people. It was awesome. And of course, seeing family that you love, especially when you see them every few years. I love to rediscover people in my life as I get older. It takes on a new meaning.

XO

Just me and my laundry basket

I'm out of town right now so that's why I'm slow on posting. Being out of town made me realize a true fav. It's nothing fancy or even cute. It's a laundry basket. When packing the kids to go anywhere not by plane, I throw all their stuff into a laundry basket (clothing, toys, blankets, diapers, etc). No need for cute luggage or anything monogrammed and I don't like stuffing 2 kids stuff with mine. So, I just put everything in the plain white laundry hamper and off I go. It's easy to carry, easy to sift through, I only need one thing instead of multiple bags and everything is at my fingertips. I don't care if it doesn't look good, it works!

Starwood Vacation Ownership

A few years ago we purchased a timeshare through Starwood (Westin, W Hotels, Sheraton, Four Points, A Loft, St Regis, Element, La Meridian and the Luxury Collection). It all started when I was planning sales meetings for work and I fell in love with the Westin hotels and the heavenly bed. I was also deeply in love with the W Hotels. We received an invitation (I'm sure you have gotten one from some hotel chain) to stay at the Westin Kierland hotel in Scottsdale Arizona for 5 nights for super cheap. So we went and if you wanted an extra $100 gift certificate you could take a tour of their villas (which are the timeshares). We did the tour and sat through the sales part and we couldn't say no, so we bought one! I love to stay in nice hotels and we couldn't always afford to when we went on vacation so this was an assurance that I could always stay at the hotels that I wanted to. Plus, we now would have a definite vacation every year at any of the 19 villas resorts in places like Hawaii, Colorado, the Bahamas and Palm Springs. The program can be confusing if you don't learn the details on how to convert your timeshare to resorts that are not the one you purchased at and how you can earn Starwood Preferred Guest points (which are different than your timeshare options) to get free nights at any Starwood hotel in the world. But, once you get that down it's easy to plan vacations and earn extra nights by using your Starwood Amex. Since we purchased it two years ago we have been to Arizona twice, San Francisco, two islands on Hawaii, New York and Palm Springs and we have not paid a cent for our room. We travel freely and cheaply and we only have to worry about airfare or gas and food. It was a big investment at first but worth it and we will have it our whole lives and can pass it on to our kids. We are going to stay at the St Regis in Dana Point for our 5-year anniversary for free this October. I definitely recommend this program to anyone interested. Let me know if you are interested and I can get you an invitation to stay at the Arizona location for 5 nights for around $450. For more info go to www.starwoodvacationownership.com.