Posts filed under Travel

Indy Trip Notes: Introducing Romper

This morning, we hit the flea market in Bargersville The girls laser-focused on a baby dwarf rabbit vendor. 

Jett the pony is no longer the newest member of the family. It gives me great pleasure to introduce Romper the rabbit. 

We've been home only a few hours now, and Romper is already fitting in quite well with the family. Welcome, Romper.

I found this hicktacular Bargersville flea market footage from '95 on YouTube. It's pretty much the same today. Watch if you dare... or you're reeeeally bored.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv6QXLzXAH4]

 

Posted on July 10, 2011 and filed under Travel.

Indy Trip Notes: Foot Fitness

There's a fab little place in the Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood called Foot Fitness. It's a little slice of heaven in the form of a cool, dimly-lit single room chock full o' Vietnamese masseuses. 

The treatment begins with a foot soak. While soaking, your hands and arms are massaged. Next, your feet are dried with a fluffy towel, then you receive a vigorous leg massage and foot acupressure/reflexology treatment. Your chair is then fully reclined, and it's time for the... ahhhhh... scalp massage. Then you flip over and enjoy a vigorous neck, shoulder and back massage. And by vigorous, I mean not for wimps; these dudes put the pressure on ---- in a good way. However, if you prefer a light touch, go somewhere else, tenderoni; Foot Fitness is not for sissies.

The hour-long treatment runs... get ready to fall over... $25. Yep. Not a typo. Twenny-fi dolla, my friends. How's THAT for fabulous? 

I love you, Foot Fitness. I shall return each and every time I'm in town. Promise. 

 

Posted on July 10, 2011 and filed under Beauty, Fabulousness, Travel.

Indy Trip Notes: Roller Mania

Today's agenda: roller skating fabulousness. 

In case you were wondering about my level of roller skating proficiency, click play. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miT9GwCQvww]

Posted on July 9, 2011 and filed under Travel.

Weekend Round-Up

Topic: Santa Fe fabulousness with DJB. 

Dined with friends, then headed to Santa Fe Brewing Company for the Yo La Tengo show. Al fresco, intimate, awesome. The weather, the venue, the sound, the people... the whole package receives five stars. 

After a good night's rest, we kicked around town for a while. If you've not been there recently, fair warning: they're all calling it Fanta Se now. Vendors and residents alike. My vote: thumbs-down. It's Santa Fe. Stop it. Love your city, but knock it off. Thanks in advance. 

Naturally, we had to visit Cos Bar for a high-end, luxury cosmetics fix. 

Lunch and cockies on the Coyote Cafe rooftop = yum. 

DJB = cute. 

There's more to be had, but we'll dive deeper into all that in an upcoming Fabü dedicated to Santa Fe fabulousness. 

Hope the weekend's been good to you, dahling. 

Posted on June 19, 2011 and filed under Events, Fabulousness, Music, Shopping, Travel.

Um... is it me, or is this totally ridiculous?

Welcome to Berlin's Hütten Palast (Huts at the Palace), the first hotel to replace conventional hotel suites with campers. 

Considering Berlin's rainy June forecast, perhaps this hotel is cute, after all. When the weather's nice, however, I see no reason not to camp out-of-doors. 

Star rank: Neutral... this place confuses the hell out of me. Points for the super-sweet lil' white camper in the pic, however. 

Posted on June 6, 2011 and filed under Travel.

Madame, your guests have arrived.

Thank you, Jeeves. That will be all. 

My lovely friends, Cali and Meghan (seen here with crutches, which are long since gone), have arrived for a week-long visit here at the chic treehouse. After a few domestic stops, they're then heading to Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Phillipines and Bali for several months. They're basically the coolest couple ever.

Posted on May 17, 2011 and filed under Fabulousness, Travel.

Trip Notes: Nashville Finale, Part II

As promised, the basement footage. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n6nAnYF9FA]

That creepy basement made me want to put the lotion on my skin so I didn't get the hose again. Thanks to the guys for making it as pleasant as possible.

The most unnerving part was the eerie sound of the tornado sirens. Here's some good siren/storm footage from just up the street.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18j8jMQnXe8]

After that, we hauled ass to the airport. Barely made my flight, which surprisingly departed nearly on time. You're a bad-ass town, Nashville. Thanks for having me.

The biggest thanks of all go to this guy:

That's the epitome of bad-ass, right there.

Love you, bro. Thanks for cordially enduring yet another year of April 1 shenanigans.

Until next year...

Posted on April 5, 2011 and filed under Travel, Weather.

Trip Notes: Nashville Finale

Almost didn't make it out of Nashville, kids.

Big storm. Tornadoes (yes, plural). We had to take cover in the frat basement, a.k.a. the creepiest basement EVER.

Needless to say, I got home later than expected.

Lemme get caught up on some work, and then I'll catch you up on everything. Got some good creepy basement video footage for ya'. Will upload asap.

Until then, be fabulous.

 

Posted on April 4, 2011 and filed under Travel, Weather.

Trip Notes: Nashville - Day Three

The frat guys partied like, well, frat guys, Saturday night. I stayed in; felt like a million bucks Sunday. Them: not so much. Here's what I saw upon first walking into the house...

Ugh. Just looking at it makes me a bit nauseous. We were all supposed to go to brunch, but none were willing to budge from their beds (this was around 1 p.m., mind you) except Zach, of course, who kind of had no choice. Thanks for rallying, bro.

Lovely day. Exceeded the 80 degree mark. Post-brunch, we cruised around in Zach's convertible and soaked up the sun.

Then we went back to the house, which was still verrrry quiet. Poor guys were ruined. So, Zach and I hung out on the very cool antebellum porch and shot the breeze for hours. Good stuff. Sibling power!

Posted on April 3, 2011 and filed under Travel.

Trip Notes: Nashville - Day Two

Spent some downtown time today. Walkin'... talkin'... and waaay too much eatin'. First, we had a big breakfast. Shortly thereafter, we walked by a tiny place called The Grilled Cheese & Crab Cake Company. The name sounded too fab to not investigate. Next thing we knew, we were devouring hefty sandwiches made of grilled cheese and fried bologna. SINFUL. We simply had to. It was out of our control.

We walked around a bit, then wedged our overstuffed asses into the car and headed back to fratville, where Zach's bros were basking in the sun (a.k.a. drinking al fresco). They had moved some beer pong tables out onto the lawn, and were engaged in battle. Some played wiffle ball instead. Hip-hop blasted from a stereo. Ah, Greek life.

That's Billy on the right. He graduates in three weeks. Pre-med. Coming soon to an operating room possibly near you, folks. He'll likely pursue some sort of surgical specialty. Look out!

What did we do next? Eat. A lot. Again. These guys are MACHINES, man. I gotta get outta here.

Oh, speaking of that, there's a major storm expected Monday. Words like "tornado," "severe threat," and "significant damage" are being used in weather reports. I'm scheduled to fly home that afternoon. Wheeee!

Posted on April 2, 2011 and filed under Travel.

Trip Notes: Nashville - Day One

I tagged Zach's car this afternoon. Poor kid can't catch a break.

We grabbed some ultra-delish lunch at Nashville's best funky chicken haunt, McDougal's. Eclectic decor deluxe, including this boar-ing ensemble.

Next stop, Vanderbilt campus. Gorgeous. My pics turned out lame. Will take more when we return there Monday.

Here's the frat-tastic pad that Zach and his boys call home.

They seriously need to cancel their Wall Street Journal subscription.

Quality artwork here at Chez Frat. Kinda dig the way my camera flash gave the donkey a bionic eye effect. Winner!

Now, I'm prepping for another debaucherous night with the April Fool King and his bros.

Give me strength.

Posted on April 1, 2011 and filed under Travel.

Best. April. Fools. Day. EVER.

Greetings from Nashville! Why am I here? April Fools Day.

You see, I've played an April Fools Day joke on my brother, Zach, every year for 17 years. He's a senior at Vanderbilt University. I flew out here to surprise--and prank--him. His roommate, Craig, was in on the joke. He picked me up from the airport and took me to their house. I hid outside in the bushes w/ air-horn in hand. Craig went inside and told Zach he thought he saw someone messing with his car. Zach came running outside. I blasted the airhorn.

merp.

That's what it sounded like. A pathetic, tiny... merp. Not unlike a wounded small animal. Like the noise Mary Poppins made when I accidentally rolled over on her in bed. Damn discount store air-horn. Evil bargain swag.

Instead of being scared shitless, Zach was confused. He paused, cocked his head and squinted. I jumped out of the bushes. Ohhhhmygawwwd, the look on his face was PRICELESS. He seriously couldn't register what was happening. It was shock and confusion and just total spaced-out craziness. Mission accomplished.

Then we partied.

He's a bit of a jackass, my brother. I'm quite crazy about him.

This promises to be a fab weekend. Naturally, trip notes will be provided.

Happy April Fools Day. Do something stupid to your favorite jackass today.

Posted on April 1, 2011 and filed under Fabulousness, Holidays, Travel.

CO Springs Trip Notes 3 - Manitou Springs

Colorado, in general, is so quaint that I want to smack every mother within its borders.

Everything is cheerful, clean and--dare I say-- selectively vigorous. I don't want to use any terms that might offend anyone, now. Especially the Colorado readers, because you're all so downright polite and non-offensive that I don't quite know what to do with myself here. This could be influenced by the fact that I came here just after returning from NYC, where its citizens are honestly pretty damn polite, as well, but we certainly can't deem them non-offensive. They don't give a hell in NYC. Colorado, yes.

That doesn't mean, however, that Coloradans are pussies. They are... vigorous... about politics. Straight up. And they can start some serious shit when they band together, which they frequently do. My goodness, I'm having a profanity attack! Let me compose myself, please...

This is Manitou Springs. So charming, I nearly exploded.

"I'm going to settle down here with a strapping, secure man and raise hippie children in a posh, Victorian house," I announced to my hosts as we cruised the coziest streets you've ever friggin' seen.

Instead, I shopped for skin care products at Salus Natural Body Care.

This is handmade lime soap. It's curing. Do not touch. Ready in a couple of weeks.

I am most excited to try this new Skin Perfecting Cleanser.

According to the company's site, it's "A perfect cleanser for achieving more perfect skin. Made with Activated Charcoal to absorb oils and natural Alpha-Hydroxy Acids that work to dissolve acne-causing bacteria, our cleanser works hard to maintain your healthy skin balance with face-firming DMAE and skin-soothing Organic Lavender & Chamomile."

We'll seeeeee.

Posted on February 27, 2011 and filed under Beauty, Travel.

CO Springs Trip Notes 2

 

 

Denver day.

Shopping y todo.

Met the fabulous Mark Star for lunch. Amigo por vida and kraziest karaoke host ev-ah! He IS the event. Naturally, I give him several stars. Bonus points for his ruca, Shawna. Cute rock couples always have the best jackets. This is no exception.

Mary Poppins received a new frock today because she's such a bad-ass.

This wins.

 

Posted on February 26, 2011 and filed under Travel.

Friday Fabü

“Fashion is so close in revealing a person's inner feelings and everybody seems to hate to lay claim to vanity so people tend to push it away. It's really too close to the quick of the soul.” – Stella Blum, Victorian fashion designer

Born in Tehran, Iran and raised in Philadelphia, Behnaz Sarafpour attended NYC’s Parsons School of Design. Her career began with Anne Klein, where she worked under Richard Tyler and Narciso Rodriguez. She launched her label with the fall 2001 season, and has wowed the fashion world with her trademark modern elegance ever since.

Needless to say, the show was fantastic. The clothes were clean and basic—definitely not trend-driven—featuring a primarily neutral palette of taupe, powder blue, slate and black. Notable looks included cozy knit capes, flowing gowns with matchstick-patterned lace bodices, leather and knit city dresses and tailored coats with 60s mod lines. Exquisite!

For NYC Fall Fashion Week 2011 basics, click here.

For photos of the Behnaz Serafpour Fall 2011 show, click here.

To read all about my NYC trip and view photos, click here.

To read Fabü coverage of all of the above, click here.

Posted on February 24, 2011 and filed under Fabü, Fashion, NYC, Travel.