leaving on a jet plane....

I am off to Colorado to visit my bestie today!!! Have a great rest of the week everyone and see you on Monday!! XOXo

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Hotels, New Orleans

Alex and I stayed at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans for our honeymoon. It is located in Central Business District ( CBD) and was about a 10 min walk to the French Quarter. We stayed in a  HUGE suite. The Windsor Court is said to be one the nicest luxury hotels in the area but it was not really our style. The service and rooms were great but we have stayed in more luxury places for less. It is very very traditional and I think that might have been what we liked least about it. We are more of a modern, clean line loving type hotel and that is just not what New Orleans is about. There is nothing modern about NO, so we had to get used to that.  High Tea is supposed to be amazing here, we unfortunately did not got to attend it.  

 

The International House Hotel is also in the CBD, I really like the look of this place so it might make the short list for where we might stay on our next visit.

My parents stayed at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street when they made a visit and loved every thing about it. They had a room facing the court yard and did not have any problems with noise. They were down there this past February and the city was still celebrating the Saint's Super Bowl win and Mardi Gras was the just finishing up.

There seems to be lots of little B&B tucked into little alley ways around the city so I am sure there are many more amazing places out there yet to be discovered by me.

New Orleans

Have you been to New Orleans? It is one of my most favorite places in the United States if not the world. I have been a lot of places and no place is quite like New Orleans. It is dirty, sexy, sultry, charming, magical and enticing city. I could go on  and on with these adjectives. It has history like no other place in the United States and almost feels like a foreign city. It has a dialect of its own making and a array of food that you could never anywhere else get in one area. The people are welcoming and charming and mysterious all in one. It is a city that seeps into your bones when you visit and is forever hard to shake. The music, the food, the history, the architecture, the people, the art and the tragedy this city has and has gone thru gives it depth that many places lack.

Alex and I went to New Orleans for our honeymoon. We fell in love with the place right away and it  made our really short list of places we would like to live. We can't wait to go back for a visit and soak up more of it fabulous culture.

This week marks the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As you flip thru the news channels and radio you hear story after story of what people went thru and what it was like 5 years ago during the storm. Last night before bed I was watching the news and they were showing how Habitat for Humanity was building right that minute a house. The hammers were going and there was lots of noise. It was 11 at night. But, it only brought a half smile to my face. Why, are we seeing this kind of footage 5 years later. These scenes are what we should have been seeing months after the storm. The more of this rebuilding effort I am seeing today five years later the more it drives home the fact that we as a country 100% failed in helping our fellow Americans when they needed it most. Our government on all levels failed and is still failing when it comes to NO's rebuild. In terms of a rebirth that is another story. That city has more lives in it than a cat, and even thou they can't seem to get a break they always have some spirit left in them.

I feel that celebrities like Brad Pitt and Harry Connick Jr  have brought more awareness and help and aid to NO then our United States Government. It is quite amazing what those 2 men have done. At last count Pitt's non profit organization Make it Right has built 50 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward and Connick Jr has help build a musician's community with 72 single family homes and 10 rental units that will center around a Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.

To hear Brad Pitt's most recent comments on New Orleans and his Make it Right Foundation click here.

In next couple of days I will share with you some of mine and Alex's favorite places we visited there and maybe one day you can make a trip.

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Lets take a trip..

Isn't this travel journal form Poketo awesome. Make me want to take a trip just so I can fill it out. The description on the website is so perfect that I just posted it below. AND. It is only 24 bucks!!

Travel Journal can do all. Heavy chipboard cover with a rubber band to secure the notebook. A pocket to save your tickets, receipts and other little memories from your trip. Pre-planning section with a check-list of things to bring. Detailed day by day itinerary. Daily Planner and notes section. All you have to do is to remember to bring it on your next trip. Not going anywhere anytime soon? You can even use it on your daily journey through life!

Iceland

Inspired by Iceland Video from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo.

My brother and his new wife are in Iceland right now for their honeymoon...what's in Iceland I kept on asking....besides that angry volcano? Well, I kinda get it now after watching this video.
(Via A Cup of Jo)

relax...

I would not mind hoping on a plane today and going here...Casa Camper in Barcelona The sun would be shining on me, music would be playing softly and lightly in the backround and me and some loved ones would be telling stories that are so funny that you laugh so hard that you cry. Ohhh we would also be having some delicious Spanish tapis and wine and we would not be worrying about the time. A perfect day I think....lets book our flights NOW!

I just saw these Travel Poster Series on one of my favorite blogs called swissmiss and in the April Issue of Real Simple. Totally smitten and might have to acquire the Philadelphia one. I kinda wish I have lived in more major cities to add to the collection!

40 Blinks

Right now I know 3 people who are pregnant (Jessica, Ellen and Marylee)...and one blogger. My one friend Marylee told me that she knows 14 people that are mom's to be. I think instead of all the baby clothes and things that I have gotten them in the past and I am sure to in the future I should maybe get them this 40 blinks sleep mask. That way when they  need to catch that little nap at the most random time it might be a little easier for them. As the saying goes...sleep when the baby sleeps. Oh and due to the molded foam of the face mask it won't smudge your make up!!
PS- This site also has some cute baby things and travel gear.