Month: July 2017

Decor: Ideas From Luxury Hotel

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Let’s face it – you walk into a hotel room and your jaw drops – seeing the perfect decor just as the one you saw online, naturally setting the tone for your travels (hopefully in a good way) 🙂 When I was in my twenties, I often times chose a basic hotel, reasonably priced near the train stations since I was not only on a tight budget, but chose to stay only a day or two  in each city to maximize my month long vacation. Meaning, being near the train station help facilitate my crazy itinerary.  The interesting thing is, the more I travel throughout Europe,  the more I notice the hotels nearing the train stations have done an amazing job renovating their properties – not only their location most ideal still for me to this day, but the ambiance worth every penny. Okay, so with that little bit of intro, I love this article about stealing decorating ideas from hotels – which I do all the time.  

Boutique Hotel Pick – Belmond Hotel Splendido – Portofino, Italy

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A decade ago my hubs and I embarked on a trip to Italy. One town in particular was to Genoa in hopes of finding Portofino. Instead we stumbled upon Rapallo and all other small beach towns in the area. Which wasn’t a bad thing, but I was sad that I didn’t see this beautiful waterfront setting I had first set my eyes on when I received a stack of travel brochures at the travel agency to promote. So, I vowed while at the airport waiting for my flight back to San Francisco, that I would return to Italy and find Portofino. Years later, When we decided to revisit Italy, I decided to do deep research and discovered that besides the train to Rapallo, we needed to take a bus to actually reach Portofino,  and so we did and found the gem of a place to this day I still can’t get enough of. And in honor of portofino and our wonderful walks about the small town and the best focaccia  ever, here’s a boutique hotel …

Travel: Picturesque Small Towns In Italy

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My mother gives me a look every time I tell her I am going to Italy. She thinks I’ve explored the country way too much, not realizing that there is more, much more to this wonderful destination. And to prove it, I have listed some of the smaller towns I plan to explore the second I have enough guts to drive a car there:

Books I Noticed Recently

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I love mom-and-pop bookstores and will stop dead in my tracks anytime to walk into one and take note of what to read next. First I check out the top staff recommends, then the ones that are on the best bookseller list and then I head back to sections and pick the ones I plan to actually read. And this is a random thought – do you subscribe to GoodReads? If so then let’s connect why don’t we?  And if not, then that’s okay. Drop me a line here or here to say if you have read any of these books and what did you think?

Food: I Call It Eating Light and Airy

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The past couple of months while on the road, I’ve done some damage to my digestive system. Meaning to say, that I’ve made bad choices – in terms of eating. But the truth of the matter is that I was helping a friend re-locate from north California to Southern California and because of the madness, we’ve ordered in mostly. Or eaten at not-so-ideal chain fast food places. So, I am currently trying to detox my system from all the salt, and butter and just plain crap. And eating very light and airy I call it because of the fluff more so than the substance in the selections I’m making.  This is what I mean:

Travel: The Most Romantic Restaurants In The World…and Mine

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To me romantic restaurants can be anywhere you and a special person share the most intimate time together, eating, talking, laughing, flirting even and sometimes making even taking a milestone in your relationship. And while you think about that special place, here’s a list from Architectural Digest suggesting the most romantic restaurants in the world. And just in case you are wondering, here’s my favorite romantic restaurant which happens to be in Rome and it is where I based my first novel: 

Fashion: How To Look Expensive on A Budget

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Just yesterday I had lunch with a friend and we were talking about fashion trends and how expensive it is to keep up with the ever changing look and the pressure we women put on ourselves to stay fresh and modern even while we take our dog out for a walk. Well, there is a list Who,What,Wear put out hoping to aid in search of that great buy or the trendy look at a budget – which – makes you look expensive.  SOLD!!!