All posts filed under: Travel

boutique hotel pick – hotel splendido – portofino, italy

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Ahh, the wonder of Portofino, Italy. As if I need to sell the idea of Italy to anyone. The most amazing thing about Italy is that no matter what part you visit, it is a must see for sure and so if you ask me to add a part of Italy that is a must see, just in case you haven’t been, I would have to say Portofino here. As you know I leave the tourist information details to someone else to talk about, but I do suggest a boutique hotel in most places I have visited often and love dearly. So, with my own personal blog tradition, I have included yet one of my favorite hotels, Hotel Splendido to consider to make your trip to Portofino a dream vacation for sure.

trends for 2011 – reversible tote bag from tiffany and co

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Tiffany & Co has a selection of  reversible tote bag with suede on one side and metallic leather on the other  available through their website here. They range between $395 to $595 and come in a variation of colors and styles. It’s an interesting concept with one possible downside, in my opinion. When you flip the bag inside out, you probably will expose the dirty inside of the bag on the outside, either way you flip the bag. Hope I didn’t confuse you with this. So in order to avoid exposing soiled suede or vice versa as a result of the junk women tend to keep inside their tote bags, I suggest putting “your stuff” inside several large plastic ziploc bags or smaller carry all pouches before placing them inside the tote bag, that way when you want to flip the bag inside out, it hopefully looks clean. Anyway, tell me what you think of the bag?

boutique hotel pick – hotel balzac – paris, france

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Need I say more. I mean I can spend the entire year picking hotels throughout Paris and all of France to recommend on this blog and believe me I am having a heck of a time controlling myself. But, once in a while I will let one slip by. Here is another one of my favorite places to stay while in Paris, Hotel Balzac which is located just off the Champs-Elysses and close to the Arc de Triomphe. The reason I love this property, besides it’s romantic ambiance, is the fact some of the rooms have skyline views of the Eiffel Tower (You must request this and it’s also based on availability).  This is the hotel I can honestly spend weeks in, while writing my novel. Anyway, I will stop writing and let the photos do the walking. Have a great weekend everyone!

eiffel tower in home decor

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Oh what I would give to have a place with a view of the real Eiffel Tower (above photo) but since I haven’t figured out a way to do just that, I decided to include photos of  decorating ideas which may just help.  Let me know what you think?

inspiration: cafe de flore – paris, france

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After a long week, I needed some inspirational photos to help escape “mentally” at least from the every day norms. My favorite place to hang out – Cafe De Flore in Paris (of course), France. I have a strange appreciation for cafe photos and here are some of my favorites Cafe de Flore to share with you. Have a great weekend and remember think happy thoughts no matter how hard life can be. 🙂 {photos: courtesy google search cafe de flore – various artists}

all things tuscany, italia

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Earlier this year, I can actually start saying that now since we are in February, I had stated that I normally pick a country to vacation in and end up writing everything about it until I drive myself and my readers (probably) crazy. Well except for one of my good friends here, I know she doesn’t  get sick of Italy or all things Italian no matter what. So here’s to my friend and to Italy (cross fingers and hope I can go there this year), I have included photos of Tuscany to hold me over until I can make my vacation plans into a reality.   Have a great weekend everyone!

boutique hotel pick – parco dei principi – roma

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As promised I am including some of my favorite luxury and also boutique hotels for Italy. This particular five-star property, the Parco Dei Principi,  is located in the heart  of  Rome, near the Villa Borghese park and in my opinion a wonderful place to stay in order to detox from the realities of every day life. To me, as I have stated before, hotels must be romantic or charming in order for me to feel like I am truly on vacation or holiday (as some would say) and although some of these properties are a bit pricy, the experience of staying in this particular one will be  most memorable – take my word for it. Have a great weekend!

boutique hotel pick – grand hotel tremezzo – lake como, italy

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Every year, I pick a destination (mostly in Europe) and run with it. This year it is Italy, so you will be hearing alot about Italy in the upcoming months from travel to fashion to food and wine and photos of where I have been and where I have yet to discover.  In addition, I will share with you, hotels throughout Italy which I love, or have stayed at and some I wish to stay in the very near future. So, here we go 😉 Second hotel pick for 2011, is the Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Lake Como (area) Italy. I first heard about this property through a professor at San Francisco State University, long, long time ago and of course I jotted it down in my journal for future use. Later on when I developed a crush on George Clooney and discovered he purchased a villa in Lake Como, I decided it was time for me to go there and check out the destination and while I was at it, to check out the …

valentino shoes for spring 2011

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Designer shoes are not only inspirational but in essence have a way of making  a woman feel sexy no matter how emotionally unstable she may be on the inside. (Ladies, I say that with love). In light of this subject, I can honestly say I am not partial to any particular designer, I am however particular to the actual design and functionality of a shoe.  So, here we go, first stop Valentino Shoes and since I seem to have trouble with choosing just a few pairs of  the Valentino shoe collection  for Spring 2011, I have decided to include some of my absolute favorites and offer you a link to the website here, just in case you want to go crazy.