This year to save me from tears, these are a few of my favorite things: Pt.2

Here we go: the continuation of my favorite holiday things.

To Do:

Yoga

Put on your cutest yogi outfit, grab that glam bag your doting boyfriend gave you (you know, the designer one that has the special strap on the back just for your mat so you can be stylish AND fit =) and hit the studio. Not only will you feel empowered by keeping some semblance of a workout routine during a holiday that promises to wreak havoc on our slender forms, but the intensely delicious stretching and toning of the yoga poses will center you and prevent that familiar stress that occasionally rides in on the back of this blessed season.

Read

I get a surprising amount of reading done between the shopping, working out, eating, family gatherings, and the general hustle and bustle.......and that just may be one of the greatest Christmas miracles of all ;) it's important to have a little time for your self to keep from going crazy. I'm going to hunker down in my overstuffed chair, clad in my most worn in jeans and coziest sweater. My self cultivated tradition is to read Tolstoy's classic "War and Peace" every year at Christmas........but it's not a bad time to throw away a few hours on a good fluff novel. This is a no judgement zone! If you are looking for that satisfying "chick-lit" I highly recomend "Something barrowed" to be followed up with "Something Blue" both by the fabulous Emily Griffin.

Wear

I would hereby like to conclude this list of what gets me through every one's favorite holiday by saying to you ladies: For the love of Pete, Josh, Bob, Jesus, *Insert name of someone special here* put on some red lipstick and a good looking heel for a festive and sexy touch(picture your self making your party entrance to Maria Carey's "All I want for Christmas"....you'll see what I'm saying and all he'll want for Christmas is YOU). Here's wishing all of you a charming Christmas and a bedazzling New Years. Cheers!

This year to save me from tears, these are a few of my favorite things: Pt.1

It's Christmas time and everyone is feeling warm and fuzzy with holiday cheer. During this time of year, well...okay...all the time, I prefer to live my life as though it were a "rom/com". You know how it goes: the perfect song is playing loudly from somewhere while the wind blows my blonde hair back from my face as I stroll in slow motion towards a handsome stranger who makes eye contact with me as he opens my door and I breeze by with a flirty side glance.  I'm obviously wearing the trendiest over coat on the runway right now and holding a latte` in one hand while shouldering my designer bag with the other with a decided air of self importance. I. Am. Fabulous. As is my life.  Why, you may ask, am I admitting this embarrassing, never ceasing mental reel that I keep? For no other reason than to list a few of the props that I find helpful in all of the best holiday movies.........starring me....of course. Somebody tell me that I'm not the only person that does that...

-Beverages:

The Raspberry Martini

In this scene we find our heroine and her terribly attractive companion out to a late dinner after a bit of meticulous Christmas shopping. It's a week night so ordering the usual bottle of wine to be consumed in it's entirety over humorous stories and warm laughter is out of the question. However, we did use the word "meticulous" in our description of the shopping that has been done so a drink is in order. She browses the menu and decides on this jewel of a cocktail: "The raspberry martini". Not only is it Sex in the City worthy in appearance, but it tastes AMAZING and goes down real smooth. This elegant concoction has just enough kick to warm you up on the way home.

The Gingerbread latte`

I already gave you the back drop for this one....it's in my hand as I throw flirty glances at the handsome stranger and have my hair blown about by the wind. I will only add that you cannot drink this cup-full-of- awesome without feeling appropriately cheerful and ever so seasonal.

Travel: Deep in the heart of Texas...

I find my self at that stage in life where I am neither tied down by love, children, or work. These three components are not necessarily missing from my life, I'm just not grounded by any of the above at this time.  I say this so that you understand why it's so ghastly simple for me to respond: "YES." whenever He says: "I'm going *here* for *so long* and *do you want to go with?*".

So this time He opens with: "I have this thing in Texas..."
Well, I've never been to Texas. Count me in.

Now, I was only in Texas for a few days and it was for a high brow military ceremony so I didn't do much site seeing but let me just say that I have great affection for what I DID see. I can only describe Texas as "catching one's breath" in contrast to being in New York City only the weekend before. Everything moves at such a deliciously relaxed pace.  The people are kind and big hearted. The land is flat and stretches as far as the eye can see, and speckled by large, sprawling, cozy looking ranch houses.  There are plenty of horses and cows for your 3 year olds to imitate while driving through. The food is simplistic but bold, and instead of a chilly manhattan you're more than likely going to be handed a hard lemonade or frosty dark beer.  No one seems to be in a hurry and EVERYONE that is anyone has on cowboy boots.  There are plenty of educational things to do, should you feel so inclined. Being the art enthusiast that I am, I did manage to squeeze in a quick trip to the Kimbell museum for their atlantis exhibit which gets two thumbs up for sure.

I would love to go back and better cover the names of these notable activities and eateries. Hopefully on my next visit I can do this great state justice in my reporting/recording.

In closing, though slightly understated on the list of places to jet off to, Texas was warm and inviting. I look forward to seeing it again. And believe you me, next time I will not leave until I have BOOTS.

Travel: New York City, or "The Big Apple" (Part Three).

Day 3: Our final day in New York and we are determined to get in as much as is humanly possible. We shower and scarf down breakfast at roughly the speed of light, re pack, check our bags at the front desk and twirl out through the revolving door into a blustery day. We wade through the marathoners and make our way to MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art) where we spent hours marveling at priceless, not to mention infamous paintings such as Vincent Van go's "Starry night", Claude Monet's "Green reflection", and countless works by Pierre Renoir, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and so many more. There's just something about being so near another person's product of inspiration. I was close enough to do the unthinkable...I could have reached out and touched it.

We spent all day walking and talking, laughing and eating honest to god new york pizza. We went to the Guggenheim and I formed a powerful fantasy about roller skating from top to floor of that glorious structure.

By 3:00 p.m. My feet are KILLING me. My cute/comfortable flats turned out not to be as dual functional as I first imagined. Our flight back to Nashville is in less than two hours so we're burning up the sidewalk/limping towards the first available cab. We unwittingly crawl into the nicest driver in the city's taxi and an hour later we're still sitting at a green light letting other people out. It was one of those rides that make you want to put a fork in THEIR temple, rather than your own.  We make it to the airport with a miraculous 25 minutes to spare. We check our bags at the curb and chow down on one of the worst meals we've ever had.......at an airport chili's.......but things like this don't phase us. We are unflappable.  We board our flight with 10 minutes to spare and begin our short, painless journey home.

Though we saw a great deal in 3 days time, we still didn't see EVERYTHING. I'm ashamed to say that we never made it to Chinatown or the statue of Liberty (I know, I know!). I, however, see these facts merely as insurance. We're going back VERY soon. We have places to go, people to see, etc.
The next time I write, it will be as a "seasoned new yorker" with the scoop, the juice, the 411. Mark my words...........I'll be back, NYC!

Travel: New York City, or "The Big Apple" (Part Two).

Day 2: The sun pours in at all sides of our corner suite on the 29th floor. Obviously no one thought to draw the shades upon stumbling in last night. I make a mental note to my self to do so before the next morning. I sit up and blink stupidly for about 15 seconds while trying to get my bearings. Ah, New York. You can hear the city buzzing below-A racket of impatient drivers blowing their horns, street vendors and garbage men yelling, show tunes being blasted from loud speakers in the square, and I swear that you can hear the sound of hundreds of people's jackets brushing together as they pass each other on the street. I [my stomach] coax my self out of bed and into the shower with the promise of breakfast. I am famished. We dine in the restaurant down stairs in the hotel. My waffles and fresh fruit were extraordinary and there were similar sentiments coming from across the table in regards to eggs, home fries, bacon, and a pile of other such breakfasty things. Now fueled for action we hit the streets in our walking shoes. We walk back towards the good shopping and find our selves in the mother of FOSSIL stores. I'm slightly embarrassed by how much time we spent in there........BUT we emerged with his and her watches and sunglasses(quite the feat)-One has to be exceptionally choosy when it comes to sunglasses. After all...they do spend an enormous amount of time on one's face.

At some point during this same afternoon we took a brief spin through New York's "Museum of Sex"...intriguing, yes? Yes. That's why we went in...but alas, it was for naught. An overall disappointing experience. The gift shop was the most entertaining and comedic part of the entire venture. The museum it's self was a crass, cheapening exhibition of what is truly one of the most beautiful, passionate, glorious things mankind will ever know. I did not appreciate it.  But no worries, New York. I won't hold that against you.

Next we take off for the Gershwin theatre to see....can you possibly guess it????? WICKED!
We settle into our perfect (I'm talking center, mid level) seats amidst the sea of families with impatient youngsters. Excitement and expectation hang in the air as large as the larger than life dragon mounted above our heads. All goes dark and the theatre explodes into smoke, movement, and music. As a theatre lover and also a seasoned theatre performer, I am nearly moved to tears by the beauty of such perfectly executed sound and light cues! I'm telling you, if I were crier....there would have been a trickling tear or two (You only think I jest).  And for the next 2 and a half hours we are utterly enthralled by the talent and pure magic of what is arguably one of the greatest Broadway productions of all time.
 I left with that "I can die a happy woman" feeling thumping in my chest. 

By the time we make it through the throngs of people and back to the hotel (all on foot. No guilt over missing 2 workouts here) it is dinner time and we are as curious and intrigued as only two people who have never visited Todd English's "Olives" can be.  We get there around 9:00 p.m. (that's when people eat dinner in NY...apparently) and are lead to the best seats in the house-a large corner booth that gives us the perfect spectator's position.  We order red wine sangria's and get the party started with a veal ravioli, butternut squash ravioli, a mouth watering olive bruschetta to be spooned into your mouth with some amazing flat bread, and the chart topper-an escargot pizza. You heard me. Snail pizza with the most incredible pesto sauce and crispy crust........mmmm....it was truly divine. This was my first brush with snail so I was a bit hesitant, but also insanely curious, as is my nature. When it comes to food my general stance is: "I'll try anything ONCE." And am I ever so glad that I did! I was wonderfully surprised and perhaps even impressed...for the snail in both appearance and earthy, garlicky flavor was much like eating a mushroom. By this time, as is our poor habit, we have ordered and eaten nearly everything on the menu worth having BEFORE our entrees arrive, leaving neither a great appetite nor tolerance for our rack of lamb or anything else that was brought after. The few bites that were had however, were very tasty and I would love to try it again when I can actually do it justice in my consumption of it.  Though both painfully full, we wouldn't dream of leaving without dessert! and so a spicy pear and fig cake with melt-in-your-mouth-Ginger ice cream was called forth and devoured to the best of our ability.

After dinner, instead of going back to the hotel and falling asleep at midnight like sane people  we chose to go the way of the new yorker and hail a cab to carry us to the Empire State Building. We go in, take our cheesy picture in front of the green screen that will turn out a quality photo sure to be seen on this year's Christmas cards, and then we make our way to the 102nd floor. The view is breath taking but I am disappointed to learn that you cannot go outside on the tip top as I had hoped. We take the elevator down a few floors to the 86th and step out into a glacier blast of fast moving, frigid air. I squeal and thrust my skirt down in front with both hands in Marylin Monroe style as we make our way around the balcony. There is something to be said for the millions of twinkling lights and flashing neon's that can be seen from up here. I had an honest to god "Sleepless in Seattle"/"An affair to remember" moment...it can only be described as perfection. On the ride back I am sleepy and completely content. I am also in love. I know that no matter how many times I revisit this famous city, I will always have only the fondest memories of my first encounter with her. It's only my second day and I almost believe that it couldn't possibly get any better than this.

Travel: New York City, or "The Big Apple" (Part one).

All of my life I have known exactly the kind of person I wanted to become, the things I wanted to do, and the places I wanted to go. I'm the kind of person who has ideas and strong feelings about things I've never experienced.........the delightful part is that I am never wrong about my self.  And just as I knew that I would adore everything about running before I ever bought my first pair of Nike's (I log nearly 36 miles per week on a regular basis), I also knew that I would love everything about the hustle and bustle of New York city before I ever stepped out of my first yellow taxi.

My first taste of the big city was a small, weekend sized dose...but it was more than enough to wet my appetite. I hit the streets at precisely the same time and with as much gusto as the New York City Marathon. Run faster, New York! Here's the first installment of 3-accounting my whirlwind trip:

Day 1:  Let's skip right on past the part of this story where my traveling companion and I stay up ridiculously late the night before our A.M. flight out of Nashville, and despite our knowledge that this trip was coming WEEKS in advance, we are scurrying to get our bags packed 10 minutes before walking out the back door.

We crash through the airport doors and onto the dizzying streets of NY around 3:00 p.m. and though I am ablaze with excitement, my urge to take a nap is over powering (no comments from the peanut gallery). We check into the Westin Hotel in Time square, drop our bags, ignore the calls of the "heavenly bed and bath", and head right for 5th avenue.  My first official meal in New York is a cob salad from the little cafe` on the 6th floor of Lord and Taylor's. I was fairly unimpressed but by this point I am prepared to chew my arm off so it saved my limbs and wasn't entirely unpleasant in the taste department so I'll count it as a positive experience.

From there we work our way around at least 40 city blocks. We pass the Library, guarded by it's impressive stone Lions out front, we pass hundreds, if not thousands of runners trying to find their groove before Sunday's big race. In fact, the only thing we may have passed MORE frequently then runners are the corner stand guys with their bountiful spread of hot dogs, pretzels in the early stages of scorching, and light up hats that read: "I HEART NY!" - Eventually we find our way back to the hotel and catch a cat nap before the evening activities unfurl. Several hours later we hail a cab dressed to the nines in a smashing dark suit and glamorous full length evening gown. Our cheeks are glowing from the crisp night air and I'm wearing red lip stick. No one will enjoy themselves more than us tonight.  We have dinner reservations at a quiet French restaurant at 9:00 p.m. - There's a crackling fire on the stone hearth, and the sweet low melodies of a piano somewhere above us is showering down jazzy versions of "Moon river" and other timeless classics.  It's quiet and intimate. It's perfect. We begin with a simple, but tasteful split pea soup, followed by wild mushroom risotto and lobster ravioli. We drink glass after glass of fruity champagne, and a smooth red wine, our laughter ringing throughout the small and intimate joint. Our main course of Fillet Mignon arrives with a base of creamed spinach and side of truffled potatoes. It was  BLISS IN ONE'S MOUTH.  May I just say that French cuisine IS all it's cracked up to be? If you knew the two of us at all then it would be obvious to you at this point that dessert is the highest priority on our list, therefore we then indulged in decadence known as the chocolate souffle`.

The rest of the night was a bit of a wild, hilarious, frenzied blur.......I may not be able to do it justice in the retelling, therefore I will simply say that it was no less than...Charming, I'm sure ;-)  But what I do recall quite clearly was this: walking into the glow of time square as we approach our hotel, smiles on nearly every face that hurried by, though it is nearly midnight now. Taxis are still going full force, the clip clop of horse's hooves on the cobble stone side walk can be heard resonating into the night...and though my face is wind chapped and my expressions feel frozen, I am smiling. This is the New York city I've seen in movies and read about in books. This is the city of people, love, lights, sex, food, theatre, and energy. This is the city I knew I would be in love with before I ever saw it. After all of my preconceived ideas, she did not disappoint.

The first post is inevitably the shortest...

I love 3 things in this world more than I could possibly love another...and those things are 1) Good company, 2) Brilliant food, and 3) Traveling.  This blog is going to be a little of each of these things...but mostly it's going to be my opinion on all 3 categories as I experience them in varying circles, genres, and locations. 

I adore laughter and conversation over a good bottle of wine or champagne, accompanied by a nice olive bruschette or perhaps a fine escargot pizza. I love everything about flying, sailing, and taking the train. But most of all I am in love with having the power to change my entire life at merely a moments notice, and no matter the wake I leave behind  I am always guaranteed to find these 3 familiar friends wherever my wander lustful heart takes me.