Wanderlust

Dear Readers,  I asked you a few months ago for advice on where to stay in Miami and you delivered great advice in spades! In the end, I decided not to go — I had thought I wanted a blow-out birthday hotel weekend someplace warm, but these days due to the bun in the oven, when I’m tired, I’m EXHAUSTED.  And who wants to be tired in Miami?  Not me! Instead, Tim is taking me to my favorite restaurants, Sfoglia!

However, I did lots of research on Miami hotels before I finally made up my mind.  Here were my top three picks:

The Raleigh.  This boutique luxury hotel close to the ocean (don’t you love the red cushions on the beach?) seems to have it all.  Rooms start at $325.

The Hotel. A bit of a hidden gem, this hotel (with lovely garden) includes beach chairs and umbrellas in the room price. Rooms start at $275.

The Standard.  The spa seems to be a focus here, complete with a pool scene. Rooms start at $265.

NB: The Setai looks over the top pretentiously decorated and is incredibly expensive ($750 a night).  If someone else was paying (like a long lost great aunt with a Rolls and a driver), I’d love to spend a night as part of her entourage.  Also, the consensus is that The Delano seems to have seen better days, and is a bit dated (so, maybe there are better places to spend vacaction pennies).

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Japan from Eric Testroete on Vimeo.

So I was just longing for a trip to Japan as witnessed by this post and this one too, and Eric Testroete obliges by making a video of every photo from his trip to Japan.  I love this idea — of making one’s trip digestible.  We’ve talked about chic travel journals before and I just read about a woman who makes “Book of the Year” every year in January out of all her photos and ephemera, which appeals to me, too.

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This image of dutch folk skating on the suddenly frozen canals made me so happy today.  See the full article here.

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This animated video of paper cuttings coming out of the pages of a book is magical! via NOTCOT.org

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So I’m turning 30 in the middle of February and I want to take a trip someplace warm: Miami and do it up right.  I want to stay in an awesome, pampering, no-holds-bared hotel.  I’d prefer something that wasn’t over the top pretentious (think Mandarin Oriental not SOHO Grand if you feel me).  I’d been thinking the Four Seasons (they have a nice promotion going on too…) but it is the “business district” and I wondered if maybe we want to stay someplace where we wouldn’t have to get in a car to go out to dinner/explore/ect.

So dearest readers, I turn to you: where should we stay?

LOVE,

Abbey

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Kate from Love You Big is traveling the globe (currently in Japan!) and I am enthralled by this photo.

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San Francisco was great. I love to travel, to just be in motion, to be unplugged from the phone, the chores, the daily grind. (Random: I also love airports. Yes, the dirty carpet, the terrible food, but also the people watching, drama, all the possibility).

We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental which was as you can imagine just perfect. Not too pretentious, amazing, gentle service. My favorite part? Turn down service where they put out a small linen beside the bed on the floor that said “good night” and “good morning” on opposite ends.

We love using Chowhound to find places to eat whenever we travel and this was no exception. The first night when we were tired and wanting something close to the hotel we went to Slanted Door and the second night when we were a bit more adventurous we went to Sociale (which is down an adorable garden alleyway). Slanted Door is amazing California-asian-fusion with amazing water views and the Sociable was a perfect low key (delicious) neighborhood restaurant that made us feel like locals and imagine what it might be like to live in SF (very nice we decided!).

I walked around SF during the day, checking out Gumps in person (which was being in a wonderful grown up candy store (except instead of candy they sell beautiful decorative things, books and amazing stationery)). Speaking of candy stores, Miette did not disappoint either!

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How amazing does this hotel pool look? It’s the Observatory Hotel in Sydney where Love You Big went to celebrate handing in her PhD! Lucky gal! I’m fantasizing about a nice hotel weekend (room service, fluffy beds, great toiletries) somewhere in the US — where should I go? Where have you been that you just loved? This won’t happen with the crumbling economy so the sky is the limit! Let’s have fun dreaming together!

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I’ll be on cape cod, walking in the sand. Hope you have a lovely weekend! Xoxo abbey

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So the crazy thing about the cabin we where we stayed in Montana? The front was encrusted with crystals! The woman who built it clearly loved rocks and crystals. She was a elementary school teacher and salvaged the blackboards when the school was renovated and stuck them on the house too (see last picture!).

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I just realized that my feed hasn’t been updating this week — more WordPress 2.5 upgrade issues.  However, it seems to be working now, so everyone who reads my feed can now get their fill of design scouting!  The image is one of my favorite shots from our trip to Montana.

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Via favorite blog Triumph of Bullshit

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