Interior of Peter’s Yard
Those who know me well understand that part of my traveling experience is snapping food and drink photos. I didn’t travel to Edinburgh expecting a big foodie city, but left impressed with its charming cafe culture. From artful lattes, to marvelous tea, nutty whole wheat scones and warm, spiced breakfast quinoa, I was a happy girl!
Olympic Rings in front of the New College on the Mound, Edinburgh.
When an opportunity presented itself to tag along with friends on a trip to Edinburgh, I jumped at the chance. While readers of this blog know that I consider London to be my second home, I’m sad to admit that I’ve never ventured north to Scotland. After a long weekend soaking up historic architecture and gorgeous scenery, I cannot believe I didn’t take the trip up sooner.
Tablet Website Screen Grab
As a passionate leisure traveler with professional experience in the travel industry, I couldn’t resist giving a little love to Tablet. Specifically, the person who puts together the content for their weekly newsletter and TabletTalk blog. My personal inbox is forever clogged with newsletters (which is clearly my fault, I find it hard to pare down), but I always look forward to seeing the unique hotels Tablet selects for their readers. While most are above my budget (it is a luxury travel site after all), I find myself completely sucked in by the clever copy and beautiful photos. Plus, the hotels are unique and full of personality, like No. 5 Maddox St., an all-studio apartment hotel in London’s Mayfair district. Luckily, I can “favorite” them and hope the stars will align and one of the posh places will end up on a private sale site, just in time for my next trip. Crazier things have happened, right?
And, I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise to any of my lovely blog readers that so far all of my “favorited” hotels are in London….
Blake's Hotel, London. Have wanted to stay here ever since it appeared on an episode of Anthropologie's Man Shops Globe!
In case you were wondering about Boston, Tablet ranks our beloved city’s top five hotels, in order from one to five, as: Mandarin Oriental Boston, XV Beacon, Ames Boston, Hotel Veritas and Taj Boston.
Fountain Outside the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park
In January, after checking in at airports three weeks in a row, Foursquare told me I was “pretty fly.” I couldn’t help but agree! As an avid traveler, I cherish any opportunity to go out on the road for work or for play. Here are a few highlights from my month bouncing between New York City, St. Petersburg, Florida and Washington, D.C.
View From The Top of Anthropologie's Living Wall
Though we’ve never met, I’m smitten with the folks on the visual merchandising/store interior team at Anthropologie. I’m amazed at how they cleverly and artistically work to create a unique experience for every customer who steps foot into their stores. Part DIY fantasy, part global bazaar, every store is different and spectacular in its own way.
A great example of this is Anthropologie’s Living Wall inside the Regent Street store in London. Discovered during my recent trip to London, the store has a vast, three story, 200 sq. meter wall that’s filled with living plants. Lush and green, the Living Wall is aligned with the store’s staircase, allowing guests like yours truly to admire new plants on each level. In addition to being beautiful, I was also impressed to learn that the wall is sustainable and is irrigated by rain water collected from the roof.
Anthropologie's Living Wall, Regent Street Store
Anthropologie is located at 158 Regent Street between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus in London.