Hey Divas! We want to know! Where are you going? Are you going solo? Share here in the blog – or even better – add your planned destinations to your MY TANGO MAP. Your world travels map is just one of the benefits you receive when you join. Its the best way to connect to over 7,000 traveling DIVAS who can share insights on your future destinations.
Saving the best for last–My hottest travel tip of the year.
I don’t know why it took so long for me to discover HotelsCombined.com, but it has rapidly become my #1 go-to travel site since it consistently saves me mucho dollars and countless hours. HotelsCombined.com is a unique search engine dedicated to finding hotel information, rates and availability. They search the worlds most popular hotel reservation websites allowing instant comparison of hotel details, rates, taxes and availability information on one simple web page. You can search through 200 countries, offering over 700,000 hotel deals, and over 2 million consumer reviews pictures and descriptions. Then you can check availability and best pricing in a single click.
I’ve tested it from San Francisco to Dubai and found some incredible deals in just minutes!
I’m trying to write my list of New Year’s resolutions, although who are we kidding? I can basically just forward myself last year’s list and simply change the date cuz they are always more or less the same:
1. I will stop eating when I am full no matter how delish the food is.
2. I will not drink more than two…better make that three glasses of Champagne, wine or other alcoholic beverage.
Then some form of an exercise/working out resolution.
And I just read about the perfect place to jump-start my 2008 regime: the new
Fern Tree Spa at Rose Hall, Montego Bay, Jamaica
Just reading their press release had me feeling realaxed healthier and even thinner! I particularly love the thought of having my own “Spa Elder”. After reading about her, a personal trainer just sounds sooooo 2007!
“The US $4 million dollar project, which is a first of its kind for Jamaica, converted the resorts signature villa, Fern Tree House, into a 68,000 square foot sanctuary for the mind and body.
Drawing on Jamaica’s lush landscape and centuries-old healing traditions as inspiration, Fern Tree Spa melds modern spa techniques with Jamaica’s ancient healing remedies of native herbs, fruits and botanicals.
Having at its foundation a philosophy of wellness, Fern Tree Spa introduces clients to a Spa Elder versed in the art of holistic healing, to guide clients through the four phases of wellness: addressing the individual, the body, the mind and the spirit. Incorporating the natural herbs and botanicals found in Jamaica as a base. The Spa Elder will use her knowledge of time honored Jamaican traditions/rituals and hand-select herbs and plants combined with sea botanicals create a unique and results-oriented spa menu.
Borrowing from Fern Tree Houses original colonial design of hardwood floors, grand entryways and opulent furnishings, treatment rooms are set amidst lush gardens allowing guests the option of having their room enclosed or open to their own private garden terrace. Couples can reserve the plantation-styled couples massage room, bedecked with wooden millwork, pitched ceilings and private patio with dipping pool. Families, wedding parties and groups can enjoy the spa cottage, offering separate living room and spa treatment room affording the group quality bonding time and private tranquility. The Fern Tree Spa complex also houses a relaxation lounge, yoga pavilion, hydrotherapy swimming pool, sculpture garden and several water features. ”
As exciting as the medina area of Marrakech is, a few days does it for me, so I simply picked up the phone and called the Dar Ayniwen Villa Hotel and said, “Madam” was ready to be picked up! (I’ll never tire of this phrase.) Only a short 15 minute ride from all the hustle-bustle of the medina, brings you to this tranquil hotel, located in the heart of the “Palmeraie,” the Marrakech upscale palm grove area.
As I was welcomed by the Riad’s charming, sophisticated, (but surprisingly still single) host, Stephane Abtan, (his father built this luxurious, yet still homey villa,) I couldn’t help but notice all the photos on his walls, mostly of famous movie stars and models who had chosen Dar Ayniwen for their hideaway.
Originally built as the owner’s family home, after 20 years a villa with seven bedrooms became too big and four years ago it was turned into a luxury guest house, now run by father and son.
After spending a few days exploring the gorgeous antique-filled residence,(be sure and check out the owner’s perfume bottle collection,) sunbathing by the swimming pool while listening to the lovebirds, (not just the romantic couples but there really is an aviary) partaking of the convenient on-site hamman treatments (ask which suites have the new private Jacuzzi’s,) wandering through the jasmine scented gardens of this private 5 acre estate; and a few nights dining on delicious, market-fresh, made to order, authentic Moroccan dinners served in front of a roaring fire, or outside under the stars, afterwards strolling contentedly to my exotically furnished suite crawling into my comfy bed to sip my mint tea, I swear I knew what it felt like to be Angelina Jolie—even if it was just a mirage!
Dar Ayniwen Villa Hotel Im, Lazrak, rue Hassan ben Mbarek Marrakech, Gueliz Morocco E-mail: infos@dar-ayniwen.com Website
After my relaxed week in Fez, I was ready to tackle the hustle of Marrakech. (Compares to traveling from San Francisco to New York.) But I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stay right in the medina, the pulsing heart of Marrakech, or in the plush rarified atmosphere of the Palms area, so little piggy that I am I opted for both, which turned out to be the perfect solution.
My in-town pick was Riad Kniza “An Oasis in the heart of the Medina.” You can spend hours on the internet researching the long list of Riads, a Riad is a traditional Moroccan home or Palace with an interior garden, trying to choose the best one, or you can take my word for if-STAY AT RIAD KNIZA!
From the moment I entered this exquisitely appointed, jewel-box sized Riad and was graciously welcomed by Kamal, the charming owner, my stay was sheer perfection. Somehow, even though it is conveniently located just a few minutes walk from the famous action-packed square Djemma El Fna, which makes Times Square seem sedate by comparison, once you walk through Kniza’s massive hand-carved ceder-wood doors, you enter a world of peaceful calm.
Riad Kniza is built around two open sky patios with water fountains surrounded by two lounges with magnificent fire places, tastefully decorated by the owners, renowned antique dealers. Fine art adorns the walls and the rooms are luxuriously furnished in traditional Moorish style, interwoven with every modern convenience- from air conditioning, satellite T.V. and internet access.
My large suite opened onto a patio, where I could dine al fresco or if I preferred, I could be served in the privacy of my own room in front of the roaring fireplace.This was the only tough decision I had to make, since I chose to place myself in the Kamal’s capable hands who many arranged my sightseeing. He even personally drove me to the see the Jardin Majorelle, patiently waiting while I strolled through the garden.
My only complaint was that during our email transactions Kamal had not adequately described the beauty and serenity of his Riad, because otherwise,I would have reserved it for two more nights!
Tip: Be sure and visit Al Badi, the museum-quality antique store owned by the same family.
California caviar makers are following in the footsteps of sustainable agriculture by using only state-of-the-art housing and a top quality diet to ensure that the sturgeon are happy, comfy, and pampered to supply you with caviar that rivals the Caspian Sea’s finest. (Well, maybe not quite, but darn close. Plus, local is much less expensive & so much more P.C.)
When shopping for your New Year’s Eve roe, consider buying from either www.sterlingcaviar.com,www.tsarnicoulai.com.Both offer consistent quality,( many top American chefs are touting these) several different grades, and in the case of Tsar Nicoulai, some very unique flavors.
Bay Area Chef, Rolland Passot of La Folie, recently teamed up with Tsar to create “Chef’s Collection Passot Roe Infused Trout Caviars” which offers a choice of Vanilla, Kaffir Lime, or Brandy flavors. ( I’m still a fan for their oldie but goodie, Truffle flavor.)
It never hit me till I saw them back to back–The Wizard of Oz and The Nutcraker–that both of these pillars of the American holiday tradition have much to teach us about the power of little girls’ dreams.
Consider both performances: both center around the story of a mighty, courageous and beloved little girl whose imaginings into far-flung, fantasy destinations result in the most iconic, archetypal scenes that our collective culture has to offer.
To get into the holiday spirit, a group of friends and I decided to see the San Francisco Symphony play live to a tremendous screen showing The Wizard of Oz. How they were able to take out the music sounds but leave the sounds of characters speaking involves technologies way beyond my understanding.
And tonight, The Nutcracker at the San Francisco Ballet. Both audiences filled to the herringbone coutils with little girls in their most partiest, frilliest, flouncy dresses.
And what were we all celebrating, these mesmerized little girls and I? It turns out that we were paying homage to ourselves. Too often do we get bombarded with artistic performances stuck on the male journey, the yang quest. So many movies all about the guys, with women’s roles totally supporting the whims of their central cast husbands/brothers/fathers.
Not so, these timeless classics of which we speak. Not so at all. Within the powerful dreamscapes of our heroines, princes need help in battles, powerful wizards are unmasked, and every supporting male figure in their lives falls hopelessly in love with them under their momentous powers: Scarecrow, Tinman, Lion, Nutcracker, and Count Drosselmeyer.
And not because of their sex appeal! Not because of womenly wiles nor micro-mini and augmented bra size. These young girls are alluring only due to their steadfast hearts, courageous demeanors and adventurous souls.
I have always loved both stories so much, and now I understand why a bit better–Oz and Nutcracker are all about Divadom in its purest form. Both young women, Dorothy and Clara, are strong, lovely, and loving women whose extreme courage wins them loyal friends. Dorothy stands up to the wizard and the witch in order to win her freedom; Clara saves her Nutcracker prince from the Rat King wtih the fling of her shoe.
(We will explore the women and shoes archetype later–Cinderella and Clara center on these.)
Both of these little girls not only win hearts but vastly, significantly, epically change the histories of their imaginary (?) countries forever, immediately bequeathed all the largest, most titular roles these lands have to offer. They are LEADERS. They change the thrust of time and forever make their mark on the faraway, never-never lands that they dream up and visit.
But are these places mere fantasy? Or, as famed Czech philosopher Zizek might ask, is the sweet little girl in Kansas/the living room the dream of the all-powerful child rulers of Oz and the land of the Sugarplum Fairy?
These are all powerful thoughts that we women should dream about tonight. Just to see what happens and where they take us.
Let’s plan our own dreamscapes for ’08!
(And thank you Zarah, Bharat, Jason, Anna, Amy and friends for both planning and joining me on this epic journey!)
Most of the films out right now are two plus hours long and full of enough psychological drama to keep you sleeping with the night light on.
Here’s something completely different. 106 minutes of weird, wrapped in poignant, and tied up with an amusing bow.
For starters, it’s about a socially awkward young man who lives in the garage behind his older brother Gus’s (Paul Schneider) house in a generic mid-west sort of small town. Lars, played by Ryan Gosling, is a loner at work and a recipient of pity by Gus and his wife. One day at work, Lars observes his cube mate surfing porn and discovers the wonderful world of anatomically correct life size dolls. By the time the large shipping box appears on his doorstep he has convinced himself that the plastic vixen inside is actually his internet girlfriend, in town to spend some quality time with him. The film could easily have devolved into some bad SNL skit, but happily it reveals itself to be a surprisingly entertaining study on people’s need for intimacy and the nature of acceptance.
If you hang in there and have any affection for the midwest you will grow to love this film.
You have got to love a town full of people who don’t just humor Lars, rather join in on his delusion. After all, she’s new in town and doesn’t know anyone. Having grown up in the land of tuna casseroles and jello molds I found myself completely invested in the plot. Lars & Bianca have a chaste relationship, no frat house jokes here. There are a lot of laughs thanks to the absurd nature of fitting the visiting plastic girl into the local social scene. Bianca ultimately becomes a vehicle for Lars to work out his issues with his brother and with the town’s help, ultimately heal himself. LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is indy-style entertainment.
You got to check out this new resort I found trolling for deals, okay, this place does not make the cash-saving cut, but damn it’s beautiful. And, sometimes a girl has to splurg on a fantasy vacation, and if you are ready to pull out the Black AMEX and treat yourself, you might want to check out The Regent Palms resort in Turks and Caicos.
This rock star destination is beautifully situated on 12 acres of landscaped gardens on the world-famous Grace Bay Beach. The Palms features 72 one, two and three-bedroom suites with balconies and terraces, most with ocean views. Marble floors, vaulted ceilings with milled crown moldings, wainscoting and custom-made mahogany furnishings lend a luxury residential quality.
Hell, all you need is a few girlfriends to share the cost and you won’t have to sell a kindey! And there is nothing like quality time together where you can gossip while getting pampered and drinking champagne.
I don’t know why it took so long for me to discover 
I’m trying to write my list of New Year’s resolutions, although who are we kidding? I can basically just forward myself last year’s list and simply change the date cuz they are always more or less the same: 
Drawing on Jamaica’s lush landscape and centuries-old healing traditions as inspiration, Fern Tree Spa melds modern spa techniques with Jamaica’s ancient healing remedies of native herbs, fruits and botanicals. 
As exciting as the medina area of Marrakech is, a few days does it for me, so I simply picked up the phone and called the Dar Ayniwen Villa Hotel and said, “Madam” was ready to be picked up! (I’ll never tire of this phrase.)
After my relaxed week in Fez, I was ready to tackle the hustle of Marrakech. (Compares to traveling from San Francisco to New York.) But I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stay right in the medina, the pulsing heart of Marrakech, or in the plush rarified atmosphere of the Palms area, so little piggy that I am I opted for both, which turned out to be the perfect solution. 
California caviar makers are following in the footsteps of sustainable agriculture by using only state-of-the-art housing and a top quality diet to ensure that the sturgeon are happy, comfy, and pampered to supply you with caviar that rivals the Caspian Sea’s finest. (Well, maybe not quite, but darn close. Plus, local is much less expensive & so much more P.C.)
Why Quebec? Because not only will the city come alive with traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks, visual effects, and music, BUT an extra-special glorious event will also taking place that evening on Place D’Youville, which will transform into a vast celebration grounds to kick off Québec City’s 400th anniversary party.
