This fall the Fairmont Southampton brings female bonding to a new level with its Ultimate Girl’s Getaway Package.

Whether the ideal girl’s getaway includes a cooking class, relaxing on a pink sand beach, pampering at the spa, afternoon tea island-style, participating in motivational lectures or hitting the links for a round of golf, this weekend offers something for everyone.

The Ultimate Girl’s Getaway includes three nights at the Fairmont Southampton, a “Little Black Dress” Calypso Pool Party with live island music and all organized meals including an afternoon tea luncheon at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess via scenic ferry ride and a Pajama Party featuring Bermuda Karaoke Idol and other prizes.

The weekend also offers a selection of motivational speakers and activities, including a beach walks, Pilates, a cooking class taught by the Fairmont Southampton’s culinary team and sessions on wellness and sexuality, interpreting dreams, cosmetics and belly dancing. Built into the schedule is plenty of time for shopping in Hamilton, relaxing at the beach, a round of golf or treatment at the hotel’s Willow Stream Spa.

As an added benefit, participants in this package receive a 15% discount on spa services at Willow Stream and a 20% discount on scooter rentals during their stay.

This package is available October 23-26, 2008.

Rates for the Ultimate Girl’s Getaway start at $899 per person, double occupancy.
Tax, gratuity and resort levy are included.

For more information, please check with Tango Diva Preferred Travel Agents

A timely tale of the totally true way that you, yes YOU, can jump the kill-me-now airport security lines with your very own Clear Pass!

It’s easy to apply online, and once the TSA clears ya (Clear Pass takes care of all that beaurocratic nonsense), you’ll get a Clear card that clearly says, “Fudge You!” to the system, The Man, the years-off-your-life stripping hassles of hangin’ with the masses…

**Tango Diva Deal Alert **Members receive 1 bonus month with a 1 Year application! Read on for details!

I signed up yesterday - cannot wait to fly by all the losers in line and step up to the Clear Station! This will give me plenty of time to catch a mani/pedi at the XpresSpa at SFO with my discount certificate!

Palm Springs Restaurant Week takes place June 15-20 and features more than 30 of Palm Springs’ finest establishments offering a special prix-fixe, three course dinner for $26 or $36 depending on the restaurant (tax, beverages and gratuity not included).
$1 from each dinner served during the week will be donated to Angel View Crippled Children’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports physically and mentally challenged youth. For more information, please visit www.PalmSpringsRestaurantWeek.com.

It’s time to countdown to the biggest bash of the year: our eighth annual Best of the Bay Area Party. Join San Francisco magazine and Tango Diva as we toast the best people, places, and things that make the Bay Area the very best place to live, work, and play.

Enjoy endless entertainment for every obsession: eats, drinks, treats, drinks, and beats. Celebrate the best of the best with more than 55 restaurants including SPQR, Waterbar, supperclub, EOS, Prana, Le Bistro, Kara’s cupcake,; free flowing bars with signature cocktails, Trumer Pils beer, and the Sonoma Valley wine lounge; and dancing to the hottest sounds in the city, featuring Kid Beyond. Best of all, the party, benefits Family House.

Thursday, June 26
VIP 6-11 p.m., Main Event 7-11 p.m.
Concourse Exhibition Center
Buy tickets at www.sanfranmag.com before June 12th and save!

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BE THE FIRST TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE BIGGEST BASH OF THE YEAR!

Buy Tickets at www.sanfranmag.com

VIP $175 advance / $200 at the door
MAIN EVENT $100 advance / $125 at the door
YOU PAY ONLY $90 (PROMO CODE: TANGODIVA)

BUY EARLY! Tickets sold out in 2007 days before the event. Your tickets must be purchased before June 12th to get this discount and are based on availability. This offer will not be extended or offered again.

San Francisco magazine’s Best of the Bay Area 2008 benefits Family House and is presented in partnership with Wells Fargo, Cadillac I Hummer I Saab, Shreve & Co., Crunch Fitness, The Infinity, Trumer Pils, and Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance. Produced by Dominic Phillips Event Marketing. Venue partner: SFDC.

Divas - Can you imagine running on the streets of LA?
Put on Your Shades, and Get Going With Off ‘N Running Tours

Off ‘N Running Tours introduces their latest tour, “Running from the Paparazzi”.

An exciting 4-mile run from Wilshire Boulevard to glamorous Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, through Hollywood and past eclectic shops on Robertson Boulevard.

Grace the streets of Beverly Hills in record time, doing some quick window-shopping and Celeb watching, while avoiding the forever-flashing paparazzi! This popular tour is becoming famous, so book your time and date. Don’t be left out of the headlines!

Check out www.offnrunningtours.com to sign up for our next run.

Additionally, OFF ‘N RUNNING TOURS has other running tours in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and West Los Angeles - designed for runners of all levels.

They offer a GREAT alternative to working out in your Hotel.

The atmosphere and energy will get you motivated and you’ll make new friends while having fun. The cost for this 4-mile adventure is $60 per person, which includes an exclusively designed Running from the Paparazzi T-Shirt, bottled water, fresh fruit, and ends with a rewarding frosted cupcake! Only a celebrity would do that!

Tours run daily, 1.5 hours per tour, through December 31, 2009.

If you are a travellin’ DIVA and want to join our Tango Diva team of jetsetters on Facebook - get crackin!

We still have one week of competition left in the Ultimate Jetsetter: Bloggers Edition contest!

Here are our rankings : you need to be a Facebook user.

Participate in The Ultimate Jetsetter: Blogger’s Edition competition! This is an invite-only contest that will pit you and other top travel bloggers against each other to find out who has traveled the most miles in a year for the title of the Ultimate Jetsetter of 2008.

Jetsetter is a new, interactive application developed by VibeAgent on Facebook Platform that pits groups against each other in a competition that ranks all participants to see who has logged the most miles in the past year. Jetsetter also promotes social interaction by providing a unique, fun way to share and comment on each other’s trips.

So what does the winner get? VibeAgent will announce the top five jetsetter travel bloggers, including the Ultimate Jetsetter, at the contest’s climax on Wednesday, May 21st. The winner will get one of the most coveted prizes in the Blogosphere, bragging rights! In the world of travel, what better than being incredibly well-traveled and being able to prove it? We will also be promoting the contest and the results.

So - take me on - as I am in the lead - and you know you have flown more!

For those planning upcoming nuptials on 8-8-08, enjoy a complimentary golf and spa package for booking your wedding party!!

The number 8 is considered one of the luckiest in the Chinese culture, representing sudden fortune and prosperity. The wedding team at JW Marriott Las Vegas celebrates this special numerological day by offering a complimentary golf and spa package for weddings of 50 people or more held on August 8, 2008.

The Lucky 8 Package provides the bride and her court with a Wine Down Manicure and Pedicure Party for four ladies. This delicious 100-minute vino-infused package includes two glasses of wine each and a deluxe selection of cheeses while enjoying decadent treatments for the fingers and toes. Red grape skin, which contains a powerful anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogen called resveratrol, makes up the foundation for this treatment. This package treats guests to an almond-biscotti milk soak; a sugar scrub with Italian red wine reduction, crushed grape seeds, and grape seed oil; a masque with red wine reduction; and an almond biscotti moisturizer application and color choice as the pièce de résistance.

For the gentlemen, a foursome of golf is offered at the world-class TPC Las Vegas, perfect for the groom and his pals. As the resort’s preferred course, TPC Las Vegas offers a stunning and compelling test of golf set against the backdrop of Red Rock Canyon. Part of the PGA TOUR’s acclaimed TPC Network of premier private and resort golf clubs, TPC Las Vegas’ award-winning service and array of upscale amenities make this a “must-play” desert golf oasis and a perfect venue to work off a few of those pre-wedding jitters.

For more information on the Lucky 8 Package, please call the JW Marriott Las Vegas’s wedding department at 702-869-7034.

JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa features 548 oversized guestrooms set amid 54 acres of lush gardens. Located in Summerlin, 20 minutes northwest of the famous Las Vegas Strip, the resort is close enough to indulge in the city’s amenities, but far enough away to enjoy golfing on one of the courses surrounding the resort or explore beautiful Red Rock Canyon. Indulge yourself at JW Marriott’s luxurious Aquae Sulis Spa or lounge by the grass-edged pool. Plus, the resort features a wide selection of dining and entertainment options, from casual to elegant. All services and amenities synonymous with JW Marriott are at your fingertips when you visit.

JW MARRIOTT LAS VEGAS RESORT & SPA: 221 N. Rampart Blvd., Toll Free: 877-869-8777

I met Don Mixon of Madrone Mountain Vineyard. His wines are delicious!! He is a boutique producer of artisanal dessert wines in the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon. Near the California-Oregon border, they make very limited quantities of hand-crafted fortified red and late harvest white wines -and though they do not have a tasting room per say - you can make an appointment and sit down with Don for a tasting at the vineyard. Give him a call if you are passing thru.

Coming this September 2008 he will have a tasting room nestled in Central Point between Rogue Creamery and a chocolate store I did not catch the name of. Can you imagine tasting blue cheese, sweet wine and rich chocolate all within feet of each other? Heaven.

I enjoyed all of these wines immensely- but will let his words tell the story:

The Special Select Late Harvest Gewürztraminer 2005
Tasting notes:
Beeswax, honeysuckle and lychee bouquet. Full, round mouth feel with ripe mango, stone fruits and melon. Bright, fresh acids on the mid-palate balance the substantial sweetness. Rose petal notes on the back palate confirm the varietal character. Finish is long and full of spice – hints of nutmeg, white pepper and the bite of honey.

The Starthistle Cuvee 2007
Tasting Notes
A nose of cream, mint, linden flower and ripe pineapple is followed by classic Riesling flavors of lime, peach and wet stones. The mid-palate hints of something tropical — I think of mango, guava, coconut — while the finish, bright and clean, rolls languidly into leafy notes – black currant bud, fresh-cut hay and thyme. Ethereal and deeply complex, this wine should live long, long. Who will let it?

Mundo Novo 2005, Portuguese for “New World,” is a red dessert wine
Tasting Notes
Inky black, the wine is almost impenetrable to light; some dark purple at the rim; stains on the
glass as the wine swirls; great extraction. On the nose, deeps notes of red and black currant
blend with blueberry and violet, followed by more savage smells – truffle, cedar, thyme and
leather – all wrapped in sweet vanilla

Give Mom a card now - enjoy a day of LUX later!

This year’s creative gift options for Mother’s Day are sure to impress even the most hard-to-please moms.

The Buckingham Hotel, a boutique hotel located in the heart of the NYC cultural district, is the perfect place to send maxed out Moms for a weekend of rest and relaxation.

The Hotel’s perfectly peaceful Mother’s Day Spa Package includes a stay in a luxurious Buckingham suite, a lavish massage, manicure and pedicure at nearby Townhouse Spa, and a bouquet of beautiful flowers.

Starting at $460*, sons and daughters can treat their mothers (or ourselves come to think of it) to this NYC retreat, complete with plenty of pampering.

Townhouse Spa’s quiet, serene setting and traditional luxury with modern flourishes is the perfect match for the Buckingham Hotel’s classic style and beautiful décor.

After Mom is pampered like a VIP, nearby top shopping destinations like Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany, Prada, Gucci, Burberry and Barneys will provide the perfect NYC playground.

The Buckingham Hotel’s Mother’s Day Spa Package is available for bookings before May 10, 2008 and available on reservations through July 31, 2008. *Price excludes taxes and gratuity and is based on a one night stay.

To book this package, visit BuckinghamHotel.com or call toll-free at (888) 511-1900.

Share Your Story, Show Your Support!! Make NOLA desirable again!

American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation encourage all New Orleans residents, and people who care about the city, to start sharing their stories on April 15th via a dedicated website, www.partnersinpreservation.com. American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a special Advisory Committee comprised of local New Orleans dignitaries will review the public’s stories about the nine historic sites, along with each site’s story, background, and monetary needs, and determine how $400,000 in preservation grants will be awarded. The sites being awarded American Express Partners in Preservation grants will be announced to the public on May 13th 2008.

So do it now! Submit your photos and musings!

Eagle Saloon (Central Business District)
Franz Building (Central City)
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 (Garden District)
New Orleans Healing Center (Faubourg Marigny)
Odyssey House Louisiana (Esplanade Ridge)
Passebon Cottage (Tremé)
St. Alphonsus Art & Cultural Center (Lower Garden District)
St. Augustine Parish Hall (Tremé)

More information about each of these sites can be found at www.partnersinpreservation.com
St. James A.M.E. Church (Mid-City National Register District)

Launched in 2006, the Partners in Preservation program is a philanthropic initiative in which American Express, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has pledged $5.5 million over a five-year period toward preserving historic sites in the United States. In September 2006, American Express allocated preservation grants to sites in the San Francisco Bay Area. And in 2007, Chicagoland historic sites were the focus of the Partners in Preservation program.