Pretty Ritzy

That's right, this weekend i stayed at the Ritz! I love hotels. One of the reasons i probably love them is because i almost never stay in them! So it's always a special treat. But the Ritz Carlton? That is most DEFINITELY a special treat.

This one was especially great! one, i got to hang with Kim, who now lives in Kansas, so i'd hang out with her in a Motel 6 if that was the case! But this was far from it. Chocolates on your pillow, everything clean and white, polished to perfection. it was beautiful.

Here are a handful of pics! (there is a whole album for those of you on Facebook)

Pinkies up! We ARE at the Ritz, after all :)

Strawberry short cakes and wine within an hour of getting there. I like this place already.

Kim <3's Strawberry shortcake!

at dinner the first night

the view :)

the room!

bathroom photo shoots. typical.

do not disturb

our view from the patio bar at night 

best chocolate martini's in the SRQ

Ritz Carlton Beach Club

key lime coolers - divine.

she's so pretty!

i'm sorry, chocolate on my pillow with nice notes -- that makes me smile :)

the gorgeous lobby.

chandeliers and marble everywhere!

It was gorgeous. Another cool part about this Ritz is that it's in Sarasota, right by the bridge to Longboat Key, Seista Beach, etc. So the pictures right on the beach were at the beach club that we were able to use, lay by the pool, sip fun drinks, etc :)

Both mornings we were there were quite rainy while Kim was in conference, so i just wandered a bit, read, listened to music, and just got to be lazy. I never really do that at home, because i always find something i "should" be doing! So this was really nice.

The only thing i felt bad about is how scared the staff were of us. Not us, specifically, but of all guests in general. I felt the need to be extra nice and casual when addressing any of them, because they would jump at anything! at one point i asked the concierge for a book of matches (i collect matchbooks... yes, i know that's cool) and the girl was scrambling to find them. she kept apologizing and apologizing... then ANOTHER guy came up, and ran (literally -- RAN) to the bar in the back to get me my matches. holy. cow. it was intense. i just wanted to give them hugs and tell them it was going to be ok. little do they know, i don't actually have enough money to be a real guest there :)

I don't have to be this fancy all the time, but it was fun to do for a weekend :) Glad i got the experience. and now i can always slip in "well, when *i* stayed at the Ritz...." into conversations (always a perk!)

hope your weekend was fun! fancy or not :)

xo

Wanderlust Wednesday: Vegas

I'm not afraid to admit it - i wanna go to Vegas.

I'm also not afraid to admit the reason - kind of just to say i've done it :)

Plus, it's dry heat. Which means awesome hair days EVERY DAY.

I'll have a couple glasses of wine or a few beers, but i'm not a big drinker. I haven't been to a club in i don't even know how long. I've never gotten married on a whim (and really hope to keep it that way!), and i've never gambled more than $20 in one night.

Tripled my money in Reno!!! Ok, so i started with $1 and ended with $3. Still good, right?

Me playing blackjack for 2 hrs.... i only put $10 in! I left with $50, so i'd say it was a success.

That being said, i do love a good game of blackjack. (I never said i was good... i just said i liked it). It's hard to be such a high roller.

But if you don't go to Vegas to party your face off and get black out drunk - you go for the pretty lights and the shows. And i intend to see all the shows! I really don't know what shows there are in Vegas except Cirque du Soleil (which i'm still trying to figure out if it's as cool as everyone says it is). But plays, concerts, comedy acts.... bring it on. I'll skip the male review for now :) But i'd love recommendations on what people have done and like to do there.

ALSO! I just learned that Vegas is just this little strip in the middle of nowhere.... and in about an hour, you can take a bus to the grand canyon!

How cool is that? Vegas Perk #217. More than just little white chapels, people.

I'm thinking girls weekend. Viva Las Vegas!

xo

Super Photo Weekend Recap

As a nomad, i don't typically have ordinary weekends at home. This one was particularly lovely! I got to spend all day Saturday with my friend Alicia (and some other friends, too!). Not to mention, i borrowed the nice camera from my office - so i was snapping away all weekend.

For those of you who don't know, I've known Alicia since we were 11.

I just spent 45 minutes looking for this photo from 8th grade of Alicia and i wearing pleather tube tops we bought from Charlotte Russe.... hers was black, mine was hot hot pink.

But i couldn't find it. and you didn't notice the 45 minute lapse... so i guess that's good. But let me tell ya, this photo is a gem. The best part is that we're wearing short sleeved button up shirts over it, because we had the "two inch" tank top rule.

Sorry, i'm getting really off track. But i've known Alicia (or DJ as i like to call her) since 1997, and this is us having a really fun weekend in 2011.

this is much better than the tube tops.

I spent my Friday evening at the softball field, pretty standard. My boys lost and one got injured... and it rained... but hey, it was still a fun night. Then i had a sleepover with Alicia.

There are no photos of the sleepover, and there are also no photos of how we managed to knock over 2 freshly poured glasses of wine on opposite sides of a couch in less than 10 seconds.

One word - talent.

Saturday, we worked out and spent a significant amount of time at the beach. Despite the rain :)

Refreshments.

Yeah... that's the storm. We stayed in the water while it blew over :)

pre storm :)

After the storm passed, we spent a couple more hours in the sun, getting nice and brown. Already, this makes it a perfect Saturday.

Every third Saturday, Downtown Fort Myers hosts a Music Walk. We joined up with a group of people to get some food, a couple drinks, and listen to all sorts of live music! i love it. Downtown is so pretty.

fun group

I love music walk! perfect excuse to get out on a saturday night.

Sunday was Father's Day, and i got to celebrate with some yummy dinner with my family :)

father's day lovin.

love my daddy!

pretty sunset before the sunday night storm

that was my weekend. how was yours? xo

Current Addictions - June Edition

Hi Everyone! I'm back. Back in Florida for an entire week now. It's been kind of nice have no plans for the past few nights. it's very unlike me to actually do nothing... but i'm trying to embrace it here and there :) But i thought... it's probably time to blog again.

So here i am! I figured i'd break you in easy with an update - my current obsessions! The things i am....

DOING: Working. A lot. I just landed a brand new account 2 weeks ago and was made point person on another new account this Tuesday. Big stuff! Not to mention i wasn't exactly struggling to fill in the gaps during my work day.... so i've been working late. But that's ok! It's nice to feel like you're good at what you do, right? :)

I've also been seeing my girls. a lot! I'm kind of obsessed with my friends. Especially the ones I don't get to see on a weekly basis. But i've been quite spoiled the past month, and we've managed to squeeze in a few visits.

Casey visited in late April

Casey, Kim and i, visiting Ash in Chicago over Memorial Day (slash Ashley's Birthday)

Kim, E, and I on Sanibel a couple of weekends ago

and next weekend, i get to go here with Kim....

The Ritz Carlton. Sarasota.

Yes, that's RIGHT. Staying at the Ritz, baby!!! We'll put that on the list with "things i never thought i'd actually do" with skydiving and eating calamari.

EATING:


Fresh basil. Any chance i get. It's so yummy and makes everything a little better!

Yum.

WEARING:  

Dresses. it's too hot to wear anything else. And a right handed ring. It's started to feel like i'm naked without a nice big ring on my right hand.

WANTING:

A new phone. Yes. you heard it here first - Renee Cutaia actually wants to upgrade on technology! My phone is on the fritz, but i just cannot justify paying extra money if i have an upgrade coming in August. And hopefully, i can hold out one more month for what has rumored to be the iPhone 5 release. Apparently this is the prediction going around at the moment.

I'm really hoping for the robot arms.

WANDERLUSTING:

Nashville. Oh my gosh how i miss this place and the people that live there! Not to mention all the great music, food, and coffee available at your disposal. I got to drive through at 2 am and stare at the city.... and it was more of a tease than anything else. I know it sounds simple enough, but over $300 for a 1.5 hr plane ride is a little absurd to me. So i guess i'm holding out until further notice.

LISTENING TO:

the new Bon Iver album. Verdict is still out on if i'm in love or not. i've discussed this with Adam Agin and we're both thrown off by the 80's sounding vibe (particularly on the last track!) - but listen for yourself and let me know what you think.

Apparently this is the album artwork. I'm not completely sure if that's true or false.

Lady Antabellum iTunes Sessions. Typically i'm not into country... but i'm a sucker for a good male/female duet. And Lady A delivers every time! I'm loving "Just A Kiss" and they even do a cover of Tom Petty's "Learnin To Fly" which is just beautiful.

Really good stuff... even if you're not into country!

We The Culprits. These guys are local (fort myers) and i've now seen them twice and own the album. I have to say, they are fab live. They've got good stage presence and their sound is not compromised on stage. "Love Songs" is really fun and lively, then "Ballad of the Weary" is...well, a slower ballad. Lots of power behind frontman Josiah Ravish's voice... he's always been talented! And i can stay that, because i've known him since we were teenagers. but seriously, do yourself a favor and check em out on iTunes.

WTC. Seriously, check em out here

That's it for now. Just a few things i'm addicted to. We'll see how long these last :) Happy Summer!