Boscalo Excedra Nice

Our trip to Nice took place during the few days of the year that they experience rain, sudden but quick downpours, but it didn't matter too much because the city was still lovely. It must have been a popular time of the year also, as we couldn't find a hotel with rooms available for the duration of our five day stay. We decided to stay in a splurge hotel for the first two nights, the Boscolo Excedra. The hotel was pretty amazing, and although it wasn't on the water, it was in a great section of town for walking around and exploring shops, restaurants and cafes. The hotel's restaurant was really good, but a bit overpriced. (We also tried to get a glass of wine at the hotel bar one evening, but after waiting almost thirty minutes for service, even though we were one of only two occupied tables, we canceled the order and left.)

The hotel's exterior is beautiful, as is the lobby:

Our room was pretty spacious and mostly white with hints of gold. Lovers of white roses, this hotel is for you, as the theme is carried through everywhere possible.

Check out the door handles and drawer pulls.

The room had a tiny, really tiny, balcony with a great view:

The bathroom was a bit too modern for my tastes, because the bathtub and shower were open to the rest of the hotel room. At least the toilet was doored, along with whatever this is below. A tiny bottle of intimate cleanser was included, but I definitely did not try to figure out how to use it.

I've never seen a hotel offer so many options for toiletries, available in like six different scents:

Would I stay here again? Yes. But I think I preferred the next hotel (post coming soon, I hope.) even more.

 

Nice, part 2.

We packed for almost a week with two small rollers and two weekender bags (and only wore two thirds of it), and still had room for our souvenirs. This is the most luggage we ever take anywhere – unless the kids are with us – because we never want to have to check bags. Unfortunately, this time Lufthansa said only one piece of hand luggage was allowed, and so we checked the rollers. Husband wanted to take them through, but not following the rules makes me too worried. Of course he was right, and when we got to the gate lots of people had your normal roller/handbag combo. I was really scared that our luggage wouldn’t show up in France, but it did and right on time.

French airports (this one at least) seem way more laid back and nicer than American ones. The difference between the staff on the foreign flights versus domestic flights was really drastic too. I would fly Lufthansa again in a heartbeat. Coming home, we decided to keep all the bags with us, and boy did that make going through customs a lot easier! There was a special “no checked bags” line that was so much shorter than the rest of the lines.

Anyway, souvenirs!

At the airport, I found maybe my favorite souvenir of all time – black patent leather Repetto flats! I’ve been wanting these for ages, and looked all over for them. They really are perfect. I have leather ballet flats from J. Crew that are the closest I could find to Repetto (in fact I almost ordered the black patent pair), but, side by side, the shape is a little bit different and the Repetto’s are a bit more flattering on and more comfortable. Plus, with the duty free airport shopping, they came out to be almost exactly the same price, I'd always rather have the original.

My other favorite souvenir is this pair of tiny silver studs. I don’t have much of an earring collection, and 99% of the time I wear a pair of silver triangle studs, so I knew I wanted to look for a pair from France. These are just so perfectly me, and I love buying something that I know I will get a lot of use out of. (Side note: aren't my ears weird-looking?)

My last few things came from MonoPrix, which seemed to be something of a cross between Target, Sephora and Whole Foods, with a giant wine section:

We picked up a bottle of Bordeaux for our hotel room almost every night (a decent bottle of wine in Nice was so much less expensive than in the United States. French people are lucky.), and a few kitchen accessories:

I also bought this red lipstick from MonoPrix, which hubby calls French red. I just wanted a brand that I hadn’t heard of before, and husband picked the color. It’s wound up being maybe the best red lipstick I’ve ever owned. I love the case and packaging, too. I read a bit about the brand, Rouge Basier, and it's history and reputation is pretty interesting - it was invented in 1927 and the first kiss-proof lipstick. But it looks like I will have to go back to France to replace it when I run out.

Nice

Does a vacation home in the French Riviera go on the wants or the needs list?

Just got back from maybe my favorite vacation ever, what better time to get this diary going again. Instead of trying to get together a huge recap and never posting it, I’m just going to do this little by little until its done. Starting here:

We got to the airport too early, and stopped for some fried oysters and beer. Figured we should have a few drinks to help fall, and planned to buy a glass or two of red wine on the plane. Did not know that wine on Luthansa is free and unlimited. It was a long flight; they served dinner and then breakfast. And I found a great new (to me) show –  Wildlife Nannies.

Why is it that knowing you really need to fall asleep makes it almost impossible to fall asleep? We had middle seats, but luckily the aisle person was a no-show and we could take that seat instead – not a bad way to start a trip! 

weekend getaway: Dallas

My first trip to Dallas, although truthfully, we drove straight to the Rosewood Mansion and I didn't leave the whole two days. 

The service was impeccable, with iced tea and treats delivered upon our arrival and included room service breakfast each day. 

I loved the little luxurious details: a succulent plant, toiletries in full-sized fancy bottles, and a really deep jacuzzi tub with great-smelling bath bubble salts (they were a good reminder that I absolutely can not use scented bath products without serious skin irritation).

Coffee is a must for us, and fancy hotels almost never have coffee makers in the room, but, they usually will bring you on upon request and this place was no exception.

About the Rosewood Mansion, the bar was excellent with really good cocktails (the maple- and pecan-infused scotch was my favorite) and the food we got there was great. However, the Mansion restaurant was supposed to be on of the best in Dallas, but I wasn't too impressed with it. The food and service was good, but I expected a lot more given how expensive it was. I would absolutely skip it and order from the bar instead next time.

what to wear: workout

Well, I did it. I exercised. I find that's the hardest part, to actually go and do it instead of just saying that I am going to. And then every time after that, it gets easier and a little more routine. Right now, I'm just walking on the elliptical for 20-30 minutes, because, man, I am out of shape! I've only exercised a handful of times over the past 3 years, but I'm ready to change that.

Another key for me, my workout setlist. I actually look forward to listening to it, and I know when Adele come on that I'm ready to cool down.

My setlist (above) is about 27 minutes worth of music, organized by beats per minute - starts from 125, works it's way up to 150, and then back down to 128.  and I plan to add more songs as I start spending more time at the gym.

Right now, my workout wardrobe consists of a pair of old Reebok's, one pair of black yoga pants, two sports bras, topped by one of my husband's holey t-shirts. If this resolution's successful, I'm definitely going to expand it a bit. To that end, I've been googling "celebrity workout" for inspiration (Ashley Greene and Kate Beckinsale especially), and I've collected a few of my favorite gym looks:

And figured that I want simple, non-show-off-y basics in black, white and gray to mix and match: