365-5 | Peaches Prattlings

{March 10, 2017} New friends and vouchers

Today’s travel was pretty good. And profitable.

Today I’m flying home! That’s the best part. My flight from Chicago to was simple enough, we left a little late, but I knew I’d still make my connection in San Francisco.

The guy that sat next to me was very nice, turns out our last names are the same except for one letter, go figure. He’s from Chicago and doesn’t really like to fly and thanked me when we landed, for helping him get thru the flight. He made my flight entertaining, he was a character! So thank you!

I got to San Francisco and eventually made it to the gate and i hear them calling my name, uh oh! Turns out they wanted to see if i would move over one seat, sure.

Then they made an announcement that they were looking for people to volunteer to give up their seats because there was a weight issue, the plane was zaftig.

I called PSM and asked for his opinion. $400 and a seat on the first flight out in the morning. As it was, I wasn’t getting to Hawaii until 1045pm, hmmm…ok, why not, they may not select me.

They did tell me not to put the compensation amount as they would put the highest number on it. Ok.

They kept calling for volunteers, they needed eight. Then…20 minutes later, they announced the gate change, we needed a new plane. Great… there was a couple frm Alabama who had missed their 7am flight, they were supposed to be in Hawaii at 4pm, its now 715pm in California, ouch.

We all get up and make our way over yo the new gate, I made some friends along the way, an older guy from The Big Island, a young guy from Dalton, GA, and a mom with her three month old from Philly.

Then, we had to sit there and wait until the new plane arrived, now my flight would get in to Honolulu at 1244am, glad i made my decision to volunteer.

My new friends and i talked and enjoyed each other’s company until it was time for them to board. Also listening to their pleas for volunteers, “we need five more volunteers”, that went on for what seemed like forever! But… the amount for the voucher kept going up…

Finally the other plane left and we just had to sit there for a few more minutes and then they called us up one by one to give us our stuff.

I ended up with $30 in food vouchers, a hotel voucher and $800 towards a future flight, not too shabby.

But… my luggage is still going to Hawaii, huh? Didn’t someone explain that to you? No…

Oh well. So, I’m sitting here in the Comfort Inn Suites near the San Francisco airport, the alarm is set for 5am so i can catch my 719am flight to Honolulu, in my economy seat, did I mention I gave up a first class seat? Well, if it happened once, it will happen again, I’m sure.

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

{March 9, 2017} Poo-pourri…who knew!

This might be a stinky post. Ha ha!

If you haven’t heard of poo-pourri, it’s been around for a while, but it hasn’t been advertised until lately.

I’ve known about it for a while, I have one I keep in my toiletries kit for travel and I even have a small one that i keep in my backpack.

If you don’t know what it is, it’s a spray for the royal throne before you go… I hope you get my meaning. I used to carry a mini can of room spray, but this is better, it doesn’t linger and you can’t accidentally walk into it!

Last weekend I was in Colorado, as you may remember and someone had the bright idea to use it in a stinky pair of shoes and guess what… it worked!

Multi-purpose! Score!

{March 8, 2017} Uncommon Grounds

A new restaurant, for me.

Tonight WIS and I went to dinner at a place called Uncommon Ground, a farm to table restaurant. Fabulous!

It’s a warm and inviting place with wooden tables, benches and chairs, warm lighting, decent music and a good atmosphere. Next door they have live music a few nights a week.

Ok, I cheated and I payed for it…our appetizer was artichoke and goat cheese pesto, served with crispy toast points, oh my word! Remember, I gave up dairy because it makes me ill, so if I eat it, it’s on me. Was it worth it? Tonight, yes!

Main dish, I had butternut squash risotto with drunk [rum soaked] raisins. I enjoyed this immensely! WIS had lavender honey chicken, looked great.

It’s a great place that doesn’t pressure you into ordering, leaving because you’ve been there too long. The staff is attentive, but not pushy or at your table every five minutes.

A definite plus and try again. Happy vegan!

http://www.uncommonground.com/home

{March 6, 2017} First run of the season…ahhh

I arrived in Denver late Friday, drove up to Silverthorne, where I was staying for the weekend.

The nice thing this time, I was joined by some friends. Last weekend I got to hang out with my friend APM, this weekend, his wife, NLM and their seven year ood daughter, ALM. They were already in the room asleep, best part… they brought my skis with them!

We got up Saturday morning, went for breakfast, caught up and then got dressed and headed out to hit the slopes at Keystone. I’m a skier and they are both riders, snowboarders, see…the two can get along!

ALM had never been on a gondola, she was a little nervous and after… didn’t want to go up the mountain ant other way!

We got to the top and picked a green circle, I was fine with this since it was a year since I’d skiied and wanted to get a feel for things again, they wanted it because ALM is still learning and this was a family/ learning trail.

We had a great time, there was stopping and starting intentionally and unintentionally, falling, learning, tumbles. We stopped after msking it down once for some hot cocoa and a treat, back up for another run.

It was great watching them together, I’m looking forward to trying a snowboard next year and NLM being my instructor!

At one point ALM said it was time for private lessons. That meant me, then her mom, then me. She would tell us what she wanted us to do, she said copy me, unless I fall, the don’t copy me! Sounds good!

After the second run, we were done, this had taken a good chunk of the day. We headed to the shuttle, back to the car, then the hotel. We regrouped, went to get some dinner at Whole Foods, back to the room for showers, dinner and a movie. We ended sacking out pretty early, a full day on the slopes can do that to ya!

This morning, breakfast, packing and they headed out for home and I went back to Keystone for a few runs, back to the hotel, shower, off to Boulder for an errand, traffic was ridiculous! Drop off my skis, say hello and goodbye and then to the airport.

Now I’m back in Chicago ready for a new week. Fabulous weekend!

{March 4, 2017} A new hotel, a new level of being spoiled!

As if Hilton didn’t spoil me enough, I had a new level of being spoiled this week. I’m not sure if I’ll be easy to live with after this!

First…I did not realize that the Waldorf Astoria was a Hilton property…I do now! And boy howdy! I did find out that I need to start checking in at the front desk to get my upgrades, checking in on the app might get me an upgrade, but not always. Next time, I might get a balcony and a fireplace, sold!

I walked in to this nice entry way, carpeted, look to the left, bar, fridge is actually a drawer, fancy [said with accent to make you laugh] And closets, one with my robe and extra slippers, yeah…

To the right is my ginormous bathroom, marble floors and deep tub with the tray that has bath fizzy tablets. Did I take a relaxing fizzy bath…while watching a movie on the tv in the mirror? You bet your sweet bippie!

The room itself was nice, nothing extraordinary, comfortable and cozy, hard to get out of the sheets comfy bed. What the extra step was…

Let’s start with the turn down service. Every night someone comes in to turn the sheets down, I imagine that’s where the expression comes from. No, no chocolates on the pillow, but they do leave 2-3 bottles of water. They also leave a weather forecast card with an appropriate quote. They put a napkin down on the floor next to the bed and put your slippers on it. How’s that for service?

The staff is fantastic, you can’t blink without them ready to do… whatever! Great dining suggestions, history and knowledge of the hotel, open every door, hail every cab, carry every bag. And if you sneeze, they are worried that something may be amiss.

I walked into my room the other day and found a fuzzy work glove, not mine. I brought it downstairs and they were very concerned. Today, I got a call from the day manager who had wanted to meet me before I checked out, to say hello and ensure my stay was enjoyable. He also asked me questions about the glove and they are going to do a thorough investigation to see who was in my room if they shouldn’t have been. Wow.

So… Did Hilton have my loyalty before, oh yeah. Do they have it double now? Am I going to stay at the Waldorf as much add possible? Oh yeah. Have they created a monster? Oh, you bet your sweet bippie! [I know, such harsh language!]. Hey… why don’t you stay with me one weekend, let’s see how you like it!

P.S. happy happy SIXTH birthday to my fabulous, special, beautiful, smart, goofy, granddaughter, LB. JJ loves you!

{March 3, 2017} Reza’s… another great new restaurant!

Well, new to me anyway.

I met with WIS, a friend I met on this project in Chicago, at Reza’s, a really good Mediteran and Persian restaurant in the Andersonville neighborhood.

It was a nice, open space with an enclosed patio that doubles as more restaurant space. If you go while it’s cold, be aware that you have to go through this patio to get to the restrooms, which were equally freezing!

The space was nice and welcoming with brick walls and original artwork. Next time I’ll take pictures of the pictures. The menu was very vegan friendly, lots of great appetizers, which were also on one of the vegetarian plates, we were sold!

We asked the waiter if he thought it would be too much food… no, I have many customers who order those two dishes. Sure… only 2 people?! We each had lentil soup, which was great, it could have used a little something to thicken it up, but very tasty.

Then we got our fatoush salad, one of my favorites, but this could have been a main meal! It was delicious, so happy about that. I say that because there are places that just don’t know how to make it… and it’s not that complicated! No, I haven’t made it, I found others who do it so well! Ha ha

Then we ordered a plate that had five appetizers, hummus, banaganoush, falafel with pomegranate remoulade, Persian salad and eggplant steak, wow!

The other plate was called Vegetarian Feast and oh my! Cous-cous with eggplant, zucchini, roasted peppers, tomatoes, topped with almonds, raisins and feta.

I topped it off with hot Persian tea and we were set!

This is a great restaurant with a nice ambiance, I recommend it. And the price is right too! And guess who has lunch for tomorrow!

{March 1, 2017} The Beet Table

What a fabulous meal!

I was looking for a dinner option, I looked up the places that the hotel suggested and wasn’t thrilled, they had things they could ‘veganize’ by removing items, not what I was looking for, so I kept looking and found The Beet Table.

I sat at the bar, that eating alone decision, bar/table. I made a good choice, I liked the bar, easy to sit at and the bartender was very nice and helpful.

Most of the options were vegan, so you can imagine I was a happy camper! I started with the sweet pea guacamole, wow! It still had avocado, tomatoes, onions and seasoning. It could have used a bit more salt, but the chips were nice and crisp with a fair amount of salt, so that helped. I followed that with the butternut squash and quinoa, wow! There was a butternut squash under the quinoa and big slices of acorn squash on the side, spiced almonds, some other veggies and cranberry purree to cut the spice, it was fabulous!

I loved it and I’m looking forward to going back to try some of the other options!

I also found out they are in New York City, enjoy northern vegans!

{February 28, 2017} Ristorante Merlo

Fabulous!

Tonight I asked at the front desk for a recommendation for dinner and I was given Ristorante Merlo. I know, you want to add a t to the end of it!

This restaurant is in a house set on the street amongst larger buildings, slightly hidden in its own way, one of those places that unless you know you’re looking for it, you miss it.

I walked in, no reservation and was taken downstairs past a bar and dining room with banquet seating, less intimate. Downstairs it looked like a place for a nice romantic dinner, family gathering, more intimate, like you might be with family.

There were only about eight or ten tables in the room

They sat me at a corner table and for about twenty minutes, I was alone in the place, a little weird, but I had my server’s attention and he was prepared to make my experience special.

It is not a vegan restaurant, but they accomdated me. I had the minestrone and it was fabulous, the broth was wonderful and the vegetables were barely cooked, nice and crisp. Then the pasta came out, tagliatel, spinach, asparagus, garlic and olive oil, really nice and flavorful; I didn’t even have to add salt, lovely. It was on the al dente side, because it was fresh that day, love it! What I liked was the portion size, appropriate, not too much.

The bread basket had fresh, crisp, flavorful foccaccia and crisps that were actually flash fried fresh pasta, that didn’t taste like pasta, it was great!

I had really nice dinner, can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds!

{February 27, 2017} What a weekend!

This weekend was great!

I flew to Denver Friday evening and checked into the only hotel I’ve stayed in since I moved from Denver. It’s a nice Homewood Suites in the center of the city with easy access to restaurants, nightlife, museums, the highways to get to the mountains and anywhere else you want to go.

I got to the hotel, had to get some work done and eventually got some sleep. I set the alarm, but that snooze button is too tempting. The phone woke me up, oops. I got up and headed to the airport because I was picking up my honey!!!

PSM is going to a meeting in Iowa this coming week and needed a place for a layover and Denver was one of those options and decided to make it a weekend, so here we are! Together!

We went back to the hotel and met his mom’s cousin and her husband for breakfast, a very nice couple who have lived in Denver for over thirty years. We had a really nice time getting to know each other, hearing stories about PSM’s family and PSM as a little kid.

After breakfast, it was time for a little break and some rest, after a bit PSM got up and prepped for his presentation next week.

Later we headed out into the city and ended up at a Machete for dinner, PSM was craving what we can’t really get in Hawaii, Mexican food. It was a noisy, energetic, eclectic restaurant with an impressive list of tequilas, someone was happy!

We were meeting APM, someone I’ve been friends with since high school, we met in youth group. Thursday and now Saturday, friends from youth group, fabulous! I also found out that his middle name is PSM’s first make, go figure!

After dinner we walked around, got some coffee and tea for a minute then wentb to another bar to hang out a bit longer, then on to the hotel and closing the blackout curtains, we were sleeping in!

Sunday brought a sleep in, brunch, a little more practice and then a tour of Boulder. It was nice to be in a place that I love together.

Then off to the airport, our flights were ably the same time, he walked me to my gate, we got to spend a little more time together and we realized that this would be a good place to meet for a weekend, easy for us both to get to, sweet!

Then I was off to Chicago and PSM is off to Iowa. I’ll be in Hawaii in a few weeks to see him again and we have a plan for my April trip! Wahoo!

Have a great night!

{February 24, 2017} A blast from the past

Thursday night brought a real treat!

I got to see a blast from my past. JM is someone I was in youth group with when I was in high school.

We lost touch after high school, as so many do and then reconnected through Facebook. I saw that he was traveling to Chicago on Monday and I reached out.

I was teaching and be had plans but had a window before going to see Hamilton. That changed a bit and we ended up meeting after the show. My hotel was just a few blocks away and it was like time had stopped. He looks the same, a little less on top, but the same face, smile, sense of humor and good nature.

We walked to the Palmer House to get a drink and sat and talked about everything. Hamilton, theater, musicals, literature, marriage, kids, movies, family, life, work, you tube, holidays, games, geeks, travel. Yup, I think that about covers it.

About 1am we were both starting to get a little woogie so he went off to his home base for the evening and I walked back to the hotel and boy, I’ve never seen State Street deserted before!

When we were talking, it felt like we had just seen each other a few weeks ago, how fabulous!

We parted company with the promise to keep in touch, I’m looking forward to that.

Such a treat.

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