Random Ramblings from the Road

My travels take me all over the world from very luxurious places (Monaco and Hawaii) to some not so nice places (you know where you are). Here are some top Travel Dos and Don'ts:

• Don't ever take an airline again that puts you on a plane where the air conditioning is broke and it is 90 degrees out. Thank you Argentina Aeralinas!
• Don't ever take an airline again that keeps the cockpit door open the entire trip. Have you not heard of September 11th? The bird's eye view makes me nervous. Thank you Argentina Aeralinas!
• Don't over indulge in local specialties or else you will pay later. It is irresponsible to put a gravy boat of yummy peanut butter in front of me when I am starving. Thank you Trader Vic!
• Be careful of your rental of convertibles. They are not good when you get lost in the ghettos of L.A. and you try to put the roof up at a stop light. Thank you Hertz!
• Another warning on convertibles, the tops are very unstable. Putting your frappacino on top of the car when getting out of the car is a messy idea. Thank you Hertz!
• Don't every where tuxedo t-shirts. You know the t-shirts where the design is a tux. Don't think that makes you worthy of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Thank you Randy Quaid!
• Don't ever take a day long bus tour in a foreign country where bathrooms on the bus are optional. People are stupid, late and slow. Thank you London for making sure I never do that again!
• Don't ever go on vacation with Sean and Christa if you want to relax. Sean gave me a pre-Sean arrival list of places to see before they arrived so I would be up to speed with the touring in Seoul. Homework on vacation, now that is hard core. Thanks Sean!
• Don't go to a Steak restaurant during a Mad Cow Outbreak. It makes your dinner choices very limiting. Thanks Witchery (in Edinburgh)!
• Don't drag your significant other across town to esoteric museums that are hard to find like the wine museum in Paris. Especially when you get there and the placards are all in French and your significant other does not speak French. Thank you Paris!

So remember plan before you go!

Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 9 aka The Top 10 Cities

Everyone knows I like to travel a lot. Shocking I know but there are so many interesting places to see, why would any one want to sit still? I still have a long list of places to visit - Italy, the Greek Isles, the Vatican to name a few but I have favorites already from the over 35 countries that I have already visited. Here we go:

10)Amsterdam - this city is awesome. There are canals, the juxtaposition of old and new, but it very difficult to find our way around. All the streets curve around the canal and everything is named so and so platz. I got so lost that I had to find a Hilton hotel to hail a cab to return to my hotel quickly when it started raining.

Word to Describe Amsterdam: Twisty

9)Chicago - the windy city and one of the closest to where we currently live. I have been there in the heat of summer with the Ann Arbor Jaycees to watch the fireworks on Navy Pier and dance the night away at some college bars . Tom and I flew out there for a overnight trip near Christmas where we went to a Christmas Tree exhibit, drank some gluwein at the German market and had a yummy dinner at Harry Carey. I have been there when the river was green for St. Patrick's Day and we have had many fun girl's trips there. We built a fort in Marshall's with all the clothes, Wendy, another friend and I bought. We had so many bags we could not even get through the El turnstiles and we filled the Vue to the rim.

Word to Describe Chicago: Familiar

8)Napa Valley - I love wine! I love the wineries there - V Sattui, Domaine Chandon, Coppola, Rutherford Hill to name a few. I have visited the wine caves of Kunde on a private Northwest tour (did you know I travel a lot) and I drank my way thought the many towns along the route (with a designated driver of course)!

Word to Describe Napa Valley: Hazy

7) LA - 2 years of work hell, but a lot of fun. Movie stars, cool restaurants, fun sightseeing and great friends. Where else can you run into Michelle Pfeiffer at a traffic light, and see Randy Quaid at the Beverly Hills Hotel dressed in a tuxedo ts-hirt? Will it ever be the same when I go back? Probably not but, the memories will last forever.

Word to Describe LA: The Single Life

6)Istanbul - Starbuck's is my friend! I sought it out as a way to refortify myself for the marathon sightseeing adventure! The shopping is great, the views amazing. Just be aware of the taxi drivers - you need to negotiate or you will get cheated. I argued with several taxi cab drivers before finding an appropriate driver to take us from the airport to the hotel.

Word to Describe Istanbul: Mystical

The top 5 are still to come....but if I could drink wine, drive a convertible with the top down while singing "Istanbul is Constantinople" while winding my way down Lake Shore Drive or the PCH, I would be an extremely happy camper!

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Have you ever had those ideas that while you are planning them they seem like the best idea since sliced bread, but in hindsight, you want to smack yourself in the head and yell "What was I thinking?" I have these moments once in a while and it is usually when I have over extended myself and my body just rebels against me. Other times, it is just plain stupidity. Well, let's take a look at a few such instances:



- It is never a good idea to leave a Jaycee or JCI conference on the 6 a.m. or earlier flight. I tried this is L.A. and was physically ill driving from Anaheim to L.A. at 5 in the morning on 1 hour of sleep. However, I did look cute in my J Lo like matching track outfit! Also, don't try this at home - Leaving for the airport at 2 am with NO sleep for a 5 a.m. flight from Antalya to Istanbul is just a bad idea! It got worse when you take three cranky girls (Me, MJ and Melissa) on a 12 hour sightseeing run of Istanbul. We slipped in and out of consciousness on a tour of Istanbul that we payed good money for. I can tell you the most memorable parts of that day were the gross rain and the Starbuck's, which became our mecca for home.



- It is not a good idea to buy swords on vacation without prior thought. My ex-boyfriend did this and while we accounted for the 3 foot sword and packaged and checked in accordingly, we did not count on the 9 sword letter openers that raised the red flag with security and almost lead to missing our flight and a full body cavity search! More ridiculous was the time that security determined that was Jaycee gavel was a lethal weapon but the 20 pounds of plaques in my carry on were not. Go figure!



- It is not a good idea to go on vacation without sneakers. I have done this twice and lived to regret it both times. The first time was in Paris. I did not want to bring sneakers - it was so American and I did not want to look like a tourist. Let's face it, I scream tourist no matter what! After a day walking around Paris in sandals, the number of blisters on my feet outnumbered the number of toes on my feet (and I have all my toes!) On our way to the Louvre, I bought a pair of sneakers and hobbled my way through the rest of the week. By the time we reached Giverny, I was contemplating a wheel chair! Next time with no sneakers, this year in Puerto Rico! Flip flops just did not cut it on the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan. After a quick stop at Payless, I was good to go!



What have I learned from all this - pack my sneakers, buy normal souvenirs and don't take the earliest flight of the day. It makes Michelle a happier camper and that makes everyone with Michelle a happier camper also!

Why Don't You Mind Your Own Business? I am an Adult!

Wendy and I were on a flight from DTW -> LA (yes, again) on a Sunday night. We were hungover from a crazy Christmas party that happened Friday night (yes, I know that is 48 hours, it was not our best showing ever). I also had a cold and we were both dressed in track suits and feeling vial. We were cranky that we had not been upgraded to first class, so the flight was starting off badly. The plane was packed and we could not even get seats together.

As we sat there waiting to take off, I saw Ingo Rademacher board the plane and sit in the very last row. Who is Ingo Rademacher you might ask - well he is Jax from General Hospital and he is one of my favorite characters on the entire show. My heart started racing and I ran up the aisle to Wendy's seat to tell her. She was equally impressed but no one else seemed to notice that we were in the presence of a star. Stupid middle age business men! As I sat in my seat trying to calm myself, I told my seat mate the entire story. I usually never talk to people sitting next to me. In fact, if someone tries to talk to me, I ignore them. As I continued to talk incessantly to the man beside me and run back up to see Wendy again, he offered to change seats with her to get the hell away from me. I was like, thank you very much!

Wendy got back to my seat and was cursing at the old man that she had been seated by. When we boarded, she broke out a granola bar to eat (as she had not eaten all day - we were hungover, remember?) and the old man told her, they are going to serve a meal on the plane and she should not eat the granola bar as it will ruin her dinner. WTF? Since when did the dinner police travel on NWA? We are not 5!

Now, Wendy and I were sitting together and I ventured back to Jax with my Real Simple magazine and asked for an autograph, while trying to look cute in my hungover, track pant state, while keeping it on the down low (DL). As the flight progressed, Jax and his manager sensing we were the only fans on the plane, came up and hung out with us. We talked for about 45 minutes. I want to think it is because we are cute and fascinating, but it is more likely the fact that they are both over 6 feet tall and we had a bulkhead seat so they could stand up on the long flight. Never the less, I will stick to the we are cute and fascinating story.

At the end of the flight, we waited till the end and got our picture taken with Jax. It became a proud photo in our work cubicles for many years. They followed us to baggage claim and as soon as we were away from them and into our rental car, we were squealing like teenage girls. Definitely one of the best flights of our lives!

Vampire Ball - Part II - I'm Going to Suck Your Blood!

Well besides having a little bit of food poisoning and fever from the steak tartare and quail's egg (I think), things are OK, so let's continue with our 4th course:

Dover Sole Meuniere - this was to die for, pardon the vampire pun! This fish melted in your mouth and reminded Wendy and I about the time we went to L.A. Farm in Santa Monica. Running late for our dinner reservations due to traffic (huge surprise in CA), we called the restaurant and told them we were running late. We did not want to the snooty hostess to not seat us after we finally arrived after being in the car for an hour and a half. A pleasant man answered, listed to our plight, and assured us it was no problem. Did we dial a number in the Midwest? People are not that nice in L.A.! When we got there and were seated, the chef came out to see us. Sorry to hear that your drive here was so bad, I'm glad you made it. What? He was the nice man that answered the phone. We were speechless. This wasn't a Mom and Pop restaurant, Jennifer Aniston eats here for frick sake, and he cares about us? We were sold and had the best salmon meal of our life!

Next up, leg of lamb! I am not sure I have ever had lamb before but it was amazing in this stew concoction that they sat in front of us. This reminded of us of a great steak dinner at Whist in Santa Monica. It reminded us of how Wendy spilled a whole bag of Goldfish crackers as we pulled up to the valet at the restaurant with our clearly WT dirty car. It reminded us of the $12 Voss water they served us (we caught on after the 1st bottle) and how we were parched when we left the restaurant and ran around the block to Ralph's to buy a 6-pack of Fiji water as soon as we left this really expensive restaurant where we had had one of the nest meals of our lives!

Finally, it was dessert time - Rum Babas with Melomelo - otherwise known as yummy goodness! Since Tom was feeling left out of the L.A. memories, he declared this course to remind him of Puerto Rico, the Bacardi rum factory and the crazy amounts of food that contained rum that we ate on vacation. We agreed whole hearted and that rounded out our fun evening.

As we tried to right our full selves out of the crowded corner booth, we decided that the night was a success. Now, if only are tarot card fortunes will come true....

Vampire Ball - Part I - Let Your Fangs Hang Out

Last night, Wendy, Tom and I headed out to the Zingerman's 4th Annual Vampire Ball benefiting the local charity Food Gatherers, that provides food for those in need in Washtenaw County. As we tasted the great 6 course meal, it seemed that every plate conjured up memories of other restaurants and adventures, mostly in L.A.

The first course was Steak Tartare and Quail's Egg. This reminded Wendy and I of the time we went to Patina. We had saved our food budget for that night and still we were astounded by the prices. On our per diem, we could each have a glass of wine, Wendy a salad and me, tuna tartare. Not to be embarrassed by the situation, we casually told the waiter, "We just want something light. We have another event to go tonight." Being L.A., the land of the skinny, he thought nothing of it and still provided us with great service. Little did he know that our next event was the Dodgers game a couple miles down the road. As we zoomed there, changing into ball game gear in the car, our first stop in the park was the hot dog stand. We were starving!

Next up was a Normandian Bouillabaisse. This reminded us of Chimayo in Huntington Beach and my obsession for crab cakes one week. We spent 4 nights in search of the perfect crab cakes, going to obscure restaurants that were out of the way and they were right there at one of our favorite places. Mike just shook his head, and continued to drive us around, without saying a word!

3rd course was Loire Grape Salad. While our minds automatically drifted to France, it also made us think of the pomp and paparazzi frenzy that is The Ivy. A celebrity magnet, this restaurant has press camped out in front of it all the time. Lunch there was again an ordeal - fruit juice, lemonade, salad, asparagus and bread cost $60! As we basked in our fabulousness, we knew we would be eating fish taco's for dinner!

I'll talk about courses 4 - 6 tomorrow but we had a blast last night. Tarot card readings, a book reading by a local author, crazy table companions, and free beer and wine made the night a success! And all this fun for a good cause also!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things - Make Up

Sephora is the mother ship. Ulta, Real Beauty, Lush and department store makeup counters all have their niche, but there is nothing better than entering the harsh lighting, music pumping Sephora where everything looks so pretty and reasoning goes out the window. I admit to being a little crazed when it comes to makeup - Wendy and I have known to buy 3 - 4 lip glosses at a time just because.

Our addiction to Sephora is deep. We ran through the rain, risking a fall in Santa Monica just to get to try on eye shadow. We got escorted out of that same Sephora when Wendy decided to start taking pictures. Apparently, we were working for the competition and their store set up is top secret.

On numerous times, we have hit all of the Sephora stores in Vegas, armed with Starbuck's in hand. That was fine until Wendy put her cup in her basket and the mop had to come out to clean up the spill!

We have had birthday makeovers at Sephora, we have went in and put on a whole new face for an evening out without buying anything and we have gone in to smell colognes that remind us of our ex-loves.

Now, I am on a PIP (performance improvement plan) when it comes to makeup. My drawers won't close, I have boxes of lip gloss and eye shadow that I need to clean out and my 20 bottles of perfume are taking over my dresser. So I have decided it is time to USE the makeup or LOSE it! While I know my friends at Sephora will be sad for a while, once I get this under control, I'll be back!

How Do I Get Myself Into These Situations?

Spas are cool. I love to get massages, facials, manicures, pedicures. If I were rich, I would definitely be there multiple times a week. Wherever I go, I try to find new and unique spas to try. Spas are suppose to be serene and calming but often times drama ensures. Go figure!

Let's start with Lucky Nails in Cypress (L.A.) where Wendy and I visited frequently. We became their regulars and they badgered us every time asking "Do you want flower?" No, we do not want freakin' flowers on our toes. We want a plain pedicure and we want you to stop talking and laughing at us in Vietnamese. We do not have ugly feet, we keep up with our services, we are not circus freaks.

Moving north in California to Napa Valley, my ex and I decided to go to mud baths. Bad idea! I do not like sand in my bathing suit at the beach and I certainly do not like mud in all my bits and pieces. There was nothing romantic is sitting in mud baths (that are probably reused) and then trying to get all the mud removed. It was excruciating and I do not recommend it to anyone! Do a couple's massage instead.

Off now to Las Vegas with Wendy and another friend where we went to Dejanel Spa. Given our excitable nature and the fact that we like to talk, we were yelled at and told "Girl's go to the meditation room!" We are paying you to yell at us? Really? As we sulked in silence and tried not to laugh out loud, the other guests rejoiced in our silence.

Finally, in Turkey I went to a hamman at the World Congress hotel in Anatalya. I chose the wet massage. After struggling to convey to the masseuse that I was going to keep my bathing suit ON for this service, it was an adventure. Water, bubbles, and towels were flying in this coed massage room (where there were many naked people who really should not have been naked.) I was massaged within an inch of my life and I was poked and prodded. When I was done, I swear I was married to my masseuse in at least 7 countries!

I long for a spa where I get the serenity and peacefulness of what they all promise! I want to relax and not get yelled at, not have to dig mud out of places where it should have never been and I want to keep my clothes on that I want to keep on! I want the blissful experience!

Am I in a Movie or is This Actually Happening?

This story starts out in L.A. Can you tell that I spent way too much time in L.A. for work? Wendy and I had flown in from a weekend in Vegas (some may use the phrase "bender", I prefer the term "girl's weekend") and we had a day to play before resuming work on Tuesday. We decided to make the most of the day. We went straight from the airport to Santa Monica Pier at 8:30 a.m. Who goes there at that time? Apparently only crazies like us as the place was dead. I mean a cemetery sees more action than the pier at this time but alas we decided to make the best of it. We walked around and then engaged in a heated competition of Skeeball. I barely won, but eeked it out at the last minute.

Next up in our day of fun was Mr. Chow's for lunch. Now this is one of those restaurants always in the rags where celebrities have lunch so we said why not? As we got seated and started to look around, we spotted the mother load. Robin Williams was sitting a mere 2 tables away. We wanted to rush over and talk to him, my God, it was Robin Williams after all. He had been at the Oscars last night (of course we watched) and on the Today Show this morning. Wendy and I had met celebrities before but this was a HUGE score. However, we had to restrain ourselves. We were afraid of getting kicked out BEFORE we were able to eat lunch. RW (our nickname for our new BFF) was off to bathroom and I stealthily followed him and exchanged a hello. We tried to play it cool the rest of the lunch, but we wanted to call EVERYONE and scream really loud. As we were waiting for our car to be brought up by the valet, out walked RW. We knew this was our chance. Wendy asked him if we could get a picture and he said yes. RW is very short, I am the same height as he is. His picture still hangs in my work cube!

As we drove away from the restaurant screaming like school girls, we immediately called Randy (Wendy's brother and someone who would totally appreciate our star encounter) and we shouted in incoherent sentences what had happened. All of a sudden, police cars and SWAT teams barreled past us and set up a road block. What was going on? Were we in a movie? The next thing we know they were police men getting out of their vehicles with machine guns and were charging into a building. Dorothy, we were not in Kansas anymore, we were in a shoot out. As we hung up on Randy screaming about machine guns, we OJ Simpsoned car chased it out of their as fast as our car would take us.

When we finally calmed down, we called Randy back and found out that a armored car had been hijacked and police were currently chasing the suspects through an apartment building, the very same one that we were just by. Who knew a day in L.A. could be so action packed?