Peaceful Modern

Peaceful Modern: that is the label I would give the luxurious, relaxing, friendly scene at the Hotel Palomar-Dallas.

I don't get to stay in hotels in Dallas that often because (1.) I used to live here and, (2.)most of my family lives here. However, this time I am here for a work seminar and happen to be staying in the hotel in which the seminar is being hosted.

Simply said, I would label this hotel as a "destination stay". Some women fantisize about running off with the pool boy (ala Desperate Housewivse)... me, I just want to run away TO Hotel Palomar. It is such a shame that I had to stay by myself and my husband couldn't come along to enjoy this relaxing atmosphere. It's just so beautiful, so hospitable, so many things to do, eat, drink and watch nearby!

Just north of the hotel is the area named Mockingbird Station. A cute area chock-full of eclectic shops, ordinary retail, local restaurant favorites and a indie movie theater... your weekend can be full with this entertainment a skip across the street.

I mean seriously... look at this lobby! It won't let me post pictures, but the link leads you to pictures of the hotel!

To give you an idea of my experience... I arrived Tuesday night at almost 11:00p after a long day of work, and air travel since 5:50p that afternoon. The taxi pulled into the valet lane and a bellboy came the back of the van, pulled out my luggage and opened my door as I paid the driver. He then wheeled my things in as two other bellboys opened the massive glass doors into the building... talk about style! I was then checked in my friendly and curteous staff and made my way up to my room. I opened the door and it felt like I had walked into a relaxing, peaceful place of escape. All the lights are out except for the bathroom light is dimmed. As soon as I glance in there, I see the designer artisan sink and fixtures that just fill me with design inspired happiness. A little further walk in,I find a down comforter covered king size bed ready to be collapsed on. The BEST part is the large flat panel screen TV with relaxing spa music and one of those puddle screen saver things going on. Seriously I could have collapesed then and there and let myself decompress for the rest of the night. Anyway, needless to say the armchair was of modern design AND comfortable (which is sometimes hard to find) and the desk was also nice with lots of electric plug-ins! I stayed 3 nights, all of which were wonderful as are the yummy L'Occitane bath products and a cute zebra print robe! Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention the coffee and hot tea in the lobby for breakfast and complimentary wine from 5p-6p!

Anyway, I just had to share this experience because (1.) I haven't posted in a while and (2.) it was just so dang wonderful!

I should disclose that in NO WAY was this a paid advertisement, however I am NOT OPPOSED to receiving free nights, samples, trial offers and reviewing them online!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Quick and Dirty, Divine

I found a few new sites that are great:

The first one is Money Girl which is a podcast about personal finance and great tips for managing your wealth (or lack their of).
- Good Debt vs. Bad Debt
- Greatness of Compound Interest


On the same site is the Get-It-Done Guy to, as he says, "to work less and do more". Sounds great in my book!
- To Do or not To Do
- Controlling a full inbox


The next site is titled Divine Caroline. I can't put it into words so I'll let the Divine Caroline staff do it.

In short " Our dream is to give you a place to come together and express yourselves. What brings you joy. What breaks your heart. Makes you giggle. What pisses you off. Confuses you. Entertains you. What keeps you strong. And if all that sounds too heady, remember we're also discussing stuff like sketchy relatives and good kissers."

My favorite sections are:
- Relationships
- Home and Food
- Style
- Career and Money
- Play
- Neighborhood and World


... I guess by now you've realized that I pretty much like the entire site but I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!

Have a great weekend!

It's just so sad...

My first thought... "no hes not, this is just a rumor"
My second thought "this cant be, not Heath Ledger..."



It's not like I knew him personally but he was my quintessential teenage celeb crush. It all started with 10 Things I Hate About You .

Completely ruined my day.





...for you guys laughing at this, imagine if Sean Connery died (Sean Connery, please dont die)...see, now you get it.

Catholic Podcasting

(imported from a previous entry)
November 29, 2007

Personally I have been looking for a way to insert more time with my Catholic faith into my life other than the normal Mass and prayer time. In this fast pace life we lead it's hard to find moments of time to devote to learning/enjoying our faith. This is where (for me) positive multi-tasking comes in to play.

During my commute to work I get sick of radio drabble and there are slow times at work where I find myself mindlessly surfing the internet. I realized that this was such a wasted use of time where I could be doing something much more productive or worthwhile. When I discovered the Catholic podcasts I was so excited to finally have something that filled my exact need. Now on my drive to work or during mundane times at work or working out at the gym (etc.) I can listen to these short entertaining pieces of my faith.

I really think that this is the kind of thing that young Catholics NEED to at least keep them interested and invoved in Catholicisim if not serve as a secondary means of religious education and entertainment. We are a fast paced people living in a fast paced culture and I really don't see myself sitting down with a new encyclical to learn about the faith. I really and truly think that this is the way the Church is going to have to move to stay in pace and connected to its people at least on some level.

So... I just wanted to let all of my Catholic (or non-Catholic) friends know about this AMAZING resource I found. I really can't say that I "found" it though, this is something that truly FOUND ME. Chad and I went to this thing called Theoloy on Tap and one of the speakers one week was the founder of this Catholic Podcasting website called SQPN (www.sqpn.com)...



Basically, you just have to check it out to really get all the details but... a Catholic priest named Fr. Roderick runs this website that contains more than a dozen podcasts covering all different topics. I figured out how to use the Google Reader that will automatically download new podcasts and then I listen to them at work/home. You can also download the episodes and put them on your mp3 player and listen to them at your convenience.



Catholic Podcasting Sites:
www.sqpn.com
www.ontheu.com
www.bustedhalo.com/podcasting.html
www.twoedgetalk.com