So I’m in LA now, on the second leg of this work trip. And now, let’s talk about hotels.

Stayed at the W in SF and I thought the rooms were really nice, as you could see from the photo  in my last post of my dearest Jackie sitting on our window seat doing some work at whatever hour that was. Loved that seat. Also loved the colorful/crazy design in the elevator:

Oh look, there’s me and Jackie. We’re on our way to a very late dinner.  This elevator made me feel fun and fancy.

Now I’m in LA and it’s a bit of a change of pace. One thing I do like: chandeliers. I’m pretty sure we’ve covered that before. And I like this white chandelier at The Bazaar by Jose Andres in the hotel SLS:

I’m really digging that chandelier with the white tabletop and the light chairs. Really digging. And then the rooms…

A little less my style, but I’ll take it. Oh and also hello, Timmy. One really great thing about this trip to LA is I got to hang out with my really good friend Tim, who recently (or not so recently, I guess) left the East Coast for the West. It’s nice to see him on his new turf and get a little tour from him and hang out and all that good stuff. He waited for me at the hotel today when we were getting ready to go out and I appreciated that a lot.

Other things I appreciate:

Mexican Coke! I’ve been able to get it once or twice in New York but Mexican Coke is all over California (for obvious reasons) and it is the bomb dot com. It’s made with real sugar instead of whatever else it’s made of when it’s not Mexican (high fructose corn syrup, I believe). So it tastes great. I had one earlier today at Umami Burger, where I did a little celeb spotting with Tim. Real photos of that meal are to come.

And now it’s time for one more thing: Guess whose birthday it is! Mine. Since I’m posting this at 2 in the morning, it is most definitely my birthday. And when I wake up I am going to Disneyland to meet Minnie and that is not even a joke. Good night!

So um, yeah. Ice cream is probably one of my favorite things in the world, which is a problem. But it’s so good. While I was in Austin, we went by this cute place called Amy’s Ice Cream about four times and I decided after Perla’s, this is what we were having for dessert. So we walked the two blocks and across the street and waited in line to get our deliciousness.

Amy’s is like Coldstone in that you order your flavor of ice cream and then you order the toppings you like and they mash it all together. But it is better than Coldstone. I had sweet cream ice cream with hot fudge and Trix. Yes, Trix. I actually didn’t mean to order Trix, but I accidentally did and let me just tell you… for the better! I thought Trix with ice cream would be weird but I think it was the best combination of my life. LIFE! So the next time I have this opportunity (I think they have Trix at The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck), I know exactly what I will be getting. Because it was so good.

And that is the last of my Austin: City Limits Tour. Waaaahhh. I’ll be back in Texas, I know it. :)

It’s fancy time!

But first… a word from our sponsor: Michigan State University.

JUST KIDDING. Obviously my university does not sponsor this blog but after the glorious win against the Michigan Wolverines this past weekend, I just have to say something. I have lots of friends that went to Michigan and most of them are great, and we’re playful about the rivalry and it’s all in good fun. But some are just nasty and I’m hoping since now we’ve beat them in football four years in a row I won’t hear a peep for awhile. Have some respect! Go green!

AND back to the topic at hand- gettin fancy!

I had seen a list of “top lobster rolls” in the country and was surprised to see a restaurant from Texas listed. So I did a little research on this place, Perla’s in Austin and decided that while in Texas, I had to go there. And also my friend Stacy had suggested we go there as well, from the positive things she had heard about the restaurant as well. So by the time I finally made it there, I had built it up pretty big in my head.

AND IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

Oysters, as you do. Some East Coast and some West Coast but I can’t remember for the life of me what they were besides absolutely delicious. I told the server which kinds I typically go for and he was a huge help and his suggestions were spot on.

And then you wait for the good stuff:

I have had a lot of lobster rolls in my life and dare I say *gasp* this may be the best one I’ve ever had! PERFECT. And the fries were good and we also had brussels sprouts and asparagus and my dad also loved his lobster roll and Stacy really liked her fish. So basically if you go to Austin I highly, highly recommend eating here and I highly, highly recommend getting the lobster roll. When I return, I hope to eat here again. Because it was so good! My dad and I talked about it for days. DAYS afterward.

And the place is really cute, too.

Ahhhh thinking about this again is making me think about going back to Texas immediately! Who is coming?

When I took this picture, I couldn’t tell if it was appealing or not. Maybe it’s the way the sauce was dumped on the crab cake made me think of icing on a cinnamon roll, but I was a little skeptical at first. But you know, then I took a bite and all was good. Crab cakes. They’re good. Especially on vacation.

While in North Carolina (which is now being evacuated, yey) we went out to dinner at Sharky’s. And apparently we were destined to dine alone:

Welcome to someone’s garage. Seriously, I promise we were at a restaurant with actual tables and chairs but since we had nine people in our party, the only room for us was, like I said, in someone’s garage. I mean it looks like it, doesn’t it? At least there was a glow up shark thingy.

Here’s some more food stuffs from Sharky’s:

A little surf and turf, for ya? Who doesn’t like shrimp and steak?

After dinner, we took a walk through the actual dining room and outside to the back patio on the water where I took this gem:

Look at those tans! I’d say I’m keeping it up but there’s this thing called a hurricane that people are freaking out about all over town here in New York. I really don’t think much will happen besides heavy rain and maybe some flooding but I know for sure I won’t be getting any sun.

Oh, and the best part about the crab cakes is that they were pretty big – big enough for each of us to take one home. So at 10:30 p.m. later that evening, Michelle calls over from the kitchen, “Anyone want a crab cake?” On vacation, indeed.

Who loves brunch? Me, me, me! I’ve actually seen Twitter bios where people say “I don’t like brunch.” Sad for you! I mean… NYC brunch can be cray cray and sometimes you have to wait 3.5 hours but when brunch is good, it is good. And it was good at Bakin’ & Eggs in Chicago! So good.

We have the roasted veggie frittata for Miss KMD. And a little chicken apple sausage is hiding. Here whole plate was so good and I know because I hate half of it. What I ordered was a bit too much like a dessert to have for breakfast (imagine me saying that) and soon you will see.

This is Nora’s Southern Comfort Bowl. Yep. What it’s called. Two eggs (overeasy here) with potatoes, cheddar, biscuit and gravy. Southern Comfort indeed. What you see behind it creepin’ is called a flight of bacon.

So we’ve got a few different kinds of bacon here. Maple pepper, jalapeno, honey, mesquite, and cherry smoked. Actually not entirely sure which ones I tried but I did steer away from the jalapeno. I was expecting the bacon to be that really thick kind like applewood smoked bacon, but I’m actually glad it wasn’t cause the thin kind is what I actually prefer.

And then my dessert for breakfast:

Remember when I wondered aloud to myself (and whoever reads this) about bread pudding turned into french toast? Well now I know because that’s what this is. I’m pretty sure there were chocolate chips in it too. It was delicious, but five bites or so goes a long way. Which is why I ate half of Kayti’s instead. We took the lovely french toast (what it’s actually called) home and I hope Nora ate the crap out of it later.

And if you’re wondering if they know how to make their lattes pretty at Bakin’ & Eggs the answer is YES.

Bakin’ & Eggs is GOOD STUFF, people. Would be my new go-to brunch location if it were not in Chicago. Chicago, I do love you!

I don’t often speak highly of Chicago, mostly because it’s no New York. But – I’ve got to give credit where credit is due. Chicago can be a pretty cool town. Maybe it’s because on this particular trip I did zero things touristy (no Bean, no Museums, no Millenium Mile or whatever) or maybe it was because I was with two of my best friends, but I really enjoyed being there.

I saw some great things and thought to myself that maybe Chicago is not the WORST after all. If you’ve never visited Chicago, it’s time you should. The following posts will hopefully convince you.

We found this rock when we just happened to stop at a random restaurant along the cliffs while walking part way back from Rick’s. It was one of my favorite finds.

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. Look at the blues of the water, it’s really kind of unbelievable.

Had to post a picture of a “dirty banana,” the drink of choice for tourists in Jamaica. Very strong if you don’t mix it up.

If you want to know a great way to burn yourself – go snorkeling. I put on plenty of sunscreen (or so I thought) and my legs and back, and feet actually, got completely fried. BUT it was awesome. We saw so many fishies of different shapes and sizes and colors. I could have stayed in the water all day. GOOD THING we didn’t or I really would have been a crispy critter. If you go to Jamaica, I highly suggest you go snorkeling.

When you go snorkeling, they also take you to a really small island. On the island, there are people grilling up some fish and some lobsters that they caught right there on the beach – you can see the lobster traps and everything. Crazy! And cool.

And look who I brought along! Cloud Backpack! He wanted to go to Jamaica really bad so I finally said it was okay. He had a blast.

And that is all, you guys. Go to Jamaica. Go swimming. Take pictures. Eat seafood. Good times. :)

And then we return to our regular programming.

Sharing is caring! And so it was, that I was lucky enough to spend my birthday in Negril, Jamaica, and my birthday dinner at Rockhouse.

One thing cool about many restaurants/hotels in Jamaica is that they will hire a cab or have their own car service bring you there for free. Can you IMAGINE if that were the case in Manhattan? So that was awesome. We took advantage and went to Rockhouse for my birthday dinner. It was raining on and off so unfortunately we weren’t able to sit outside but everything else was perfect.

Say hello to the seafood platter that I split with Nora (after some appetizers, of course!) It included lobster, coconut shrimp, and blackened mahi mahi. Sidenote – I hate when restaurants use the word “platter.” It sounds so unrefined to be like, “Yes, may I please have the seafood PLATTER?” Just gross. But name aside, my seafood combination was fantastic. I’m glad I was able to have some good lobster in Jamaica, since, I don’t know, they catch it right there on the beach, and the mahi mahi was fantabulous as well.

This was Kayti’s rock pot: broth with fresh seafood. But as you can see I’m focusing on the bread. That bread! So think and soft and can you just IMAGINE having it for french toast? So the bread was fabulous for dipping. Oh, somehow I did not get a picture of Andrea’s plate, but she had the snapper, which was a huge thing because Andrea is a strict vegetarian! I appreciated her trying some seafood since we were in JAMAICA and because initially I thought her being a vegetarian might be a bit of a “thing” in Jamaica and she wouldn’t have many options at meals. Well, it turned out to be no big deal at all and she turned out to eat seafood one time, which was fun.

Did I mention this was for my birthday? They sang for me, which was awesome. And us girlies split two desserts and they put a candle in mine.

This dessert was billed to us as “chocolate pudding” but “chocolate pudding” it was not! It was like pudding brownie or something and it was GREAT. ORDER THIS.

And also order this:

Have you ever had coconut creme brulee? Probably not. I am neither a coconut nor creme brulee person but it was pretty fab and my girls who are both coconut and creme brulee basically thought it was the best thing ever. So check it out.

And here’s a semi-blurry picture of us ladies standing by the water:

Uh okay, I meant *really* blurry.

Also, if you’re wondering what Rockhouse looks like during the day:

Uh, yeah. I realize this post is extremely photo-heavy, but this was Jamaica, dang it. So basically Rockhouse is beautiful since it’s on the cliffs. We actually considered staying here and I’m glad we didn’t, just because it seems like much more of a romantic getaway kind of place instead of a four girls want to hang at the beach kind of place. But I am glad we chose Rockhouse for my birthday dinner and I’m glad we went back to see it during the day.

And if I haven’t sold you on Jamaica yet as a destination, I’ve still got two more posts. ;)

Okay, so it was actually called “Tony’s Hut.” But to us girls, this place will forever be known as the “Swiss Family Robinson Bar.” One of the great things about staying on the Seven Mile Beach on Negril is that you can just walk down the beach and pop in to wherever you want. And one night we were walking and we came across this little gem. It’s a part of a hotel, Gatehouse Villa, but the bar itself was the cutest we had ever seen. And also, there were hammocks.

It just feels like you’re in a treehouse. And they have board games. It’s just the cutest. And this is Tony:

He was cool. We went to Tony’s more than once and one time Kayti asked, “Are you here EVERY day?” to Tony and he replied, “Sure, I have nothing better to do.” Oh, Tony. You can tell Tony is loved too, from all of the tshirts and trinkets people had brought him from all over for him to hang in the bar.

Oh, to be in a treehouse bar on the sand…

Well look at me drinking (eating?) some of the world’s most fantastique hot chocolate, found at Cafe Louvre in Prague. I just happened to mention my longing for some hot chocolate in the elevator coming down from the Astronomical Clock and a gentleman interrupted me and told me Cafe Louvre was the place to go. So thank you, gentleman for your wise suggestion because Cafe Louvre did not disappoint.

Not only did we have the cutest waiter known to man – seriously, you should have seen the way we talked to him and stared at him after he left, he was like a button. Too cute. We thought about asking him what he was doing later but then decided we didn’t want to break the allure and find out any details of his actual life. We’d rather just stare at him.

But the hot chocolate was thick like a candy bar, the kind that solidifies at the top and sort of turns into pudding when you’re not stirring it. Awesome!

Look at that beaut. The strange gentleman who told us of this place also told us they had fabulous desserts so we ordered these as well:

I’m not gonna lie, I’m not sure if Prague knows what they are doing with desserts, or if they have a different taste for them (side note – they do definitely know what they are doing with candy bars). Nora had tiramisu, D had apple crisp, and I had chocolate cake. Maybe it was because they were all served cold that we weren’t impressed, but really we weren’t fans of any of them. That chocolate cake did not get eaten. And I love me some chocolate cake. I should have had another hot chocolate instead.

And this is what we walked by on the way home:

Rough life. And ladies and gentlemen, I believe I have two final posts on Prague and then we are back to the good ol’ U S of A and back to the good ol’ NYC.