Category: On the Road

Larryville Weekend

Doug and I snuck away to Lawrence, KS this weekend to hang out with our friends Paul and Sarah. The home of KU, it is one of the more exciting  cities in Kansas. Mass Street is well known for its shops, music venues, and restaurants.

Basically my goal for the weekend was to eat as much delicious food as possible. I do not have a photo of the under-cooked chicken sandwich I received at The Burger Stand, but their food is good, with creative flavors and lots of options. The truffle fries were definitely the stand-out of the visit.  I do not hold my unfortunate sandwich experience against them. Next time I’ll order a regular burger and specify “well done,” though.

Brunch at 715: Smoked Trout Benedict (interesting play on eggs Benedict). The others in my group had sausage and beans, pastrami hash, and biscuits and gravy. It would appear this restauraunt is foodie heaven–unique twists on normal standards and locally-sourced ingredients.

Lunch at Free State Brewery: three cheeses grilled sandwich with creamy tomato soup. I have had a better fancy grilled cheese at Con Pane, but it was good, and this tomato soup was great! 

We did other stuff to celebrate Kansas Day (Jan 29) like purchase items from Kansas artists at Made and Wonder Fair, and go on a long and meandering drive, eventually ending up at the Kansas river to throw rocks in it.

It was nice to escape for two days. 

United & Streamlined

Great news! I have made the decision to move over all of my travel posts from La Route Libre to this blog, so that everything is in one place. This makes it easy for me to refer back to an old post or group of posts. For example, if you want to, you can check out all the posts I made while studying in Morocco for six weeks.  Using the wordpress tools made this incredibly easy. It even moved over all my photo files so I can easily go back and pull up highlights like this 2009 gem:

I still can’t believe I got to live an adventure like this. 

Please note that the navigation bar has more things on it! You can see Where I’ve Been or take some travel advice from me as Where to Stay is concerned.

It’s worth pointing out that the La Route Libre posts were made before I really got “into” blogging–that is, using the commonly-expected, more journalistic style that prevails on lifestyle blogs I admire. My travel posts are very much “what I did today” and personal journal in style. On My Friend Staci I have been making steps toward being more organized, topical, interesting and accessible to new readers.

What I am most excited about is being able to share my travel adventures right here instead of blogging at La Route Libre and linking it back up to this one–talk about split personality! Especially with our upcoming Eurotrip this will be the perfect place to talk about “crossover” topics like how Parisian fashion could influence home decor, planning or budgeting for a trip, and, of course posting lots of photos once we get there and back.

Can’t wait! (via)

Hotel Style at Home

Well, as you learned yesterday (via La Route Libre… my neglected travel blog), over the weekend we stayed at the Moonrise Hotel in Saint Louis. While booking it (and snagging the stay two nights, get one night free deal) I was fully aware that this would probably be the nicest hotel I would ever stay in. Unless I land a sweet job that sends me around the world for work.

Due to its contemporary and modern nature, all the furnishings were extremely up-to-date (although they could have toned down the faux bois veneer on drawers, lobby features, etc). The bed was seriously the most comfortable thing I have ever slept on. We considered strapping it to the top of the truck and heading for the hills.

The room made me think more about ways to make my home more “hotelly.” You can see my ruminations below. 

  • I have got to get my paws on a settee like the one in photo one. Is that what it’s called? Or a chaise? Either way, sitting on it to watch TV made me feel very cosmopolitan, indeed :)
  • The art above were quirky “photobooth” -esque shots of old timey people posing on a giant moon. There were two more of these in our room and more everywhere in the hotel. I thought they were cute and quirky, lending a fun and different aspect on the “moon” theme.

  • The mirror would be “easy” to DIY (I put easy in quotations because the theory is easy but in practice might be harder). Just cut a piece of MDF into a cute exaggerated frame and attach it to an existing frame–unify by painting the whole thing one color.

  • Statement pieces like this lamp made me swoon. If only stuff like this was more affordable.
Have you taken any decorating ideas from hotels? Or written down a list of what not to do–like the Moonrise’s carpet, maybe? Ick!