Hello Kitty Jet Plane – For Real!

I saw this on the news today and it is something that  I just had to share with everyone. I love Hello Kitty and although I don’t fly often, if I did… I would totally want to take a trip on this Hello Kitty airplane!

 Even the flight attendants are all Kittified serving Hello Kitty themed food! 

Although this dance party probably doesn't happen every time, it is pretty darn cute.

For more fun pictures, check out the EVA Air Hello Kitty cuteness here.

So... what do you think? Would you want to fly on a Hello Kitty airplane like this one? I know I would… and I probably wouldn’t even mind one of those really long flights on it, either. 

100 Places to Go Before They Disappear

100 Places to Go Before They Disappear by Co+Life, foreword by Ranjedra K. Pachauri, contribution by Desmond Tutu is a stunningly beautiful illustrated book that shows you 100 places that are in very real danger of disappearing in our lifetime. Want to take a look at these places and see what can be done to change their potentially devastating fate? Read this book!


Book Description
“What would our world look like if the planet's average temperature were to rise by only a few degrees? Venice, Bangkok, London, Chicago, and New York would experience severe flooding. The tea fields of Sri Lanka and the vineyards of France would suffer heat and drought. Beijing and Timbuktu would be transformed into deserts, and the Great Barrier Reef's coral colonies would die. The entire nation of Tuvalu would sink into the Pacific Ocean.

As plants and animals vital to local ecosystems continue to perish due to climate change, the face of our planet is already being transformed. 100 Places to Go Before They Disappear features the locations on all seven continents in the greatest danger of disappearing within our lifetime. With an essay by Desmond Tutu, this stunning book will inspire travelers and environmentalists to save gorgeous places that might soon be only a memory.” – 100 Places to Go Before They Disappear


My Thoughts
100 Places to Go Before They Disappear is a look at 100 places that have a very real possibility of no longer being there as they are now within our lifetime. Scary thought, right? There are many places on the list I really want to go to one day including: Venice, Chicago, Manhattan, Olympia, Paris, the Great Barrier Reef, and many more.

It is a visually stunning illustrated book with 100 color photographs. Each location has information to go with each area, including how climate and what people are doing to cause the decline in each location. It isn’t too late to help these places though and information is also given for ideas on how to save these places from changing beyond recognition (or fully disappearing). For more information, visit http://www.100places.com/.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves photography books, travel books, environmental books, and anyone who really enjoys beautiful places and learning more about them.



* Thank you to the publisher of 100 Places to Go Before They Disappear, Abrams, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sarah Palin’s Alaska Show Makes Me Want to Visit Alaska

I’m not really very political, so don’t worry - this post has nothing really to do with that. Instead, it is just about Sarah Palin’s Alaska show that was on TLC. I’m not sure if there will even be a second season or not, though I hope there will be.

If you love reality TV, or perhaps just like Sarah Palin’s political views, or maybe want to voyeur into her Alaskan reality, you probably saw some of Sarah Palin’s Alaska show that aired in Fall 2010.

At first, I really wasn’t all that interested in watching it. My DVR is pretty full already, so why add something else to it, right? Well, my parents actually started watching it and said how much they liked it. So, I figured if they liked it, maybe I would too. For those who are wondering, no my parents aren’t even Republicans, so it wasn’t about that either.

Reality television can be good and educational, which was surprising, because Sarah Palin’s Alaska show was just that. It was entertaining too of course. They went on many adventures each show to show the viewers what Alaska is like – and just how beautiful it is.


Somehow I ended up actually watching all of the episodes that aired and I can honestly say that I enjoyed them all - even the one that Kate Gosslin was on. Sure, I can’t stand that woman but it was quite hilarious how rude and miserable she was outdoors. Sarah was of course politically correct and nice about it all, but I bet they laughed about it after the cameras were off – I would have! I really enjoyed watching where they went, and seeing how her family is without the paparazzi’s point of view on it.

Watching Sarah Palin’s Alaska show really makes me want to visit Alaska someday. I probably can’t manage to go anytime soon, unless I somehow win some kind of a lottery or win a trip to Alaska somehow.

What I can do is request free information about Alaska and perhaps cut out a beautiful image from the travel book to post on my vision board, so maybe the Law of Attraction will let me win that trip.

If you’d like to order your free book too, click on the image below.

Las Vegas: The Bellagio!

I’ve wanted to go to Las Vegas for a long time. Well, I’m kind of planning a trip there. I won’t be going for probably about a year, but I can still plan in the meantime, right?

The first thing to do when planning a trip is to pick out where you want to stay. Las Vegas has fantastic hotels (at least from what I’ve seen, read and heard about). The Vegas Bellagio Hotel is however the one I’ve wanted to go to the longest, so for my first Las Vegas trip I think it is fitting that I’d stay there.

The Bellagio Fountains is one of the main reasons. Ever since I saw them on TV, I’ve wanted to see them in person. The Fountains of Bellagio are a choreographed water performance set to light and music, including songs from Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Madonna, Gene Kelly, and Andrea Bocelli. Shows take place every 30 minutes in the afternoon, and at night every 15 minutes from 8PM to midnight. Watch this video I found on YouTube to show you what I mean:



Isn’t it amazing?

Plus, the botanical gardens and conservatory is a nice addition too. The display for the garden is changed out five times a year to display the current season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Chinese New Year). I’m not sure which would be the prettiest, have any of you gone to see the display at the gardens?

Their rooms also look quite comfortable (and not as small as some I’ve seen pictures of). Plus, who knows who would be performing there? Hopefully someone good.

I’m not a huge gambler, but I would definitely be playing some slots while in Las Vegas. I might even play some blackjack and roulette. I’m not very good at poker (I just don’t have a poker face), so that is out of the question. I’m pretty good at rummy, but I don’t think that is a casino game. Oh well, maybe I’d get lucky on one of those Jackpot slot machines and win lots of money!

Las Vegas and the Bellagio is going to be amazing! I can’t wait for my Las Vegas trip. Probably why I’m planning so far in advance, but I know it is going to be amazing and one to remember for a very long time. If anyone has some suggestions on what else I should definitely do while going to Vegas, please let me know!

Hammocks and The Bahamas

My first cruise vacation was when I was around 10 years old. Two of my Aunts worked for a cruise line called The Big Red Boat (it is no longer in business). Since we lived by Cape Canaveral, it wasn’t much of an expense to go with their discount (I really do miss that).

The cruise was fun, from what I can remember.

We went in to Nassau, which then was really much more chaotic. The ladies that practically attack you after you step off the boat to braid you hair (oh how they wanted to braid mine because it was really long then too), the Straw Market was much more unorganized (the people were still very friendly though), oh and the taxis drove like getaway cars (not sure if they still do). Needless to say, kids under a certain age (and teenagers) were never to step off the boat without adults at this port.

My favorite stop was Key Island I think it was called. It was the cruise’s island (I think) so we could wander around it pretty much okay. One of the biggest memories of it though were all the hammocks tied up against palm trees. I’d never been on one before, so I just had to try it out – and I loved it! The ocean breeze, white sand, palm trees and a fresh white rope hammock. Ah, if only I had been 11 years older I could’ve had a nice umbrella drink to go with that. I’ll try that the next time I go on a cruise, whenever that is.

I played in the water too since it was crystal clear and I saw no sharks or weird fish that would sting or bite me. I probably got a pretty bad sunburn from the trip, but I don’t remember that if I did.

My Mom and Aunts loved the hammock chairs too. They read their books and magazines in there while watching us play in the water and build white sandcastles. My cousin and I would sit in them too, but kids can only stay still for so long in a place like that ya know?

I’ve never actually had a hammock to myself though at home. I’m not sure why, since I really do enjoy them. It is something I will definitely look into purchasing though this summer. I'm not sure where I'd hang it or if I should just get one with a stand though. Outdoor hammocks have really come a long way in style and comfort, so it will surely be hard to pick one – but I’m up for the task!

Do you have any favorite memories from a cruise or vacation? Love hammocks too? I’d love to hear about it!


* This is a sponsored post from OUTDORA.

New Orleans Trip – Day 7 + 8

Thursday I met with Daena Smoller from the Paraplex Annex and International Society of Paranormal Research. She was really energetic, extremely nice and personable and probably the most experienced person I’ve met in the paranormal field yet. Look for the article about this soon too.

Right after there we went over to the Voodoo Museum. In all honesty, I didn’t really know very much about Voodoo until today. The museum and our guide Jerry was extraordinarily informative about everything concerning Voodoo and New Orleans. He even took the group to meet a Voodoo Queen – how cool is that? Watch for this article soon too.

Here are some pictures I took while at the museum and on the tour (we also visited St. Louis Cemetery #1). I saw Marie Laveau’s tomb and asked for assistance with something too. I’ll let you know if it worked.









Unfortunately we had to return slightly earlier than planned on Friday. Something came up and I had to cancel my last appointment. We drove through some awful weather on the way back too. We went through probably about 7 really bad thunderstorms. When we finally arrived back at home, shortly after that it rained for quite a few hours here too.

My trip to New Orleans was really great. I wanted to go there since I was a little kid, and I’m really glad I was able to go (even if it was 20 years later). I had such a great time on the vacation that I can’t wait to go back!

I hope that everyone reading this enjoyed my daily updates and pictures. I’ll be writing up the travel articles this week, and I’ll post links to them for you to read about the places in more detail.

Have a great weekend everyone!

New Orleans Trip – Day 6

Wednesday we went to Edgar Degas House just outside of the French Quarter. It is really worth venturing off the regular path to visit. The video they showed about Edgar Degas and the house was terrific. The tour was also given by a descendant related to Edgar Degas himself. Very cool. I’m writing an article about here as well, so check that out soon. They do not however allow photographs to be taken inside, so here is one I took outside.



A little later in the day, we went to the Elms Mansion. It is an absolutely breathtaking mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans. This is another article I am writing about, but here is a picture I took while there and I strongly urge you to go to their website to see the inside of the house – gorgeous! When I get married one day, I’d love to have my wedding here too. Beautiful!



On the way back I tried to see where the New Orleans Real World House was. It is at 2618 St. Charles St, but I wasn’t able to take a good picture while we were driving by. Oh well.



While I was navigating us back to the hotel, I realized we’d be driving right past St. Louis Cemetery #1. Being a paranormal investigator, I just had to stop and take pictures. Luckily, we were able to get a place to park next to it and I walked through there alone and took some pictures. Here are a few I took (I took almost 75 pictures in all).







That night we also went on the Spirit Tours Ghost and Vampire Tour of the French Quarter. We had a nice tour guide who was a great story teller. However, they did not take us into a bar or stop to rest anywhere. Our feet were soo tired when we got back to the hotel. I’m writing an article about them as well, so here are some pictures for now….

New Orleans Trip – Day 5

On Tuesday we ate lunch at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. I had a personal sized cheese pizza. It was really good. I never knew New Orleans had such good Italian restaurants.

After lunch we walked through the French Market. I didn’t get anything, but I am thinking about getting a mardi gras mask. I haven’t found any yet that I really like though.



Then we went on the Steamboat Natchez for a ride on the Mississippi River. I’m writing an article about there too, so here are some pictures for now…












After the Steamboat ride, we went back to the hotel and ate some leftovers really quick and then rushed to a Ghost Tour of the French Quarter by Haunted History Tours. I’ll also be writing a review about them and another ghost tour. Theirs was really good and the tour guide we had was informative, funny and a great story teller.









Unfortunately it started pouring down rain on us while on the tour. We didn’t have an umbrella or a rain poncho so we got soaking wet. Seriously. It looked like we jumped into the Mississippi River. We finished the tour though and the guide told the last story in a little bar. The other bar guests enjoyed it too I think, and perhaps got a good laugh at us soaking wet tourists.

We were rather close to a street trolley, so we walked over there to hop on one. We waited for awhile and one finally came – in the wrong direction. We asked if we could get on because the rain was coming at us from all sides under their cover. He said sure but we’d have to pay for both ways. Ugh! We ended up just walking all the way back to the hotel.

At least HBO was finally working in the hotel so we got to watch True Blood. Don’t think I’ve forgotten to write up a review on that episode. I will do so after I return from the trip.

New Orleans Trip – Day 4

Monday was my birthday! Usually my birthdays are rather boring. This one however was not. Here is a recap on what we did…

We went to plantations! In doing so we took a bridge 9 miles long over areas that looked like this….



The first one we went to was the San Francisco Plantation. It was built in 1856 and is the only authentically restored plantation on River Road. I’m also writing an article about this plantation. For now though, here are some pictures I took while visiting there…








Then we went to the Houmas House Plantation and Café Burnside. It is noted as the Crown Jewel of Louisiana's River Road. It was built in 1828 and it too produced mainly sugar cane. I am doing an article on this plantation too, so for now here are some pictures I took while there…








This is a VooDoo death mask and a vampire kit. I thought that was really cool.


This was after lunch in their garden. Beautiful spot!

River Road is an interesting stretch of road along the Mississippi River. I highly suggest that if you are planning a trip here for you to check out both of those plantations and any others you may like to visit as well. You will also be surprised by just how much sugar cane you see along the way (if it is in season).



We saw miles and miles of this growing along the road and as far back as you could see in some stretches of land.

After that, we were near the Tanger Outlet mall. So, we decided to go check it out. It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be and the selection of stores also wasn’t the best. However, I did end up finding 2 new shirts and some black cropped pants.

Once we arrived back at the hotel, we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant nearby. It was really good and the tacos weren’t soggy at all, so I was happy. No birthday cake or anything, but I don’t really care about that anyways. All in all, it was a great day and I don’t feel any older – but who ever does anyways?

New Orleans Trip – Day 3

This morning my Mom and I attended Mass at St. Louis Cathedral. It is a beautiful church that has been in operation since 1727. Inside was beautiful too, though because it was mass, I was unable to take pictures inside. I’ll go back on another day and do so. The Mass we attended was also Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes last service because he is retiring. He even gave us communion and shook our hands on the way out. It was really a spiritual enrichment for us.

For lunch we went to Carmelo Ristorante. We went there right after Mass and ended up being the first diners of the day there. We had calamari for an appetizer and it was absolutely fabulous. I have to say that it is probably the best I’ve had besides the few times I ordered it in Key West. For my entrée I ordered a chicken parmigiana panini. It was really good too. Yum! I think I’m going to write up a review of this place. It is really a stop anyone who loves Italian food should visit while in New Orleans.



We walked along the Riverwalk since the rain was letting up some. We saw some steamboats and other various boats. The picture above is a statue overlooking the water that I found to be quite beautiful.

I’m writing an article on the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and their new Insectarium, so check back again for that too. For now though, here are some of the pictures I took while there…


This is their large tank with bigger sharks, stingrays and fish.


Hammer time!


I love how this one turned out!


Insectarium side view. It was decorated really cool. The kids loved it.


I love butterflies.



On our way back we stopped at Harrah’s Casino. We didn’t gamble today because we were both getting quite tired of walking around so much. So, we just walked through it and checked it out.

Since our feet were killing us, we decided to take the street car on the way back. It was fast and a nice change from walking all the way back to the hotel that is for sure. I think we must have walked at least 15 miles in the past 3 days.

Tomorrow is my birthday!

New Orleans Trip – Day 2

This morning I went to the Beauregard-Keyes House for a tour. I’m writing an article about the historic home, so be sure to check that out when it is published. For now, here are some pictures of the house.





We walked around the French Quarter again and ended up by the French Market. We bought a few souvenirs but I still haven’t found the items I really want to get yet. Maybe we’ll look some more tomorrow.

Here are some more pictures from this morning, all taken in the French Quarter. The streets aren’t too busy because it was still pretty early for too many shops to be open yet. The streets get much more crowded as the day goes on.









After we got back to our hotel, we went on the adventure of going to Wal-Mart. Normally, it is relatively easy to get to such a store. However, in a new city with lots of traffic, finding a store isn’t quite as easy. Luckily, I printed out directions before we left from MapQuest so I sort of knew how to get there from where we were. It took those directions and a random map from a travel brochure to get there and back though. I tossed the MapQuest directions on the way back and just used the other map though. Good thing I have relatively good navigational sense.

The store was super busy! The employees were of little help too. Plus, on their website it said they have New Orleans souvenirs. Did they? Well, not the extent I thought they’d have. They had ugly shirts and one rack of magnets and postcards with some can holders (I forgot what they are called) and other various items. Quite disappointing.

Later that night I was going to do a ghost story/walking tour but I wasn’t feeling well and after we got to the location we were meeting at I felt like I was going to pass out. So, I had to reschedule. Hopefully I can change it to another night while we are here.