Much like with my Top Five Restaurants for this year, choosing just five activities was pretty darn difficult. We did so much cool stuff, especially in Bali and Costa Rica, that it was tough to narrow down which ones were the absolute best. I was pushed outside of my comfort zone on the hanging bridges in Costa Rica, and had one of the best spa experiences of my life in Bali, but they didn’t even make the cut! Read on…
It was incredibly difficult for me to choose only five restaurant experiences for my list this year. We ate at so many great restaurants, but we also had delicious and bespoke experiences at several resorts this year too. We ate really well on all of our trips, with rarely an exception. I have to make an honorable mention here for the restaurants and bars at Nayara Resorts in Costa Rica. While they didn’t make the Top 5, it was a…
We stayed at some very very large resorts this year, as well as one micro-boutique hotel. I really want to make a massive shift for this blog to cover and review boutique hotels. I love the charm and character of boutique hotels, and the service is almost always impeccable. Especially in Europe, the folks at a boutique hotel really make you feel like you’re family coming home, and they are always excited to show off their city and give you…
Wow, we didn’t go to Europe AT ALL this year! Where on Earth did we go? We had one major trip outside of the states to Asia, and then mainly spent a lot of time here in the United States, jetting around to some big and some small cities. My top two cities of the year might surprise you! They definitely surprised me! 5. Singapore We were only in Singapore for an overnight layover, but no city has captured my…
Boy, 2023 was the year of revisiting places I had been before. This year was my second time to Costa Rica, third time to Bali, somewhere around the tenth time to Walt Disney World, and gagillionth time to Las Vegas and San Diego. Our little jaunt to Kansas City in November was the only new city that I added to my list this year. Yes, we were in Singapore for an overnight, but I barely count that apart from our…
I recently came to Bar Mar to have lunch with a friend in early December, 2023. Bar Mar is part of a complex of two restaurants by Jose Andres in the Loop area of Chicago, specializing in seafood. The space is bright and open, with lots of glass, giving it an open-air feeling, even though you’re inside. The furnishings are modern and funky, and I love the light fixtures as well. For lunch, Bar Mar offers a tasting menu of…
Moody Tongue Brewery is the only two-star Michelin brewery in the world, and it’s right here on the South Side of Chicago! Typically, I take my husband Brian out to a steak house for his birthday, but this year, I thought I’d switch it up and take him here. He loves beer, and his “Untappd” app entries grow every week. Well, he was super excited to add 10 new beers to his app, and I was excited to add another…
Kansas City sure was a surprising little trip for me. Coming from Chicago, one of the greatest cities on the planet, I usually have pretty low expectations for small towns especially in Middle America. Let me say, though, that Kansas City really blew me away! It’s hilly, there’s lots of parks and trees, it’s neighborhoody, everyone is super nice, and can also be very chic and fancy. You can really see a lot of what there is to be seen…
I absolutely adore small boutique hotels, and when possible, I will 100% choose one over a large, chain hotel, no matter the location. This year has been tough in that regard, but for our last trip of the year to Kansas City, I chose the tiny Truitt Hotel, a six room renovated mansion close to the Nelson-Atkins Museum for our 48 hour stint the first week of November, 2023. The Location The Truitt is located on the south side of…
I really am not sure if I could ever be a Michelin Guide restaurant reviewer. It’s because the Michelin stars are given out based on, allegedly, the food alone. The quality, the uniqueness, the chef’s spin on it are all the things that go into Michelin stars. The problem for me is that, even when the food is absolutely outstanding, if the service is sub-par, or the ambiance of the place is meh, it impacts my experience way too much….