February 1, 2012 · 11:26 am

joyeux anniversaire to moi!

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happy birthday lola

lola’s second trip of the new year will be a “whistle-stop tour” of Provence and Monaco! (thanks Iain Mallory for the great adjective) 🙂 this, again, seems quite apropos for lola as it will be over her birthday weekend and lola just LOVES to go away to celebrate. it’s the BEST GIFT a gal could get – if you ask me!!

while away tooling around the South of France countryside, lola will rest her head at what is sure to be gorgeous – the 5 star luxury Four Seasons Provence at Terre Blanche.  how VERY ooooh la la!

Four Seasons Provence at Terre Blanche

AND on top of that – her birthday eve, lola will be pampered and treated like a princess at her ALL TIME FAVORITE – Villa Gallici in Aix en Provence.  it’s been 12 years but i’ve thought about you nearly daily Villa Gallici.  May you be as fabulous as when i last stayed with you…it is, after all – MY BIRTHDAY!

Villa Gallici Aix en Provence

je voyage beaucoup – France! au revoir until then

XO – lola

photo credits: Four Seasons Provence, Villa Gallici & molly b photography thank you for the LOLA cake!

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January 31, 2012 · 9:09 am

why i heart to pack

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the boa is going international this week! look out France & Monaco!!

Française de Barbie

even though these destinations sound glitzy (and they are) i love to pack even if it’s just to go overnight to New Hampshire. a getaway is often an excuse to wear a fun outfit that isn’t a part of my everyday life. when i start to pack for my escape it affords me the opportunity to daydream about what i’ll be seeing, learning, eating, drinking, meeting, buying – you get the idea. to me, it’s a big part of the process of the actual vacation. i truly enjoy it!

i’m not quite sure what all i’ll be up to this getaway. there will be delicious meals and fantastic wines consumed, that’s for sure! AND lola definitely needs her own beret! do we think France & Monaco are ready for my cowboy boots, bikini, beret & boa?! i will be reporting back to let you know how lola was received & what was discovered.  in the meantime, back to packing…

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January 30, 2012 · 7:49 am

a Texan cinderella story

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howdy lola-rella

once upon a time there was a lovely lady named lola who was living in Massachusetts but really she was Texan at heart. she was sassy, fun-loving & flirty and loved to travel.

miles away, in Austin, Texas, was a magical destiny waiting for lola. and, NO, it wasn’t a cute cowboy prince charming.

lola's palace - the capitol of TEXAS

little did lola know that her bird friends had transformed an old vintage pair of boots into the perfect thing lola just had to have.

how ever did they do it?

enter lola’s Fairy Gold American Express card to wave its magic wand and turn the pumpkin into an airplane to take her to Austin and find her destiny.

i adore you fairy gold american express! you make ALL my dreams come true

this turned into JetBlue flight #1263!

once there, the Fairy Gold American Express card led lola to a little store on South Congress – Off The Wall. then, the most magical thing happened! that Fairy Gold American Express card turned lola’s old english-style riding boots into the most beautiful pair of pink cowboy boots any girl has ever seen. “oh, how happy I am” lola said to herself.

old boring boots

unfortunately, there was just one “stroke of midnight” catch…Off The Wall only had ONE pair of these boots and they were ONE size too small for lola. could you imagine the disappointment?! would she be able to squeeze her foot into that tiny boot? as one wise boot saleswoman said to lola, “for the right boot, you can make your foot fit“.

couldn't you just die!

guess what? it was true – lola slipped on those tiny boots! she had found her true love!

a blissful union!

and they lived happily ever after!

THE END

*beautiful capitol pic is by mr. kirk coleman

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January 27, 2012 · 9:52 am

Deep in the Heart of Texas – Salt Lick BBQ

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lauren’s spicy sauce, indeed!

located just 25 south of Austin, Texas is a town called Driftwood. i think the only reason people reside there or travel through is to get their hands on the BEST BBQ EVER!!! (and this is reason enough) as i said in my earlier Austin, Texas post – DO NOT CHEAT YOURSELF out of having an amazing culinary experience at SALT LICK BBQ! and that’s not even all they have to offer. here’s what else:

a scenic property

isn’t it lovely?!

meat meat meat

can almost taste the mesquite just looking at this

personalized sauce

just kidding – they ONLY did it for ME (haha)

beer by the bucket

none other than TX shiner beer

wine tasting while you wait

$5 for five samples – pretty tasty deal, no?!

fun & clever t-shirts

can you guess which one i like best?

satisfied customers

everything is BIG & the BBQ is the best in TEXAS

ps-photo credit…salt lick for the property pic, kirk coleman for the bbq & beer pics, leah for the big bus & raul for the rockin pic of me with my spicy sauce – nice shots!!

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January 26, 2012 · 10:22 am

terms of endearment Texas style

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a warm welcome from Austin

you may have heard the phrase “keep Austin weird” and i’m sure there are several reasons for this city tag line. for me, the “weirdest” thing i encountered during my visit to Austin was how incredibly friendly and endearing all the people were to me. literally, within 3 hours of being there i was referred to as “sweetheart, darlin’ & hon”. if you don’t know this about me or couldn’t guess…i REALLY like to be sweet-talked to!

the bartender behind me gave me my first Austin "sweetheart"!

needless to say, i was in heaven in Austin. people were especially smiley and some even went out of their way to compliment me in one way or another. for example, at one of the restaurants where we had dinner, a gaggle of girls that were busy chatting up a storm with each other made a point to let me know how much they liked my outfit. are you kidding me?? women complimenting other women…practically unheard of!! HOW NICE! another example was when a man struck up a conversation with me to say that it takes a lot of confidence to pull off pink boots and i was doing it well. talk about an ego boost!

if you’re ever feeling a bit low and unloved, i recommend you visit Austin, Texas ASAP to get a Texas-sized dose of compliments and terms of endearment.

thanks again Austin!

SWAK – lola

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