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Archive for the ‘Big City’ Category

February 2nd, 2013

Saturdays with Stella: Have you been to Halifax?

Stella is my 10-year-old daughter and on Saturdays, I let her rent this space from me because she thinks blogs are cool. It is her hope that her writing will appeal to kids her age as well as to the adults who read here too. (For the intro to Saturdays with Stella, click here.) This week, Stella wants to tell you all about Halifax, which we visited last summer on our holidays.

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Halifax: A Wonderful Place to Visit!

If you ever go to the Maritimes and are looking for a place to stay, consider Halifax. There are many places that you can stay at, from nice cottages for rent to posh fancy hotels. There are many great things to do, especially in the summer when things are warm and sunny. Read these cool facts about Halifax!

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January 21st, 2013

Arriving into Chicago

On Saturday, I flew to Chicago. I am attending a trade show on Tuesday for work, so I thought I’d arrive early and see some sights. I’ve never been to Chicago, and I always feel like it’s a real shame when one travels for business and never gets to see anything but the hotel and the meeting rooms. So whenever possible, I try to book a vacation day before or after and take in a little bit of the atmosphere.

Before arrival, my knowledge of Chicago was basic, at best. I knew that:

it is windy
you can eat a type of pizza called “deep dish”
it is home of the Second City Comedy Club
there may have been gangsters
oh, and Gini lives there, and maybe someone called Oprah

I arrived in on Saturday, late afternoon. I checked into a hotel that I booked via the discount site Hotwire. That means that I didn’t know the name of the hotel at the time I made the booking. As it turns out, I ended up at a place called Hotel Sax Chicago.

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June 10th, 2012

School for Bloggers: Snapshots from last week in New York City (#BWENY12)

I was in NYC to attend Blog World and New Media Expo (which has just been renamed to New Media Expo, since it’s about far more than blogging.) It was a very full schedule with something for everyone!

In the same conference center, Book Expo America takes place. It is the size of at least two football fields of book publishers and independent authors sharing their wares. I was particularly excited to stumble upon some fantastic books for tween girls. I’m going to try to write more on this a bit later.

While in NY, I was staying with good friends. They have hectic work schedules, but we managed to all get out together for a meal at Prime Meats. Delicious! (I had a chicken breast, over a barley risotto.)

After day 2 of the conference, I walked my butt right into the Broadway district and managed to secure a “standing” seat for the show Newsies. It was fabulous! In particular, the male lead really captivated.

The Bloggess is so huge now. Rosie O’Donnell showed up to one of her book signings. But here she is at the closing keynote session for BlogWorld. I hope she gets super rich to go along with her fame.

After all the conference was said and done, I asked a cabbie to bring me to SoHo. That very week, Dwell Studios had opened a flagship store and I wanted to check it out. It was the smallest “flagship” store I’d ever seen. But I still fawned over everything. I will post more photos of the store to the Coffee with Julie facebook page if you’re interested.

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April 1st, 2012

Sightseeing in Seattle

It’s Sunday evening and I am sitting in an airport waiting. Although actually seeing new places keeps me alive, the travel to get there is so tedious. And I seem to dislike it more with each passing year.

I’m returning from Seattle. I flew in on Wednesday afternoon for work, and despite a busy schedule and it raining cats and dogs the whole time I was there, I managed to get to see a lot of the city’s sights. It’s a cool city. Sort of feels a bit like Vancouver and a bit like Sydney to me.

How about while I’m waiting, I share some pics with you? (No, you don’t really get a choice … it’s sort of like when your grandparents pulled out the ol’ slide machine. And if you’re too young to remember that, well, you missed some good times. Good times.)

Seattle folks *really* love their city!

Pedestrian path leading down to the waterfront.

Pike Market just before opening hours.

Fresh catch!

Clam chowder for breakfast (surprisingly awesome!)

In the lobby of the Seattle Art Museum. No idea.

Streetscape at 5th Avenue (note the Nordstrom's!)

Outside view of the Seattle Aquarium.

Inside the EMP Museum (Nirvana exhibit was on)

The Space Needle (and SUN!!!)

And last but not least: the Seattle donut (with hot chocolate sauce, no less!)

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Here’s where I chat about whatever is percolating in my brain on a given day … silly family anecdotes, travel tips, a new movie or book, or just life in general.

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