Happy New Year

New Year by midnightmacaroons on Polyvore

Living in a Bubble

I love these retro pictures from the 1960s. Its amazing what photographers can do with a camera. I also love the fashion and hairstyles. Everything is absolutely perfect.

St. Louis

This past April, my husband was asked to speak at a conference in St. Louis, Missouri. I thought I'd tag along and visit the grand arch.

St. Louis was founded by the French and named after Louis IX of France. Prior to the Seven Year's War, there were many French fur traders settling along the Mississippi river. However, it was taken over by Great Britain after the war. Years later, the United States acquired it through the Louisiana Purchase.

Today, St. Louis is home to several sports teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, and St. Louis Blues.

 

The St. Louis Arch (Gateway Arch) stands at 630 feet. It is quiet impressive once you are standing underneath it. It truly is a stainless steel masterpiece that will leave you speechless. You can't really appreciate it's grandness from movies or books, you must come see it for yourself. It is the world's tallest arch and considered the gateway to the West.

There is a visitor center located directly underneath the arch. You can catch a ride in a 12 person elevator inside all the way to the top. Once you step off you'll see windows where you'll have views of St. Louis and across the Mississippi river into southern Illinois. And on windy days you can feel the arch sway back and forth.

Merry Christmas

We spent part of our holiday in fabulous NYC this year. It was beautiful. NYC is truly spectacular during the Christmas season. The only thing that could have topped our trip were if it had snowed. I was truly wishing and hoping for a white Christmas. We live in Texas and I haven’t seen snow in ages. How much I’ve dreamt of enjoying a white Christmas. That is why I booked a trip to the Big Apple. And when we arrived we were told that they were experiencing an unusually warm week. It appears we brought a bit of Texas with us.

However, despite the absence of white fluffy flurries, we had a fabulous trip. One of my favorite things is checking out the Christmas display windows on 5^th Avenue. Lord & Taylor had marvelous windows.

And if you're going to be strolling 5th Avenue window shopping, you must stop by Rockefeller Center. The Christmas tree, the ice skating, is there anything more magical or festive than stealing a kiss under the Rockefeller Christmas tree?

And the best Christmas show on earth, since 1932, is the Rockettes performing at Radio City. I know that they have performances across the country but seeing them at the infamous Radio City just makes it extra special.

There are so many wonderful things about visiting The Big Apple. Here are a few more pictures from our trip. 

Hope y'all had wonderful Christmas!!! 

Playa del Carmen

We went to Playa del Carmen a few months back. I was going through some pictures on my computer and ran across them. I instantly wanted to go back in time. This was hands down one of the best vacations.

I love Playa del Carmen. Mexico has some of the most beautiful beaches and resorts. We found a fantastic resort. The name of the resort is called Blue Diamond Resort and I would highly recommend it to family and friends. 

One of the things I really loved about this resort is that they supplied their guests with bicycles. It was so much fun bicycling through the resort to the beach, restaurants, yoga classes and spa. I felt very tropical riding my bike in my sundress and swimsuit. Plus it had a basket to hold my beach bag.

This is a picture of my sweet ride outside of the spa. I would ride my bike down to the spa for the most amazing massages. I'm a spa connoisseur and I must admit this spa was seriously impressive. I wish I had better pictures for everyone to view but I didn't have my phone on me while walking through. However, I did manage to snap a couple of shots on my way out.

Hello...It's been a long time overdue.

It has been ages....My entire life has changed drastically in the past couple of years. I've had my hands full and I dropped out of blogging world to attend to that thing little thing called life. I happen to stumble across a few things while going through boxes that reminded me of this ole blog. I figured I'd log on for fun and noticed that some of you are still blogging. It was truly wonderful to catch up on you and how much your lives have changed as well. It sort of gave me the itch to start blogging once again. I hope that y'all will follow along.

So much has happened since my last post. My husband graduated from law school. Yes, I'm officially married to an attorney. He loves working in law and has more than he can handle in cases. He still works in health care compliance but his business has expanded to both coasts. There is nothing more rewarding than to see your husband accomplish his goals and actually find joy in his career.

Last summer, we spent some time in Berlin, Germany. I have pictures from Germany but I wanted to share these of Switzerland first. We were blessed enough to have the opportunity to fly down to Switzerland and stay with friends. I had met this friend through this exact blog and I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I admire this woman. She is truly a wonderful person and to host my husband and myself, it was quite special. She has a lovely family and we are grateful we had the opportunity to meet them in person. This will always remain one of the highlights of last summer.

 

The top three pictures are of Schaffhausen

Berne, Switzerland 

After returning from Europe, I became fascinated with my German heritage. However, after researching, I found that only one side of my family was German but the other were all Swiss!!! They actually resided in Bern. Having learned that information on my ancestry only made my memories of Switzerland even more special. The Swiss people are amazing and I truly can't say enough good things about this country. I can't wait to return for another visit.

This is my great, great, grandparents. My great grandfather is the second from right. All Swiss.

 



The Adolphus Hotel

I haven't been blogging much lately. Truthfully its been quite sometime. I had started another blog last summer but for some unknown reason I cannot post pictures. I suppose I could for a price but I think it's absolutely outrageous to pay to download pictures when I can post them here for free. Don't you agree? Everything changes so quickly with updates and technology that I can hardly keep up these days. I am disappointed considering my cute little blog really represented the Southern flavor of my new chapter in life.

However, it is pleasing to see that y'all haven't forgotten my first blog Midnight Macroons. Midnight Macroons has introduced me to a vastly number of friends in blog land. Those I would never had crossed paths with otherwise so I find it appropriate to return to my blogging roots. I hope y'all still follow me as I reopen Midnight Macroons and begin to tell the story of my unique life of a California gal living in Dixie with her Southern husband. I'm obessed with historical architecture.


I get giddy as I find a historical hotel that I can reserve a room and study up the history on. Over Easter/Passover weekend, my husband and I visited Dallas, Texas. I adore Dallas. I always have such a great time there, shopping, dining out, attending sporting events, the arts, etc...etc...etc.. So, this particular weekend we decided to stay at the Adolphus hotel located in the downtown district.

There's so much history between the walls of this hotel. One of the things that impressed me the most about this hotel was the guest list, Queen Elizabeth, Donald Trump, Babe Ruth, Oscar Del La Renta, and the band U2 have all been guests of the Adolphus. Let me start off by telling you the history of this little gem. The Adolphus opened in 1912 by the founder Anheuser-Busch. It was designed by Thomas P. Barnett of Barnett, Haynes & Barnett of St. Louis. It was the first luxurious hotel in all of Dallas. At one point, in the 1920s, it was the tallest building in state of Texas. However, Magnolia Petroleum building (known as the Magnolia hotel) soon dwarfed the Adolphus in 1920s.

During the 1930s, the Adolphus hosted many big band musicians such as Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and the infamous Glenn Miller. Not only did it host to musicians but politicians as well, J. Evetts Haley, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and President George H. W. Bush.

Other famous guests include Warren G. Harding, British writer Nick Smith resided at the Adolphus when he wrote his novel "Rock Royalty: Diary of a Supermodel." Bob Hope, Jack Benny and many others have stayed here. However, my favorite guests would have to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. They have a fantastic picture of the royal couple hanging in the lobby that I managed to snap a picture of.

The Adolphus is also home to the French Room. One of most beautiful dining experiences you could possibly indulge yourself in while staying in the Big D. As you step into the French Room you honestly believe you're in Europe and not Texas at all. Not only is the room filled with exquisite decor but the French cuisine is delish.

I find that most Americans do not partake in high tea as Europeans do. It's something that I've learned to enjoy and hope to pass down to our children. To sit and enjoy a nice brewed pot of hot tea with someone you love is priceless. The art of conversation is truly disappearing in our society (between cell phone/computers). It's important to make time to chat without disruptions from electronics. If everyone practiced tea time I believe we could be a step closer to world peace.

I hope y'all enjoyed my little post today!