February 23, 2014

Valentines Day At St. Regis Monarch Beach

So this is what being a celebrity is like?? This is the thought that kept running through my mind during our recent stay at the St. Regis Monarch Beach. Eddie surprised me with a romantic trip to Dana Point, CA right after my 2 week cross country road trip.

But this wasn't your average hotel stay. Not only is St. Regis known as one of the best hotels in the world, this stay marked our Lifetime Platinum status award with Starwood Hotels. Eddie has been a platinum member for a very long time. And being a platinum member has amazing perks. We always get free room upgrades at any Starwood Hotel. Occasioanly to the penthouse suite. We get discounts at restaurants, free food and drinks inside club room, occasionally a free open bar, free water bottles, an ambassador who you can call 24/7 to do anything for you that you desire, gifts mailed on your birthday, free snacks, fruits and champagne to greet you in the room, just all around exceptional service. But to reach Lifetime Platinum is a whole different ball game. To reach Lifetime you need to have been a platinum member for 10 consecutive years and to have at least 500 stays total. Apparently there are very few Lifetime Platinum members so once the St. Regis found out about our stay they went above and beyond to make our stay special.

As we were checking in at the front desk, two managers came out and greeted us with balloons and a wine stopper. They shook our hands and took a photo with us. I felt like I was on a game show or something.

February 17, 2014

My Cross Country Road Trip 2014

The day my cousin Polina asked me to go on a road trip across the entire country, I didn't think much of it. Of course I said yes (saying no to a trip for me is like saying no to free money) but I never actually thought it would happen. And I didn't know that it would be one of the funnest trips of my life. Who knew that driving across the good ol' USA would bring so much laughter, adventure, chaos, and bonding. Small warning, this will be a super long post as this was a super long trip.

Our Trip Itinerary

Philadelphia, PA / Roanoke, VA / Nashville, TN / New Orleans, LA / Austin, TX / El Paso, TX / Phoenix, AZ / San Diego, CA / Long Beach, CA / Los Angeles, CA / San Francisco, CA

We started our 4,000 mile journey in Roanoke, VA. You might be thinking where the F is Roanoke and why did you go there? We were originally supposed to go to Charlotte, NC but decided that because stopping in Roanoke would save us 2 hours of driving that it was the best thing to do. I guess I should mention that Polina was doing ALL of the driving so it was a no brainer.

Bookmarking