For many of us when we move into a new house, window treatments are the last thing that we think of. As soon as the paperwork is signed we rush over to begin cleaning and painting. Once the paint is dry we move on to buying new furniture and arranging it just right. Just a few little accessories, some pictures on the walls and we consider ourselves done. It is not until we turn around and look out the window that we realize there is nothing there but perhaps some old mini-blinds. But those will never do in your newly decorated rooms.
Blinds and window treatments can serve two very different purposes. The first one is privacy. They block strangers walking down the street from seeing into your home. They allow you to feel more secure, especially at night when you have the lights on. They will also help keep the light out on bright sunny days; which will also help keep your electric bill down.
The other, more fun, purpose is style. Blinds add another dimension to the style of a room. They can help dress it up or tone it down. There are many different options at next day blinds that will fit whatever style you desire. If you prefer to keep things simple, there are nice vertical or horizontal blinds in a variety of neutral colors. Another simple option is shades from next day blinds. They are ideal for blocking sunlight and also come in a variety of colors. If you prefer something with a bit more substance, consider shutters. Typically made out of wood, they are much larger and stronger than shades or blinds. They do a lot to add style and appeal to your room.
Whatever your reasoning is, buying blinds for your new home is a deal you can’t pass up on.
I think it’s still interesting to hear about people planning their St. Patty’s Day celebrations in Phoenix. There are the usual plans to just go to the pub and drink all day, and with places as congenial as Molly McCaffrey’s, and as hip as Casey Moore’s, there are excellent places to watch the day turn into night, but something happens here every year that makes it seem like planning should be a no-brainer. St. Patty’s Day is as good a time as any to come to Phoenix, luxury hotels are plentiful, and they really do it up right here, and there’s also some of the most spectacular weather in the country here at this time. In some years, it’s already a little warm, but the evenings are cool and full of hope.
But there’s also Flogging Molly. I sure don’t know where it started, or how, but they’ve been playing this holiday here for a few years now. Phoenix has a sizable Irish-American population by most standards, but nothing really unusual. Who knows why this band, which has enjoyed tremendous success all over the world, has decided to love it here so much, but we shouldn’t look this gift horse in the mouth. Or if we do, it should be from the inside of the mosh pit, so we can work it out like real gentlemen.
The truth is, this is one of the coolest bands in the world right now. I’m just a little too young to have seen the Pogues before Shane started losing his ability to walk without scaring the children and the dogs, so this is as good as it gets. To hear Flogging Molly play Phoenix is a cool thing for all of us. They’re shows are extremely rowdy, and always lots of fun. They’ve worked up quite a following, generally speaking, and fans here know what to expect on the holiday named for a man who drove out pagan snakes. At the best moments in their playing, we can almost see the snakes come crawling back in.
As one of the largest cities in the country as well as one of the largest metropolitan areas, Dallas has an arts, entertainment and cultural scene to compliment its overall size and significance. There are many landmarks and cultural attractions that are unique and specific to the city and many of its institutions have become icons of the city. The art scene is diverse and there are multiple museums to represent all forms of art. The Nasher Sculpture Center is a great example of this. It is located in the heart of the Dallas Arts District and is directly adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art. Both establishments provide a full day’s worth of great artistic experience for residents and guests who are staying in one of Dallas’ hotels.
The sculpture museum was established by Raymond and Patsy Nasher who had spent years amassing a large collection of great works and dreaming of a museum that was specifically designed to display sculpture. Some of the artists they had accumulated works of include Joan Miro, Auguste Rodin, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Willem de Kooning and many others. In addition, Raymond had been the original owner of NorthPark Center.
When the Nashers were finally at a point where they could realize their dream they brought in Renzo Piano, a Pritzker Prize winning architect, to design the center, which stands on a 2.4 acre lot. Piano completed the project in collaboration with Peter Walker, a landscape architect who worked on the design of the two acre sculpture garden. The Nasher collection continues to grow and the museum showcases the permanent collection as well as special exhibits from other collections and museums. There are also popular monthly events hosted by the center and they include the Target First Saturday for children and families and the NasherSalon, which hosts distinguished speakers on sculpture, architecture and other cultural elements.
If you are looking for a luxurious hotel in Duluth then click here for information on some really nice accommodations. While you are in Duluth you many be interested in the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge that is sitting out in the port. It is considered a real landmark for the city as it allows the travelers of the land and sea to cross paths harmoniously. It is the first bridge of its kind to be built in America. The first incarnation of the bridge was built in 1905 and then it was upgraded and fortified by the end of 1930. In 1973, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places. While you are visiting the city you can come to the maritime museum near the bridge to learn more about this wonderful structure.
As the area was growing in the late 1800s, people were looking for their own lands to own and it spread out across to the small peninsula in the Lake. They spent some time and effort trying to figure out how people could find their way back and forth from the island to the mainland. There were always major problems with either safety and or seasonal weather that kept other ideas from working out. After all you can’t move a fairy across a canal that is frozen over with ice for the winter. In 1892, they decided to have a contest of ideas and the winner was John Alexander Low Waddell, who drew up the plans for the bridge. But the War Department turned it down and Waddell took his design to Chicago. Ideas come and went for a couple of years until they gave it another shot and now there it is. Still in major use today. It only takes 3 minutes to raise the bridge and it usually goes up around 30 times a day, depending on the ship traffic.
After you get a good rest at one of the luxurious hotels around Grand Prairie you may want to see what is going on at the Lone Star Park. This is a horse racing track that opened in 1997. It hosts a few different races such as the Thoroughbred series and the Quarter Horse series. The place is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp which is actually based out of Aurora Ontario and they lease it out for events. This park was hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 2004 where it increased its seating for the event to accommodate 50,000 people. You many want to show up on Memorial Day for the big purse. They call it the Lone Star Million Day so you guested it the purse is a little over one million dollars.
Normally, the track grandstand seats about 8,000 people. The track its self is a one mile dirt oval and also a seven furlong turf track. There is room in the stables for 1,600 horses spread through 32 barns. All of it covers about 315 acres of land. It is quite exciting to see the excitement get set off and hyped up with one of the current presenters like Dave Appleton, Rick Lee or Jon Lies. They add some spark to events such as the Lone Star Park Handicap, which are the American Thoroughbred horse race. This race is for horses that are three years and older.
The Texas Mile Stakes is also for Thoroughbred horses three years old and older. The same is true for the Lone Star Derby and the Ouija Board Handicap, they all run Thoroughbred horses three years and older but with slightly different circumstances. Then there some restricted stake races for the Texas horse which includes Stallions and Thoroughbreds. There are many events to catch and will always be exciting.
That was the night I decided that I wasn’t going to believe in faeries any more. I don’t know how the fight started, but I remember somewhere in the middle of it I started to realize that I was in the middle of a fight, and I could not win. She believed in faeries, and elves, and all of those things, and desperately wanted me to believe in them, too. The really interesting part of all of this is that of course, I always did believe in them, and when I wasn’t sure, there were always signs that they believed in me. So it was hard to understand why we were fighting.
I always go to one place in my mind, when I am in the middle of a bad situation that looks like it’s going to continue. I go, mentally, to this luxury hotel in Georgia where I once had the best dreams of my life. There was nothing else that was interesting about the trip, no exotic experiences, and no interesting company with me, just a splendid night of splendid dreams. Part of the responsibility for that was the hotel’s, and part of it came from the faerie world. I have a feeling this might sound a little crazy. But when I was younger, I visited an island with my parents, and went off wandering by myself, and fell upon what I came to understand was a faerie ring. Since that time, they’re been with me at important moments, and I better not say much more about that.
They hate it when you give away the details.
So, let’s just say that when I was arguing with my girlfriend-to-be about these creatures, I kind of hoped they would make an appearance, to help me win the fight. She was arguing that these things existed for her, and helped her to do all sorts of things. I told her that this was also true for me. She thought that I was making fun of her. I insisted that I saw them regularly, and that I was somehow lucky because they did not try to poke out my eye. Faeries like to poke out people’s eyes. That’s what they do. She told me that they would never do that, because they love people. They do not. I know that for sure. So not only was I losing a fight, but she had lost the chance to be with me, because I know she was lying. It’s the saddest story that I know that can also make me laugh. But the faeries did not appear that night, and they would not return until the next night, when they told me they were glad she was gone, because she was so wrong for me.
A friend of a friend of mine in Chicago, Matt Walsh, was one of the founders of the now New York based company, The Upright Citizens Brigade. He started the company in the city of Chicago in 1996, along with Ian Roberts, Matt Besser and Amy Poehler. They staged a show and performed for audiences in New York in 1999, and soon afterward began teaching their long-form improv techniques. One of the philosophies of the company involves big star names, for a little bit of change…meaning that when you attend any given performance you may see on stage Conan O’Brien, Will Ferrell, Mike Meyers, or Robin Williams in the cast of players, for the cost of eight bucks.
The classes that they offer provide the means for improv students and actors to find their own creative voices and to forge their way in the career of comedy. Their home in New York was at first, far away from the classy hotels of Manhattan, in a building that used to house a very questionable strip club. Soon big time casting directors, journalists, and agents were members of an audience that was growing exponentially. The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre became THE place to go to see cutting-edge and innovative comedy.
They have always kept their prices low, as on any given night you may pay six dollars, two dollars, or nothing at all, and the price never exceeds eight dollars. And unlike most comedy clubs, not only is there no such thing as a drink minimum, all of the drinks be it wine, beer or soda, are priced extremely low. This is a company that simply wants to make their comedy and laughter available to and affordable for the public. This is a no-holds-barred company in every way, and should you pass by the theatre some night, take in a show. You will have the time of your life, however, you may leave with a belly ache from laughing non-stop, but it will be well worth it.
Find a room at one of the hotels Huntsville Alabama has available and get ready to see the evolution of and industrial city. In 1805, John Hunt was the first settler of the land however he didn’t register his land properly so the area was purchased by Leroy Pope and called Twichenham first. However later on the town was named after the original claims man John Hunt and it was finally incorporated in 1811. The start of the popular needed industries began and grew quickly. Cotton and the railroad is how the city originally made its money.
The city gave some honorable men to the Civil War efforts. Col. Egbert J Jones was from Huntsville as made is name known at the Battle of Manassas which was Bull Run. The fourth Alabama Infantry had some men from this city. They were the first men from Alabama to fight in the war. They were there at Appomattox when Lee surrendered to Grant in 1865. Eight generals involved with the war were from Huntsville Alabama. Huntsville did finally become a town of interest in the war when General Ormsby M Mitchel came to cut off the confederate communications done by rail. Huntsville did finally become a operation center for the Union Army.
In modern military times, the city of Huntsville became the home of NASA. Eisenhower made a formal dedication to the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1960. This city has been an instrumental part in creating the technology that is used today in the space program. Dr. Wernher von Braun, a German scientist, was brought to the city after WWII through the program called Operation Paperclip, to develop rockets for the Army. They created the Redstone ballistic missile which was modified into Juno I and took the first U.S. satellite and astronauts up into space. So there is so much to see on your visit to Huntsville from cotton picking to rocket blasting, you can’t get bored.
As you take your cab ride to one of the hotels Hartford Connecticut has waiting for you there may be a sense of curiosity that builds. This city is very green and beautiful with land scape nestled through the tall modern and historical buildings. There is plenty of history in this town since its early Dutch settlers came to trade their furs. It got its name from a settlers original home town in England Hertford. This city had some early political pull as it inspired the U.S. Constitution.
Plenty of historical people have spent time or lived here. There were gatherings of early delegates at the Hartford Convention. Harriet Beecher Stowe author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a home in the Asylum Hill section of the city, Nook Farm. Visitors can visit her old home which has a museum. Mark Twain also spent time in this city. He thought it was the most beautiful city of all. His home is also a museum and can be visited the same day as you see Stowe’s home because they are in the same neighborhood.
The sites of interest seem to be endless. Bushnell Park near the State Capitol has wonderful rolling hills of grass, fountains, sculptures, an old historic carousel and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch. This Civil War Memorial in the main entrance on the north side of the park. This triumphal Arch is the first one put up in the United States. The Connecticut State Capitol building is also a brilliant site. It is the office for the State Senate, House of Representatives, Governor, Secretary of State and the General Assembly of Connecticut. It is an incredible display of Victorian Gothic Style. There are many more splendid sites to see so if you are coming to this city you may want to keep your hotel room a few extra days. Stay and take in some of the rich history and beauty this city has waiting.
After having breakfast at our Santa Monica Hotel, we went to Perry’s bike rental place located on the Santa Monica beach and rented a couple of mountain bikes for the day. We left around 10am and followed the beach bike path all the way past the Santa Monica pier to Venice Beach where we stopped because Buddy wanted to pay his respects to the famous Muscle Beach. We also went to the large spectator area and to the handball courts and the basketball courts, which are free to the public.
We got back on our bikes and rode took the bike path to the end where it joins up with the road at Marina Del Rey. We stopped there and had lunch at this very nice bay that looked out over the marina. After lunch, we headed back to our hotel, but we once again had to pay homage to Muscle Beach by watching a group of guys playing basketball. We continued along the bike path and went past Santa Monica all the way to the end on the other side, which is at Will Rogers Beach. There’s no way to go any further, so we turned around and went back to Santa Monica and returned the bicycles.
We could see at the end of the pier that there was a mime pretending to be playing the guitar, and he was really pulling it off like he was really performing. It seemed, sadly, that no one was watching his performance. I like mimes, but I know most people don’t. The pier was all abuzz with people and it was almost 9pm. We were exhausted from our bike ride today, so we went back to our hotel and fell asleep easily.
The next morning was overcast, but that didn’t stop us from taking a free coastal walking tour with a local guide named Collin who’s a retired English gent now living in the US. He took us to the pier and then down to the beach where US military vets were installing small white crosses in the sand; one for each military person killed in the Iraq war. We found this act very moving. We walked further down the beach, then up some ‘joggers’ steps where many locals exercise by running up and down these steps. Our ‘walk’ ended in about 4 hours, were we promptly went to the nearest Starbucks of a much needed caffeine boost.
Our next stop to see the Farmer’s Market located on Fairfax in Los Angeles, but first, it was time to take a break and just relax poolside at our hotel.