pleasure in simple things

cruisin’ ocean drive

February 7, 2020

My favorite hotel along Miami’s famed Ocean Drive is The Betsy – a chic hotel with a rooftop pool…if I were to plan a future trip to Miami, this would definitely be my hotel of choice.

Walking along ‘the drive,’ there are a couple of super cool features outdoors at The Betsy to check out.

My favorite is an orb-shaped sky bridge, considered a groundbreaking piece of Miami public art. I was so fascinated with this structure!

The other unique feature is a sculptural Poetry Rail honoring local wordsmiths – from Langston Hughes to Muhammad Ali.

Cool, right? And you haven’t even seen the inside of the hotel!

I hope you enjoyed sharing a couple of the interesting features of The Betsy Hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami! Can’t wait to share my favorite restaurant!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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Aventura Mall is the largest mall (2,800,000 square feet of retail space) in Miami and one of the largest in the U.S. Anchored by five department stores including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, the center is highlighted by a mix of over 300 luxury boutiques and shopper favorites, including Anthropologie, Burberry, Cartier, Givenchy, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. It also features more than 50 eateries and restaurants, and showcases 20 museum-quality art pieces in a range of mediums.

Sounds amazing as far as malls go, right?

But when I made a quick visit to the Adventura Mall recently, I only had one destination in mind and it was none of the above-mentioned stores or eateries!

My (very) quick visit was solely for the purpose of taking a ride down the mall’s slide! The photos I have included here are of the slide at the Adventura Mall. Offered for free to any mall visitor, the slide is a great novelty! The climb up to the top offers some great exercise and the ride down is a lot of fun!

I have to say though, standing up was definitely a chore when I got to the bottom because I was so dizzy!

I thought it would be fun to share my ride with you today on the blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great week and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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inspirational reads for january

January 17, 2020

It is not unusual for me to log in a couple of inspirational reads at the beginning of a new year. It is unusual for me, however, to read two that have as great an impact on me as the two I started with in 2020!

For this reason, I am sharing the titles of the books with you today.

One of these books is by James Clear, titled Atomic Habits. There is a good reason James is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies. He has created a practical guide on how to build good habits and get rid of bad ones! Reading this book is an easy way to reshape your thought process in a way to achieve positive results. If you are up for making some tiny changes that can have some positive results in your daily life, give it a try!

The second book I want to mention is Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD. This book is fascinating! I can only imagine it would be fascinating to everyone since everyone sleeps! The way the book is organized, it is easy to skim through or to just read sections that are of interest. I am always interested in improving my health and this book explains how something as basic as sleep can have a tremendous impact!

Even if you don’t normally enjoy reading anything medically related, I think you will find some areas of interest in this book. Take it out of your local library and, at the very least, give it a skim!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things – like a good night’s sleep!

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lilly, palm beach

January 7, 2020

If you are a Lilly Pulitzer fan, you really have to visit the Palm Beach store! I know in the past I have shared photos from the Lilly store at The Breakers in Palm Beach, but there is also a store on historic Worth Avenue.

This past stay at The Breakers, I had some time to visit this larger store and want to share some photos with you.

Of course any Lilly superfan would have something custom made while visiting the Worth Avenue store!

I love this piece of art hanging in the store! If you know anything about the history of Palm Beach, you know the monkey is very significant! Johnnie Brown was the pet spider monkey of Addison Mizner, an eccentric Palm Beach fixture of the roaring twenties – and Johnnie’s grave is located in the first shopping arcade built on Worth Avenue!

One of the best parts of visiting any Lilly Pulitzer store is checking out the dressing rooms!

To read about the origins of Lilly Pulitzer design (and see the Lilly store at The Breakers), click here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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word of the year 2020

January 3, 2020

Anytime I’ve decided on a word for the year, it has not been with intent…the word just sort of happened. And, that was exactly the case this year.

I hadn’t planned on choosing a word for the year. Then…it just kind of chose me!

I received an art print from my good friend, Phyllis, as a Christmas gift. It was something she owned and I had really admired. She was sweet enough to gift me the same one for Christmas!

On New Year’s Day, I found the perfect spot to hang my new piece of art. The colors; just perfect with my neutral decor and the illustration; lovely! As I positioned the piece in its new home, I realized the words ‘just grow’ written on the bottom were perfect for my goals for 2020.

I had made a conscious effort for my first read of the year: Atomic Habits by James Clear. In addition, I already had some of these ‘habits’ in my queue for 2020. The word grow just seemed so consistent with everything I envisioned for the year ahead! Thank you, Phyllis! For the beautiful gift and for my word (grow) for 2020!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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best of the new year!

December 29, 2019

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday! I did my very best to stay in the moment and enjoy every scrap of time I was able to spend with my family. Which is why you haven’t seen a post from me until now!

I wanted to put up a quick post to wish you the very best as the new year begins! Have a very safe and happy celebration!

See you in 2020!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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the breakers, palm beach at holiday

December 17, 2019

I know I have posted quite a bit about The Breakers in Palm Beach in the past, but today, I am sharing photos of this beautiful, historic hotel decked out for the holidays! Enjoy!

How lucky was I to get the chance to stay at The Breakers at this time of year!

Thanks for stopping by, Jackie

P.S. If you would like to see more on The Breakers, visit some past posts by clicking below:

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diamonds & furs christmas tree

December 3, 2019

In this part of the country, snow and Christmas just go together! As we prepare for our first significant snow storm of this winter, it is hard not to think of the holidays!

The short 3-week time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year has put everyone in a shopping frenzy! I did most of my holiday décor and shopping extra early this year so I could give my full attention to the holiday displays I needed to prepare at work.

One thing I did fit in was to create a themed tree for a local nonprofit. You know how much I love a good theme! I came up with a fun one for a tree to be raffled off by a private local high school.

My ‘luxury’ theme was inspired by Tiffany. Tiny mink coats, strings of pearls, diamonds, and Tiffany boxes came together in a really fun way on a lighted table top Christmas tree! I wanted to come up with a tree no one else would think to do – what better way to create some interest!

I plan to make my decorated tree donation an annual tradition and I am looking forward to coming up with a new theme each year as a way to inspire others to donate to the school!

I hope I have inspired you to combine fun and giving into your holiday routine!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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the perfect white santa mug

November 26, 2019

You take your life – or at the very least, the well-being of your car – in your hands when parking at our local Walmart. I never go to the store for that reason! I am way too particular about my car to chance a nick or ding in it by parking in the Walmart lot!

Well, recently I was driving through another town and happened to see a Walmart ahead – noticing the parking lot was roomy and well-marked – so very different from the one at my local store! As I got close, I remembered hearing someone tell me I was crazy not to buy cereal at Walmart because it was a full dollar less than the grocery store. Remembering this, as I got closer to the store, I pulled in! I thought I would pick up some of that bargain cereal and maybe some bulk paper goods.

Well, I was so glad I stopped! As I walked down the main aisle headed for the cereal, I saw all-white Santa mugs! Perfect for my neutral holiday palette! In addition, they were less than $3. a piece! Wow!

I had to let you know about this fabulous find!