IDK, I saw this posted elsewhere and thought, ‘easy blog post.’ I may do a similar post tomorrow.
1. A go-to drink.
(alcoholic) Trader Vic’s Original Mai Tai (what are calories?).
(non-alcoholic) A tie between original full fat Coca Cola (can take me out of Atlanta, but some ties remain) and a fresh Lemon mint juice.
2. A go-to Karaoke song.
Say It Ain’t So, Weezer
3. A uniform
If I had my way, I would wear jeans, ballet flats, a t-shirt or some single color shirt and a scarf.
4. A hairsylist she loves.
I had one. She was great – she came to my house and gave me great color and would even cut Hubs’ hair. Too bad she lives in Los Angeles. 😦 And I haven’t lived in the States in 6 years.
5. An exercise routine.
If I’m motivated, the week will consist of 5 visits to the gym during lunch, 1 or 2 sessions of kickfit, 1 or 2 sessions of Physique 57 and additional walking.
Notice I said, ‘if I’m motivated’ – ask me how often that happens.
6. A happy place
At home w/Hubs watching our favorite shows. Sitting outside on the deck of my childhood home.
7. Things she’s grateful for
Hubs. Creativity. Awesome friends around the world.
8. A healthy sense of self
Well, it’s something I’m always working on. If I could only get my active brain to shut down at night and block out the ‘what’s the point of writing if you haven’t sold any books, just stop already’ thoughts, I’d be in a much better place. Fortunately, those days only happen one day a week or so – 1 out of 7 ain’t bad!
“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place. Like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again.”
– Azar Nafisi
This struck a chord with my ex-pat self. Usually, we are the leavers and not the er, leavees, but it’s still a melancholic feeling each time it happens.
It has dawned on me that I travel quite a bit and maybe other people would find my notes helpful! Maybe I’ll be able to remember some other recent trips and share my thoughts about them. Who says I always have to write about writing?
So, as mentioned in the previous post, we were supposed to go to Nepal, but due to bad weather, decided to opt for Copenhagen instead. I immediately took to my usual places for apartment rental: AirBnB, VRBO, Trip Advisor and Roomarama. Had it just been Hubs and I on our own, we probably would’ve opted for either Avenue or Hotel Kong Arthur (maybe for another visit). However, half the fun of traveling with friends is actually being with friends and apartment vacation rentals are much more conducive to this. Either way, we found a perfect 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom (very difficult to find in Europe) complete with a crib and toys.
The overnight flight wasn’t that bad – Dreamliner + very few passengers = make your own lie flat seat. Each of us managed a few hours sleep and were met by Anna for an early check in (8:30AM) at the apartment. Crashing for an hour or two, we showered and headed out to explore. While I trust any person going to Copenhagen would hit the usual sources for the top tourist things to do and see, I wanted to highlight some of the specific neighborhood delights:
The first night, still tired from our overnight flight, we decided to dine in and given there are limited opportunities for good sushi in Doha, unanimously opted for Hatoba (found via Just Eat). True story, the lady thought we were ordering way too much food. In reality, we ate everything except some of the edamame!
Once we secured reservations to Noma and had a look at the forecast (one of our days was heavy with drizzle), I knew I needed a trip to the salon. Fortunately, there was one right across the street! I stopped in during the morning and made an appointment for the afternoon. One hour and perfect highlights later, I was glad for the appointment. The prices were a little steep, but within reason.
It doesn’t look like much from the front, but great highlights inside!
Essentially right across the street was our ‘local’ coffee shop which we visited each morning. While the apartment did come with a coffee maker, we branched out to buy from this store. Not only did they have coffee, but I tried the ginger lemonade (a treat) and we had a few pastries from the shop (also very good).
While not as close as the others, this women’s store was a delight! I ended up buying an awesome tote bag, new shirt, make up brush and very cool new ring. I could’ve spent A LOT more money in this store.
Run, don’t walk.Tres cute, yes?
I think my last recommendation would be what we deemed a ‘side dog’ (a holdover from the side pretzels to be found all over Istanbul). We found one right around the corner from where we were staying and they make a perfect any time treat.
Made of yum.
And a word to note – don’t visit the Carlsberg factory – it’s a complete waste of money! Save your funds and head to the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam!!
Ex-pat living has a lot of benefits – case in point, random travel. I say ‘random’ because me, Hubs and our friends had plans to journey to Nepal last week when a cyclone and bad weather forced us to take a step back and consider our options. Aside from some ongoing issues with Qatar Airways, The friends had been to Kathmandu previously and thought that the weather could make for a very interrupted trip. So, we cancelled the tickets and tried to decide where else we wanted to go. Top of the list was actually Baku, Azerbaijan, but none of us had visas. We also tossed around Budapest and Morocco before deciding on Copenhagen. Within 12 hours, the new tickets were purchased, bags were repacked and a suitable apartment rental was found. Having dinner together to celebrate our new destination, we got into the spirit of Denmark by watching No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain before our 2AM departure. He spends most of the episode interacting with the chef and staff from Noma, the top rated restaurant in the world (2011, 2012) and ranked #2 this year.
“Wouldn’t it be funny if we went?”
Spoiler alert – we get to go.
Cut to: me digging out my smartphone and somehow obtaining reservations for Friday evening at 7:30.
Not quite ready to believe this had happened (people make reservations for up to 3 or 4 months in advance), it wasn’t until the restaurant called to get my credit card to hold the booking that I believed we were actually going. So, in the brisk Fall air, we made way for our culinary journey.
For the record, I am by no means a foodie. To put this whole meal into perspective – I ate McDonald’s as a snack the afternoon before my dinner at Noma. The meal following was airplane food on my return flight to Doha.
Here’s the best part – I don’t think they care. The staff were not pretentious in the least. They were regular, approachable people, which was good because making a booking at such an esteemed restaurant, I was a bit nervous – would I do or say something wrong? Would I wear the right thing? Would I even like the food?
From the moment we were even near the restaurant, all of my anxious energy disappeared. Literally, one of the wait staff saw us trying to take pictures and stepped right outside to offer his help. Our jackets were taken and we were shown to our table. Confirmation that one of our group could not eat gluten or dairy was clarified and we decided on a DELICIOUS celebratory bottle of champagne to start the meal. As food began appearing in front of us it became clear that each of the staff worked at Noma because of their love of food and hospitality. Each person we interacted with was genuine in their response to our questions and had nothing but patience as we became more inebriated. I know that this level of service exists elsewhere, but the combination of food and care made for something truly memorable.
So, why were we really there? The food of course! Each course (of which there were 20+) was something completely unique and different, with out of this world presentation.
This is a very simple version of what we were served. The explanations and ingredients were much more involved.
I think my top courses were: Wild duck (succulent and perfectly cooked), Elbleskiver and greens (the perfect comfort food) and quite honestly – the pork fat butter that came with our bread! You haven’t lived until you’ve had it. Props to the amazing gluten free bread as well.
One of the yummy starters.
While the bill at the end did involve some sticker shock, I say, you only live once. If you can’t enjoy a meal at one of the best restaurants on earth with friends, then what’s the point of travel? Do I usually spend that much on food? Of course not. Would I do something like this again? Definitely. And should I ever find myself in Denmark again, another dinner at Noma is top of my list…
And what about you, dear reader, any recent memorable meals to mention?
…or, when one picture disrupts 168 pages of editing.
You might look at the below picture and wonder how it could force me to step back, look at my existing draft and think, ‘Well, shit…I wish I would’ve thought of this or seen it earlier.’ For the WIP I’m presently getting through, I saw this picture this morning and knew it was going to cause some rewrites. The thing is, the idea this image prompted is SUCH a better fit than what is currently in place, I really have no option other than to go back and rewrite. In the end, I know it will make my book that much better, so…back to page 111 to start correcting!
I was trolling for a book similar to mine on Tumblr and happened upon an image of its cover that appeared in the Instagram of a C list celebrity persona. Naturally, I was jealous. Then, I started thinking, who would be the best fit for Room 702? Of course, I would love someone in the stratosphere (A List) to be actively involved with my book somehow, but even in a fantasy, the possibility seems a bit unrealistic. Although still in the realm of unlikely, as for most effective, I would be happy with anyone (celebrity or otherwise) that had a large following on Twitter or Instagram to be interactive with Room 702 (I’m looking at you, Aziz Anazari). However, if I guess I had to choose one celebrity that I would most like to be involved with my book, I would have to choose one of my celeb crushes, the lovely Ms. Emma Stone.
I think Emma represents someone who is approachable, humorous, but also well traveled. While she doesn’t entirely embody the demographic I’m aiming for, I think she’s very close to it.
She’d actually be holding a tablet to read the e-version, but I couldn’t pass up this image…
So, Emma, if you’re listening/reading/stumble across this – I’d be happy to send you a free copy of Room 702! Also, if you’re interested, I’d love for you to be the voice for the audiobook. I’m not obsessed, I promise.
And you, dear reader, who would best represent your brand, book or self?
In some ‘research’ on Pinterest (hey – checking out the ‘luxury hotel’ tag is legit exploration of a topic), I happened across some alternate themes I could use on WordPress (including below). At the moment, the only thing holding me back is the price tag ($60!) and also that while Ann Benjamin is currently all about Room 702, there are also other books and projects that have nothing to do with hotels. Anyway, this is just one of the many ideas I get in a day that I decide, usually, to not act on or do anything about.
Although I recently posted about ‘is it just me?’ I then stumbled across a word like above. Take for example – the fact that in less than a month, I’m going to do a flight around Mount Everest. Vorfreude would be the feeling I get when I think of being on a national morning talk show, signing into my Amazon account to see that I sold 100 books in a day, logging into any form of social media to see a glowing review of any of my books, book projects I have ideas for but haven’t started yet, a sequel to a book I’ve been anxiously awaiting, seeing friends I haven’t seen in awhile, meeting friends’ babies for the first time, getting to know old friend’s spouses and partners, traveling somewhere new, revisiting old favorite places…it’s a long list.
annbenjamin 