Nope, not on a boat with T-Pain, but rather on a plane from Boston to Baltimore, with my final destination being the District of Columbia. Airtran offered me free wi-fi so I took it! Why not. Luckily I don’t have to do any work on the plane, just browsing facebook and blogging. However, I have mixed feelings about this new wi-fi up in the air thing. When I was traveling at my old job it was nice to be cut off from the world for a few, now not everyone will be! Also, it’s hard to blog when there is turbulence, makes one a bit queasy…

xoxo from 32,000 feet,

LottieB

Today is the first day of winter, which means every girl from east to west is breaking out her Uggs, unless she is one of those who wears them year-round (please no). If Santa isn’t bringing you new ones, your sheepskin boots are probably stained from salt, slush and general winter residue, well fret not! I came across a little snippet in Lucky Magazine about suede cleaning, here is their wisdom:

1) Revive balding or matted spots by rubbing the area with a strip of fine sandpaper (talk to Kristen and Aviva if you need help choosing the correct brand, they are experts). Then, using the same pressure you would to check a pulse, work in a vertical – not circular – motion.

2) To remove salt stains, brush the area with a suede brush (a firm toothbrush also works) doused in a 50/50 white vinegar and water solution. Let the spots dry overnight, then go over them lightly with a clean, dry brush.

While we’re on the subject, I actually don’t want sheepskin Ugg’s at all right now, but rather these awesome guys, kinda intense, but great for a New England winter!

While we’re on the subject of celebrity chefs, I had the pleasure of eating at Paula Deen’s restaurant in Savannah, GA last week, Lady & Son’s. The place has been open since 1989, but of course became wildly popular after Paula’s Food Network success. The menu is southern to the core, with a buffet of fried chicken, collards, mac and cheese, and other cholesterol heavy goodness, or a la carte offerings ranging from chicken pot pie to shrimp and grits (every southern place needs that on the menu). The atmosphere is very casual and the prices are decent, a lunch ran us $35, which included pecan pie.

Our hotel happened to be right near the restaurant, so per Paula’s instruction on her website, we walked over at 9:30 am and made a reservation with the hostess who stands outside from 9:30 to 4pm each day taking reservations, you can only make them in person. Before our meal we browsed Paula’s gift shop who has been shameless about putting her name on everything from chapstick to cookware. I succumbed and bought some coffee. Her signature Y’all is also written EVERYWHERE.

We then walked over to the restaurant side of the building and were sat immediately and greeted by a server who gave us hoecakes hot off the griddle and garlic cheddar biscuits (maybe the best biscuit I’ve ever had, sorry Paul). I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, the pork was cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth and the “french fries” were basically deep fired slices of potatoes. There were also pickled green tomatoes, I need to find myself some of those up north! MMMM.

Marc got a meatloaf sandwich on pumpernickel with the most amazing mushroom mayonnaise, I think it must have had butter in it, maybe cream too, who knows, but you haven’t had mayonnaise until you’ve tried this stuff!

We were so full that we had to take our pecan pie to go, but we couldn’t leave there without it! Despite the unhealthy-ness of her cuisine it is sure amazing, if you are ever in Savannah give it a try, we were stuffed y’all!

As my readers know, I am a big fan of visiting places that have been on Throwdown with Bobby Flay. This weekend was the culmination of those experiences when I ate at the restaurant of the Chef himself. On Friday night Marc and I went to Bobby’s signature restaurant Bar Americain in NYC. We got a reservation with no problem (probably because nobody else wanted a big dinner the night after Thanksgiving). However, the place was bustling when we arrived. We were sat at a table on the second level of the restaurant, with a nice view of the floor below. Also, we are pretty sure Bobby films his Throwdown planning scenes up there!

We started the meal with some oysters, as the raw bar we saw on the way in looked quite enticing. We were happy with our decision, as October and November are prime oyster months (which you can learn all about in this post).

Though Bobby had some fun looking cocktails, we opted for a bottle of Prosecco, as his cocktails also came at a price ($14 each, typical NYC) and we figured the wine would get us a little more for our dollar. It was a hard decision for main courses, but I settled on mussels in green chili broth, mainly because they came with frites that looked amazing at the table next to us, and Marc opted for some smoked chicken with green chile spoon bread. Yes, green chili theme.

We were both quite pleased with our choices. The frites were just awesome and I wanted two more servings. The green chile broth was only slightly spicy and added a fresh unique flavor to the mussels that was a nice change from your average broth.

Marc’s smoked chicken with was also pretty delish. The chicken wasn’t too dry and the smoky flavor wasn’t overpowering, while the spoon bread (yes, it was new to me too), went well with the dish.

On the side we got some cauliflower and goat cheese gratin, so so so so yummy. The picture tells you what you need to know.

We wanted dessert and glanced at the menu, Bobby is famous for his sweet potato pie, but we opted out this time. However, I’m sure we’ll be back! Mainly because I twittered Bobby to come to our table, but he didn’t. Meeting him would be the ultimate Throwdown…

We all know Lottie loves to shop and loves shopping even more when she finds deals. Here are a select few Black Friday coupon codes…

Kiehl’s: Who doesn’t love them, did you know they are owned by L’Oreal and never advertise? Well, now you do. Get 20% off until December 1st with coupon code FAMILY. Free shipping on orders over $30 (not too hard with their stuff). I recommend the Grapefruit Liquid Hand Soap, worth the splurge!

J. Crew: There’s always some kind of coupon to use at J. Crew. Get an extra 20% off sale items, plus free shipping when you spend $150 or more, use code EXTRA20 at checkout. Good until November 29th.

Vineyard Vines: A must for the prepster, they also have great basic sweaters and tees, save 20% off your order of $150 or more through November 20th with code TURKEY at checkout!

SkinStore: My favorite spot on the web for products by Bliss, Korres and so much more! Use code HOL20 at checkout, they always have free shipping for orders over $50 and the best customer service around if anything happens to your fabulous foaming facewash en route! One time I didn’t get an order, so they re-shipped it, then the lost one came and they told me to keep the duplicate! Thanks guys.

Moosejaw: This outdoor store with arguable the quirkiest marketing strategy on the web is offering a $51 gift certificate with any North Face purchase of $149 or more, use code TNF51 at checkout until December 6th, in addition they want you to “Sell two hugs on eBay for $80 and then either give the $80 to charity or use it for your first round of botox.” Oh Moosejaw!

Happy shopping and Happy Thanksgiving!

During Econ class today when we were discussing price discrimination in competitive markets (yup companies purposely charging you a lot when demand is high, sorry) all I could think of was a pumpkin spice latte. As soon as the clock struck 11:30 I hightailed it to Starbucks on Linden Street for my tall 1/2 caff soy pumpkin-spiced latte.

As I was picking up my drink from the Barista I noticed a cup full of these little green things and OMG, they were to plug the drink hole on my cup lid so it wouldn’t spill!!!! Starbucks, you have solved all my problems.

For example, one time I basically dumped my college boyfriend because he drove over a bump and spilled his latte all over my car because it spilled out the top (I’m not that awful, I’d told him to watch out for that happening before it happened, LESSON: always listen to your GF). Plus, almost every time I got Starbucks before work I would spill at least a little foam on me during the walk, cursing the Starbucks gods and the DC sidewalks.

Well, those days are gone. With this new nifty little green stuck you can plug your mug and also stir your drink if you so desire. If I was Lady GaGa I’d take a ride on the green stopper stick…

Way to listen to your consumers Starbucks. What will you do next? Lower your prices?

I should be reading about how HP made the computer personal again (and probably calculating their point elasticity), but instead I am watching Lady Gaga’s new video for Bad Romance, just released today. She’s so weird, yet cool. I’m intrigued. Do you think I should wear the white outfit to school tomorrow (with the headpiece)? Would I get a good grade for class participation?

She told Perez that in the video she gets kidnapped by models and they make her drink, I totally see that… Either way, Gaga is rockin. Andy Warhol could learn a thing or two from her.

I have an accounting exam tomorrow, here’s a screen-shot of my study sheet (I get to bring it to the exam), Carly would be so proud:

Don’t you wish you were me?

I’m heading to Chapel Hill this weekend to visit the BF. I haven’t been there since August, so it’s about time I get back in touch with my Carolina. It’s sure to be a fun weekend, between Kenan-Flagler’s MBA Casino Night (scroll to the bottom) and Halloween. Marc is going to be a sheep (organic, free roaming, grass-fed, obvs) and I will be his keeper, in the form of Little Bo Peep.

This was us last year, authentic Liderhosen and Beer Wench. Pretty fun!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

On Wednesday the Babson Marketing Club (Lottie may or may not be a member) is hosting a panel on retail marketing. The panel is full of superstars, including Babson’s current President Leonard Schlesinger who worked for Limited Brands before coming to Babson. It’s open to the public, if you’re interested in retail marketing, just retail, or just marketing, come on over!