I know, I'm a slacker..

Well, I'm having some troubles uploading my pictures onto my computer, silly iphone cord, so that Grand Traverse: Part Two will have to wait.

In other news, I've been feeling kind of crafty lately, and Jasmine and I are going to try to make some tutus and headbands for babies/toddles. I know a lot of people already do this, but it seems like a lot of fun, so why not!

My brother also made some really cute shirts and onesies from cotton that were super cute, so I might try some of those, too. Also, I want my brother to teach me how to sew...but that's a biiiig undertaking. :)

Does anyone else have any cute crafts that he/she likes to make?

Let me know!

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa---Valentine's Day Weekend --Part One

Okay, so it took me awhile to get this up! We've been really busy this week for some reason or another.

So, let's get started!

Friday at around 11am, we left Madison Heights for our 4 hour drive to Traverse City. We stopped for lunch with some friends and then we were off.
The drive isn't too bad; most of it is freeway driving and then some two lane highway driving. I slept most of the way and Brandon listened to Rush Limbaugh on the radio(bleh!). Around 5pm, we arrived at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. 

ACCOMMODATIONS
I was somewhat surprised at how busy it was! We stayed in the tower rooms which were quite nice. There was a jacuzzi tub and a wet bar with a mini fridge. The TV was a bit out of date, and the room was a tad stuffy, but it wasn't a big deal. The beds were so soft! You just sink right into them, which most people like. I however, like really firm beds, but they were still comfy and I was so tired each night that it didn't really matter.

The only problems we had with the room all weekend were: Saturday morning, we didn't have any hot water around 9 am, but by 1pm it was back on. Ashley's friend works at the front desk and she said a lot of people were complaining about it, and they had someone out to fix it right away. It sucked, but I just took a shower later. The second problem was the the thermostat didn't want to work. It was stuffy and hot in the room every time we walked in it...we would eventually get used to it, but it was still a pain.

The tower rooms are newer and thus cost more money. The "Tower" rooms run about $180 on a busy weekend (we were there for winterfest) and about $150 on a regular weekend, with week rates being around $130. Whereas the "Hotel Rooms" run for about $30 less a night, respectively.


DINING

At the resort, there are 3 places to eat that aren't seasonal (there's 5 in the summer). After we settled in, we went down to the Sweetwater American Bistro  for dinner. The restaurant itself is really cozy. We sat in a booth and ordered our meals.






I had a Chicken BLT that had Garlic Mayo. It was really, really good. Brandon had a homemade pizza.

As far as pricing goes, this place is pretty afforadable. For two people, dinner and drinks, it ran us $25 including tip. Also, the resort allows your to charge everything within the resort to your room, so that was convenient.

I also really liked their salt and pepper shakers! They were huge!




We also tried out Jack's Sport's Bar while we were there, which shared a kitchen with the Bistro, thus having the same menu. The only differences were that Jack's was much smaller and had TVs.

The rest of our Dining didn't take place at the resort, and  I suggest to go down town and dine there, it's fun!
Here's a few of the places we stopped by:

Saturday morning we went to J/S Hamburg. It's a small restaurant down town that serves a greasy breakfast and some homemade toast, and since we had all had a few the night before, it hit the spot. I don't have any pictures of the food, and I imagine it wouldn't have been all that appetizing to look at now, but at the time, it was heaven.

Dinner Saturday night was at a Place called Stella's.Stella's location is where the former Traverse City State Asylum used to be. It was creep as all get-out. The walls were all brick and it was just simply, eerie. We asked our waitress what the room we were sitting in used to be, and we were a little bummed to learn it was for grain and farm feed. However, she did inform us that the kitchen was formerly the morgue and where their walk in freezers/fridges were made peerrrfeecctt sense. CREEPY!
Overall, this place was awesome. The food was amazing, and the staff was very accommodating. The four of us shared two bottles of wine (both Rieslings), two appetizers (calamari and gnocchi).


For our main entree's,
Brandon had Veal Scallopine, Ashley had a Chicken Dish, I had a Rib-eye (only thing guaranteed lactose free), and Sal had two orders of Tagliolini, (they were small!)
The menu changes everday and the chef uses local ingredients for as many things as possible! It was absolutley delicious. Unfortunately, The only picture of food I have is of Sal's Tagliolini, which is
Butter-poached white Gulf prawns, Maine lobster claw & knuckle meat, diced tomato. We ended the night with some chocolate and some hot tea. We liked the tea so much, we decided to go on a little trip the next day to find some!


Well, I need to get some stuff done around the house, So I'll update with part two later. That entry will include the Winter Wonder Fest, as well as the Spa, and Shopping!  Hopefully, I'll finish it tonight!

<3

Puppy Vacations!

If you don't know this already, I have two super-cute dogs, Bentley and Brewster. One of the biggest challenges we face while traveling is what to do with our dogs while we're away. Sometimes we leave them with Brandon's parents, or have my brother house sit while we're away, but when we're in a bind, or decide to leave last minute, we drop them off at the PetSmart PetsHotel. 

The PetsHotel is located within many PetSmarts and is really convenient, (we also use Banfield for the dog's vet, since it too is within PetSmart). There's quite a few options you can choose from. We usually purchase the overnight stay with a doggy-day-camp package. That way, the dogs all get to play with eachother and jump around and wear themselves out.

Rooms:

Most of the time, Dogs stay in the Dog Atrium. 

Or if you really want to splurge, there's always the Suites!

Food:

You can either pack food and treats with you dog, or they

will supply your dog with all of the Science Diet Dog food he/she can eat!

Play Time:

Each dog is walked and socialized at least twice a day. However, 

PetSmart's policy is to not take the dogs outside. 

You can also purchase the Doggie Day Camp Package. This package allows your

 dog to interact with other dogs in a supervised play area. (Bentley loves this!)

* Pit Bulls and/or Pit Bull mixes are not allowed to participate in the day camp

due to their "aggressive tendencies". 

Cleanliness:

This place is super clean. The dogs waste is cleaned up/hosed down 

immediately and there's never any food or treats lying around just waiting to be gobbled up!

Add-Ons:

The PetsHotel offers many add-ons to make your dog's stay more comfortable for an extra price.

Some of these include:

Kong Treats

Dog Ice Cream

Pawdicures

Individual Play Time

Exit Bath

Doggie Day Care:

This option is for people who don't want to leave their dog home while they're at work

or need to run errands all day. You can drop your dog off in the morning, your dog gets to play to his/her heart's content and then you can come and pick him/her up! Sometimes we do this just to wear the dogs out if there has been bad weather and we haven't been able to take them to the dog park! 

Cons:

Brewster isn't allowed to have interaction with any dog besides Bentley, even though he is a Pit/Dane mix. At first, they let him play, but now that he's getting bigger, he isn't allowed to anymore. We haven't taken our dogs here lately because of this, however, I'm still recommending them because when only had Bentley, this facility far exceeded my expectations of a dog boarding establishment. 

Pros:

. It's close, never fully booked and conveniet. The staff is extremely friendly and the best part is that you get a report card when you pick them up! It tells you all about their stay and recommendations for next time!

Special Offers:

If you visit PetSmart's PetsHotel website : www.PetsHotel.com  and sign up for special offers, You will recieve a $5 coupon of your next PetSmart purchase! They send coupons out pretty frequently and we always use them right before we board them so they have a new toy to spend the night with!!

Next time you need a boarder, try them out! It's worth it!

Note: For those of you who own pit bulls or pit mixes, there's a kennel called Bark About in Shelby TWP, Mi. that allows pits. I'm going to take Brewster and Bentley here next time and then I'll write up a review on them. THEY HAVE A INDOOR PUPPY AQUATIC CENTER!! ahahah  Check them out: www.barkabout.net

Valentine's Day Weekend

This weekend I'm heading out to Traverse City with Brandon, Sal, and Ashley. We'll be staying at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. While we're there, we'll be participating in the Traverse City Winter Wonderfest. There's going to be a lot of things to do, including a Chili Cook-off, sled-bed racing, beer and music fest, wine and food fest, snowball fight, polar dip, etc. And, with all of this snow that we're getting as I speak, I'm sure there will be lots of snow sculptures and the like. I'm really, really, really excited to go to this resort, and when I get back, I'll give everyone a review of the hotel, spa, and restaurants. :)

Here's the website, just in case you're interested!

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, Acme Michigan

Ideas!

So, my friend,Sue, started a blog about a month ago that chronicles her everyday life. She blogs about everything from what's for dinner, to amazing deals of everyday items. And so, with her as my inspiration I've decide to do a shade of the same.

Brandon, my boyfriend, and I travel quite a bit and so, I'm going to give reviews and recommendations on vacations spots....I'm hoping to include everything from the scenery, to the hotel/resort, to restaurants. I don't know how successful it will be, but I'm going to give it a try.

I'm also going to post things when I'm bored..because let's face it, as much as I'd like to be traveling every single day, that just isn't going to happen!! So, that's where the Dilly-Dally comes in (well, that and I couldn't find anything else to rhyme with "alli" when I decided to do this...). I'll post stuff that I find interesting or just plain weird that will not only take up my time.. but yours as well. Allowing you to, Dilly-Dally with Alli! ha ha ha..get it? :)

Also, I'm going to post links to Sue's site quite often (or in absence of my posts). She's always posting great deals and reviews and we all can use any heads up on deals we can get. I haven't told her that I'm doing this yet, so I hope she doesn't mind too much. :)

Anyway, here's Sue's Blog. Be sure to join her Facebook Page and Twitter Feeds for the latest!

www.hell0-sue.blogspot.com

Here We Goooooo!

So, I'm not publicizing this blog quite yet. I'm still trying to figure out what it's going to entail, as well as who my audience is going to be. Mostly, I just want this blog to serve as a place to compile things I see and do, and why or why not I like them. We'll see what happens.

Plus, I had to do it for a class.. :)

I'm in a digital rhetoric course and this is one of our assignments...Create and maintain a blog, and if you want, a facebook business page.

Woo!