Travel Stuff

I have to admit, I wasn't too thrilled about my Christmas present this year from my husband, a Kindle.  In fact, about 3 hours after I opened it on Christmas morning, I uttered the words in a very frantic, almost nonsensical pace "I didn't want a Kindle, I don't believe in them."  He, being the wise ass he is, returned with "What do you mean you don't believe in them, it's not the Tooth Fairy.  Keep it, try it out, you'll end up liking it, you'll see." 

And while I do like it, I have to admit I don't love it.  Yes, it is beyond easy and convenient to travel with.  The weight of it in comparison to my humongous copy of Elle is ridiculously light.  It's easy to read and can store something crazy like a thousand books.  But the things to love about it all relate to convenience. 

The things I love about reading a book have nothing to do with convenience.  I love the smell of the paper, the way it feels to hold it in my hand, seeing the progress I make as I turn the pages.  There are no page numbers in a Kindle, only percentages of progress.  I love going to the library or bookstore and browsing through books.  (Kindle cover via Knitty Bitties)

I also love to be nosy and look around at what people are reading when I am traveling or on vacation, or just sitting on the beach.  I have read several books that I love based purely on the sheer number of people I saw reading the book.  That is getting less and less relevant.  On my flight over, 4/6 people sitting in my immediate area on board were reading Kindle's.  I guess I could strike up a conversation with those people and ask what they're reading, but while many would probably politely indulge me as a curious lover of books, others would surely see it as an invasion of privacy and telll me to mind my own business?  I don't need to open myself up to that type of hostility in the name of books.

The other nice thing about reading a book?  It never runs out of battery power.  My Kindle is dying and I forgot my charger (I remembered both of my cell phone chargers and my laptop charger, I can't possibly travel with yet another charger).  I was so looking forward to finishing up 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp on the flight home.  I finally got back into it after taking a 3 week break, and Chapters 7-9 rocked me to the core.  Chapter 8 had me so unglued I had to get up and go to the bathroom for a breather.  Now I will have to find other things to do to fill my time on the 6 hour flight home tonight.   

So while my technological geek husband would love it if I loved my Kindle, I still just like it.  I will continue to carry it around, but I will be making a trip to the library soon just to get my hand wrapped around a real, good old fashioned book. 

In other non-related news, I filled up some time last night walking around my hotel and taking pictures of the outrageously consistent themed decor of blue.  Want to have a look?  I apologize for the bad cell phone pics...these pics below are of the lobby area.  While I love a consistent color palette, this is a little over the top for me.  Between the pleather seating areas, the feathered lamp shades and the pulsing techno music playing 24/7, I feel like I'm in a middle aged hipster's dream.

The outdoor dining/bar area was very pretty, but again, it was just SO much, I felt very distracted sitting at the bar having a drink with my coworker.  We both just kept looking around, almost in amazement at all the stuff to look at.

These huge apothecary jars were very pretty.  The intentional, very precise mixing of the chairs at each table almost seemed forced though.  What do you think? 

All the corridors are painted blue and the mirrors are also blue.  Standing in the long hallway taking a picture, I almost felt like I was in the Shining.  I half expected a kid to come around the corner riding a tricycle. 

There is plenty of seating area throughout the hotel in case you get tired at any point through your hipster journey.

At least the rooms are pretty simple and basic.  The only hint of blue is the painted ceiling and the patterned toss pillows.

Each room comes with an iPad.  I keep sliding around on that darn swivel chair though. 

And here is the reason we all travel right?  The little sample size goodies.  This line is pretty good and smells nice.  But I still like the Kiehl's travel samples I get when I stay at the 60 Thompson.  Please tell me you all take those travel samples home with you right?  It's a waste if you don't because they just throw them away after you leave.  Don't worry, I just take the one I use.  I'm not pilfering them like Ross on that episode of Friends.

I will leave you with this picture.  This toilet paper holder configuration has got to be the worst case of functional design I have seen in a while.  I have to twist every time I need the paper, and then it doesn't unroll properly, so the paper comes off 1 sheet at a time.  I keep taking it off that little holder and putting it on the floor, and housekeeping keeps putting it back.  A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things though ;)

And that concludes this post on travel stuff.  So tell me, do you have a Kindle and what are your thoughts on it?  Love it, like it, hate it?

(Bad camera phone pictures brought to you by Droid, as I'm not hipster enough to have an iPhone).