Wanderlust: The Ace Hotel New York

I've been fantasizing endlessly about an adults-only trip to New York this spring. (Unless a couple thousand bucks magically fall out of the sky, it ain't gonna happen. But still.)

We'd do grown-up things the entire time: Shopping from one end of the island (and Brooklyn) to the other, visiting museums and galleries, enjoying meals at trendy eateries, and meeting old friends for drinks. And we'd crash at the brand new, industrial chic Ace Hotel New York. With rooms there starting at just $99 a night -- cheap by Manhattan standards -- that's just about the only part of this scenario that's not straight out of Fantasyland.

Anyway, take a look:

Photo: Monocle

Photo: Michael Williams/Selectism

Photo: Katie Sokoler/Gothamist

Photo: Hint Magazine

Photo: men.style.com

More info on the Ace's new Manhattan outpost here.

(P.S. My visit to the Portland, Oregon Ace is detailed here.)

Wanderlust: Wonderful Walla Walla

As part of a recent work project (when I'm not blogging, I moonlight as a magazine writer and editor), I polled friends, acquaintances, and a few total strangers in the Pacific Northwest about their favorite weekend getaways. It's a tough job, I know, but someone has to do it.

Joe Futschik, a designer of wonderful things in Portland, Oregon, responded immediately and raved about Walla Walla, Washington. (Go ahead -- say that five times fast.) Joe even sent me a bunch of snapshots from his summer visit to this charming burg, along with comments on each of them. I swooned just looking at the pictures, and couldn't resist sharing a few of them here. Thankfully, Joe agreed to narrate his vacation slideshow.

Take it away, Joe!

"After design, travel and food are my two great loves. Walla Walla, a four-hour drive from both Portland and Seattle, is an amazing weekend getaway. It's in the middle of beautiful farm country and has great food, wine, and culture.

My friend GianCarlo Solimano owns a spa retreat in Walla Walla called Areus. The photos at top are of Areus' 'backyard.' And above are the pool with its Turkish daybed (I slept there under the stars!) and the spa's outdoor dining room.

A guest room and bath at Areus. The Icarus light is by Tord Boontje, and the owl lamp and carved wooden stag head are from Roost.

In the morning, breakfast was waiting for us on the beautiful community table.

GianCarlo also owns a crazy-cool clothing store in town called Cheval.

Willow is a great shop and art gallery that another good friend, Kary Beckner, just opened in June. The store's willow tree is by metal artist Douglas Gisi.

The focus at Willow is on handmade American design and regional artists.

Petit Noirs is a fantastic artisan chocolate shop housed in an old bungalow in the town of Milton Freewater, Oregon, ten minutes outside Walla Walla.

The shop has a French-boudoir look and sells things like these incredible molded chocolate shoes.

This is the view during the ride out to the tiny town of Waitsburg, about 15 miles from Walla Walla. We were off to Jimgermanbar there for incredible food.

I was an amazing trip, and I was so impressed with Walla Walla. It's a great spot for a quick weekend away!"

Thanks so much, Joe. I may just have to swing through Walla Walla on our next Northwest roadtrip. (And did I mention that Joe makes the most amazing lights, lightbox paintings, and other beautiful objects under the name jefdesigns? Check them out right here.)

P.S. Any other wannabe Wanderlust contributors out there? Feel free to share your vacation snaps and tell me about your favorite places to visit -- just so long as they don't involve, like, camping or hiking, both of which I'm (cough!) allergic to.

Wanderlust: The Requisite Vacation Snaps

We're back home and a bit comatose from the 650-mile drive back from Portland yesterday. I've been spending the morning going through our vacation snaps, and thought I'd share a few. (I didn't take a ton of PDX shopping pix this time around because, well, I've done plenty of that before. Plus, something about dragging along two bickering, sulky kids made me a little shy about introducing myself to shop owners and asking permission to take photos -- go figure.)

Far Northern California's Mount Shasta, as seen from a moving car.

We stopped over at the Rail Road Park Resort outside the quaint mountain town of Dunsmuir, California, where a group of real train cabooses have been turned into a motel. Our room had the most uncomfortable beds we've ever slept on, but the setting was gorgeous and the kids seemed to enjoy the novelty of it.

Laurel begged us to take her camping on our next trip. This girl loves the great outdoors. (Honestly, I don't know how she wound up in our family of avowed non-campers ... )

Soon after hitting Portland, we went for dinner at Cava. Art from hometown boy Evan B. Harris adorns one wall, and I'm pretty sure the handpainted details on another wall are by local artist Amy Ruppel, who owns Cava along with her husband, Randy Montgomery. (It's an absolutely lovely restaurant, but the location -- a few doors down from a strip karaoke joint and an auto body shop in a relatively desolate part of town -- is a bit random.)

Locals cool off in the fountain at Jamison Square in the Pearl District.

Don't even think about trying to hop this fence at Pistils Nursery.

Cool metal shingles at the offices of Our United Villages on North Portland's Mississippi Avenue.

Thrifting at House of Vintage on Hawthorne.

Clowning around at the Ace Hotel.

Art by Ryan Bubnis and Ryan Jacob Smith at Fifty24PDX.

Hokey as it was, the pirate-themed 3D mini-golf at Glowing Greens was a huge hit with a certain 13-year-old I know. (Thanks to Jewelie at the lovely Flora for the tip!)

Simple Scandinavian goodness at Clinton Street's Broder. (If you go, you must try the Danish pancakes!)

Somehow, this Bettie Ford seems like a lot more fun than the other one ...

Our house-swap partners have a beautiful collection of vintage Bauer and other pottery. (By the way, the house swap worked out great. The worst part was simply trying to get our own home spic and span before we left. But we were overdue for a deep cleaning, anyway.)

Austin checks out the action at Burnside Skate Park, the setting for Gus Van Sant's recent film, Paranoid Park.

The Hollywood Farmer's Market, where we picked up delectable artisan cheeses, bread, juicy cherries, and fresh pasta and pesto sauce for dinner one night.

The movie theater at the Kennedy School. (The couches here looked way more luxe than the IKEA specials at my beloved Parkway in Oakland ... Plus, microbrew!)

Hot dog.

Go, Beavers!

Oaks Park was a fun respite for the kids from all of the tedious shopping, museums, art galleries, and cafe-sitting we forced upon them. (Repeat after me: "Yes, I am the boss of you ... Why do I get to decide what we're doing today? Because I am The Decider ... " Uh-huh -- just go ahead and renew your birth-control prescription right now.)

Alas, time to go home. Nick took to Portland almost as quickly as I had on my first visit there, and even the kids seemed to think it was OK. It'll be interesting to see if they continue to howl in protest every time I joke about moving north ...

Anyway, bye for now, Portland. I like you -- I really, really like you.

(P.S. Thanks so much for your patience with my light posting during our trip. I'll be back on a normal posting schedule next week. Have a lovely weekend!)