Wine'ding Down in VA

Virginia is my hometown so, naturally, it's easier for me to love. But if I were from Mars or Montana, I think I could safely say I love this state. It's not just because it perfectly combines beaches, rivers, mountains, valleys, forests and lakes, and it isn't just because it boasts beautiful architecture and enriching, established and fine universities and academic institutions. The farmland is lush and gorgeous and the skyline along the Shenandoah is stupendously stunning, yes. The truth is, Virginia is a space that is full of many wonderful and fine things including my all-time favorite: The harvesting of that tender, darling grape. (Did someone say WINE?)

Yes, in fact, Virginia is for wine lovers and, since young Jefferson was vibing out his vineyard at Monticello, farmers have been working hard to work the region in honor of that special sauce! Over the past 10-15 years, Virginia's wine region has actually and finally taken off and received, well, a level of legitimacy that Danny and his dad, squashing grapes in the backyard tub still aren't getting. This month and this week, in particular, we'd like to celebrate Virginia's work for the wine-loving and we're doing it at W xyz!

If you pop by W xyz bar at aloft Chesapeake anytime between now and the end of March, we'll be offering specials on Virginia Wines by the glass. And? If you book a stay with us between now and March 31st, we'll go ahead and throw a bottle of Virginia's finest in your room, chilling and waiting for you after check in.

We invite you to getaway and come stay and play with us all Spring, in fact, and we encourage you to check out some of the region's better known wineries and vineyards. Because, like it or not, this state is filled with a lot of fabulous and, well, we'll drink to that!

PS: For more great travel info on all that Sweet VA has to offer, hit these informative and darling sites:

http://www.virginia.org/
http://www.virginiawine.org/
http://www.chesapeake.va.us/

-QoV

spring break aloft

Spring Break. Like a sandwich at noon, if you remember, it always came at just the right time and it satisfied, relieved and reminded us: Breathe! Be! Free! Whee!

Being school aged is less than fabulous for a million reasons, but for built in time off, well, it's kind of the bomb.com. And so, I've decided. I'm bringing back the Break. I'm bringing back the ritual, the timeline and? The time off to travel, get free and go gather up some fresh creative juices and juju to take into a blinging new season.

Since it's my first Spring Break since 2001, I've decided to keep myself organized and go ahead and stick to a theme: Exploration. I'm going to go on a giant aloft Hotel exploration safari, and trek out into the abyss of the US to check out a few of our newer but no less shinier and sparklier hot spots. Because I'm organized and anal retentive, I had to make a list to keep my chi in check.

So, here it is. Find me at any of these locations over the next few weeks. I know we've never met, but I'm sure you'll recognize me. I'll be the gal in the I Heart Queens shirt with the aloft logo stamped on the backside of my skirt. Spring Break aloft! Here I come!!!

Point 1: aloft Chesapeake Hotel (Chesapeake, VA)

Point 2: aloft Richmond West Hotel (Richmond, VA)

Point 3: aloft Arundel Mills Hotel (Hanover, MD)

Point 4: aloft Bolingbrook Hotel (Chicago, IL)

Point 5: aloft Charleston Hotel (Charleston, SC)

I couldn't squeeze in more than that without turning my vibe upside down. But be assured: I will be at one of these joints, I mean it. I'll be recharging, refueling and remixing like no other. Find me splashing, sassing, sipping, meeting, mixing and mingling. Find me if you can. Globetrotting. Aloha style.

C'mon, already. Let's do this, kiddos!

a: bloom

Ah...March: A schizophrenic month, caught between two worlds of Winter wornout and Spring seduction, it teases, taunts and even terrorizes without care or caution. A minx of a month, March's unreliability and frequent sketchiness should have rendered it useless, inconsequential and irrelevant. But then, the fair mistress carries a trump card in her back pocket and March, the menace that she is, will always wield her potential when the pickins' get slim. She can't help it. She knows it. We'll always love her a little. She had us at hello. She's got us with one word: SPRING.

Promises imply possibility and, kept or unkept, they are powerful. I already feel charged and revived at the thought of the backyard, green and glowing. I remember last Spring and Summer and get all nostalgic, just knowing how close I'm getting. aloft is a bright and bold space and, like the warmer months it seems to favor, it blossoms under the gaze of the brighter sun. Remember the live music on the backyard patio on Fridays at 5? Remember the way you'd roll out of bed the next morning, trot down to re:fuel for a refreshing Izze, a muffin and maybe a latte and then make your way, ever-fluidly, to Splash for a morning swim? Remember how wonderful it was to finish up and plop outside in the sunshine for a quiet, lounged out moment on one of our swanky, smushy and simmering chaise's?

Even if March is always a mystery and even if she's only hinting at memories and make believe moments that haven't yet happened, I'd like to remind you: At aloft, we keep our promises and we believe in bloom. We? Feel SPRING in our bones. So? We invite you not to forget the fun, the fabulous and freedom of our space. Spring forward and let us fill you with the beauty of a new season.

Come out, come out little bud-lings. Come live life aloft.

http://www.aloftchesapeake.com/

http://facebook.com/aloftchesapeake

Where the Love Is

"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." ~ James Earl Jones

Holding back is not so much my style. What can I say? I'm an expressive gal! For me to succeed and achieve, I have to let it out. I learned that a long time ago and when push comes to shove, I stick to that and I stick to this: It's better for all of us if I just tell you what's on my mind. So, on that note...

Right now, all I can think about is LOVE. I mean, sure, I'm always basically a positive person. As a leader, as a Queen, I think it's important to demonstrate a good, clean, healthy and upbeat outlook. I mean, c'mon. Have you looked at my space lately? I'm practically a perfect cross between a glow stick, a disco ball and the remnants of a Picasso-inspired paintball tournament. Color, light, glitter and sparkle. Everywhere. But that's not what I'm talking about. Not completely. I'm talking? About love. For real.

In less than one week, Valentine's Day will be upon us, and while I know not everyone is into the hearts, stars, flowers and choco rocko, well, I still think it's sort of sweet, special and, well, neat. I think Teddy Bears are really nice people (?) and I will not, no matter how many times you'd beg, hate on a tiny, winged, chubby cherub with a bow and arrow on his arm. In fact, I think that life is a rush and a hustle and that it's really a relief to get an opportunity, a day, a weekend, maybe just a few moments, to remember to tell people that we care. And to hear that we are cared for. Why hold that back? Why suffer in silence? Why not just tell me/us/them/it? I LOVE YOU.

So, I'm starting the chain. I'm starting now. I'd like to let you know, from my own royal heart to yours: I? LOVE you. I really do. And just so you know I'm not faking, I've created a list of all the reasons why. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but if you're so inclined, why not respond in the comment section below and tell your darling QoV what it is you love about me? And my sweet little hotspot...the aloft of fun!

The Queen of the Vibe Loves You, Because:

1. You smile a lot. We could blame it on the booze from w xyz, but then, sometimes you're just in here sipping on a latte and snacking on a muffin, so I know you mean it. You look really nice, really happy, really adorable. There you are, all snuggled up in the leather rocker with your feet kicked up on an ottoman and your laptop is blazing and I know! I know that you feel good. You cutie.
2. You're fun. You come in at "happy" hour and you bring all your super fab friends and you just charm charm charm it up! I see you perched at the bar, all sassy and silly, cracking your crazy jokes and lording over your crew. You're planning an event for your co-workers on your birthday. Because you want to be celebrated! Even by the people who share that tiny but tender cubicle with you!
3. You indulge me! You are my facebook friend and you regularly play my reindeer word games with me. You don't mind that I'm half bananas, half the time. In fact, you tell me that you think it's fine. And I believe you. I do I do I DO! You know that I know that we're all in this together and if we're going to keep this joint jumping and jamming, we've got to take it light and let it roll, from time to time. You sweetheart, you.
4. When you stay, you always play! You could come visit and be a total blob, boring and blah. But not you. No no no. You come and you do it up! You break out our Jenga set, let out your inner pool shark, sweat it out in our fab-o fitness facility and still find time to sidle up to the bar at w xyz and put a little razzle dazzle into your cocktail playlist. You're not content to go drooling around the same old shmame old spots, sticking in the same old mud, idle. You? Ramp it up. Me likey.
5. You respect our space. You're careful and you take good care of the things you love. You wouldn't roll in here, all hobo'ed out and haggard, breaking up our flow and throwing ick and mess about like glitter. Nope. You, like us, are one who loves the aesthetically sweet art of living. You live beautifully, in fact. You make it look good when you lounge. You are a gorgeous thing. I'd whistle at you right now, if I knew how (sadly, some talents have escaped your sweet Queen's skillset).

I'm so hoping that you'll come up and spread a little bit more of you with us this Valentine's weekend and this Valentine's month. I promise to adoringly dote and fuss all over you. In fact, I think I'll get my minions on it now and have posterboards, cards, fliers and neon signs flashing, upon your arrival:

I LOVE YOU!


Thanks for your time in advance. You're so generous! (See! Another reason to love you!)

Yours,

-QoV

Staycation Nation

I have barely traveled this year. I mean, I've been on the move, sure. Been busier than ever before, yes. Been hustling and hauling it from one point to the next, every chance I get, but yea. No. I haven't really vacationed and gone off my schedule and thrown myself off the grid. Not so much.

This has been the case with a couple of friends of mine, as well. In fact, in a conversation the other night over dinner, these friends of mine, a couple, stated that they had barely had a chance to get away and "recover," if you will. We all sat around laughing about our lackluster lot until one of us said it: "We need to plan a small getaway with no worries. You know? A Stay-cation." Dingdingding! Ringalingaling! Done. Score. Perfect. The eagle landed.

Why hadn't we thought of this before??

Last weekend, they packed up and rode out to aloft Chesapeake to staycation for the weekend. I wrote up a list of favorite local spots like restaurants, spas, breakfast joints and art galleries. I sent them to The Chesapeake Arboretum and The Northwest River Park. They spent at least five hours in total, lounging by the pool with their laptops, making new music playlists and randomly scouring the web for nothing at all. They drank martinis at w xyz bar each night and overdid it, just a little, since they'd be taking the lift home. Basically, they vegged, vibed and totally tuned out of their usual lives.

At the end of the weekend, I checked in on them and asked how it was going. They were in total blob-dom, totally chilled out and chillin':

"QoV," they gushed, "this was absolutely the best thing we could possibly have done for ourselves. We never want to leave. We feel...Chesapeake'd!"

And it hit me. This whole plan is brilliant. And why aren't more of us doing it? Really?

So, you know, I'm just saying. I'm just throwing it out there because that's basically what I do best: If you've had one of those landlocked sort of years and, let's say maybe you're starting to feel faded and it's happening faster than you can handle, well, I'd recommend you, you know...think about getting away, even if it means just swinging around the corner.

Until then, wait for their review of their little Staycation weekend in the coming week and live vicariously through their time:

www.altdaily.com

Mwah.

-QoV

Number One

"There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results." -Anon

When we begin something new, when we choose a new direction, there is often that little burst of za za zoom that gets us right through those early stages of change and disorientation. That's convenient, really. That excitement is necessary. It's the bee sting to the horses behind and, I mean it: It's real. But it goes away. And then...then what?

When we make a resolution and we begin a new path, we don't know that it might be winding or wooly, covered in glass or twigs or tar. We don't know, but we set out. We? Commit.

Sure, it's a new year, and we've made some promises to ourselves to step up the game in ways that we know we're ready to do. We want to keep getting better and the truth is, now that we've learned to balance on these glorious two legs, we think it's time. To learn to run. And by run, I mean fast.

The good news in all times is that we've got a little light to lead the way: Vibe. Attitude is everything, right? And who would we be without our sassy smiles and savvy ways? We're naturally in love with our world and even if it's new amenities, new rules, new menus or just new moons, we're committed to one thing above it all: No worries.

We can assure you that we support you as you're running faster or dancing longer or jumping farther. Perhaps you're just eating more cake and making a point to keep bon bon distribution on your speed dial and we? Think that sounds fantastic. Whether your beefing up or trimming down, winding up or slowing down, we're with you. And we're with you with a smile.

If you'd like to know what we've resolved to do, in this new year (of the Tiger, no less! Meow!), we'll let you in:

We resolve to be number one. No exceptions. No worries. We're committed.

And well, yes. We'll go ahead and keep on being fabulous.

See you soon, sweethearts! We're off and we're jamming. Join us?