Travel – Sue At Home

A Mid-Century Condo in Palm Beach

March 16, 2014March 16, 2014 Sue Erneta

This weekend I’m writing to you from a 20th floor balcony in sunny Palm Beach. (Brag much?) The brother of one of my good friends was kind enough to loan us his condo for a girls’ weekend. After I finished swooning over all their amazing vintage furniture finds (I’m not kidding. I gasped and then hugged a credenza when we walked in), I quickly snapped a few pics to share with you. Take a look.

(Sorry for the crappy iPhone pictures. It’s all I had. I’m writing this from the WordPress app on my phone and I can’t figure out how to edit them. I think they’re all a little crooked…which I might just blame on the mojitos!)

The wall color is Barely Teal by Benjamin Moore (which btw is the same color as my kitchen ceiling which I’ve sadly never shown you. Sorry!). Every person on the trip was trying to figure out a place to put it their homes. It’s just so pretty and soothing.

Thanks again to our hosts for loaning us their beautiful place!!

Sue at Home

Home, Travel

Travel: Brevard Zoo

October 11, 2013June 11, 2020 Sue Erneta

Well, it’s October and I’m finally getting around to writing posts with pictures I took in August. Would you say I’m a little bit behind? Yes, I would say so.

Anyway…back in August I took the girls to Florida to spend a week with my parents at their house. When we go there, we like to spend lots of time just swimming in the pool and chilling with Mimi and Papa but I always make sure I squeeze in at least one visit to the Brevard Zoo. Confession: I’m a little zoo obsessed and I can tell you that the Brevard Zoo is one of the best I’ve ever been to. It’s not huge but there are tons of animals and lots of interactive opportunities. In our week long trip, we ended up going there four times – twice for the animals and twice for the Treetop Trek obstacle course. (I’ll share some pics of that soon too.)

But for today, here are just some purty pics of some of the animals at Brevard Zoo.

I took about 50 shots of this beauty. It was like he was posing for me!

One of my favorite things there is the giraffe exhibit. You stand on a pavilion high off the ground and feed crackers to these beautiful, kind, and gentle creatures. It’s totally surreal. Of course, the day we fed them my camera battery was dead (CURSES!) but I snapped this quick pic of one when I went back. See one of our more successful giraffe feeding visits in this post.

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The flamingos are by far the smelliest exhibit but they sure are beautiful. Not sure why we refer to them as pink flamingos because they really are more of a salmon or coral color.

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There was some thunder rumbling in the distance so lots of the animals were grouped together like these guys. Even though it’s a picture of a flamingo butt, I think this could be really cool in a large scale print.

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These are actually white rhinos but their daily mud baths keep them pretty dirty.

This bald eagle was amazingly large and regal looking.

I hung out with this river otter for about 20 minutes. I had such a blast just watching him swim in and out of his little pool. (I like to think he was watching me too.)

He was so cute I wanted to take him home!

Sometimes nature makes the best colors. Case in point–this hyacinth macaw. He reminded me of the bird from the animated movie Rio.

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You’d think an anteater is really ugly (and his snout is certainly not very pretty) but I was surprised by how beautiful his fur was.

Speaking of ugly, I give you…the vulture.

I fed some seeds to a bunch of pretty cocktiels. I love their blush!

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The alligator feeding is always a highlight.

And even bigger than the alligators are the crocodiles. This girl’s name is Lily!

Feeding the lorikeets was another highlight. You buy little cups of pureed fruit and they come and land on your arms and peck out of the cup. I had little claw marks all over my forearms but it was totally worth it.

This thing was totally creepy but I loved that it had feathers in such a gorgeous rainbow pattern.

Sue at Home

Home, Travel

Travel: Iberostar Grand, Montego Bay

June 20, 2013June 11, 2020 Sue Erneta

For Memorial Day weekend, Pablo and I got away with some friends (that’s right! no kids!) to the Iberostar Grand all-inclusive adults-only resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

It being an all-inclusive, my expectations were low but the resort was exactly what we needed: sun, sand, lots of frosty beverages, and good times with friends.

Since I was busy enjoying my vacay, I didn’t photograph everything but I did get some nice shots of our trip.

The view from a balcony off of the lobby.

The pool was huge: it was like several cascading infinity pools pouring into each other.

This was pretty much my view for 4 days.

The swim up pool bar. (The food was just ehh–it’s an all inclusive, what did you expect?–but the drinks were delish. I recommend the Jamaica Smile. It’s like a combination of a pina colada, a banana daquiri, and a strawberry daquiri and there is nothing wrong with that.)

A view of the resort from the pool area.

The water.

Some of our friends scored ocean front rooms over there on the right. And one couple even got a room over on the side that shared a small semi-private pool with about 5 other rooms. You walked out to your balcony and then straight into the pool.

Pablo and I got a basic pool view room but it was very nicely appointed.

I’ll describe the decor as “decent with touches of kinda weird” but the beds were super comfortable (they even had a menu so you could pick your pillow) and the room was huge and laid out very nicely.

I loved these deep two-person swings on all the balconies. I kinda want my mom to put one on the porch in their new house!

The bathrooms were all marble and glass and they were enormous. This is only half of it. The other side has the same layout but the shower is where the toilet is in this pic. Please note that means that not only are their two sinks but they’re on opposite sides of the bathroom. I mean, isn’t that the perfect master bath layout?

Happy 40th!

So, here’s my 30 second hotel review:

Pros: beautiful resort, not crowded even though it was full, yummy cocktails, all-inclusive so you don’t have to worry about every bottle of water you take from the mini bar, accommodating staff, golf at a surrounding club was included, no kids allowed (including mine!), and close to the airport.

Cons: Food is just “okay” (not bad but not amazing). Restaurants are painfully quiet. (Not only could we hear every word the person at the other end of the table was saying, so could everyone else in the restaurant.)

Overall, it felt very luxurious and upscale. And you gotta love a place that has lots of cushy lounge chairs, plenty of plush towels (take as many as you like) and complimentary sunscreen so you don’t have to bring it yourself!

Sue at Home

Decor, Home, Travel

Sunset Tower

May 2, 2013June 11, 2020 Sue Erneta

A few weeks ago I traveled to LA for a photo shoot for my day job and I had the pleasure of staying at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood. The hotel has loads of Hollywood history dating back to 1929. It used to be a residence for the elite stars of the time including Howard Hughes, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. Now, it’s a beautiful hotel that serves as host for the Vanity Fair Oscar party — and guests like me.

Let’s take a look at my tiny — but totally beautiful — room.

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And a closer look at that killer view. LA-044

I loved all the brass fixtures in the bathroom.

I mean, look at those sconces.

And the table lamps in the room were stunning, too. This tall drink of water is so simple and gorgeous.

And this spindly beauty is thin and gorgeous but no, it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. Kidding.

My accommodations on my second night in LA were even more interesting. A good friend of mine from NYC moved to the west coast last year and she invited me to spend a night at the beautiful house she and her family are renting in Calabasas. The guest room in her house (complete with my own bathroom) was bigger than my room at The Sunset Tower. And — get this — it had a massive balcony with a view of the home across the street that just happens to belong to someone famous. In the spirit of privacy, I won’t tell you who it was but I’ll just say that her initials are KK and she has two kids and two sisters with the same initials. I think you can guess who I mean. Wink wink…

Travel: A Visit to The Standard Miami

January 10, 2013January 9, 2013 Sue Erneta

In mid-December, I travelled to Miami to shoot a fashion story for my day job. Though I was in Miami for about 30 hours only, I was lucky enough to be staying at the Standard Miami, a relaxing and beautiful hotel that is a far cry from the insanity of South Beach. It’s known for it’s spa but with a long shoot day, I only had time to check out the grounds, sleep, and eat. The decor was great so I took a few pictures to share with you.

The check-in desk (Photo from the Standard Miami website. The rest are all mine!)

In the restaurant that’s in the lobby. Love the staghorn fern.

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The Readery with Warby Parker eyewear – and magazines and newspapers, of course. If you don’t know about Warby Parker yet, you should. For every pair of glasses they sell, one is distributed to a person in need.

This display is at the entrance to the Bar and Lounge, a beautiful mid-century decorated space.

This was the scene outside of my room. There was a curtain you could close but I still can’t imagine getting into that tub that’s sitting out in the open. Then again, I was travelling for business. Get a few drinks in me and…maybe?

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The guest rooms are simple – sort of Scandinavian meets summer camp. I thought the fabric hanging behind the bed was kind of drab but the idea is great.

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The sink was really interesting: a Carrera marble bowl sitting in a wooden stand.

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The shrub-lined walkway from the lobby to the water.

The entrance to the Lido restaurant.

Lido. Have the skirt steak with a side of their award winning tater tots.

The pool at sunset.

I loved the Blue Bunny machine in a little cabana of it’s own.

Overlooking the bay.

The firepit.

The swing garden with the firepit in the background.

While I was searching for other pictures of the hotel online, I found a great hotel resource: oyster.com. I don’t know if everyone and their mother has been using this site already and I’ve just been living under a rock. (I hope not because then you’re all in trouble for not telling me about it.) It’s a photo-driven travel site with real pictures taken by real people. So, instead of a hotel’s picture of the pool that features one gorgeous model in a white bikini, you get to see what it really looks like when it’s filled with dudes with beer bellies. So many dudes with beer bellies that you can’t get a seat. Ha ha! But you get the idea though.

Oyster.com‘s pictures of the Standard Miami were pretty similar to mine (which doesn’t surprise me because, ya know, I actually stayed there) but check out out some of these comparison’s from their site. The photos on the left are each hotel’s pictures, the ones on the right are from Oyster.com’s “Special Investigators”.

Of course, now I’m obsessed with it and I can’t stop checking out all the places I’ve stayed at and everywhere I’ve ever wanted to stay! Hope you’re planning some fun travel soon. If so, tell me where you’re going! We’re counting the days to Aruba…

For other Sue at Home travel features, check out these posts:

A Visit to Hidden Pond

Three Days in Kennebunkport, Maine

Decor Ideas from Tides Beach Club in Maine

Our Wedding: Newport, Rhode Island

Revel in Atlantic City

Sue at Home

Decor, Travel

Revel in Atlantic City

December 18, 2012June 11, 2020 Sue Erneta

As we reach the end of the year, I’m trying to catch up on “lost posts” – ya know, those things that I took pictures of because I wanted to share them with you and then I never got around to it. So, with that, here are some pics of the Revel resort in Atlantic City that we visited in August. (August! I know. Sorry!)

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The wall behind the check-in desk has a digitized camo pattern.

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One of the restaurants features a living wall.

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The look of the hotel is overwhelming modern. Quite often, it was a little too modern for my taste but still very cool for a hotel.

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Even the foosball table in the gameroom is ultra-slick.

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Even with all the slickness, there were some great design ideas to be had. Some of the lounges that were at the bottom of the elevator banks had a wall with wood blocks in different tones. I think it was a really interesting treatment and it’s a great way to warm up a modern space. (It reminded me of this room from an old episode of The Antonio Project on HGTV.)

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Oh…and hello James Nares print! I love that little beauty hiding in the corner. He’s one of my favorite artists. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, check out this post from Habitually Chic. (The best picture is the last one that shows how he makes his paintings. It’s very Tom-Cruise-in-Mission-Impossible!)

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I loved all of the bookshelves with painted backs. There were only a few coffee table books on the lower shelves but mostly there were just toys and objects.

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Another totally inspiring idea came from this display that hangs in a multi-story atrium.

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I tried to zoom in really close to see how it was done and it looks like you could make your own with fishing wire and stiff gold paper or sheet metal. Stay tuned for a little DIY action when I figure out where I want to put that in the house.

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The outdoor areas of the resort are really interesting. The buildings are so slick and modern but there was lots of greenery. We were loving these huuuuuge rocking chairs.

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The architecture in the hotel was beautiful. I loved all the curved glass walls. But you can’t help but look around and say cha-ching cha-ching!

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We were in Atlantic City because Pablo had gotten tickets to take me to see Duran Duran for my 40th but unfortunately that didn’t work out very well. BOOOOOOOOO!

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But luckily the hotel was beautiful and we had a great time with great friends despite the cancelled concert. For more info about the hotel, check out Revel’s website. There are lots of great deals so sign up for email alerts if you’d like to visit. I had never been to AC before but from what I hear, this hotel is a huge departure from the old AC. I found it to be as beautiful and grand as a Vegas resort.

Now, I just need to find out when Duran Duran is touring again….

Sue at Home

Decor, Food, Travel

A Visit to Hidden Pond

September 11, 2012June 11, 2020 Sue Erneta

When we recently went to Maine and stayed at Tides Beach Club, we had to make a visit to Hidden Pond, Tides sister hotel located deep in the woods. The resort is a series of free standing bungalows – some one-bedrooms for vacationing couples and some bigger cottages for families. We had read a lot about Earth, Hidden Pond’s farm to table restaurant so we decided to give it a try. The decor was so spectacular that we were smitten with the place before we ever took a bite of the delicious food. Check out this branch that was suspended from the ceiling and wrapped in twinkle lights.

The shelves above the bar were simple but stunning. And I’m guessing those are Tom Dixon pendants (or something similar).

Two of the walls were lined with slices of logs. (The treatment that the Novogratz’s just gave to Tony Hawk’s fireplace reminded me of the decor at Earth. Check it out here.) We also loved the industrial light fixture of hanging bulbs. But the best was the beautiful chesterfield sofa that sat in front of a roaring fire.

We went back to Hidden Pond to hang out at the adults-only pool the next day. It was located in front of The Tree Spa. We didn’t get a chance to indulge in any treatments but the spa was named to Conde Nast Traveler’s Hot List so I’d guess it’s pretty good.

If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to get a massage in a treehouse, then The Tree Spa is your place.

Near the pool is one of Hidden Pond’s firepits. I was upset that we never visited at night (they bring you a basket of s’mores fixins!) but that would have meant that would have missed the amazing dessert we shared at Earth: Banana and Peanut Butter ice cream with salted caramel. It was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had!

The outdoor bar by the pool was so cute and it has so many great ideas for modern rustic decor. Check out that woody cocktail table.

These baskets were cut in half and attached to wall the hold citrus.

I loved the huge mason jar water jug and the bark-edged bar.

I love this idea (mason jar + sand + candle) and I’ll totally do this for my beach house. (Too bad I don’t have a beach house.)

This little chalkboard cow offered a healthy treat. And then at 11:30, the bartender wiped it off and replaced those words with “Margarita” and “Bloody Mary”! I had to have a bloody, of course. (Check yesterday’s post of the picture of that beauty.)