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Hello! Just wanted to do a quick post to say I arrived safely home this morning (well, Wednesday night NY time) after a flight that was far too long, but it's been so worth it so far! I've already seen most of the family, took Molly for a walk, had yummy home-cooked meals that I could never be bothered to make myself, and had a lovely, much-needed nap! 

The time change and 16 hour flight has thrown me for a loop a little, but will be back to regular posting next week. Plus, I'm looking forward to doing some outfit shoots around the city, even though I am completely unprepared for how warm it is here and will probably need to shop tomorrow (any excuse, right?)

Hope you have a great Thursday!

I've never been to Dallas, and only been to Texas once (Austin), but The Joule hotel looks amazing! That pool...leaves me a little speechless. What incredible design - this impresses me more than the Four Season rooftop pool in Hong Kong, and that's a pretty cool pool too. I may have to make a trip out there just so I could stay there!

But only if my room has this bathroom:

I previously blogged about Kate Spade & Fathom's City Guides when they were first launched, so now I'm excited to share that they've added new cities!

Their new cities include:

Chicago // Toronto // San Francisco // Copenhagen // Shanghai

Other cities are: 

New York // LA // London // Tokyo // Tahiti

The best thing about these is that they're free, so do a little research before your next trip! I personally would love to visit Chicago at some point - I've never been, and it isn't even that far from New York...maybe sometime next year! Do you have your next trip planned? Where are you headed?

Have a great weekend!

I had way too many photos to post the regular way, and unfortunately my skills aren't good enough to make a really snazzy slideshow, so I had to go with a photobucket one - apologies for that! (On that note though, if anyone is clever enough to know how to do this in a sleeker way, please let me know!)

Ok, so that's the last bit of my Cancun recap, hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed reliving it this week! I'm definitely going back some day...

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Follow along with me on Instagram @jessicashia

After a completely crazy 3 days at work, I am off to Seattle today! I cannot wait. Mostly to see my best friend Crystal again (who I haven't seen since her wedding in August 2 years ago), and to meet her little man! The cutest little chubster ever. haha (Apparently I'm allowed to eat him up! Yummm.)

Crys & the little Chubster. How adorable are both of them?? (Image stolen from Crys' facebook. haha)

Ahh can't wait!

Have a happy Thursday lovelies! (And don't be TOO jealous, I had to set my alarm for 4am today. It was painful. haha)

Although Fridays are normally Food days over here at the Jess Journals, since it's Memorial Day weekend this weekend I've done a roundup of Memorial Day (or, really, summer) essentials! Whether you're getting out of town, hitting the beach, the park, a BBQ, or having a "staycation", here are some fun summer items to kick off my favorite season of the year!

I seriously love every single item I picked out in the above collage - I want it all! But if I HAD to choose, I starred my favorites: the Soludos (shoes) - absolutely love the colors and the summery stripes!, the sunglasses (they bring my inner kid out), the bikini - love the polka dots, and the purple!, the cover up - it has a hood! AND is made of linen, and the beach blanket (sunbathing on a tiny towel is really not the same experience). The beach oil is a favorite thing of my sister's - it smells like summer - suntan lotion and the beach! What are your summer essentials?

Have a great weekend!!

With the summer travel season approaching quickly, travel guides are more relevant than ever! Kate Spade has partnered with Fathom and created the cutest online city guides, here. I'm a total sucker for good illustration, so how adorable is the art here?

Can't believe it's September already - September always means the beginning of fall, slightly cooler weather, and my sister's birthday. Yay! And this year, it also means my sister and I are off to Atlanta to visit our cousin Jenni! We've been planning this trip pretty much since right before Memorial Day Weekend, when our whole family was in San Francisco for another cousin's wedding. I. Can't. Wait! I've never been, and am so excited to eat (and then swim laps in her pool to work off all that Southern-delicious-but-fattening food), sunbathe (and soak up those last rays of summer...), possibly visit the aquarium, and maybe go jetskiing. Yay!

Any tips for while I'm there? Things to do/see/buy? 

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As much as I love living in NYC, it sure is nice to get away every once in a while! Quick recap of my July 4th weekend in D.C.:

Friday pm:

I picked up my sister and her friends in the city, where we proceeded to take an hour to get through the Lincoln Tunnel (why is it always such a nightmare to get in and out of the city via the Lincoln Tunnel?), and we drove straight to dinner at Bistrot du Coin, a really cute French bistro that looks tiny from the outside but has an enormous ceiling height inside - view from the top:


 We sat upstairs, and all had delicious food (steak frites for me - rib eye!) before crashing nearly as soon as we got back to my sister's friend's apartment.

Saturday:

We got up and went to brunch at Vinoteca, which had bottomless mimosas/bellinis/kir royales for $10, although I opted for a cappucino since I was still a little weary from the day before, and ordered a delectable eggs benedict on this thick, chewy toast instead of english muffins, that was covered in melted gruyere and then a poached egg and hollandaise on top. Yum. (For a full review, click here.)

Afterwards, we went sightseeing:


Good news is, we saw the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial all in one go - the bad news is, it was like 100 degrees and boiling, and I probably didn't appreciate everything for what it is since I was too busy feeling uncomfortable! We got refreshments at Starbucks, and then, fully rejuvenated, went to the Portrait Gallery, which was blessedly air conditioned! (I don't normally use words like "blessedly", but that's how grateful I was.) 

Every time I go to a museum, I always leave feeling like I should pick up art again and do something creative - I love it! Sadly, I don't make the time for it...but regardless, my favorite piece was this:

Summer is the best season for a road trip, and the US is the best country for it (in my opinion, anyway, although the road trip my family did one summer around France was lovely as well!).

I am going on two short trips this month, D.C. this weekend, and then Boston at the end of the month. From NYC, both drives are roughly 4 hours. I currently only have a playlist for 1 hour's worth of driving time, and I'm pretty sure everyone in the car is gonna throw food at me if they hear the same songs four times in one sitting. (Plus, I'm already kinda sick of that playlist!)

On top of that, I feel like summer incites a different kind of playlist - it isn't about the Top 40 (which I have to confess that I love), it's about capturing that feeling that is uniquely summery. For example, Weezer's Island in the Sun, or Nikka Costa's Everybody Got Their Something, both of which I love every summer, no matter how old they get! And then there are the road tripping songs - I like to listen to some Red Hot Chili Peppers (like Crys did on her road trip to Oregon last weekend - she found our college mix!), and then mix in some Jack Johnson, John Mayer, and the like.

Now I just need to get on with it and come up with the actual playlist! (I'm open to suggestions...)