Atlanta, Georgia + Tulum, Mexico
Lulu has been listening to past episodes, and has psychoanalyzed herself and Alison, recognizing a few standout characteristics. While Alison skates through her life seemingly unaffected, not putting too much weight into anything, confident to the max, a pessimist yet unbothered and unfazed...Lulu is hyper aware that everything is terrible, questions herself constantly, but is a romantic optimist that believes the best will work out, until it all comes crashing down of course. They are each other's "yin-to-my-yang". Which is why they are so entertaining to listen to. And now that you've read the previous descriptions, you will easily be able to tell which is which.
We discuss Lulu's tendency to be THAT drunk girl whenever they are drinking, which Lulu hates about herself, but Alison loves it. She just loves that when they are drinking they are carefree, the conversation just flows, and cackling usually ensues.
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Alison's obsession is the Zicam Nasal Spray. She has made it a part of her routine as she is doing 5 shows a week with Mamma Mia! at American Stage. She uses her Neti Pot (and nearly drowns every morning in the process), her steam inhaler, and the final step is her Zicam Nasal Spray. Lulu is excited about this because she is also a Zicam fan, but uses their swabs whenever she is about to get on a plane.
Lulu is (and has been for awhile) obsessed with looking at all the countries that are listening to the podcast. We are able to see these kind of stats thanks to our super user-friendly hosting site Buzzsprout that makes tracking your podcast's performance super simple. Right now the countries listening are: the US, "unknown", the UK, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, Australia, Egypt, Singapore, Portugal, and South Africa. Pretty cool, right? Wait, are you also curious what "unknown" means. Alison is sure this is proof that there are aliens on other planets. And that to understand earth they listen to 10K Dollar Day. Alison then realizes said aliens must think all earthlings are rich drunk girls. Sorry, Earth!
Oh, and Alison is going to learn how to say our tagline - "with friends like us, who needs amenities" - in the languages or accents of all the countries listening. That is going to be fascinating, as her pronunciations are notoriously terrible. She attempts to do it in Martian, and is worried she sent a distress signal.
Alison's wish does not exist...yet. She needs a robot friend for her 5-year-old Hannah that will play with her between the hours of 7am and 10am. Make her breakfast and play games, keep her alive until I’m ready to wake up on the weekends. But not a real person, she wants to be able to tuck it away in the closet. And preferably a robot that doesn't self-actualize and take over her home.
Lulu's wishlist item was something she saw on an ad on her Facebook feed. The Vivian Lou insoles claim that you can wear heels for up to 4x longer. They are odor-resistant, backed by research and has the seal of acceptance from the American Podiatric Medical Association. Also they are recommended by dancers on Broadway as total game changers! Lulu is sold. She'll take one for every pair of heels she has, thank you!
How have we not been here before? Lulu is excited about her day here, however piecemeal it may be, because she loves staying at a St. Regis. And the St. Regis Atlanta is where it's at. She's in the St. Regis Suite, which has a leather wrapped writing desk, floor to ceiling windows, a separate living room, and twice daily maid service. And she gets their Butler service, which in addition to unpacking and packing service, also includes a visit after your morning wake-up call where they draw your shades, deliver coffee or tea, and bring you a newspaper and tell you the weather. Alison is uncomfortable with someone coming into her room, because she's a no-pants sleeper. Just stay under the covers while the lovely butler tells you the high and low temperatures of the day, okay? She get's first class car and driver service with 10K favorite Blacklane. Lulu heads to Homegrown for breakfast because it sounded southern. With her order of a open-faced chicken biscuit smothered in sausage gravy, I'd say her assumption is right. That's some southern comfort food right there!
Next Lulu heads to the Center for Puppetry Arts where she is excited to see the Jim Henson collection (like the muppets, in case you were confused, like Alison very much was). Lulu is a big fan of the muppets, a fact which was unknown to her bestie Alison before this moment. Lulu feels that it was very informative to her taste for comedy. Who knew? The Center for Puppetry Arts also has a global puppetry selection, including Vietnamese water puppets which Lulu first encountered on her 10K Day to Ho Chi Minh City. At only $12.50 for entrance to the museum, she needs to add some luxe to her activities. Done. She heads to the Porsche Experience where on a 2 mile track you get to test drive both the 911 turbo and the 911 GT3. She spent a little over $1,000 for two cars for two hours, so I'd say that offered her day an increase in luxury.
Lulu has worked up an appetite, so she heads to Holeman & Finch Public House. It is ranked #2 on The Daily Meal’s list of the 101 best burgers in America for 2018. Their celebrated double cheeseburger started as a late-night special for service industry professionals. In the beginning, they served 24 burgers at 10pm. Now, they serve 24-ish burgers at the start of each service, lunch and dinner. When they’re out, they’re out. You can go to their H&F Burger to get one anytime, but Lulu wants to go to the original and be one of the first 24 people to request her lunch burger. She also got a southern cheese plate, all the charcuterie, two cocktails, bacon caramel popcorn, and buttermilk chess pie. The southern food theme continues on...and we're thinking after this a nap might be in order.
Lulu is foregoing the nap and is going to power through the food coma feels and is heading to the Georgia Renaissance Festival. Never one to shy away from going full-out with an experience, Lulu makes some Etsy purchases before she arrives. Her Italian Renaissance costume cost $800 and looks beyond gorgeous. She gets this Laure de Sagazan “Isabel de Farnesio” dried flower crown, that Lulu says cost her $775. Math took a hit here, as the 425€ list price would translate to $473 US dollars. No matter, that is a lot to pay for a crown of flowers. Next Ren Fest Lulu visits, imaginarily or IRL, our producer Ash will make her one, and let's say for $50. To complete her look, Lulu purchases this silver filigree vintage renaissance style necklace. Oh wait, her look is not complete yet. She wants to get Fairy Hair. It's basically tinsel and glitter woven through your hair. So now she looks like a Renaissance Fairy Queen, and she gets constantly mistaken for a performer at the festival.
She heads to Atlas for Dinner, which is located inside the St. Regis Atlanta where she is staying. Did she change out of her costume? Let's go with yes, knowing Lulu she will want to enjoy this incredible meal without being gawked at by all the other patrons. Her young sprouts salad, lobster en croute, and Le petit croissant brûlée sound divine, especially when washed down with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot Rose. You may have heard that Lulu is fascinated by weird cocktails that she knows she won't like. Currently she is intrigued by oil-washed cocktails. This does not mean there is oil in the drink, folks! Rather, the glass is washed with it before the drink is poured into the glass, a technique which would be sure to impress your friends.
Lulu tries an olive-oil washed cocktail with Absolut Eryx, which is vodka distilled in a manually operated vintage copper still from the 1920's. Because this is imaginary, we don't know if she actually liked it. But it sounds tempting, no? You'd think she'd be sloshed at this point, but there are too many good drinks to be had in Atlanta, and for you she's going to try some more. Her Blacklane driver takes her to Himitsu. It is very exclusive, reservations only, and is referral-based, so she's not even sure how she's gonna work around that. This place has a unique entry system for it's regular members, who can use a key card or register their retinal scan to gain entry. This is the future of drinking, folks. While she is sipping on her exclusive cocktail, she sends her driver to get her a popcorn ice cream sundae from Canoe, and deliver it to her room. While indeed a bit of a disjointed day, all of the food and drink she enjoyed has us wanting to head to Atlanta right now!
Alison is excited to head to where all of the Instagram influencers go! In similar fashion, she is going to plan her entire day around her multiple outfits. So while she will only be in Tulum for one day, she will have pictures in multiple outfits looking like she enjoyed a week-long luxury vacation, filling her feed with envy-inducing posts, making you hate your mundane life. That's basically what an influencer does, right? Before she leaves she does some shopping at her favorite clothing boutique, Vinnie Louise. It's a place our producer Ash took us when we visited her in Nashville, and we became obsessed. We've talked about it multiple times, and in fact, in one of our Youtube episodes we are both in Vinnie Louise outfits. Alison arrives in Tulum in Vinnie Louise's camel-colored Logan pants with a silky black cami. She is headed to AZULIK Tulum, the most gorgeous, luxurious place she has ever seen.
Just read this. "We gather the energy of the 4 elements and transform it into a unique experience from the moment you walk in. We have built elevated wooden paths that twist and turn, allowing trees to grow freely. Azulik is lit by candlelight, creating a natural magical ambiance, perfect for a relaxing retreat or a romantic getaway. To honor the sacred waters that surround our property we have built water paths that wander from the lobby to our spa deck, creating water mirrors and constantly cleansing the ground energy." Are you kidding me, take me there now!!
So if you can believe it, she cannot afford the most expensive villa at this place. She wanted the Moon Villa, but at $7500 a night, her 10K couldn't cover it. The still very expensive villa that she could afford (imaginarily of course) was the Aqua Villa, with a plunge hot tub. However the fees added took her to 10K. So the Sky Villa she ends up choosing is a semi-private villa that has a terrace with a hot tub and a hanging Balinese bed. Two nights with taxes and fees was only $4500, so she selected this one. And you guys, there are rooms at this place that are $300-400 a night, so this is TOTALLY DOABLE.
Now that she is situated in her villa, she changes in to her Vinnie Louise Denim Palmer Dress and heads to the Tulum Ruins to explore and of course snap some selfies. Next she heads to the Raw Love Cafe for a smoothie bowl and then to nearby Matcha Mama for a tea latte, upping her #foodstagram game.
Back to the resort, she peruses their Mystikal Wanders experiences, and she chooses the Coba Wander. You ride bikes, have a picnic lunch, and a enjoy a massage on the top of a pyramid by a native shaman. Azulik also has events, and Alison attends a Therapy with Tibetan Basins session. Alison is really stretching her horizons with this energetic sound therapy, and we couldn't be more proud. Or envious. Her Instagram posts are clearly having their desired effect.
Relaxed and recharged, Alison slips into her new Vinnie Louise Torrance Dress to wear to dinner at Kin Toh. This on site dining experience is set at tables made out of trees with pillows that perch you above the forest canopy. She enjoys an eight course menu with wine pairings which are as incredible as the view. During her shopping spree, she realized that Vinnie Louise doesn't have swimsuits. And she wants to head back to her hot tub. But wait, it's her personal hot tub, so - dream come true - she's going hot tubbing in the nude.
Alison is ecstatic to discover that Azulik has their own fashion line, Zak Ik, so she has to do more shopping while she's there. The obvious first purchase was this Awave Awake Black Silk Sheer Cape, which she plans to wear to and fro the hot tub, and to bed, because she feels like a goddess in this hand-dyed piece. She can't stop her shopping there, she needs a few more photos for her Instagram feed, so she buys an outfit to wear while sipping her morning coffee on her hanging Balinese bed, and while traveling home. She's going to look chic AF in Zakik's Marmo Wide Leg Pants, their Concha Gold Embeliished Crop Top, these cute-yet-comfy Macaria Rainbow Sandals, and this MTA wood clutch, that doubles as the perfect souvenir to remember her trip by. We're thinking a #throwbackthursday post featuring this bag is sure to be appearing in your feed soon.
CHECK OUT THE CHARITIES WE FOUND IN THE CITIES WE VISITED:
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