Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania + Tokyo, Japan
This month’s guest googler is Karla Hartley, who is the Producing Artistic Director at Stageworks Theatre in Tampa. You can connect with her on Facebook and Twitter! Both Alison and Lulu have known and worked with Karla for a long time. Karla is excited to be with us, and actually planned her own 10K Day. Oh, and she brought soup to the recording session for Alison and Lulu. Multiple types of soup. And a microwave purchased on the way to the session. This is the guest to beat, guys.
Alison is obsessed with her daughters room, which she redecorated as her Christmas gift. It’s the best looking room in the entire house, and now Alison is a little jealous. Lulu is obsessed with the movie theaters that have recliners…because you are sitting slightly further away from the movie-goer next to you. And we know Lulu loves her space. Karla is obsessed with Bombas socks, especially the fact that for every pair you buy, they donate a pair to a homeless shelter.
Alison needs nickel-free earrings, because her ears are itching from her average every day nickel-dense earrings. Karla has the excellent suggestion to apply a clear coat of nail polish to the ones she has and that should prevent irritation. Whether Alison will follow through on this suggestion will have to be seen. Let’s change her wishlist to ‘someone to come over with a bottle of clear nail polish and treat all of her earrings for her’. Karla is wishing for the iPhone 11 Pro. I mean, who isn’t?! Lulu is really wanting to go see the Jurassic World Live Tour. Here’s hoping they don’t come to life. Or here’s hoping they do?
Lulu stays in a former convent she found on Airbnb. You can sleep a ton of people here. It’s not the lap of luxury, there’s a room with four twin beds that with the sun streaming in looks like a quaint attic, but at night probable feels like a quaint attic. But at only $795 for a space that can sleep 16 plus guests, this is a unique and - surprisingly, for 10K Dollar Day - an economic choice.
Pie for Breakfast is clearly the perfect choice for Lulu’s morning meal, where in addition to pie, she gets the kielbasa and eggs breakfast, and a coffee cocktail titled “Get off my lawn!”, which is cold brew coffee with caramel-infused rye whiskey. Great start to the day, don’t you think?
Needing fuel for this really busy day, Lulu grabs a bite and several cocktails at The Commoner. You will understand why she had to try so many when you hear the quirky cocktail names and descriptions they’ve had in the past and have currently:
“Just Another American Who Saw Too Many Movies Growing Up”
“The Cosmopolitan Suburbanite - a drink worth crossing two bridges and going through a tunnel for…”
“No F#@%ing S#%$ Lady, Does It Sound Like I'm Ordering A Pizza?”
“Sometimes We Live No Particular Way But Our Own - what a long, strange trip it's been”
“He Could Be A F#@% ing Bartender For All We Know"
Lulu planned her day around famous people from Pittsburgh. As in, she is going to do experiences, purchase items, or attempt to channel (just kidding, maybe), 10 Pittsburghers.
First up is August Wilson whose ten plays known as the Pittsburgh Cycle, or the Century Cycle iterate the experience of Black America across the century, with each play taking part in a different decade. Lulu is incorporating Mr. Wilson into her day by donating to American Stage in Tampa, who recently had productions of all ten plays. She also bought a ticket to see Mean Girls at the August Wilson Theatre.
Next up is Jimmy Stewart, Lulu’s favorite move of his being Mr. Smith goes to Washington, so she flies her friend Sheila Smith Ward to Washington DC for a little getaway.
Lulu is excited to learn that Mr. Fred Rogers, yes, that Mr. Rogers, is from Pittsburgh, so to emulate him she buys this Brooks Brothers cardigan. The cardigan is also a nod to Perry Como, another Pittsburgh native Lulu loves.
Gene Kelly is also from P’Burgh, so feeling in a musical spirit she buys these La Duca tap shoes that also happen to be worn by the Rockettes.
Also from Pittsburgh is Mark Cuban, whom Lulu knows as one of the Shark Tank guys, so she is going to front guest Karla with the money to get her soup game to Shark Tank level preparedness.
To reference Christina Aguilera, she takes a little bit of a reach and purchased this autographed I Dream of Jeannie bottle. You know, from the early aughts hit “genie in a bottle”, get it?
Michael Keaton is another Pittsburgh man, and Lulu loved him in Beetlejuice, so she buys tickets to see Beetlejuice on Broadway.
Andy Warhol is from Pittsburgh, so you would think she brought like an art print, right? Wrong. She bought 100 $0.88 cans of Campbell’s soup off of Amazon. She also visited the Warhol museum, which feels like a better use of time and money, unless you really, really like tomato soup.
To honor Gertrude Stein, she purchased a signed first edition of The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas.
That wraps Lulu’s honoring-of-Piitsburgh-people marathon. Now she heads to a Pittsburgh Penguins game, and because it can get cold at a hockey game, she buys this Penguin onesie to keep warm. Lulu ends her day with an oyster indulgence at Eleven Contemporary Kitchen before retiring to the convent.
After initially struggling to find things to spend lots of money on, Karla decided to bring her family along with her to Tokyo, Japan! They are living the luxury life in the 5-star Grand Hyatt Tokyo. She booked the Chairman Suite, which has blackout blinds, a Nespresso machine, and a “generous work space”, if you find that appealing. The real major draw of this suite is the limestone bath with a rain shower and a soaking tub FOR TWO with mounted tv. Now that’s what we call a bathroom!
Grand Hyatt Tokyo
Grand Hyatt Tokyo - Chairman Suite
Grand Hyatt Tokyo - Chairman Suite Bathroom
Karla and her family set out on their day, where their first activity is a private tour of the Odawara Traditional Samurai Castle where in addition to taking in the stunning views of the castle and some Tai Chi, they get to play dress up with Samurai costumes.
Next stop is the Nintendo Store, where she gives her son $1,000 and an hour to go ham. Pretty sure she’s getting a best-mom-ever trophy when they get home. They head on to the Pokemon Cafe for a lunch that will amuse and delight as well as nourish. I mean, will you look at these dishes!?! *important to note, the Pokemon Cafe requires advance reservations! No doubt its wildly popular so make sure you book ahead! It is connected to the Pokemon Center Tokyo DX, which they could shop in for days, but maybe just a quick hour after lunch will suffice this time around.
They have a schedule to keep, and next up is a private tour of Hiroshima. Driven in a Rolls Royce Phantom, you visit two World Heritage Sites, the Atomic Bomb Dome and Itsukushima Shrine.
Next on the list of things to explore in Tokyo are the plethora of unique cafes. You’ve heard of cat cafes, but how about a cuddling cafe? You can pay to snuggle with a stranger for anywhere from 20 mins to upwards of a full-nights sleep!
After a few cafe stops, Karla and the fam head to a VIP Tour 3 Geisha Experience, which involves a 3.5 hour history tour, your guide gives an in-depth explanation of geisha histroy, art, their training, all before you get to enjoy their company. Before your mind goes too far, “enjoying their company” involves sake-drinking, music-listening, dance-watching, and game-playing (traditional games, that is). It’d be an experience for sure.
For dinner, Karla and company head for one of two seatings at Sukiyabashi Jiro, the sushi chef Jiro Ono’s namesake restaurant that rose to international fame largely thanks to the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”, which you can watch on Netflix. With only 10 seats and two sittings a night, it is nearly impossible to get into, but when you are planning an imaginary day with $10,000 to spend, anything is possible. According to this posting, a Kame no O sake by Watari Bune is one of the most expensive bottles of sake at $500 a pop. Karla buys two.
CHECK OUT THE CHARITIES WE FOUND IN THE CITIES WE VISITED:
August Wilson African American Cultural Center
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