No Longer a Virgin Atlantic Virgin

So above we have what is a very rare photo of me. I am only posting it because it's one of those rare occasions where the story behind the image is just so damn good, you can't simply throw onto Flickr and make it "private." Here I am in the restrooms of the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Clubhouse at JFK Airport, where there is a full wall of mirrors. It's about one hour before my departure on Flight 046 to London-Heathrow, and I am in heaven already.

You see, I enjoy midcentury modern design and the style of the jet age. I have been known to pick up Atomic Ranch magazine and even Airways magazine. Virgin Atlantic happens to have a similar aesthetic and thanks to the crack PR folk, I was able to punctuate my trip with visits to three of the slickest airport lounges, ever: New York-JFK, London-Gatwick and--the flagship--London-Heathrow.

I'll spare you the details, since I've already expounded at great length on them over at Jaunted, but let it suffice to say that now, I don't see how I can fly economy on Virgin Atlantic, knowing what there is on the flip side in Upper Class. I've been in first class lounges before and flown business in the past, but damn. I really can't find the words. So let's have the pictures! *Remember, you can click any of the pictures on this blog to see the larger size, hopefully.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC CLUBHOUSE - JFK (full gallery of pics here)

VIRGIN ATLANTIC CLUBHOUSE - LGW (full gallery of pics here)

VIRGIN ATLANTIC CLUBHOUSE - LHR (full gallery of pics here)

And, in case you're curious about the flight experience, here's the account (and yes, more pics) of VS Flight 046 from JFK to LHR. Thanks for putting up with my sporadic blogging, but you know--a girl about town has got girl about town stuff to do these days.

Somewhere Between Edinburgh and Newcastle

...is where I am. You see, this train I'm on to London-King's Cross (the 10:30am
East Coast out of Waverley) has free WiFi, and it's a freaking dream. Zipping by fields
of sheep, green hills with leftover snow drifts, the occasional peek of coastline (such
as in the video above), and I've got a table and outlet to boot. It's times like this that
drive me closer, bit-by-bit, to assuming the expat life in a country that has its
transportation shit together.

...And Now I'm in the Clouds Above Edinburgh

Climbed a mountain this morning...or really, a dormant volcano in the center of
Edinburgh. "Arthur's Seat" is what it's called, and thanks to our choice of a less than
ideal descent route, I landed on my own seat quite a few times as well. Ha--bad joke.

Oh Yea, I'm In London Right Now

Yes, that's the Tate Modern museum as seen from the Millennium Bridge. I'm in London and other European parts for the next week, for work and for fun, because travel to me is the essence of fun.

London hates free WiFi, I love blackcurrant food items, and the weather loves me. The snow that dumped on the country in the last weeks has melted away completely and now we walk miles and miles each day, holding our Oyster cards for emergencies like "oh crap, I need to be on the Gatwick Express from Victoria Station in 30 minutes and I just woke up!" Everything is awesome except for the exchange rate from USD to GBP; that is the opposite of awesome.

Channel Tunnel tomorrow!

Worlds Are Colliding!

Look what advertisement occasionally pops up on Jaunted! If you're on the site as much as I am (because umm I'm the editor), then you'll even be privy to seeing the full range of Louboutin ads. How did they know...?

I remember the day that Bergdorf Goodman started advertising on Racked; it was a confirmation that if you mention Linda Fargo enough and continuously shoot their amazing windows, that eventually she starts noticing. No discounts or special treatment though; blog advertising has nothing to do with us writers (at any of my blogs, at least).

In Which I Prove Materialistic

Is this not the most awesome watch you have ever seen? Well, that's how I feel about it at least, and when I first spotted it a couple years ago on some website or another, it was wrist lust at first site.

I printed out its picture and specs, and taped it within easy view in my office at the time. At $500, I wasn't about to run out, buy it and slap it on my wrist; no, it was a dream of ultimate multi-timezone design perfection. More an inspirational image than anything else.

And then I got this boyfriend. And this guy (I'm thinking) understands or at least flatters my infatuation with international travel, and for Christmas this landed on my wrist. Granted it's been a few years, so the price has come down as the deadstock hit online auctions and such, but I doubt I still would have made the jump to buying it on my own; that's how elevated this product had become in my psyche.

The good news is that it's everything I ever dreamed it would be; it blends so well with my style and is shockingly more understated than my other watches, a Turin Olympics-edition Swatch and a concrete grey Alessi piece with a dead battery. And the even better news is that now I have a little connection to New York City, London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Los Angeles--the cities I chose to occupy the five faces--on my wrist, instead of declaring allegiance to just one. It's the best aspirational product ever.