A different kind of Thanksgiving without the annoying relatives

by Chris Owen on

Looking for a different kind of Thanksgiving? Still waiting to see who in the family is going to offer their humble abode to celebrate the day? Dreading the thought of fighting the local supermarket for the last can of candied yams? The Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale has a better idea. Forget all that, leave the annoying relatives at home and come see them instead.

Guests at The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale wake up Thanksgiving morning to a Ritz-Carlton “Macy’s Day” parade with pilgrims, turkeys, and other harvest-favorite floats taking center stage on the oceanfront, 7th floor tropical pool deck. A New York-style breakfast is served, including bagels and lox, sweet and savory pastries, yogurt and parfaits, the freshest seasonal fruits, rich coffees and fine teas, all the while the New York Macy’s Day parade plays overhead. That’s Thursday, November 24 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and only for hotel guests.

Want to sleep in a while? Enjoy traditional Thanksgiving and Sunday Brunch favorites from imported cheeses and charcuteries, caviar, fresh seafood on ice, create-your-own omelet station, prepared-to-order pasta to roasted turkey, ham and slow roasted prime rib carving stations. Free-flowing Champagne and a lavish dessert enclave make this a Thanksgiving feast not to be missed. We doubt there will be a reheated green bean casserole here.

The price? $95 per guest, includes champagne, $35 per child with ages 12 and under $1 per year old.
The day after, shopping begins with an exclusive, complimentary Black Friday Shopping Shuttle escorting guests of The Ritz-Carlton to Florida’s largest outlet shopping destination, with more than 350 stores including luxury designers such as Barney’s New York, David Yurman, Burberry, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Valentino and more, featured at The Colonnade promenade. A shopping survival kit is provided including bottled water, energizing snacks, and exclusive offers leaving guests to shop ’til they drop. That’s Friday, November 25 from shop-till-you-drop 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Ritz-Carlton has other events as well including Wine Journeys with somelier Don Derocher where guests tour the hotel’s award-winning 5,000-bottle Wine Vault and enjoy a personalized wine tasting of three reds or whites of preference.
They do this on November 25 & 26 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. $30

An Ultimate SpaScape lets guests treat their skin with a restorative facial that stimulates, regenerates and restores. A full body massage using antioxidant-rich oils infused with grape varietals eases muscle tension and stress.

While the fam back home listens to those same old stories that get told every year, you’ll be enjoying a complimentary glass of Sauvignon Blanc post treatment… for 50 minutes anyway.
$130

Photo courtesy Ritz-Carlton Hotels/Roberto Santos



From the Bay to Brooklyn: San Francisco, California, Japanese restaurant pops up this November in New York

by Jessica Festa on

Chefs James LaLonde and Ryoji Kajikawa of the Mojo Cafe in San Francisco, California, love creating Japanese-by-way-of-California delicacies for their pop-up restaurant, SloMo SF. On November 18, 19, and 21, 2011, New Yorkers will also get a chance to experience their cuisine through a series of pop-up dinners at Sweet Deliverance in Brooklyn.

These pop-up dinners cost $90 per person and include a seasonally-inspired 7-course Japanese meal with drinks. Some menu and drink items you can expect are:

  • sake-steamed clams
  • Japanese fried chicken
  • ramen with housemade stock and noodles and seasonal garnishes
  • beer
  • sake
  • persimmon cocktails

For more information and to order tickets, visit Brown Paper Tickets.

Sweet Deliverance is a two-level commercial kitchen space located at 1287 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

Chicago’s loop in HD

by Jessica Festa on

Want to spend a lazy day riding around on an architecturally-scenic elevated railroad in Illinois? Now, you can. Watching this high definition video by Michael Salisbury, listening to the dreamy, relaxed sounds of Boards of Canada, you will be transported to The Loop in Chicago. Glance out your window at the commercial style architecture, the impressively complex rail tracks, and some of the city’s tallest buildings (the 110-story Willis Tower, which is 1,454 feet high, is not only the tallest building in Chicago, but in the United States, as well).

If you don’t have time to head over to the Windy City to see The Loop for yourself, you can check out this video:

NASA is looking for new astronauts!

by Kraig Becker on

Anyone who has ever dreamed of going into space received a glimmer of hope this past week when NASA announced that they were looking for their next class of astronauts. This high profile “help wanted” ad had the dual effect of sending many of us scrambling to update our resumes, while simultaneously regressing to a point in our lives when we actually believed we could still grow-up to be an astronaut.

The actual job posting can be found online by clicking here. It provides plenty of great information for those wanting to know the details about the requirements and perks of the position. For example, the salary ranges from $64,724 to $141,715 per year, which is a bit surprising, because many of us would probably actually pay that much for an opportunity to go into orbit. The position is listed as Full Time and Permanent, but would require a move to Houston, which is probably the biggest downside of the job.

As you might expect, the position requires at least a Bachelor’s degree and three years of experience in your field, which can include technology, nursing, aviation, amongst others. Candidates will be required to pass a physical as well, and must have vision that is correctable to 20/20 in each eye. They also need to be between the heights of 62 and 75 inches, which will rule out most NBA players who are looking to pick up supplemental work during the lock-out.

The job listing also notes that prior to being hired candidates must undergo a background check and pass a drug-test as well. After all, NASA isn’t going to turn over multi-million dollar equipment to just anyone. They also note that frequent travel is required, but considering that travel involves going into space, I doubt anyone will really complain all that much. How many frequent filer miles is a trip to the International Space Station worth anyway?

When I was a kid, being an astronaut ranked right up there with ice cream taster and James Bond as the best jobs on the planet. For some reason I thought the career path to getting that job would be different than simply filling out an application and going in for an interview. Turns out, NASA hires people just in the same manner as Walmart.

For more information on the position and the application process, click here. Good luck to everyone who applies. You’re going to need it, because I’ve seen every episode of Star Trek ever and have visited the local planetarium twice.

Free private jet service a nice perk for Zappos employees

by Chris Owen on

A recent report from Launch says Zappos boss Tony Hsieh is offering his employees free private jet service courtesy of JetSuite.

A memo leaked from Zappos details Hsieh’s stake and seat on the board of JetSuite, a company he invested in with lower than average operating costs on the new Phenom 100 planes. While most private jet services charge about $5000 an hour, JetSuite guarantees a lower rate of $4000 an hour. Noted in the leaked memo:

“Just like we have markdowns at Zappos and 6pm for unsold inventory, JetSuite occasionally has empty planes flying around so it can reposition its planes, so JetSuite offers the empty planes at a big discount (called SuiteDeals) every day on its Facebook page”.

JetSuite’s last minute daily flight deals on the company Facebook page give pretty much anybody the chance to fly private starting at only $499 each way.

That’s $499 each way for the whole 4-passenger jet.

Not good enough for Zappos employees says Hsieh:

But for Zappos employees, we’ve negotiated a special employee benefit… Instead of the discounted price of $499, Zappos employees get to fly FOR FREE.

Yes, that is not a typo (and nobody has hacked my email :) — All the SuiteDeal offers are available to Zappos employees for free. You get to fly on an entire jet (and bring up to 3 of your friends, since the plane seats 4 people) for free!

So if you’re interested, please read the attachment carefully for step-by-step instructions on how to sign up!

-Tony :)
[Benefits are hot]”

We have to agree.

Flickr photo by Josh Beasley