jessica mcdougall

Today is February 26, 2007.

Yesterday was the first day I visited the grocery store this year. What a delight. So fun to be able to pick out normal food (not fast food, hotel food, or on the road food). I got lots of fruit and vegetables and two frozen dinner items. Gotta love them.

Spent a bunch of time today organizing all my art supplies in my studio. Reminded me how much peace I find in organizing. Figuring out the best home for everything. Lining things up just like I like them.

I fell asleep watching the Oscars last night. The red carpet portion is my favorite part. But I thought the production was better than I have ever seen.

Arrived in NYC yesterday -- and having the best time.

Went shopping in Soho and stopped by Alex Beard Studio. He's an artist friend of Jeffrey, who moved from New Orleans to New York City after the hurricane. He's done a fantastic job relocating and rebuilding. He gave both Jeffrey and me a signed drawing. I hope to upload a photograph of it here. He also had picture books created from iPhoto -- something I've been wanting to do. Now that I've seen what the final product looks like -- I am going to make several of the books.

Jeffrey, Bill, and I had a delightful dinner at DaNico in Little Italy with Dr. Edward DeBono. ("Regarded by many as the leading authority in the world in the field of creative thinking.") A sweet gentleman, with a wealth of knowledge and brilliance. He told me about 20 blond jokes. Love that.

The view of Central Park from Dr. Edward DeBono's Manhattan apartment. Amazing.

Today is another meeting with DeBono and then off to the theater tonight to see Talk Radio.

UPDATE: Talk Radio was excellent. It was the most dramatic of all shows I have seen on Broadway. But since I really had no expectation about it -- that made it even better. Victoria, Jeffrey, and I stopped for dinner after the show at BlueFin at the W in Times Square. So crazy to be in a relatively quiet little restaurant where there is so much going on right outside the front door. It's an Asian fusion theme -- but the three of us renamed it "Asian confusion" because the menu was just too off-the-wall.

Today was the perfect day to lay out in the sun -- my final day here.

I layed out by the ocean -- simply delightful.

And finished the day with dinner at NOBU. The best part about having a little tan is not having to wear any makeup.

I'm so happy to see the sun!

Got the chance to lay out yesterday for several hours. And then today for just about an hour before a storm arrived around noon. I'm staying at Atlantis.

Because of the holiday weekend, there are thousands of people here. (Great people watching.) When the storm came, it was a mad rush of people to get inside. Luckily Jeffrey (with his weather instincts) got us inside way before the crowds.

It's been a relaxing stay so far. I watched the movie Last Kiss today on my computer's DVD player. A good movie about life and love. It's the first movie that I've watched in a long time.

And I stayed awake for the entire movie! That's a true rarity.

I packed outfits for this trip based on a bathing suit as the centerpiece. Totally enjoying the choices I made -- including these fun shoes!

Hoping to get a lot done work wise in the rest of the two days I will be here.

Took the past weekend to be at my parents in Coos Bay, Oregon. And it just so happens that I could feel a cold coming on before I arrived. I sometimes wonder if it's in the time that my life slows down that the craziness of life catches up with me. On the road, there's no time to be sick. And for the most part, I have an incredible immune system. I rarely get sick -- and if I do, my positive attitude gets me out of it because I know I can't do what I do feeling ill.

It was a nice weekend to just relax and enjoy the view of the ocean. Mom and dad made delicious food -- everything I "ordered." Simon was there -- and he was even more fun to be around than the last time I was with him (in Disneyworld). I would have liked about five more days at the beach to really get some work things done. But now looking forward to spending a little time in the Bahamas this weekend, for a much different (needed) beach experience.

Simon's quote of the weekend was "no smoochies." Totally hilarious! He did however, go against his phrase and was running around giving kisses to everyone. And wow, Simon is quite the photographer. He even managed to get this rainbow one out the window:

Flew most of the day today to get back to eastern time here in Fort Lauderdale. Back to Charlotte tomorrow for a less than 24-hour stay at home. Gotta love it!

In Las Vegas today..

It's my fourth trip here in the past 30 days. It's a fun place to be. There's so much packed into such a small area. Each time I come, I learn something new about what I have to do when I am here -- and they're different than the things I do in preparation (and in being there) for any other city.

Here's hoping you can take some of these tips and use them for your next trip to Vegas:

1. Bring flats. The casinos in Las Vegas are like their own mini cities. And if you're going for a convention -- it's likely that your hotel room will be more than a mile away from the convention center (and meeting rooms) you have to walk to. I wear flats for the walk back and forth -- and then change to heels when I arrive at the convention center.

2. Drink twice as much water as you normally do. The air in Vegas is so dry. The second I arrive, I can always feel the dryness -- in my throat and in my skin. Drink up! (In preparation, during, and after your trip.)

3. Blink. The pumped-in oxygen that all the casinos have dries my eyes out. I've been trying to figure out how to overcome this. And then, AHA!, I came across an article in Shape magazine that talked about why eyes get dried out. Among reasons such as allergies, contacts (neither of which relate to me) is the fact that you may not be blinking enough. The article noted that people who spend a lot of time on their computer (which completely relates to me) may suffer from dry eyes. Their solution: blink more. I've been trying it this trip -- and it seems to be working!

4. Go glam. One of my most favorite things about being in Vegas is people watching. In the same restaurant, you may see someone in a tux, someone in cut-offs and a t-shirt, someone in the fanciest of high-end designer clothing, and someone in their work clothes. I always take advantage of the opportunity to dress up in Vegas. Nothing too over the top -- just classy and dressy. Fun hair. Cute accessories. Take advantage of the chance to flatter you.

5. Enjoy the sights. With very few windows in the casinos, its easy to forget what the outside looks like. But some views in Vegas, of both the strip and the surrounding landscape are beautiful. If you have a choice between a larger room or a room with a nice view, take the nice view every time. This is the view out my window early this morning -- before the sun rose.

Leaving for Las Vegas from St. Louis, where it's currently snowing. Hoping to find sunny weather in Las Vegas so I can debut a fun new bathing suit. The image of it on the american apparel site is not very good. I got it in navy blue and it looks adorable on. I will pair it with these flip flops and white sunglasses. And ooh, there are some fun new suits on J.Crew.

Morgan (Jeffrey's granddaughter) turned 9 yesterday.

Today, she and I celebrated with a manicure/pedicure. Good times.
She's a brilliant girl -- equally fashionable!

And when all else fails... fly private.

Jeffrey, Mark, and I had some crazy travel adventures this past week. Our delay in Oklahoma City turned into a cancelled flight. And because Jeffrey had a talk to give on Thursday morning in Florida -- we had to figure out a different way. Mark took Continental through Dallas, arriving about 1 o'clock in the morning. We took a limo to Dallas and then took a Flight Options Jet and arrived at 3 o'clock in the morning. The funniest part was that Mark thought we had him beat -- little did he know we were still in the air after he was already fast asleep!

Private jets will spoil you. They'll make you never want to fly commercial again. There are no security lines, no waiting, and no announcements. You don't have to turn your computer off, you can totally relax, and your arrive refreshed.

We took the jet from Florida to Washington DC and then home to Charlotte this afternoon. I'm so happy to be home. I have a ton of stuff to get done here before leaving again Sunday afternoon.

IN OTHER FUN NEWS: I got these amazing new hair rollers that I have been having fun with all week. Totally easy. Dry hair. Put up. Leave In. Take out. (See results at left.) Excellent.

UPDATE: You can find the Conair hot rollers mentioned above here. They are bargain priced at $20.99. But you'll want to get 2 or 3 sets if you have long hair. It appears they're on backorder. I can't find anywhere that will ship them overnight. Aha! Just found this link. (And bought with one-click buy!)