Cocktail Countdown to '08--Mere Hours to Go!

Since tonight is all about welcoming the future, we thought we would go with a space age cocktail. This one comes to us courtesy of Bubbles Bar at the InterContinental Thalasso Resort & Spa in Bora Bora. We're not sure how it tastes, but it sure looks interesting. Kind of like what we imagine the waters or Bora Bora to look like.

Bubbles Cocktail
Layer a dash of Blue Curacao, 1⁄2 oz Banana Liqueur and 5 oz Champagne into a champagne glass, serve immediately.

Happy New Year, all you Jet Set Girls!

Cocktail Countdown to '08--3 Days to Go!

Mojitos are so '07! Caipirinhas are similar and come from oh-so-sexy Brazil. We like this one from NYC's Matador. It mixes in pomegranate liquor with the traditional sugar cane rum for a fun and flirty buzz. Plus, the red color is as festive as it gets.

Pomegranate Caipirinha
Shake 1.5 oz. ÁGUA LUCA Ultra-Premium Brazilian Rum, 1.5 oz. PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
and 1/2 oz. Cointreau or Grand Marnier with a splash of lime juice. Serve over ice.

Cocktail Countdown to '08--4 Days to Go!

We're not big Scotch drinkers, but sometimes we wish we were. Our generational friend, Charlotte, always orders a glass, neat, whenever we go out and looks so chic drinking it. This cocktail may convince us to give Scotch a chance, the Cointreau and lemon juice must make it a little, well, less manly--we'll give it a go next time we're at a steakhouse.

The Macallan Classic “10”

Shake 1 oz Macallan 10 Years Old Scotch, 1 oz Cointreau, 1 oz Fresh lemon juice and serve over ice

Cocktail Countdown to '08--5 Days to Go!

Whether you're taking a glamorous girls getaway, ringing in the New Year at a local club or even just staying in (We don't blame you, it ain't called amateur night for nothing!), a fun cocktail can make the night. So, until January 1, we'll be giving you a cocktail a day.

We're leading off with one from NYC's BarFry to remind you to eat a hearty meal before you start boozin' it up hadcore. We like this one because we've never heard of basil in a cocktail before and the prosecco will gear you up for the New Year's Eve bubbly.

BarFry's Passion Fruit Basil Martini
Muddle one lime wedge in a shaker
Clap one piece of basil in hands and drop it into the shaker. (We're not quite sure what clap means, but we're going to guess you fold it or crush it slightly.)
Fill shaker with ice, 1.5 oz of vodka, 2 oz of basil passion fruit juice (made in house), 1/2 oz of sweet vermouth.
Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass. Top with a dash of prosecco. Clap a piece of basil and put on top as garnish.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a day filled with peace, love and happiness!

Give a Dream

Since it's the day before Christmas, we thought we'd just throw out this one item on our ultimate JSG wish list: a week at a private villa in Mykonos. The one we picked out, Blue Rock, has a gazebo sunken into the sleek lap pool, 5 bedrooms (you're welcome to join us on our fantasy vacation) and numerous terraces. Since we're dreaming big, we're going to add in our desire for a cook for the week and several hot pool boys. The price? It falls into that if you have to ask you can't afford it category, but it's around $15,000 (cook and pool boys not included). But the villa rental group, Living International, does throw in concierge services and airport pickup for free, making it a relative bargain.

We don't usually think so lavishly, but our friend, Heidi, mentioned that she would like to go to Greece to celebrate one of those pesky birthdays with a 5 or 0 on the end. Fortunately, we still have several years til we get there, so if we start saving now, we may just be able to afford it. We have a feeling it would be worth every cent!

And speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday, Hope!

Give the Gift of Spice

We all have a girlfriend who still wears boxers and old t-shirts to bed. You saw her on your last girls' trip and thought it was time she got intoduced to the post-dorm look. This red Elle McPherson chemise is naughty and nice. She can wear it on your next trip or surprise her significant other with a new look when she gets back home. If you order by this afternoon, Figleaves.com will make sure to get it to her by Christmas.

While you're on line, Figleaves is a great place to stock up on everyone's favorite Hanky Pankys. Because while we love to give, we do like to get a little something, too. Hey, Santa!--we've been really good all year long!

Don't forget to enter our contest to win pair of Aerosole's boots! Today's the last day!

Give a Helping Hand

JSG has been known to overindulge on rare occasion (wink, wink), so we love products or tricks that bring us back from the dead. On that note, here's another must for all the jet set girls on your list: Korres Party Survival Kit, available at Sephora. It bills itself as “Designed to wake up your skin and your senses after a long night out on the town.” Sounds like just what the doctor ordered!
It comes with, among other things, guava shower gel, primrose eye cream, wild rose moisturizer and, get this, Lemon Refreshing Chewing Gum. Kinda wish we had a piece right now! No wonder the NYC store of the Greek cult fave caused a sensation when it opened in Soho last fall. All their products are made with high concentrations of all-natural ingredients and smell heavenly!
If you don't have a Sephora store near you, be sure to order online today to still get upgraded shipping for free for a guaranteed Christmas Eve arrival.

Don't forget to enter our contest to win pair of Aerosole's boots!

Give Back--and Look Cool Doing It

Cozy, comfy and a rock star vibe--that's basically the trifecta for clothes to travel in as far as we're concerned. And just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we found out that these $25 sexy camo thermals actually benefit the Love Hope Strength Foundation, too. LHSF was founded by Mike Peters of The Alarm (frequently called the Welsh version of U2), who is himself a cancer survivor, to aid people battling with cancer around the globe. The group hosts a Mt. Everest climb and concert, which is just a wee bit too hardcore for us (rumor has it margaritas and high altitude don't mix), but more power to 'em.
This top will delight all the rockers/do-gooder jet set girls on your list. We suggest wearing it to brunch with smeared mascara for that morning-after, I-just-hung-out-with- the-band-all-night look that'll leave all your friends guessing. For more about Love Hope Strength Foundation, click here.

Don't forget to enter our contest to win pair of Aerosole's boots!

Give the Gift of Travel

No surprise here, we love to travel. What would JSG put on her wish list? Gift cards from airlines. Jet Blue has them from $10 to $1000. You can purchase them off their website; but we saw them at Safeway today (Southwest and American airlines, too).

In January, Jet Blue begins service from NYC to the Dominican Republic and St. Maarten. Two locations JSG would love to review for you!

We figure you can give your friends bronzer or you can give them a suntan, it just depends on the size of your wallet...

Don't forget to enter our contest to win pair of Aerosole's boots!

Give a Little Bit

There's a word for anyone who's done with her holiday shopping already: show-off. The rest of us need help. This week, we're helping by giving out our best bets.

For the man on your list, your dad, husband, boyfriend, brother: how about this great looking scarf? It'll keep him cozy when your away on your girls' trip. Bonus, Neiman's is offering free gift wrapping and free 2 day shipping with the code NMHURRY.

Happy shopping!

On Your Radar?

We spend so much time (OK--all of it) talking about our girls' getaways, now we want to know about yours! Where do you go when you want to get away from it all and hang with your besties for a few days? Miami? Buenos Aires? Your lakehouse? E-mail us your favorite vacation destination at jetsetgirls@gmail.com by December 21, 2007 and you could win the Aerosole boots shown above*. Be sure to include your name, return email, shoe size and color preference.

Aerosoles really are great for traveling because they are cute and you can actually walk in them. In fact, both members of JSG recently bought two pairs of pumps each on sale!

*Winner will be selected at random. Exact pair of boots may vary depending on availability of a specific size.

Baby, You Can Drive My Car!

As one half of JSG lives in NYC, never drives and is happy to cab it everywhere and the other half lives in the suburbs and spends a quarter of her day behind the wheel, we always debate over the benefits of renting a car. It's not rocket science, but it's worth it if you're in a city that's spread out like L.A. and not in a city like Vegas where taxis and limos run like water (or is that bubbly in Sin City?) and you're going to be buzzed 90 percent of the time anyways.

On last week's trip to Phoenix/Scottsdale, when we realized it was only $10 day to rent a car and--Hello!--$25 a day for the convertible, we didn't have to think twice. Driving with the top down from the airport to the hotel turned into an adventure instead of a queasy ride in the back of a taxi. We also got quite a few stares from our fellow drivers, but that may have been because it was 60 degrees and obvious that we were tourists desperate for sunshine. Regardless, it was so fun--we may just be car rental converts!

Ever Feel Like a Piece of Meat?

Sometimes that's okay! JSG always ends up at a steakhouse on our trips. We're not sure if that's because we're looking for guys or missing our own. Steakhouses are great: the best meal before drinking, the best chance to drink a killer bottle of red, and the best excuse to order potatoes (forget your South Beach diet, even if you're in Miami!).

Here's how we found our last filet: we simply Googled “Phoenix Food Blog” and the first one that was listed was www.FeastinginPhoenix.com. Once we read its tagline, “When Zagat’s Meets Sex and the City” we knew we had found a winner! We sent a cold-call email asking for recommendations for a sexy steakhouse and Seth, the editor of the blog, responded with a few suggestions.

We took his advice and went to Mastros City Hall. It lived up to all expectations—the steaks were delicious, the wine list was long and, as expected, it was filled with men. We opted to eat dinner in the lounge because it had a shorter wait and were psyched to find that it was also a lively place to meet locals. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, lounge dining may become a regular practice on all our girls’ getaways--it's an especially good trick for getting into a restaurant without a resy.

And, while we didn’t get to meet Seth in person, we want to give him and Feasting in Phoenix a special shout out and big thanks for the recommendation! Next time you go on a trip, you may just want to Google a local blogger. And, hey--we're always here for advice, too!

A Secret Shopping Paradise

It used to be hotel gift shops only had over-priced sunblock and playing cards with the hotel logo on them. But now gift shops have established themselves as a destination entirely on their own and have turned into a mini-version of your favorite local boutique. At the Mondrian in Scottsdale, for example, our friend Shawn bought some adorable heart shaped crystal earrings for her daughter and a quality cigar to bring home to her husband (BTW: a great gift for your man to smooth the waters on your return from a girls’ getaway!). So now you can head to the hotel gift shop if you forgot your toothbrush or your fave necklace or handbag!

In fact, the trend of chic hotel gift shops has caught on so much, that the W hotel is opening up a pop-up store in New York City for the holidays—and it’s not even at one of their hotels. It’s open today through Friday from 10 am to 8 pm at 90 West Street. It will have items like jewelry you would actually wear from Alex Woo and Swarovski, Laura Merkin clutches, the sparkly rings shown above and great cashmere blankets that are perfect for traveling or curling up at home. This proves it: The hotel gift shop isn’t just for travelers anymore.

On Our Radar: Instant Gratification

After a long night of dirty dancing, a girl can feel, kinda, you know, restless. But we can’t always plan ahead for these things and we certainly don’t want to deal with getting our toys through security, so it does leave us in a bit of a quandary. That’s why we’re such big fans of the Bryant Park Hotel’s Objects of Pleasure Menu. It’s a room service menu of best selling toys from the Pleasure Chest. Just feign a headache, wait til girls head to the pool, and order in—batteries included.

For more information about the Bryant Park Hotel, click here.

Update: This is fast becoming a trend! We're at the Mondrian in Phoenix/Scottsdale and what did we find in our minibar? A "Mobile Intimacy Kit" complete with "mini personal massager"!

Pull Yourself Together, Girl!

We all love to feel put together on our girls' getaways and a big part of that is our makeup. Since we rarely have our makeup done by a professional, we're on our own most of the time. One way to insure you get the best combination of eye, cheek and even lip colors is to use a palette pre-assembled by your favorite make-up line. They're great to keep in your purse and fit easliy into your carry on. They're also small enough to fit in your evening bag. Bobbi Brown and Stila come out with new palettes for each season; but most companies have gorgeous ones out now for the holidays. While Chanel starts in the $80 dollar range, you can find Benefit palettes for $28.

These make great holiday gifts! JSG loves to give and receive them. For travelers like us these are totally packable.

The "I Love Dior" set pictured has as much as any palette we've seen including bronzing powder, 6 eye shadows, lip gloss, and a JSG favorite Diorshow mascara. Click here to purchase on line.

What to Wear In...

In New York, basic black still rules. It's still the dressiest city in the U.S. as far as we're concerned. Fit and cut are extra important. When traveling to Vegas, pull out your shortest skirts and lowest cut tops and as many sequins as you dare to wear (we never do get to wear them enough). As for Miami--Latin chic is the way to go--and don't be afraid of tight clothes, even if you're not at your ideal weight. The girls down there show what they've got with confidence! We've never quite mastered the LA-look, though we appreciate it. Somehow we can't bring ourselves to wear boots with dresses--60 degrees is not really cold, all you West Coasters!

JSG is taking our first official girls' getaway since starting our website this week--we're headed to Phoenix/Scottsdale and are super-excited. Only question--what to pack? We're thinking something along the lines of this top with jeans. It's sexy and shiny, but not too sparkly and the jeans make it casual enough (we think) Anyone out there got any advice?

We'll be sure to report back!

Happy (Discounted) Holidays!

A fashionista friend of our sent along all these discount codes. We haven't tried them out, so we can't vouch that they'll work, but it's certainly worth a shot! Especially if you can get this adorable cuff bracelet for 20% off at Banana Republic (normally $42)!

Stila cosmetics warehouse sale:
http://www.stilacosmetics.com/special_vws_signup_2007.asp

BANANA REPUBLIC:
Use BRHOLIDAY for 20% off (no minimum) Expires 12/24/07
and stack with
CODE: MYRBRGIFT for an additional 15% off Expires 12/24/07
(Must use a VISA card for this one to work)
Total Savings of 35% off

Gucci
10% off online (NEVER HAPPENS)
http://www.gucci.com/us/holidayshoppingday.html

Sephora.com 20% off (NEVER HAPPENS)
Use code: FF2007

PRINTABLE COUPONS!!!
Victoria's Secret - $10 off!
http://www2.victoriassecret.com/onlineemail/?c=27676_45AF0C6212479C57B3C3A3F6B33F1545&cm_mmc=di-_-071106BRA-_-V01-_-27676&e

Talbots
http://www1.talbots.com/emails/071107_15P_Balance.htm

Bath and Body works
http://f.e.bathandbodyworks.com/i/34/528207786/110507A_cop.html

Illuminations
http://www.illuminations.com/email/2007/1102/regular_1102_07.html

Aldo
http://www.aldoshoes.com/frontEndComponents/specificComponents/vip/coupo
nAldo.cfm?ckey=US

Lord and Taylor
http://www.lordandtaylor.com/common/coupons/lt_110807_coupon.pdf

Barnes and Noble - 25% , 10%
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/email/nonav.asp?PID=20422

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/email/nonav.asp?PID=20007

Linens & Things
http://lnt.imageg.net/graphics/coupon/LNT_email_signup_9%2019%202007.pdf

CVS
http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6051&step_nbr=160

Aeropostale
http://p.p0.com/YesConnect/HtmlMessagePreview?a=RB9F5-t2axqh9M4TGXrMv&ms
gVersion=web

H&M
http://www.hmfriendsandfamily.com/

Footaction: 40% off clearance
http://ww2.footaction.com/2007/fae011107a/

Kohls
http://www.desividesimasti.net/coupons/kohlsshoppingpass.gif

Puma- 30% OFF!!!
http://surfacemagazine.cmail2.com/email/278576/images/Puma-Friends-%26-Family.jpg

Nine West
http://usa.visa.com/personal/student/detail/all/detail/NineWest_5_F07/vro_details.jsp?offerName=NineWest_5_F07&offerId=13786&pageId=165

Calvin Klein
https://c37e7b424e-custmedia.vresp.com/f7eaff45f4/f42e8d6cbb/library/COUPON.gif

Dicks Sporting Goods
http://www.shopnorthlake.com/assets/DicksCustomerAppreciation

Sharper Image
http://www.sharperimagesavings.com/beyond/

Banana Republic
http://www.bananarepublic.com/browse/info.do?cid=35127

Best Buy
http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/en_US/images/external/emailpdf/1107
07_nov_ese_coupons.pdf

BURBERRY PRIVATE SALE
http://www.burberryusaonline.com/cat...goryId=2284855
Free shipping for orders over $195.

Restoration Hardware Friends and Family
20% off all non-sale items.
Use Code: H07FAF02

Choosing a hotel for your girls’ getaway

To spend money on your hotel or not? We just spent the weekend at the Mondrian in Scottsdale and the answer to that question is a definite yes! While it’s true you probably won’t spend that much time in your room, we always encourage you to stay at the best hotel you can afford. Not only because we’re suckers for good amenities like Khiels or Aveda goodies in the bathroom, comfy beds with 500 thread cotton sheets and over-sized terry cloth robes. Think of it as an investment. A good hotel offers a number of other benefits like: a hip pool scene (unfortunately the weather in Arizona was a little too cold for that), dependably trendy bars (the Mondrian’s Sky Bar is the place to be in Scottsdale) and great restaurants (again, the Mondrian came through with Asia de Cuba) that you don’t ever have to take a taxi to, not to mention excellent spas (our friend H said she had the best massage ever) and concierges who can helpfully make reservations for you at those tough restaurants to get into (again, the concierges at the Mondrian were another ace in the hole!).

Do you have a favorite place to stay that adds up to this? We'd love to hear about it.