Travel Betty

Apparently (and thankfully), my dear Travel Betty blog readers are not suffering the negative effects of the prime mortgage meltdown or insane gas prices this year. They’re not fearing creditors’ harassing phone calls or worrying if they’ll have to settle for a depressing “staycation.’ Nope, they are sitting pretty as you please, thinking about wonderfully [...]

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Every Travel Betty knows how much I love pork, so you shouldn’t be surprised to hear about my fascination with SmartyPig.  Although inedible, SmartyPig is the tastiest new way to save money online and share your goals with family and friends (who just may be willing to contribute too, once they see how responsible you’re being). [...]

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In a tiny Chinatown shop in San Francisco, no bigger than a one-car garage, in an alley barely wider than an airplane aisle, there lives a very special cookie company, The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company.

Every day they pump out bags and bags of your favorite post-kung-pao-chicken treat. Some are even flavored with chocolate. While [...]

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So there I am standing in Lucy’s Alteration & Dressmaking Shop for the second time, staring straight on at my wedding-dressed self in the mirror thinking I look quite lovely. I turn around, raising my arms up like chicken wings as Lucy weaves the ribbon in criss-crosses across my exposed back. She finishes, I lower [...]

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Yes, it’s better to give than to receive. But, that doesn’t mean receiving is a total hit to the chin. Case in point: My extreme delight to find this awesome lau zoo t-shirt sitting thoughtfully in my mailbox, sent in by Travel Betty fan, friend and fledgling fashion icon, Linus Lau.

Linus and I met over [...]

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New Orleans has no shortage of awesome little shops. Most owned by the locals. The only problem is hunting them down. But if you just let yourself meander around the city (I focused on the French Quarter and a small section of Magazine Street), you’ll bump into a bunch that are worthy of your cash. [...]

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