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	<title>Butterfly Diary</title>
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	<link>http://butterflydiary.com</link>
	<description>A Travel Blog with Colorful Tales</description>
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		<title>Surviving Poor Service When You Travel</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/surviving-poor-service-when-you-travel/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/surviving-poor-service-when-you-travel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 May 2012 21:01:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Surviving Poor Service When You Travel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6624</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On a recent trip to the Catskills, I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Robin from MyMelange. We decided to try a place she had heard lots about: the Village Tea Room, in New Paltz. The parking wasn&#8217;t that bad even though the lot was full &#8212; a significance of good things. If people don&#8217;t want to leave, then the restaurant must be good. And the name &#8211;Village Tea Room&#8212;had me at hello. I&#8217;m a big tea buff, and I heard that they served high tea. Which meant scones and stuff. The entrance was pretty, with a trellised arch, and the building itself is a Historic Landmark. Inside, a cosy tea room (with lunch items too), and pretty silver foil packets of tea My eye was immediately drawn to the cakes and pastries, notably the honey bee cake, which I was told was made of orange sponge cake, with a vanilla filling and a touch of chocolate, adorned with a ganache honey bee with almond sliver wings. I had the good fortune to try it and it was delicious! [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/surviving-poor-service-when-you-travel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>How I Celebrated My 10th Wedding Anniversary (contd.): Hiking Around Lake Minnewaska, and Nearby Attractions</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/how-i-celebrated-my-10th-wedding-anniversary-contd-hiking-around-lake-minnewaska-and-nearby-attractions/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/how-i-celebrated-my-10th-wedding-anniversary-contd-hiking-around-lake-minnewaska-and-nearby-attractions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2012 14:24:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Photos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[and Nearby Attractions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How I Celebrated My 10th Wedding Anniversary (contd.): Hiking Around Lake Minnewaska]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6620</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The setting? A magnificent day in New Paltz, New York, from where you can see the Shawangunk Mountain range (a section of the Appalachian Mountain range). The air is cool, the surrounding foliage is crisp, and Matthew and I have decided to hike the 3 mile loop around Lake Minnewaska. For those of you who have not visited the Catskills area (you may be more familiar with Mohonk Mountain House), you&#39;ll find an embarrassment of riches &#8212;trail wise. I cannot express to you how much I love it here, and over the years I&#39;ve witnessed the demand increase and Bed &#38; Breakfast reservations fill up weeks in advance. Lake Minnewaska has beautiful dark blue waters, and is dog friendly too. The three-odd mile trail around the Lake will take you past the famous Cliff House and Windmere among attractions. We had a breeze hiking the trail and it&#39;s not strenuous at all, even at 33 weeks of pregnancy! Butterscotch enjoyed the walk immensely, although she was very tempted to get into the lake (we restrained her because we didn&#39;t want [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/how-i-celebrated-my-10th-wedding-anniversary-contd-hiking-around-lake-minnewaska-and-nearby-attractions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Celebrating my 10th Wedding Anniversary: A Weekend in New Paltz (Part One)</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/celebrating-my-10th-wedding-anniversary-a-weekend-in-new-paltz-part-one/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/celebrating-my-10th-wedding-anniversary-a-weekend-in-new-paltz-part-one/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 15:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catskills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Celebrating my 10th Wedding Anniversary: A Weekend in New Paltz (Part One)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mountain Meadows B&B]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Paltz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6604</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It seems hard to believe that I&#39;ve been married for ten years. Ten years! Matthew and I met while in college, and we&#39;ve cherished every minute together, and it really helps to have a partner who shares the same interests as you. On the morning of my anniversary, I woke to some beautiful surprises on my coffee table. To be honest, I had not even processed the information that it WAS my 10th, so I had not really done quite the amount of planning as Matthew had (evidently). First, I woke up to these: Because it was my 10th&#8211;the metal of choice was tin: hence the elegant tin pail. And of course, there was a card. When I opened the card, it asked me to look under the table, and I found yet another package. Inside this was a sleek black new Dell Inspiron Laptop, which was particularly touching because my old one had died a few weeks ago, and I was trying hard not to get frustrated at the thought of tapping away at a desktop. What a thrilling [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/celebrating-my-10th-wedding-anniversary-a-weekend-in-new-paltz-part-one/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Definition of a Travel Paradise: In Honor of FriFotos</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/my-definition-of-a-travel-paradise-in-honor-of-frifotos/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/my-definition-of-a-travel-paradise-in-honor-of-frifotos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 20:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Photos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My Definition of a Travel Paradise: In Honor of FriFotos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6597</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Everyone has their definition of Paradise. My travels have resulted in colorful journeys all over the world, from my favorite island (Aruba) to South Africa and Macau. Of course, not all journeys are created equal: Paradise is so personal. For me, Paradise is not necessarily all the glitz and glam. Sure, I&#8217;m impressed just as the girl next door is, with marble lobbies and swank hotel rooms with a nice tea service, but Paradise is about finding a place that makes you comfortable. It&#8217;s like finding that perfect relationship where you can actually be yourself. No need vacillate personalities like Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria or Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire. Come as you are. In that vein, I do think my personal paradise has to be Aruba. Many of you know and have read about my experiences on that island and those marvelous sunsets and Bonbini moments. It&#8217;s not an island that has an insane variety of activities, but the beaches are spectacular and there is that Dutch hospitality that always puts me at ease each time I visit. Also, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/my-definition-of-a-travel-paradise-in-honor-of-frifotos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Five Reasons to Visit Macau Now: Island Builds Largest Sheraton in the World</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/five-reasons-to-visit-macau-now-island-builds-largest-sheraton-in-the-world/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/five-reasons-to-visit-macau-now-island-builds-largest-sheraton-in-the-world/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 May 2012 15:01:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Hotels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6590</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When I visited the tiny island last October (it is only 30 square km, after all), I didn&#39;t expect to fall in love with the ying-yang of it all. On the one hand, Macau is definitely about the glitz and glam. It&#39;s a bit like Disney for casino and hotel lovers, and yes, I truly felt as though I was in Epcot Center when I visited. But that&#39;s not why you need to visit Macau now. The island is experiencing such a boom in growth, with worldwide visitor arrivals in 2011 well over 28 million. Most of the visitors are from mainland China, but the U.S. is the primary long haul source of visitors to the island. There are so many reasons to visit Macau, especially now. Here are a few. Plenty of room at the Inn: The accommodations are expanding to manage the demand, and currently there are 65 hotels and 32 guesthouses in Macau (23,222 rooms). So, does this mean you can expect to find bargains when you visit Macau? It depends on what you mean by &#34;bargain.&#34; [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/five-reasons-to-visit-macau-now-island-builds-largest-sheraton-in-the-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cinco de Mayo 2012: Five Margarita Bars to Celebrate in New York City</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/cinco-de-mayo-2012-five-margarita-bars-to-celebrate-in-new-york-city/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/cinco-de-mayo-2012-five-margarita-bars-to-celebrate-in-new-york-city/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 May 2012 17:22:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cinco de Mayo 2012: Five Margarita Bars to Celebrate in New York City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6587</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#39;s not the Mexican Independence Day (which is celebrated on September 16th), but Cinco de Mayo is well known because of the victory of the Mexicans over the French forces in Puebla in 1862. New Yorkers, of course, celebrate the holiday with pride and a lot of margaritas. If you&#39;re looking for popular bars and hangouts to celebrate this holiday in the city, here are a few you may want to try: Credit: Mayahuel.com Mayahuel, New York City This Mexican restaurant prides itself on superior drink and a luxurious tequila with a &#34;deep, smoky mezcal.&#34; Their margaritas are legendary, thanks to mixologist Philip Ward&#39;s supervision. The restaurant is located on a rather boisterous in the East Village, perfect for people watching. 304 East 6th Street, New York, NY 10005. Phone: 212 253 5888. There are no reservations, so go early but be prepared to wait. Rosa Mexicano The chain has several restaurants in Manhattan, and just for Cinco de Mayo they&#39;re debuting the Skinny Margarita which is made with Organic Silver Tequila and Organic Agave. Of course the classics La [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/cinco-de-mayo-2012-five-margarita-bars-to-celebrate-in-new-york-city/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Celebrating Scotland Week With a Paintbrush: Hazel Campbell&#8217;s Classes in Galloway</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/celebrating-scotland-week-with-a-paintbrush-hazel-campbells-classes-in-galloway/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/celebrating-scotland-week-with-a-paintbrush-hazel-campbells-classes-in-galloway/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 21:42:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Galloway Painting Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hazel Campbell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland Week]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Summer 2012 Classes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6576</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; Scotland Week kicks off annually on Tartan Day (April 6th) and fun and festivities last an entire week in both the U.S. and Canada. The finale in New York was a colorful and fun Tartan Day Parade, complete with bright felt kilts, and a lot of revelry. But when I was invited to partake in some Scotland Week activities, little did I know I&#39;d be releasing a bit of my inner Picasso with a painting lesson by the Scottish Artist Hazel Campbell. Hazel was in New York City in honor of the Year of Creative Scotland campaign, and she regularly gives painting lessons in her hometown in a quaint studio on a beautiful Galloway farm. A few bloggers and I were given empty canvases, pots of acrylic inks, long and elegant paintbrushes and bamboo sticks to embrace our inner creativity, and were just encouraged to spill our creativity. Some writers painted their image of Scotland (impressionist style), others just danced to the tune of their own colors. Hazel just asked us to relax and not over analyze everything. &#34;There [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/05/celebrating-scotland-week-with-a-paintbrush-hazel-campbells-classes-in-galloway/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Travel and the Naysayers: Why Sticking to Your Goals and Dreams Is Important</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/travel-and-the-naysayers-why-sticking-to-your-goals-and-dreams-is-important/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/travel-and-the-naysayers-why-sticking-to-your-goals-and-dreams-is-important/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:38:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sunsets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel and the Naysayers: Why Sticking to Your Goals and Dreams Is Important]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6545</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is this one aspect of travel that particularly irks me, and that usually involves dealing with naysayers in travel. I&#39;m talking about people who use the words &#34;can&#39;t&#34; &#34;impossible&#34; &#34;never&#34; etc. all in one sentence. Over the past few months, I&#39;ve been hearing some &#34;you can&#39;t do it&#34; type of feedback from people, especially since I&#39;m about to become a new mom. And here&#39;s the typical feedback: You&#39;ll find it difficult to travel with your newborn; You&#39;ll be so tired you&#39;ll need every bit of sleep and you won&#39;t be able to travel; Forget about traveling with your kid &#8211;it&#39;s expensive. A sunset in Aruba: photo credit Matthew Minucci of Butterflydiary.com These kinds of comments are not empowering &#8212;they leave me wondering about the person who commented more than anything else. I&#39;ve always been a &#34;can do&#34; person, and even now, during my pregnancy, I&#39;m more active than ever &#8212;going to the gym daily, traveling every opportunity I get, and loving the entire travel and explorations phase without too much fatigue. This reminds me of America&#39;s relationship to travel [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/travel-and-the-naysayers-why-sticking-to-your-goals-and-dreams-is-important/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>14</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Find the Perfect Piece of Travel Luggage &#8211; Ricardo of Beverly Hills Case Study</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/how-to-find-the-perfect-piece-of-travel-luggage-ricardo-of-beverly-hills-case-study/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/how-to-find-the-perfect-piece-of-travel-luggage-ricardo-of-beverly-hills-case-study/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:09:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel Luggage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crystal City Collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How to]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perfect Piece of travel Luggage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ricardo of Beverly Hills]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6531</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a frequent traveler, my luggage is almost like an arm extension. If something is too cumbersome, I&#39;m just quite irritated. If a piece of luggage is just right, I feel as though I&#39;ve found my new best friend. Recently, I was invited to attend the Family Travel Conference hosted by Traveling Moms where they introduced us to a new piece of expandable luggage by Ricardo of Beverly Hills, which has been making luggage for 30 years. I fell in love with the super lightweight Crystal City collection, which is ideal for day trips anywhere. And&#8230;.purple is one of my all time favorite colors! If you&#39;re a frequent traveler, here are some tips to help you find the perfect piece of luggage: Check to see if it&#39;s truly lightweight. There are a&#160; number of pieces of luggage that promise to be lightweight but come in at 10 pounds&#8211;to me, lugging something that&#39;s too heavy in addition to your clothes, shoes etc. is quite an important consideration! Check to see if it&#39;s a carry on: many suitcases look tempting but if [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/how-to-find-the-perfect-piece-of-travel-luggage-ricardo-of-beverly-hills-case-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My BIG News! (And Why I&#8217;ll Still Be Traveling)</title>
		<link>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/my-big-news-and-why-ill-still-be-traveling/</link>
		<comments>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/my-big-news-and-why-ill-still-be-traveling/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:54:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Charu Suri</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My BIG News! (And Why I'll Still Be Traveling)]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://butterflydiary.com/?p=6527</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#39;m sure many of you know this through the grapevine already but people have been asking me to break the announcement officially on my blog, and to post pictures. So I&#39;ll come right out and say it: I&#39;m expecting a bundle of joy soon! After many years of debating whether I should or not, I decided that the next step in the cards for me was to become a mom, and I am so thrilled! As to answers to some of the questions you&#39;ve been asking me: How Far Along Am I? Well, I&#39;m entering my third trimester soon, and guess what? The baby seems to be sort of a Cirque du Soleil kid, kicking every chance it can. But rest assured, I hear it&#39;s very healthy and happy so Matthew and I are thrilled. Do We Know the Gender? Yes, we&#39;re having a GIRL! What Is My Due Date? Well, officially it&#39;s July 3rd. I am so thrilled it&#39;s a summer baby but I&#39;m REALLY hoping it&#39;s not a Fourth of July baby because I know it will be [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://butterflydiary.com/2012/04/my-big-news-and-why-ill-still-be-traveling/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>31</slash:comments>
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