'Tis the season for "girlfriend getaways" and mother-daughter bonding trips, except we really loathe that former term. Down in DC, the Obama girls are getting restless, since they're last few quick trips have been domestic, to Maine and Asheville, NC. So while daddy continues to wrestle with the BP oil spill and much more, Michelle has taken their youngest daughter Sasha to Marbella, Spain for a 4-day vacation.

Although Barack isn't joining them, Spain's Costa del Sol is still beside themselves with happiness over the presidential family visit and rolling out the red carpet. The girls are staying at the $2,500+ per night Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton property with private pools and a palatial presence perfect for entrancing little girls. “This is a bonding trip between mother and daughter," says the US Embassy in Madrid, but there will be a proper royal visit made to King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on Mallorca. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-08-04T08:31:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/7/22/174426/473

Looks like President Barack Obama has finally had it with naysayers who criticize his brief family vacations, even though Obama has taken off half of the time that former President George W. Bush did at this point in the presidency.

Fresh from spending last weekend hiking with his family around Acadia National Park in Maine, Barack is already sitting down to plan the next getaway, and it'll definitely be a working vacation as the first family is due to hit the oil-plagued beaches of the Gulf Coast. The AP reports that they'll be down south for the weekend of August 14. This will be Obama's fifth visit to the area since the BP oil began leaking, and it's a second visit for Michelle. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-07-22T17:44:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/2/144253/978

Chicago may have lost out on its bid for the Olympics, but its fashion scene is getting just as much attention as any gold medal athlete. For that they can thank, in part, First Lady Michelle Obama, whose long standing relationship with boutiques like Ikram has earned The Windy City fashion credibility and inspired a thorough article about its style in a recent issue of The New Yorker.

But it's the city's independent designers who are truly trailblazing a sartorial path—those emerging names whose work you might see on the rack at major department stores in the future. In celebration of LBDs (that's Little Black Dresses, for you non-fashion followers), elegant draping, and everything else Chicago has to offer on-and-off the catwalk, Fashion Focus Chicago (October 22-25) will dedicate four full days to shopping events, industry seminars, and runway shows from designers like Horacio Nieto and Michael Alan Stein. ]]> Heidi Atwal 2009-10-02T14:42:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/1/91115/5381

Tomorrow is the big day! On October 2, the Olympic Committee will announce the host city for the 2016 Olympics, and it's a hot race right down to the last minute for finalist cities Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid. These final 24 hours have been particularly important to the decision-making process, as each city flew their star-power spokespeople to Copenhagen, Denmark to make final pleas before the Committee.

While soccer star Pelé did what he could for Rio's case, Chicago's representation was a bit more impressive with both Oprah and Michelle Obama stepping up to the podium to pitch The Windy City. Oprah might rule it these days, you see, but Michelle was born there and remains a Second City gal, even if her residence is now the White House. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-01T09:36:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/25/93122/0686

President Obama might be making his first presidential visit to Pittsburgh today for the G20 Summits, but before heading off for some serious work-time, Mr. and Mrs. Obama hit up New York again for a couple days, creating mass traffic confusion, but some actual excitement when Michelle lunched at the famed Gramercy Tavern restaurant.

In all fairness, Michelle had to eat alone since Barack was not in town for tourist activities like usual, but instead addressing the United Nations. Gramercy Tavern is an excellent choice for the First Lady, even if she may have gone because the chef behind the restaurant also catered the UN activities. It is upscale, rather exclusive and hard to get reservations for, and is known for being a cheerleader of American cuisine.

She didn't make reservations... ]]> JetSetCD 2009-09-25T09:31:22-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/12/235527/768

After a happy few days in Italy, making gelato and visiting with antiquity, the Obamas headed south to Ghana for President Obama's first official visit to Africa. It was a solemn trip, and Obama chose Ghana over Kenya—where he has family ties—because of Ghana's dedication to democracy.

The whole family made the trip along with Barack, and Michelle and the girls even accompanied him on a tour of Cape Coast Castle, which, in the 1600s, "served as Britain's West Africa headquarters for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which saw European powers and African chiefs export millions in shackles to Europe and the Americas." It's not exactly a tourist attraction either, unless you're set on re-tracing your own family history through the slave trade.

Obama's visit not only to Ghana but to the slave trading headquarters is poignant; it illustrates, in one stop, how far the world has come in shedding racism and taking up equality.

Related Stories:
· Obama's visit to fort a 'full-circle experience' [MSNBC]
· Dear President Obama [Globe and Mail]
· The Sort-of Return of the Prodigal Son: President Obama Arrives in Accra, Ghana [Obama Foodorama]
· When In Rome, It's Gelato And G8 For The Obamas [Jaunted]
· Presidential Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: AP via HuffPost]]]> JetSetCD 2009-07-13T13:34:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/10/74114/4091

When it was announced that President Obama would make a visit to Rome and The Vatican this week, we couldn't hardly wait to see goodies the Eternal City had in store for them, and Rome didn't disappoint. As the whole family moved on from their museum-hopping in Moscow earlier this week, some casual sightseeing and of course, a few scoops of famous gelato, were in order.

As Barack met with G8 leaders, Michelle quickly took in the Colosseum with her daughters and the Capitoline Museum, which houses ancient Roman art and archeology, with the other G8 wives. Then the adults promptly headed deeper into the Abruzzo region to the town of L'Aquila, which suffered that fatal earthquake back in April.]]> JetSetCD 2009-07-10T09:27:19-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/