Does an air mattress count as a guest room?

John and I don't exactly live in a palatial estate in Ann Arbor, but we do have a guest room with a double bed. In our 700-square-foot Manhattan apartment, that's one of the amenities we'll do without.

But our temporary home does come with an inflatable air mattress. And if you're willing to sleep on an air mattress to save yourself 200 bucks at a Manhattan hotel, then I guess it passes for a guest room.

It looks like Sarah and Saejin might be the first to take advantage of Hotel Tebeau. They're mulling coming to the city Dec. 17-20 for a little Christmas shopping, maybe a manicure, and general hanging out.

Katie and Lara were talking about the possibility of Dec.10-13, but Lara had to back out because she's got to go to Chicago to accept a CASE award for LS&A magazine. Such is the price you pay when your friends are fabulous.

Blitz and Joy might join us for New Year's Eve. New Year's in the city sounds like an absolute blast, even if all we do is plop ourselves someplace to watch the revelers staggering to and from the Times Square mayhem (from a comfortable distance).

It's exciting to think of showing off the city to some of our friends --kind of like introducing your boyfriend to your friends. I hope we can show them why we love it so much.