simply lovely

I was out wandering through blog land yesterday in search of something completely unrelated to this but when I came across this image I stopped in my tracks and gawked.  Simply lovely.

{oh joy}

Travel Treasurs {cont.}: Arica from AY

I'm going to sneak in one last guest blogger for the Travel Treasure series I did a couple of weeks ago while I was away because I didn't get the chance to post the entry Arica sent me and she is just too great not to introduce you to her. {That is if you haven't already found her beautiful blog.}  

It is like a breath of fresh California air.  For sure go check AY out right after you read about her fun travel treasures.

For me, my travel treasures are always JEWELRY! It's what catches my eye wherever I go. I usually have on a necklace or two, a couple of rings, and some bracelets to give my watch company. Really, I'm a hoarder, and might look a touch ridiculous, but I'm alright with that. I haven't traveled too many places in life, but my usual stops have been Mexico, Hawaii, and a touch of the Caribbean (Tropical much? I'm also addicted to the ocean, but that's another story). Talking about rings, I have two favorites from trips that I will own so long as I live. My first is from the left: 5th row, 2nd ring down. It's a hollow kukui nut ring I FOUND in Hawaii. Yes found. Just magically in my car as if it was from heaven above. I've worn it hundreds of times since. The second is the first row on the right, at the very bottom. We recently took a trip to LA and while browsing the old antique shops on Magnolia, I found this gem, and have been obsessed with this turquoise infused Native American ring ever since!

I'm headed to Palm Springs in a week, and while I'm there you can guarantee I'll find whatever jewelry stand I can to take a treasure home with me.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful treasures Arica! 

Travel Treasures: Amanda from {re}cycled consign and design

Our next guest writes from beautiful southern Utah, {where I seem to have left part of my heart} and while I haven't yet had the chance to visit Amanda's shop, I can't wait {!!} because I know it just has to be stocked to the brim with treasures to gawk and drool over.  Just from the style oozing out of her blog, you know this girl has a true talent for finding the beauty in something others might miss.

Hey everyone I am Amanda from {re}cycled consign and design, I am so excited to be part of Jenna's guest post's while she is out! Her blog is so much fun and she is so adorably cute I could never pass up the opportunity to hang out over here! She asked me to share my favorite treasures I have found from some of my travels.

One of the best things to do while traveling is to check out some of the favorite spots from the locals {they live there so they know best}. I adore thrift shopping and vintage finds so I always ask about those first...food is a close second! I picked up this vintage broach at a flea market in San Clemente California, I wear it a lot but when it's not in use it is displayed on my decorative towels by my bathtub. I see it everyday and wish it was time to pack up and head to the beach house :)

Now this one is really a gem...I came across these rolls of vintage wallpaper in a consignment shop{like mine} in Orange County Cali. I just knew they were exactly what I wanted to design my front room around. I had them framed and they were instant art. I adore the navy color and raised velvet texture.

I adore this picture of my hubster and me at one of our favorite restaurants at the pier in Cali. we can eat buckets full of clams and listen to the waves break on the shore. It truly is one of the places that I am the most happy, the beach is part of my soul!

I hope everyone has a few items in their home that means something dear to you...you don't have to travel far to have memories that you would never trade!

I am planning a trip to Italy in June and will be sure to bring back a few more treasures I adore.

Thanks Jenna for having me, you are a real gem. Big kisses to you and all your dear followers!

Thank you, Amanda!  

I agree with you, memories can be made anywhere and are especially special when made with those we love.

Travel Treasures: Kim from Fill Your Well

 What can I tell you about Kim?  

Her blog, fill your well, is California cool rolled up in sincerity, and dipped in a plethora of wonderful treasures she finds all over the web.  She talks about gratitude, and things that make her happy like life with her Mister, and fashion, and causes out there worth talking about.  Plus, her eye for style and sharing her finds has lead me on many adventures into places I probably wouldn't have found without her help.  {I won't even get started on the wedding she talked about a couple of weeks ago that I'm still dreaming about.} 

Instead, lets welcome Kim!

hi everyone! this is kim from fill your well.  i was so excited when jenna asked me to do a guest post on a favorite travel treasure because 1.) i love her blog!, and 2.) i am the proud owner of the most amazing souvenir ever - an elephant painting!

okay, okay, so for those of you who read my blog, you know that i always talk about my elephant painting whenever the subject of honeymoons, traveling, or souvenirs come up.  but it's just so incredible, i can't help myself. 

i acquired my treasure last september when my partner and i took our honeymoon in thailand.  being the amazing man that he is, dannon planned part of our honeymoon at a working elephant ranch where we lived among the elephants and mahouts {the thai version of a cowboy}.  this was a serious adventure - scrubbing the elephants clean, riding them to the river several times a day, playing with the newborn baby elephant, and cleaning out the fields.  that's right, i worked in elephant dung on my honeymoon... and loved every second of it!  

there weren't fences or trainers keeping us separate from the elephants.  we would open our door in the wee hours of the morning to a jungle full of these giant animals.  before we got there, i wondered how safe i would feel.  i'm barely 5 feet tall, and these elephants were about a gazillion times my size.  but i quickly discovered that elephants are the most gentle creatures with such beautiful souls.

yes, those elephants, and our time living with them, was magical to say the least!  we knew we had to bring back something from our stay, which obviously needed to be a baby elephant. unfortunately, a carry-on with elephant legs sticking out the sides was way too easily identifiable {"oh no officer, this is just how my luggage was designed..."}.  so dannon and i decided to go with the much easier-to-carry souvenir of an elephant painting, and when i say "elephant painting" i don't mean a painting of an elephant, i mean a painting by an elephant.  yup, a handful of the elephants at the ranch love to paint!  it's a bonding experience that they get to have with their mahouts, whom they love dearly - just like little children love to play with their parents.  adorable? yes!  what's more is that these mahouts are often uneducated villagers who work with the elephants 15 hours a day. both the elephants and the mahouts come from tough backgrounds with difficult stories, so to be able to create art together, which is then purchased by visitors is a beautiful experience for all.

we chose this lovely painting that both dannon and i fell in love with immediately.  we knew this would be the focal piece of any home we have through our lives, so we chose one that would match our style.  i love that we will not only have a cool conversation piece, but we'll also have a beautiful piece of art to forever remind us of our adventure!

Thank you Kim!  That sounds like a honeymoon you'll never forget!  And that painting is seriously cool. 

Travel Treasure: Caty of The Bee's Knees

Happy Wednesday everyone, today's guest blogger is Caty.  We met while working in a bridal shop and then we scattered and went out separate ways, but lucky for me she keeps a blog.  Caty is a unique gem of a girl who has an uncanny way of finding joy in the simple things of life.  I can think of a few occasions I've gone to her blog specifically for a pick me up and left with a smile on my face.  Enjoy Caty and her travel treasure. 

Hello, everyone! My name is Caty and I am the writer for The Bee's Knees. Jenna has asked me to post a photo of a treasure I found while traveling and write a little bit about it. The adventure I have chosen to share is my recent trip to Orlando, Florida. The treasure? The opportunity to indulge my imagination and live, if only for a few days, a long-time dream of mine. To convey that gift as best as I can, I'll show you a photo from the park itself...



While growing up, I, along with millions, discovered the Harry Potter book series. I was one of the “handful” of people who actually aged along with the three main characters. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione were eleven years old, so was I. I had always been a big fan of writing and reading, so the connection I made with the books wasn't surprising to anyone. But now, as an adult, I look back on that time with the realization that something special really clicked. Of all the books I have read in my lifetime (a whopping 24 years), some have touched my heart, others have made an impact on my life. But none of them have affected me the way J.K. Rowling's brilliant imagination has. I grew up in the "Bible Belt," so I had a few friends who weren't allowed to read Harry Potter due to the belief that it encouraged witchcraft, sorcery, and harmful teachings. I felt as though they had lost a loved one without knowing it! The seven-novel-long story is anything but negative. It is filled with so many amazing lessons on faith, courage, friendship, family, sacrifice, death, and the battle between good and evil.

My husband, Gabriel, didn’t read the books until after we were married, but he became just as enamored with them. For our late honeymoon, we decided to travel down to Orlando, Florida and visit Universal Studios during Thanksgiving 2010. Last summer, they completed the life-size, all-encompassing Harry Potter world, complete with Hogsmeade shops and the beloved Hogwarts castle.

The creators made an entire Diagon Alley/Hogsmeade collaboration that makes you feel as though you yourself are visiting the world of Harry Potter. With the movies’ soundtracks playing overhead, you can buy delicious butter beer, find a wand of your very own, send an Owl Post back home, or listen to the Hogwarts student choir perform with a toad. You can walk the trails past the Dragon Challenge roller coaster and find the Tri-Wizard Champions' tent, Hagrid's hut, the Womping Willow chowing down on the flying car, and gaze over the entire park with the castle in the background.

I decided to post this particular photo because it was the first time I really saw the castle. I won’t lie, I’m fairly certain I teared up a little at the sight. Have you ever experienced a time when everything felt so “in the moment” and it was next to impossible trying to indulge any sort of worry or negative thought? That is what the park gave to me. I had an extremely hard time leaving. And now, every time Gabriel and I hear the distinct twinkling notes of the Harry Potter suite, we look at each other and simultaneously reminisce on our own days at Hogwarts.

[read about the entire trip and see all the photos here]

Thank you Caty!  I literally got goosebumps as I felt your excitement of being transported into the wonderful world that is Harry Potter.  No lie, every fall I get the hankering for all things Hogwarts.

Travel Treasures: Autumn from Design Dump

I met my next guest blogger, the lovely Autumn, at Alice Lane at the blogging event last December and I've had the pleasure of getting to know her more through Design Dump as well as being a source for some pretty chairs and case goods for a few of her clients.  She has an ultra classy style and with loads of experience, she has taught me so much already.

Autumn:

One of things that my husband and I enjoy doing when we travel is checking out 

the local shops and boutiques. Almost by accident, a collection of necklaces

gathered on some of our travels was born.

The first necklace in my "travel collection" was purchased in Mexico on an anniversary trip.

Since then, several others have been added. We don't always buy a necklace on every trip we take.

It is more of an organic experience when we "find" a new piece to add to the collection. 

I have quite a few necklaces hanging on some hooks in my bathroom, but these 5 will always be among my favorites. 

When I look at or wear one of them,  I am immediately whisked away to that little boutique or small shop where we found and bought each one. I love the ones that I have, and I look forward to the

necklaces and memories that will surely be collected in the years to come.

Thank you Autumn! 

PS - a little bonus, go here to read about one of her fun trips.

Travel Treasures: Kirsten of 6th Street Design School

I've asked some of my favorite bloggers to share their favorite travel treasures with you while I'm away.  This is really exciting for me, I've never had guest bloggers before!

I'm happy to introduce the first guest, Kirsten Krason of 6th Street Design School.  I met her a few years ago while we were in the same interior design program.  I've been awestruck as I've watched her career take off in a major way.

"When I was in college I moved to Russia for 5 months to teach English at an Elementary School. I bought a lot of stuff that I have since gotten rid of but the one thing that has stuck around is this painting of St. Basils. When I was in Russia I met a man who stood by this church everyday and would paint it. He painted it exactly as he saw it. I had him paint one for me and every time I see this painting I think of that exact day and that exact moment that I was visiting this church." - Kirsten

Thank you Kirsten!  If you haven't already checked out 6th Street Design Design School, do it today.

Artistic pillows

 One of my favorite artists to follow in the blogosphere is Geninne because she comes up with some of the coolest, creative projects and she takes beautiful pictures of everything she does.  I love getting a glimpse into her life and her gorgeous blue house in Mexico.  

Imagine my delight yesterday when I checked in to see what she'd been up to over the weekend and I found that she was showing off some of her latest creations: pretty pillows!  Remember my plans for updating my bedding?  I changed plans midway through {because I'm the client now and I can change my mind all I want} and thought the new plan called for a little something pink.  Her cosmo pillow {image borrowed from her site}could be just the ticket.

She sells it on a great website with a bunch of other artists called Envelop.  I thought I'd share a few that jumped out at me.

paper flakes

 I got in the mood to cut out some paper snowflakes.  I completed my one and only snowflake and quickly lost interest.  Maybe I'll revisit this project, maybe not.  In the meantime, I'll just enjoy others hard earned paper flurries.

 Ladies with more patience than me here, here and here.

 Etsy snowflakes in random order: fa la la la la la la laaaa.

accomodations

I know there are plenty of Western style accomodations in Asia but when given the option I would choose authentic over western any day.  Mat on the floor over a big fluffy bed? Definitely. Free flowing shower in the corner of the bathroom over some enclosed, claustrophobia inducing cube? Heck yes.

 I recently stayed in two hotels.  Both on the beach a few kilometers from each other, both authentic with a stack of mats for bedding. {Also came with a bed for the less bendy folks, you know who you are}. 
One smelled like an outhouse,
the other one did not.

We arrived at the stinky one first on Chuseok {Korea's Thanksgiving} so everything was shut down and it would have been obnoxious and highly improbable finding something else on such short notice.  We chalked it up to experience and that is exactly what I reminded myself when I woke up with the distinct impression of being boiled alive on my blow up mat by an over enthusiastic radiant heating system. {heating in the floor}

The second hotel was a dream in comparison.  To add to the appeal of clean, stink free, rooms; the amount of color was such a surprise I couldn't help but poke around and get a glimpse of as many rooms as I could in this little home turned hotel by the sea.  

The images I included are from the room adjacent ours.  Our room was equally colorful with at least five different wallpaper designs mixed together in one room right along with bright red cupboards and yellow tile. If I had seen everything going into the room in a pile before installation I would have laughed and suggested a specialist for the color blind. Maybe it isn't the polished look I'm used to when I think boutique hotel, but it definitely oozed charm and I completely enjoyed the stay and the very unique style.

I'm far from a hotel connoisseur, I enjoy a good hotel as much as the next person.  But I do happen to know someone who knows everything there is to know about picking the best hotel.  He just started a blog that will sure to be The Blog to check before picking a destination.  Check out Hotel Geek.