Hello from St. Maarten!

Well hello there!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Things are going to be quiet over here this week as I spend time with my family in our lovely villa on the beautiful island of St. Maarten.  But I'll be back next week sharing photos from our vacation.  XOXO.

Travel :: Five Dream Beach Vacations

Anse Source d’Argent, Seychelles

Happy Friday!  We leave for St. Maarten on Sunday and I absolutely cannot wait.  A week of relaxing in the warm sunshine with family is just what I need.  Inspired by our trip, here are five dream beach vacations I'd love to go on someday.  Have a great weekend!

Algarve, Portugal

Calanque d'En-Vau, France

Phra Nang Beach, Thailand

Matira Beach, Bora Bora

Images via {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} 

Travel :: Summer Beach Reads

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald // Beautiful Ruins // Tender is the Night // The Vacationers // The Art of Hearing Heartbeats // Valley of the Dolls // Where We Belong // A Hundred Summers // The Sun Also Rises

In light of our upcoming trip to St. Maarten {only three more days!}, I have rounded up nine perfect beach reads.  Some I have already read {Valley of the Dolls, The Sun Also Rises, Beautiful Ruins, Z}  and would easily bring with me on vacation again to reread.  The rest I have waiting for me on my Kindle to dive into by the pool {no pun intended}.  I'll admit I tend to gravitate towards fluffier books in the summer and denser books in the winter, but to me there's nothing like getting completely swept up in a book on vacation.  Happy reading!

My Life :: Date Night at Trader's Point Creamery

This past Friday I surprised Ryan by taking him out for a night of food, bluegrass, cocktails, and ice cream in the country.  We headed to Trader's Point Creamery, a local organic farm that specializes in all things dairy {cheeses, ice cream, milk, and the most amazing yogurt} for their weekly "Summer Dinners on the Deck."  The farm-to-table dinner consisted of peach mojitos, grilled chicken and peaches, three-bean salad, chilled peach and tarragon soup, grilled corn, and homemade ice cream for dessert.  Afterwards we listened to musicians play bluegrass music while watching the sun set over the woods in the distance.  Don't get me wrong - I love being a city girl, but sometimes a few hours in the country are just what I need to relax and recharge.

Interiors :: An Eclectic Georgian Home

Well hello there!  Sorry for the radio silence over here...to be honest I think I've just now fully recovered from a weekend of girl time, cheese, and maybe just a little too much wine.  But there isn't much better in my book than catching up with an old friend, it's good for the soul!

Today I wanted to share with you the absolutely gorgeous home of designer Lisa Sherry and her husband, photographer Ron Royals.  Recent empty nesters {are they really old enough to have college-aged children?!}, Lisa and Ron weren't planning on relocating or upsizing.  But, over the course of many morning runs, they fell in love with the 6,000 square foot Georgian home which sat vacant for years.  And to be honest, can you blame them?!  More photos below...

Images via Domino Magazine

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday!  Coming back from a long weekend {five days in my case} is always hard, and personally I'm so looking forward to this weekend.  My friend Olivia who I haven't seen in ages is coming to visit, and I plan on spending the whole weekend catching up on girl time, drinking wine, and eating cheese.  What more can you ask for?!

Image via

Travel :: Breckenridge, CO

This past weekend we spent three days in Breckenridge, CO for the Fourth of July and my cousin's wedding...and wow, is it ever beautiful!  I don't know if I have ever breathed in air as fresh, crisp, and clean.  We stayed in a stunning cabin in the mountains and were able to get a couple of fantastic hikes in as well as spend some time exploring the adorable little town of Breckenridge.  Their Fourth of July wedding was high up the mountain at 10 Mile Station and offered phenomenal views of the surrounding Rockies.  At the end of the night as we were being shuttled back to our cabin we were able to watch the Breckenridge fireworks show {without having to deal with the usual Fourth of July crowds}.  It was a perfect getaway!