time to travel

this is it, my loves! spring break has arrived and i am ready for an action-packed two weeks. here's the plan: two days in venice, a day in bologna, three days in florence, two days in rome, two days in athens, and six days lounging on the beach in ios. we have been planning this trip forever and i can hardly believe the time has finally come.

there will be lots of planes and trains and buses (the worst) but i'm going to enjoy every single second. michael and i are doing venice and bologna on our own, meeting up with his london friends for florence and rome, and then traveling with my tours friends for athens and ios. it will be such a great mix of down time and nights out! one week eating the world's best pizza, pasta, and gelato and another frolicking in the greek isles... what could possibly be better?

now before you tear up, i want you to know that i've planned ahead with two weeks of blog posts for you! that's right... you didn't really think i'd leave you hanging, did you?

which of these places have you visited? i'd love to hear your recommendations for "can't miss" restaurants and sights. scouring lonely planet is one thing, but personal travel tips are the best!

thank you for another wonderful week of blogging and have a happy weekend!

p.s. i always make travel look this good. don't you?

{photography by the one and only corrie bond}

this is it, my loves! spring break has arrived and i am ready for an action-packed two weeks. here's the plan: two days in venice, a day in bologna, three days in florence, two days in rome, two days in athens, and six days lounging on the beach in ios. we have been planning this trip forever and i can hardly believe the time has finally come.

there will be lots of planes and trains and buses (the worst) but i'm going to enjoy every single second. michael and i are doing venice and bologna on our own, meeting up with his london friends for florence and rome, and then traveling with my tours friends for athens and ios. it will be such a great mix of down time and nights out! one week eating the world's best pizza, pasta, and gelato and another frolicking in the greek isles... what could possibly be better?

now before you tear up, i want you to know that i've planned ahead with two weeks of blog posts for you! that's right... you didn't really think i'd leave you hanging, did you?

which of these places have you visited? i'd love to hear your recommendations for "can't miss" restaurants and sights. scouring lonely planet is one thing, but personal travel tips are the best!

thank you for another wonderful week of blogging and have a happy weekend!

p.s. i always make travel look this good. don't you?

{photography by the one and only corrie bond}

Desk Du Jour

{better homes & gardens via two ellie}

it's been too long since i've done a desk du jour feature so i thought i'd bring it back with a bang. this space-saving home office and its built-in desk, red and blue wallpaper, and red chippendale chair make me happy. what do you think?

{better homes & gardens via two ellie}

it's been too long since i've done a desk du jour feature so i thought i'd bring it back with a bang. this space-saving home office and its built-in desk, red and blue wallpaper, and red chippendale chair make me happy. what do you think?

the art of arranging

beautifully styled interior design doesn't happen by accident. so much of what i admire in my favorite spaces goes beyond this paint color or that fabric choice — it's that someone somewhere made the conscious decision that this art would be best on that wall, that these frames would work better than those ones, that this book should stand next to that one, and that this table here would look better with that lamp sitting atop it. it's the act of staging and styling that lends each of these spaces its polish and its wow factor. here is a compilation of what i deem to be beautifully styled spaces:

{via from the right bank}

this space wouldn't be nearly so extraordinary if it weren't for the stacks of books placed on various surfaces throughout the room. clear lamps on heavy hardcovers, a vase of flowers on a pile of old favorites, the dark spines against the light boxes on the coffee table...

{elle decor}

three circular mirrors break up gridlike shelving filled with various titles and trinkets. don't you love the splash of red shining through the open back bookcase?

{domino via delight by design}

the coral and lucite had me at hello but this space is definitely worth more than a cursory once-over. for instance, i wouldn't instinctively think to put a pair of candlesticks in a bookcase, but don't they look better there than they would hiding in some cabinet?

{domino via la dolce vita}

more coral, more candlesticks, but a very different vibe. there's no doubt it's a grown-up room, given the intricate bust and the fancy candelabra, but there are also plenty of features to suggest that someone actually lives here. the throw pillows aren't relegated to the corners of the couch but rather in the middle where they might actually be used, there are at least five stacks of books in an arm's reach, and if you look closely there's a deck of cards just waiting to be played...

{sabrina linn in canadian house & home}

now who walked into this space and decided that the frames and the objets d'art should be arranged asymmetrically, ascending toward one corner of the room? does that kind of vision just come naturally to some people? it's brilliant, it's different, and it works. i love it.

beautifully styled interior design doesn't happen by accident. so much of what i admire in my favorite spaces goes beyond this paint color or that fabric choice — it's that someone somewhere made the conscious decision that this art would be best on that wall, that these frames would work better than those ones, that this book should stand next to that one, and that this table here would look better with that lamp sitting atop it. it's the act of staging and styling that lends each of these spaces its polish and its wow factor. here is a compilation of what i deem to be beautifully styled spaces:

{via from the right bank}

this space wouldn't be nearly so extraordinary if it weren't for the stacks of books placed on various surfaces throughout the room. clear lamps on heavy hardcovers, a vase of flowers on a pile of old favorites, the dark spines against the light boxes on the coffee table...

{elle decor}

three circular mirrors break up gridlike shelving filled with various titles and trinkets. don't you love the splash of red shining through the open back bookcase?

{domino via delight by design}

the coral and lucite had me at hello but this space is definitely worth more than a cursory once-over. for instance, i wouldn't instinctively think to put a pair of candlesticks in a bookcase, but don't they look better there than they would hiding in some cabinet?

{domino via la dolce vita}

more coral, more candlesticks, but a very different vibe. there's no doubt it's a grown-up room, given the intricate bust and the fancy candelabra, but there are also plenty of features to suggest that someone actually lives here. the throw pillows aren't relegated to the corners of the couch but rather in the middle where they might actually be used, there are at least five stacks of books in an arm's reach, and if you look closely there's a deck of cards just waiting to be played...

{sabrina linn in canadian house & home}

now who walked into this space and decided that the frames and the objets d'art should be arranged asymmetrically, ascending toward one corner of the room? does that kind of vision just come naturally to some people? it's brilliant, it's different, and it works. i love it.