Modern House Minimalist Design

Hi everyone! We have over 700 pictures of our trip we need to get through and organize.  Don't worry...I don't intend on turning this into a "my vacation" blog.  I did want to share a few pictures with you today so you know we REALLY were in Venice and Greece. After we have more pictures ready to share I will add a page to my sidebar so you can take a look if you like. VENICE Venice was as beautiful as it was twenty years ago when we were married there.  The only thing that seemed to have changed is now there are a lot more people and boats! MYKONOS Mykonos was our favorite stop on this trip.  Steve and I were one of the few off the boat as soon as it docked at 7:00 am.  We wandered through the quite alleys where there were no other tourist and the locals were just sweeping off the streets in front of their homes.  It was so peaceful and beautiful it almost seemed unreal.  The town is famous for it's beautiful jewelry and I took some time to ...

Thank you all for the wonderful comments on my Frenchy vanity.  I truly appreciate all the sweet notes you left. I mentioned in an earlier post about our upcoming trip to Venice and now I want to share the details with you.   Most of you know Steve and I were married in Venice   20+ years ago so this trip will be a long overdue second honeymoon. I am a PLANNER.. down to the smallest detail!  My husband calls me his "tour guide" and happily steps away from the planning process.  To give him credit though he picks up languages easily and this comes in very handy in a foreign country.  Unless when we were in France and he asked to buy four postage stamps and we get four Sprites instead!  We had a good laugh over that! We will spend three days in Venice on our on and then join a cruise ship. Steve and I have been very fortunate to have traveled all over the world and we have always traveled independently. Being on an organized tri...

Stephanie at Angelic Accents  is having her annual To Have And To Hold Wedding Blog Party and I thought it would be fun to re-post about our wedding in Venice.  We are leaving for Venice this August for our 2nd honeymoon .  I am so excited to be visiting this beautiful place again and I'll be back soon to tell you the details of our upcoming trip.     This is the Palazzo Dandola where we were married on the rooftop terrace overlooking the Grand Canal. The palazzo dates back to the 14th century and is just steps from Piazza San Marco. It is now the magnificent Hotel Danieli. Sorry about the poor quality of these scanned pictures. These were taken before digital cameras were popular. The view of the Grand Canal and the island of San Giorgia was magnificent. After the ceremony we stepped out the door of the Danieli to pose for more pictures. All of a sudden there were dozens of people surrounding us. Several sweet Italian ladies came up to touch...

No,  I haven't left my wonderful hubby for a Italian man.  Though,  if I could live anywhere in the world it would   be Venice.   Of course Steve would be be going with me and I bet I wouldn't have to twist his arm. My new Italian love is this fabulous wall plaque that Gina of  Gina Ceramics   sent me.  She hand paints the most gorgeous Italian ceramics in the Renaissance style.  Gina was trained in Italy, Holland, Belgium and Germany and now lives and works in a small artist community in Utah.  She also teaches and is offering a workshop   this year on July 15-16 where you can learn to paint ceramics in the 500 year old Renaissance style. This workshop would be a dream come true for me and I would jump at the chance if the dates didn't conflict with our already planned vacation.  I hope to attend one of the workshops at a later date. This is the plaque Gina hand painted.  Now you see why I am in l...

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was Hubby's birthday and I talked him into playing hooky. We went to the movies, dinner and then home for cake and presents.  If you see the movie Tourist   notice the hotel they stay at in Venice. This is the hotel we were married in and I have several pictures of us on the spectacular staircase that is in the movie. It was a treat for us to see the interior shots of the hotel.  You can see pictures of our wedding in Venice here .   Hubby and I went to Richmond Christmas Tour Of Homes today and boy was it cold!  I was hoping to get some pictures to show you but there were so many people it was impossible.  I can show you what I have been working on though. After my  Mantel Disaster  was cleaned up I took a deep breath and started over on the mantel.  Since all but two pieces of my mercury glass was shattered I had to come up w...

I recently won a giveaway from the beautiful and talented Melaine at  My Sweet Savannah .  My gift was a custom art piece from   Modern Bird Studios .   I submitted a photo taken in front of our hotel in Venice.  Venice will always have a special place in my heart because Hubby and I were married there.  You can read about our wedding   here .  Modern Bird Studios   took my photo and turned it into a wonderful personalized art piece, hand painted on wood.  When I opened the package I could not believe how beautiful it was!  The shadows in the painting are amazing and they seem to change in different light. The photos here can not capture how stunning this painting really is.  Thank you so much Melaine and Modern Bird Studio for this fabulous gift!  I will cherish this always. Now for the Giveaway... I love my gift so much that I asked Megan and Gregg if they would do a personalized art piece for one of ...