Summer Getaways

Let's move on to summer, shall we? It unofficially starts this weekend (did Memorial Day sneak up on anyone else?) and while I'm more of a Spring gal for the most part, I get excited for summer getaways. I like them to be close-ish to home (so the relaxing can start a.s.a.p.) lazy but also full (like how summer days felt when you were nine), and with plenty of summer-y food (preferably cooked outside and enjoyed with a cold beer).



So when I ran across this New York Magazine slideshow of fantasy summer rentals, it got my wheels spinning. Some of these definitely sit in the "fantasy" category with their hefty price tags, but Airbnb is sure to have plenty of places to rent with just as much charm. But let's dream for a minute, ok?





I'm ready to pack a bag and hit the road. Do you have fun travel plans for the long weekend?

All photos via NY Mag, linked info here.

(Rocky Mountain High) Weekend in Pictures

{colorado rolled out the welcome wagon wheels}

{welcome art, care of our two year old hostess}

{my friend jessica's cute and cozy living room}

{sunshine & icicles in april}

{suburban garage sale-ing. anyone need a party grill?}

{an impressive collection of babysitter's club books, my fave as a kid}

{flying off into the sunset}

{bye, Rockies!}

This weekend my friend Nicolle and I headed west to Colorado to visit an NYC friend who moved out there last year. We had a low key weekend of enjoying suburban comforts (Target! thrift stores! a washing machine!) while being highly entertained by the energetic two year old, Ellie. Ellie refused to learn our names, so Nicolle and I were "girl" all weekend. As in, "Girl, come to Ellie's room." "Play play-doh, Girl." Pretty cute. And it's always nice to get out of the city for a bit, but my heart definitely skips a beat when I see the lights of Manhattan twinkling from the air. Good to be home.

To Sparkle or Not to Sparkle?

One of my earliest memories is driving over the San Francisco Bay Bridge at sunrise, wrapped in a blanket in the backseat of the station wagon on the way to the airport. I crane my neck to look up, up, up at the cables stretching towards the pink and purple sky. The sight of that bridge, especially early in the morning or late at night, always spurs a feeling of anticipation. For most people, the Golden Gate is their iconic San Francisco bridge. For me, it's always been the Bay Bridge, the one that took me to the city and home again.



So when my friends in the Bay Area started talking about the new Bay Bridge light installation, I wasn't so sure about it. The Bay Bridge, sparkling? I don't know about that. The installation (by artist Leo Villareal) adds 25,000 LED lights to the bridge that will create a nightly light show on the bridge for the next two years. Similarly, I'm in the minority (at least among my friends) who doesn't think the Eiffel Tower needs to sparkle nightly, and I was dismayed when I heard that they were adding an LED light system to the Empire State Building. These structures are beautiful and iconic on their own, do we really need to guild the lily?





Though I do have to admit that the Empire State Building lights turned out to be cooler than I thought they'd be, and they didn't take away from the classic view of the building like I worried. What do you guys think of adding sparkle to architectural landmarks? Fun or frivolous?

Top photo by Ben_Cooper on Flickr, second photo by me (a very long time ago).

Summer Dreamin'

I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm about to skip over a season. I'm excited about spring, I really am. I sort of like it more than summer, to be honest (no humidity!). But for some reason, today I'm dreaming about summer. It doesn't help that Urban Daddy wrote about the dreamiest-sounding summer getaway ever, The Graham & Co. It's in Phoenicia, NY in the Catskills, where I once spent an idyllic weekend in a slightly creepy cabin. The Graham & Co. sounds like it could improve upon that already wonderful weekend by removing the creepy cabin quotient.





Bonfires, movies on the lawn, floating down the river in an inner tube...sign me up. Although not for a few more months, it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

Let's Go To Scotland

Because their horses wear cardigans. It's part of Scotland's tourism campaign to encourage people to come see all the natural beauty of Scotland, and it is totally working on me. I am, after all, a cardigan addict.

Where would you go, if you started planning a trip tomorrow?

Iceland

Do you think I should go to Iceland? This video says I should, don't you think? So gorgeous! I have my hopes set on a trip to Europe this fall, and Iceland has been calling my name for awhile . Have you been?

Video via Pret a Voyager.

(A Woodsy) Weekend in Pictures

{lake reflections}

{mossy tree + tiny waterfall}

{majestic mountain lion gazing at a disco ball}

{lake champion}

{early morning blue}

{misty morning lake}

This weekend I went upstate on a retreat with my church. It was great to be out of the city for a few days, although I didn't really do anything of note. I looked at trees, marvelled at stars (want to spot a city-dweller in the woods? they're looking up), watched fog roll in and out over the lake, and sat in the sun in my pajamas. Totally relaxing and refreshing. Hope your weekend was the same!

New York Bucket List

Living in New York there's lots to see and do. But somehow, I end up going to the same places over and over. And while I love my favorite coffee shops, restaurants, and museums, there's lots of places I always mean to check out but forget about when I find myself with a few free hours. So, if you'll indulge me in recording my New York bucket list here (more posts to come!), I hope you'll find something interesting to check out too, whether you live here or are planning a visit.





The Empire State Building

I guess I should start with one of the big ones, that nearly every tourist who comes to Manhattan has done...The Empire State Building. After living here for five years, I still haven't been! I've always been deterred by the crowds, but I recently heard that the building stays open until 2 a.m. The idea of ending a fun night out with stunning views of the city (and the place where Annie & Sam met) sounds much better than the tourist-y outing I was envisioning! Definitely need to make this happen soon.





The Heather Garden, Fort Tryon Park

After going up to Fort Tryon Park to visit The Cloisters earlier this month, I wondered why I've never been up there before. The park feels like a little vacation from the city, and I'd love to see the Heather Garden in bloom.





Lady Mendl's Tea Salon

When I was in high school, my best girlfriends and I frequented our town's Victorian-style tea room for scones and endless pots of blackberry tea. Between those fun memories and a semester in London, I've always loved traditional afternoon tea. I've never had it here in New York and Lady Mendl's (in The Inn at Irving Place) looks like a quaint place to start&#151a little less intimidating than tea at The Plaza!

How about you? Are there places in your hometown you've never been, but you want to?

Image 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7

Wanderlust

I'm not sure what it is about fall, but it always makes me want to travel. Maybe it's the desire to wring one last bit of something out of the year with a trip abroad, but for some reason I seem to get a serious case of wanderlust around this time of year.

Unfortunately, my budget does not approve of me going adventuring whenever I feel like it, so I'm just dreaming for now. Here's where I'd go if someone handed me a plane ticket tomorrow.

{prague}

{scotland}

{copenhagen}

{stockholm}

{bern, switzerland}

I definitely gravitate to European cities when I think about fall & winter travel. This list would look entirely different in June! I'd love to hear, where do you dream about going when you feel wanderlust-y?

Bonus: Wouldn't it be amazing to stay at Stephanie's La Maisonette in France? It's in the top photo. I just think it looks so beautiful!

photos via Orangette, Tabi**chu on Flickr, National Geographic, diesmali on Flickr & Pinterest.

(Fall Cabin) Weekend in Pictures

{fall leaves, finally}

{outhouse on the property, thankfully no longer in use}

{main st., saugerties}

{hiking out to the saugerties lighthouse}

{bean boots on the trail}

{barn turned artist's studio}

{tiny pinecones!}

{passed out pup}

Over the weekend (at a cabin outside Saugerties, NY) some girlfriends and I were playing a somewhat made-up game of see-how-well-we-know-each-other questions. Someone would ask a question to the group, everyone would write down their answer, then the question-asker guesses which response belongs to which person. Most of the answers were hilariously funny, others let you get to know your friends a little better.

After a weekend of walking over crunching leaves in heavy boots and watching fading sunlight stream in through old farmhouse windows, I'm rethinking one of my answers. To the question "what is your heaven on earth?" I'd like to change my answer to simply "fall." 

On The Road Again

Happy Friday! I'm headed out of town this weekend, to the Hudson Valley, and I'm really excited to see lots and lots of fall leaves (hopefully!) and drink wine on the porch all bundled up. I hope your weekend plans are lovely too :)

A Girly Retreat

A 9x14 foot hunting cabin tucked away in the Catskills, painstakingly turned into the ultimate girly retreat. All the supplies and furniture had to be carried over a stream to get to the cabin!

The six year old girl in me would really like to have a tea party there.

All photos by Trevor Tondro.