Today I'm Loving...

...this bar area.  It has a tropical feel that can transport us from the dreariest winter evening to a lush, warm island!  Notice that the room itself isn't spectacular, but the lush greenery, statement rug and unique table create a great vibe...something anyone can recreate in the humblest of spaces.

arkpad.com.br

Sorry for the short post today - my normal life outside of blogging has been particulary busy lately! 

In addition, I've been working on putting the finishing touches on Linen Haus so I can open very soon - I'm getting very excited and I can't wait to share it with all of you!

I have also been finding and prepping several new products to round out my inventory - I have some beautiful additions to show.   More on that tomorrow! 

Highlights of Slovenia, Part II

Good news...I found the remaining pictures of our trip to Slovenia to complete yesterday's post.  Phew...I was going to be one unhappy traveler if not!  Here are a few more that I thought you all would like to see - they are out of order since this is from the beginning of the trip but I figured you guys could handle it.  :)  These are primarily from Bled, a lakeside town just over the border from Austria and the capitol Ljubljana.  Enjoy! 

We drove through Austria to get there and had stunning views of the Alps. 

 Look at the roof on that church!

We picnicked here, fed the ducks and let the kids get some wiggles out before we continued on... 

The river that runs through Ljubljana is lined on both sides with charming pedestrian walkways with cafes.  We  had heavenly desserts and hot chocolate (more like chocolate pudding!) near here.

Who needs Paris for beautiful architecture?  Just kidding...

This is the misty Fall weather I talked about yesterday when we stepped onto hunting grounds...yikes.  The range of colors in the forest was beautiful though!

I hope I didn't bore you with so much fall foliage and architecture but it was truly remarkable!  BTW, I loved the comments from yesterday's post and the travel stories that some of you shared too.  On the late night music:  I was young once too so I wasn't angry, just tired. :)  I told my husband if the music had been better, perhaps I could have slept through it!   Some things are hard to appreciate if they aren't from your own culture.  :)  At least we have a good story to tell! 

Back to our regular (design) programming tomorrow...

Highlights of Slovenia

We are back from our quick road trip to Slovenia.  I think all of us in the family agreed that heading deep down into the caves of that area was the highlight of the trip!  It was a great adventure, but also very...dark.  :)  So, no pictures of that but if you ever get to Slovenia that would be my #1 recommendation!

Here are a few other things we really enjoyed on the trip.  For some reason I am missing the pictures from the beginning of the trip so I'm hoping my husband can help me recover those!  Fingers crossed - if so I'll post a few more of those later in the week.  But for now...

This was a shot from a little town we drove through...

The fall foliage was brilliant. 

Here's a funny/not-so-funny story:  Our first morning we went out for a little hike to enjoy the surroundings.  It was one of those magical fall mornings...a misty sunrise, cool and crisp...lovely!  Just what I'd imagined for some much needed R&R.  Suddenly, we started hearing gunshots.  Uh-oh...does that mean...hunting season?!?!  That was the end of that romantic notion for our trip. Needless to say we didn't venture out into the forest again...

I took this picture in the once-deserted hill top town of Stanjel, now an artists' colony. 

Just a pretty window.  :)



We saw a lot of sculpture, almost always depicting struggle and war. 

I found that to be an appropriate and fascinating representation of their somewhat recent history.

I found some really beautiful, rustic doors to add to my collection.  Notice how they did the numbers for two dwellings for this shared entrance...

 

The charming harbor town of Piran on Slovenia's brief coastline, wedged in between Italy and Croatia.  The gray skies don't do it justice! 

Love the unusual spellings.  

I'm sure I slaughtered all of the Slovenian words I tried to pronounce.  Ouch.

 Gorgeous rolling hills and farmland were the norm...

The close proximity of Italy definitely comes through in the architecture as you get closer to the border... 

We spent some time at this square in Piran and this lovely railing caught my eye.

We stopped off in Udine, Italy on the way home.  What a beautiful town! 

I'd highly recommend it for incredible architecture and some of the most charming coffee bars I've seen.

We ended up coming home a day early.  It's a long story, but let's just say it had to do with a whole lot of loud, Slovenian accordian music played directly below our sleeping quarters, until 4am.  :) 

Hope you enjoyed the pics!