Come away with me . . .

Day dreaming of wonderful new adventures ~ exploring this beautiful world!

Happy weekend friends!

Heading up to Seattle to party with my BFF's!!! Be back on Monday!

my journey

Saturday mornings are a nice time to reflect on all the places you've been and the places you are going and the all of the interesting things you learn along the way!

Bucket List #6

With all this crazy talk of the rapture today ~ it really just leads me to think of things I want to make an effort to do and see in this lifetime {however long it lasts}, and a visit to India is one of those things. I want to ride a painted elephant, visit the Taj Mahal and get exotic henna tattoos! Looks like fun huh!

home sweet home!

I love to travel, but it is always wonderful to come home to my sleepy little beach town where I have lived for the past 12 years ~ Laguna Beach

Main Beach ~ in the heart of the village

Pacific Coast Hwy

The beaches are always packed in the summer

So many serene vistas

Coming into town ~ I love all the hillside homes 

A quiet stretch of beach in February

Palms growing out of the cliffs

Enjoying the sand year round!

Local wildlife

I feel so blessed to live here!! xoxo

Some things I like to LOOK at!

Just a few photos I've snapped along the WAY . . . . .

. . . . well, obviously I didn't snap this one (but the rest :)

My baby turtle all grown up ~ swimming with the big fish now!

Hotel du Cap during a visit to Cannes

Window shopping in Paris

Jennifer's shoes!

A visit to Crater Lake in Oregon

My favorite sea creature!

Gorgeous wall garden in Avignon, France

Tiffany Store Front on 5th Ave. in NYC

My crazy shewolf!

View of the Plaza from the Apple store on 5th Ave.

I never get tired of looking at this . . . 

Heaven on Earth

On my very first visit to Europe ~ many many years ago, I had the good fortune to take a weekend side trip to a place (at the time, I had not heard of) called Lago Maggiore! We drove from Southern Germany, the Black Forest region, through the Swiss Alps and arrived at our location, a tranquil lake in Northern Italy surrounded by a lush hillside with snow capped peaks beyond. At the time, I was 22 and I had never seen a place so beautiful. Well, a lot of years have past and I have traveled to many gorgeous places, but for me, nothing has topped this little slice of heaven!

Here I am enjoying a draft with my German friends, Wolfgang and Jens after a day of exploring the villages

The lake is surrounded by charming seaside villages that have not seemed to change much over the century's.

Many of the buildings in the villages date back to the 13th century!

During my short stay I did not visit (nor was I even aware of) the exquisite Palace on Isola Bella

This is the main reason I can't wait to return! This privately owned island is my personal vision of heaven

One of the many terraced gardens! 

and another . . . . . (I think I would be content just to be a grounds keeper here!)

An interior shot of the main palace building! (inspiration for Lenox china pattern no doubt!)

All the old streets winding up the hillside are so narrow ~ you see little old cars like this Citron everywhere!

A few vistas of this lovely paradise that has remained out of the limelight all these years,
unlike it's cousin Lake Como with George Clooney and his paparazzi! Hope to go back soon!