As blogged about here, I’ve been racking my brain about how to decorate our entryway. After going to Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Anthropologie, and Restoration Hardware recently, we’ve picked out some of the furniture. We are going to do a bold patterned rug in the adjoining living room, so we chose a solid color runner (5) to go under our Bluestone Console Table (4). We loved the Nailhead Chair (3) collection at Restoration, so will have one beside the table. We bought a big map print (1) on Etsy (ours is without the “Explore”) that we will mount in a thick black frame and hang over the table. There will be lots of coffee table books (see favorites below), an accent lamp (2) from Anthropologie, and many other frames and candles that we already own. The wall color will be “Glass of Milk” from the Martha Stewart Collection. It’s all coming together – slowly but surely. We’ve picked out some items for the living room, but only decided yesterday to mount the TV on top of the fireplace. One step at a time!
2012 // best year of my life (in pictures)
It’s true – this really has been my favorite year of my life. Every year, I make a Shutterfly book to document the travels and memorable occasions of the year, and after finishing this year’s album, I truly cannot stop grinning. I spent the last 365 days living with my best friend, traveling around the world, going to four weddings, seeing the birth of two close friends’ babies, finding a new church home, getting a promotion at work, being given a new home to decorate, and having two proposals in my family (mine and my older sister’s). I’m blessed with amazing friends and family, all of who make every day happy.
Click here to view my 2012 in pictures.
It includes travel to Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, California, DC, Florida, Antigua, New York, Turkey, Greece and France. Lots of amazing memories. Happy New Year to you!
Favorite Looks of the Week
I love Christmas! It’s such a joyful time. We arrived back in the states on Christmas day and headed straight to my parent’s house for Christmas dinner. Jet lag could not bring down the excitement at the Semples! My favorite outfits for this week range greatly in style and make each of the blogger’s whereabouts very obvious (i.e. desert vs. Hawaii vs. New England). Blair’s look below is my favorite! It’s gorgeous.
Happy New Year, y’all!
Atlantic Pacific
The Pink Peonies
Could I Have That?
Stripes and Sequins
Damsel in Dior
Le Blog de Betty
Song of Style
Classy Girls Wear Pearls
Fashion Toast
Gal Meets Glam
Joyeuses Fêtes from Paris
Our last stop on the trip was Paris – one of my favorite places in the world. I had an internship in The City of Lights two summers ago and I fell in love. We only had 25 hours in Paris, so it was a non-stop sightseeing tour of my favorite places. I absolutely adored showing Sasha my favorite vegetarian restaurant (L’As du Fallafel), smoothie place (Le Paradis du Fruit), coffee (Les Deux Magots), neighborhood (Le Marais), museum (Georges Centre Pompidou), and, of course, building – La Tour Eiffel. It’s magnificient.
In front of Notre-Dame
Getting Ladurée gifts for friends
The Louvre
Les Jardins des Tuileries
Hot wine on Les Champs Elysees
L’Arc de Triomphe
My two favorites (my ring stayed in Texas!)
Church with the Corinthians
Today is our last day in Greek, and we were picked up early by Manos for a private tour of Corinth, which is about an hour and a half away from Athens. The drive west was absolutely breathtaking, as we followed the coast nearly the entire way. We stopped to take a picture at the Corinth Canal, then made our way to the Greek Orthodox Church of Corinth, where we went inside and witnessed a real Corinthian service. We’re going through the book of 1 Corinthians at Bayou City Fellowship right now, so I was nerding out the whole time. We drove through the city looking at ruins, then rode up to the top of the highest mountain where we walked through the fortress that protected the Corinthians for thousands of years. Next was the wine tastings – my favorite. Our favorite place was Palivou Estate, where the wine tasted like magic. We bought the biggest bottle (against my best traveling/luggage-weight-limit judgement) of their award winning Ammos Reserve. After the tastings, we went to the ruins of the Mycenaens. The cave we entered was built in the 12th CE B.C., which is ancient. We headed for a late lunch after seeing the tomb of Agamemnon (in the movie Troy), then trekked back to Athens, winding along the water. Exhausted after lots of walking, we’re packing and getting ready for Paris, as our flight leaves at 6:45 AM. The City of Lights on Christmas Eve – my dream come true!
Sasha’s meal is cooking on the fire behind him…
I love this country
Mycenaen ruins – built over 3,000 years ago
Because we were tired of regular, boring poses
Merry Christmas – we bought the barrel
We had to stop the car because of sheep crossing…
Our favorite wine at Palivou Estate
Looking down on Agememnon’s cave at the bottom
Atop the Corinthian Fortress
The Corinthian Church – loved experiencing this!
The Corinth Canal