monday morning mashup

pic via

1. bars to add to your bucket list

2. new (& local) food blog i'm pretty excited about

3. the new TV show i'm totally hooked on

4. my favorite spot for weekly outfit inspiration

5. how to: keep your sparkling wine sparkly longer

6. loving this poncho. (now if only money grew on trees!)

7. advice for my ambitious lady friends

8. love transitioning our home into fall...

9. hair inspiration... thinking about a change!

10. how delicious does this bourbon vanilla cider sound?

breakfast at laduree

our third day in paris, we decided to start at the top of the champs-elysees, and work 

our way towards the tuileries garden. we had been waking up so early due to the time change, 

we started almost every day as the only ones walking through the streets of paris. 

this morning was particularly quiet, as it was overcast and the ground was wet from 

rain the night before. i had never seen the champs with so few people!!! 

it must have been 7 or 8am because nowhere was even open for a coffee! 

we had just decided to window shop for a while until the street became more lively, 

when we stumbled upon the flagship laduree - which of course, was open for breakfast. 

it was at the point i decided i had hit the vacation lottery! :)

for those of you who aren't familiar with laduree, they are a french pastry shop with 

the most delicious and delicate pastries, have the most charming marketing and branding, 

AND were made famous by their macarons.

the ground floor had an enormous pastry case, along with a buffet style brunch, 

while upstairs had room after room of charming little nooks for people to nosh on their 

pastries and morning coffees. we quickly ordered our coffees and a variety of pastries, 

and of course, didn't take off before carefully selecting a to-go box of macarons.

one of my most favorite memories from our trip!

ignore how blurry this picture is and just focus on how happy my heart is!

Versailles

our trip to paris was short and sweet. we'd both been a number of times before, but couldn't help 

wanting to go back, even just briefly, to experience it again together. ben had never been out to 

versailles, so that was top of my list. the last time i had been was when i was 16 or so, and i was 

hoping it was just as magical as i had remembered it in my head. it was one of our longest 

days on the trip (walking over 15 miles!) but well worth it.

we made a full day of it, leaving paris by 7am, and not getting back until almost 6pm. we started with the palace, a must - even if you don't like museums. we then strolled through the gardens, grabbed a 

picnic lunch, and then headed out to the trianon and the hamlet (subsequent estates built by 

royalty). i mean, the grounds are just massive and so elaborate. the grand and the petit trianon were 

actually somewhat refreshing after seeing the magnitude of the palace. we also wandered through the 

gardens and countryside until we stumbled upon marie antoinette's estate. it was just lovely. 

a royal version of what peasant life would have looked like. super charming. and finally, 

we had planned to be in versailles for 'fountain day' which is somewhat of a spectacle. 

all the fountains around the grounds turn on a number of times throughout the day putting 

on lovely shows alongside classical music blaring in every corner of the park. 

it really was fun! even if my feet did hurt by the end of the day! :)

the palace...

my handsome tour guide

hall of mirrors - my fave room

the gardens, part 1

modern art distortion...

the orangerie

the manicuring is ridiculous!

looking back at the palace

the grand canal

the grand trianon

strolling through the gardens

temple of love

marie antoinette's estate aka 'hamlet'

now for the fountains :)

ben loved it :)