The heat of the day

I love the languid feel of the heat of the day, the shades are drawn, the fan is humming and a soft warm breeze runs through the house. Windows are open and ever so often I hear some birds or occasional car passing by, otherwise it's still.


On my table sits a glass of ice cold lemonade waiting for me, pearls of water running down its sides. I will just finish this sentence!
Later we will prepare for an afternoon poolside, some good reading material, fresh cut fruits and lots of water...


My son turns into a fish and I must wait a while for him to transform back into the son I can take home with me.


Our girl has disappeared with her girlfriends, they share bedrooms and activities and we have not seen her since Saturday....
Oh the fun of being 13 and living in the embrace of the group...

School is out!

This morning I heard the crickets the first time and I love their noise! Our son picked one up yesterday, stranded on her back on the driveway. He was amazed at the size. We put her on a tree and hope she will survive!

image
Tomorrow begins the count down for our summer vacation, our son will spend his days until then in our local camp and I can begin to sort and pack and get ready to squeeze six weeks worth of travel into 50 lbs of luggage per head....


I love to prepare for this, it gives me a wonderful feeling of getting ready and in my mind I am already there, thinking my way into this summer life in Germany and Italy!

The Main river in Volkach, Bavaria where my parents celebrate 50 years of marriage with all of us!

We will visit the Alpen region near Bad Toelz. The town in southern Germany has thermal springs with a wonderful spa.


And eventually we will stay for some time in Tuscany in Italy! We can't wait!
I will try and post semi regularly from our travels, I might not comment on your lovely blogs, but I promise to read here and there my many favorites....

Summer is the time to re-coup and relax and we try to just do that! We fill our batteries with summer energy, warmth and impressions to last the coming year!
Wishing you all the same wonderful time over the next couple of weeks!

XX
Victoria



All pictures by Victoria Zlotkowski, cricket as indicated, trunk via etsy Topsydesign, landscapes via google images.

Saturday morning post

The Palisades on Hudson near Piermont, NY

The last few days were so busy with first summer vacation activities, it stunned me to see that there was no time left to even read my e-mails...
Instead of watching butterflies I run all over the place fixing what needs fixing before everybody is settled into summer mode!

DEEP BREATH!!!


Last minute prep for my youngest camper and the organization of our summer travels have left me without a minute to myself.


Every year I seem to get surprised by this moment, when school is suddenly out and my children expect an entertainment program.
A summer ritual is to go to the community pool and swim and splash and hold out as long as possible in waters, I hardly want to put my toes in...


A local town puts up an art fair every beginning of the summer, it was again a lovely but hot show and we saw many pretty sculptures and paintings.





We visit a nearby fun park and summer is upon us! We sit at night on our deck and marvel at the sounds and the stars, suddenly so much closer! We burn our torches and by a chilled glass of Chardonnay we count our blessings!



There are many firsts every summer, like walking barefoot in the sand and just let the sun give us the first sun kissed look!
Eating out on the deck and enjoying the garden season extends our living quarters for good six month of the year!



Now I am organized, forms are filled out, many checks have been paid, the summer rental is completed, we are ready to go, where ever this summer will take us!

What will this summer bring to you?

Wishing you all a summer sunshine filled weekend!

XX
Victoria


All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

If the hue fits

Being at my local bookstore and sitting over ice tea, I began drooling over one of the latest books by one of my favorite interior designers: Kelly Wearstler! She is the epitome of urban chic, the trendsetter and independent thinker in interior design. She reinvents the rules and packs so much energy into her rooms, they are glamorous and livable, over the top and fabulous!
A quick paging results in serious dreaming and I put this book on my HAVE-TO-HAVE list of design books!








One could argue that perhaps only a few very wealthy lucky clients benefit from her enormous talent, but she is such an inspiration, many ideas can be incorporated in a lower budget or could be tweaked to fit!
Her talent shows as well in the vignettes she creates, lovingly assembled items with great impact!




This sculpture is particularly interesting to me, being a former midwife it spoke to me....


And the kitchen is beyond fabulous! Well, I am dreaming now!




A tour de force, but well worth it, right?


XX
Victoria



Pictures are all snatched from the book HUE by Kelly Wearstler. This link takes you to amazon.com...But its sold at all major bookstores!

Something borrowed

Something blue...And of course something white too!
Since it's June and many a happy bride walks down the isle this month I thought of a romantic bridal post with a few lovely finds, which would make me do it all over again in a heart beat!
Well, how about renewing the vows? What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Is it so overrated??? What's your take on it?



Love those, the dress as well as the head piece. Romantic and young!
I love those pieces too!





Also lovely for brides maids...
And this I adore!


And those J.Crew gowns are so lovely!


The Tatiana gown! The back it spectacular!
So sweet! The Swiss-dot enchante gown...


And the Augusta chiffon confection is to die for, don't you think? Brides anywhere?



Oh, happy wedding day!


XX
Victoria


Pictures in order from top down: 1,2 via etsy sellet loboheme, 3,4 etsy TheaStarr,5 etsy CRBoggsdesigns, 6 etsy untamedpetals, 7 etsy whichgoose, all others via J.Crew website.