Hi, Greet here from Belgian Pearls! 
  
My personal summer postcard to you is sent from:

My home in Brakel, a small town about 50 min away from Brussels, Belgium.
 
The one thing you can’t miss when visiting the region where I live is:

The Castle of Beloeil and its beautiful park where you can go for wonderful walks! 

My way of relaxing this summer is:

To enjoy our garden and our outbuilding that was just finished a few months ago. We love having friends and family over and to treat them to the most delicious barbecues!
 
In my opinion, the perfect hostess gift is:

A scented fragrant candle from Baobab.

  
An absolute must read book (in fact almost more for the beautiful pictures than for reading!) this summer is:

The interior design book “Saint Tropez — contemporary & timeless” by the interior designer Sandra Cerfontaine.

 
You will find me dreaming about this design item from my hammock:

A beautiful Swedish bench — like this! 

I wish Monika and all her many readers a pleasant and warm summer with lots of happiness! Don’t forget to “see and enjoy” even the smallest things in life. They very often make your day!

xx, Greet

(For more on Greet and her fabulous blog go here).

 Images for postcard art via: 1. Flickr, 2. Flickr, 3. Flickr (insert of photo by Splendid Willow) 

Summer greetings to Monika’s readers! Laura here from Laura Casey Interiors.

The one thing you can’t miss when visiting this area is:

The waterfalls. They are gorgeous, especially after a big rain. When I want to relax I come here for a visit with my family.

It’s hard to get a call on your cell phone here and the internet is slowly making its’ way here, but I can go a long stretch of time without technology which is very relaxing for me.

In my opinion, the perfect hostess gift:

When staying at someone’s house I love to give them something for their home that is personal to them. We went to a friends’ beach house in South Carolina early in the summer and I gave them a Mariposa shell cocktail napkin holder.

An absolute must read book this summer:  

 

At the top of my “to read” list is Slow Love by Dominique Browning. I love reading her blog and look forward to this book!

You will find me dreaming about this design item from my hammock (I want it so badly!):

 

I am deeply in need of some new office digs, but I have a two wonderful reasons why right now my office is in my house. Some days there are four of us working here and it is a snug. Luckily we all have a good time together! 

 

I look forward to the day that I have some really pretty office space like Suzanne Kasler. It’s my choice to work at home and being able to give my little ones a kiss at naptime makes me remember not to grumble about it! So I will continue to dream…

Thanks Monika for including me! I hope you all are having a great summer!

(For more on Laura and her fabulous blog go here).

 Images for postcard art via: 1. Flickr, 2. Flickr, 3. Flickr. (insert of photo by Splendid Willow) 

Hello friends, hope you had a fun weekend! I have been puttering around my house, enjoying my family & friends and shopping and packing for my trip to Sweden (sans family!). When you read this I will already/almost be on my way to beautiful Stockholm!

Some wonderful & talented blog friends will be covering for me on the two different trips I am making this summer. They will send you personal blog postcards from some of their favorite places and share some great tips that you do not want to miss! 

Meanwhile, I will be busy stomping and hopping (or spinning as my husband would say!) around in three areas in Stockholm (and everything in between).

No. 1 – Ostermalm, a neighborhood in the very heart of Stockholm and where my dear mother lives. This area is beautiful, quaint and filled with wonderful parks, great shopping and fabulous restaurants and cafes. This is also the district for some of the best antique stores in Stockholm.

No. 2 – Lidingo. A beautiful island right outside of Stockholm (connected by a bridge) and where I grew up. This was a wonderful place to spend childhood. Country living at its best and yet only minutes away from the city. Several of my closest friends still live (or have moved back) to Lidingo (and I would do the same if we ever decided to move back to Sweden!). I know every rock on this green island.

There is a beautiful world renowned sculpture museum on Lidingo, well worth a visit, called Millesgarden. I pay a visit almost every time I/we go on vacation to Sweden.

No. 3 – Sodermalm. Yet another great neighborhood in the city. And this is where I will be staying, in an attic apartment belonging to my x-boyfriend of many years, one of my closest friends, and now also a close friend of Peter’s! (Yes, try to figure that one out if you can. Haha!).

Sodermalm is one of the more vibrant and happening neighborhoods in Stockholm and with the relatively new “SoFo”, this area now has a NY-feel atmosphere, packed with great shops by Swedish designers and tons of fun bars and restaurants.

This is also the area where my dear and very close girlfriend Gunilla, who is expecting her first baby any day now, lives! She is one of the key reasons why I decided to book my trip at this time. Gunilla, I am so looking forward to seeing you as the proud and most loving Mom, I know you will be!

I can’t begin to tell you about my hectic schedule and all the things (and family & friends!) that I have managed to cram into 9 days. But rest assured, I will be coming back loaded with photos, many new memories, a big smile on my face, and some fun things to share with you!

I will miss you all. I will be back again August 6th.

But do know that you will be well entertained by some of my talented blog friends while I am gone. Stop by and say hello.

Images: 1. via Weheartit, 2. Unknown, 3. Flickr, 4. Via Älvsjö Mässan, 5. Via Flickr, 6. Via Flickr, 7. Via Millegarden, 8, Via Flickr, 9. Via here, 10. Via here, 11. Via Flickr, 12. Via Weheartit

Hello friends! Busy times here. I am fixing — and fixing some more for my upcoming trip to Sweden. Next week I will be united with family and friends back home. What a fun & lively time that will be! But right now I am enjoying our summer to the fullest here in Seattle.

We have a hillside in our backyard with one section filled with gorgeous lavender that I never know what to do with — until I came across this stunning image! (Note: those are not my lavender fields – just so you don’t think I am trying to mislead you! But we have 44 large bushes, Frida just counted! And they grow fast!)

Lavender lemonade – well of course! How brilliant. Must try before I leave!

I am also obsessing over this Mary B. Blige song (Each Tear), this summer. (My husband is shaking his head to this upbeat pop tune). I love everything about it. The rythm, the lyrics, the message, the voices (including the unexpected raspy voice by the Italian pop singer Tiziano Ferro). I am even using the song to further teach my girls about the importance of learning, staying strong and the art of kindness (to others and yourself). Turn on the speakers and take a listen.

Happy Tuesday, friends!

(I will be back with a post or two before I leave!)

Images 1  via Flickr , 2 + 3 via Everything Fabulous, last image via Flickr

I am most definitely blog lazy this summer but when my lovely friend Piper from One Sydney Road asked her readers to join in for some Alphabet blog jumping, with fresh pictures to go with your letter chosen, I perked up. Something fun and different and Piper and her friends are so creative!

Why not! I can do that, right? I chose the letter…..

Why I chose U is a mystery to me. Perhaps because of all of the Unicorns you will find in our house or all the Universal tools my husband seem to collect (but never seems to use). I scratched my head for a little bit and put the whole project on ice. But Wednesday evening I came up with an idea. My husband’s birthday is coming up. I will be in Sweden then – poor me! (:  But the kids will be there to celebrate with him royally – so the letter U is for U dad!

Turns out that this little task was harder than anticipated. No. 1, I am clearly not a good photographer. Haha! (But it is fine with me because I like imperfections!). 2. The camera needs to be updated. 3. I have a 2-year old!

“Let’s try some individual ones, kids”!

“William, look over here! We lost U! Look at Mama. Pleeeease!!!”

Finally. 15 attempts later…

Done. No more. We are heading to the icecream shop!

Happy Early Birthday Pappa! We picked the best dad on the planet. We love you so very, very much.

Thank you Piper dear for inviting me! This was different and I had fun with the kids doing it!