End of Summer Vacation and Back to School

Yesterday we arrived back from a two week summer vacation and today school started for the boys. They're happy to see their friends but not too thrilled at the idea of homework.

We had a fantastic couple of weeks away. We drove from Toronto down to Washington DC, stopping at Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water and also at Gettysburg. I've wanted to see Falling Water ever since studying Frank Lloyd Wright's work in high school and I was not disappointed. After 5 days in Washington, visiting the various museums and monuments, we headed to Long Beach Island, where we rented a cottage for a week and basically acted like beach bums. Perfect!

On the way home, we stopped at a sculpture garden in New Jersey and I took this family portrait. Notice how I stood at the edge of the mirror to appear thinner :)

Anyway, hope you've had an awesome start to September!

Back from Our Italian Vacation

We just returned from a two week vacation to Italy. Neither Ian or myself had ever been to Italy before so this was a real treat. We stayed for two weeks. We spent the first 5 days in Rome. Then we rented a car and drove to Tuscany where we spent 5 more days. After that we drove to an area just north of Venice, close to the Dolomites for 4 nights and then flew home out of Venice.

The boys loved their Italian experience also. They're both history lovers so there was much to interest them, especially in Rome.

The food was so tasty, the vino perfect and the weather beautifully hot. I think we had rain once, during the night.

We saw so much during our travels and took tons of photos. I've downloaded them but it's going to take me a while to sort through them! You'll be seeing a lot of them over the next few weeks.

Also, Jacaranda Designs is open once again. I closed the shop while I was away and it was lovely not feeling that commitment to staying connected.

Hope you're having a lovely summer!

Back From Vacation!

The last couple of weeks my family and I had a wonderful vacation touring the United Kingdom, visiting family and seeing the sights!

It was almost three weeks of non-stop activity but well worth it. Now I'm just trying to get over the jet lag.

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting some photos of the places we visited so stay tuned.

Also, my current giveaway for vintage earrings ends on Sunday so enter now.

http://jacarandagal.blogspot.com/2010/06/jacaranda-designs-jewelry-vintage-glass.html

Back To Reality!

Well we had a wonderful vacation in sunny Cuba.  It was lovely to get away from the cold weather and do nothing except eat, drink and relax.   

I took lots of photos of flowers...here's a couple.  I need to look up these flowers somewhere to find out what they're called as they are simply gorgeous.

I've had some great ideas for new jewelry designs and so hope this week to actually make some.

Have a great day!