mountain creek cottage

My 30th birthday weekend was everything I hoped for.  All I wanted was to be in the middle of the woods, in a cabin, far away from the city, dancing around a fire pit like Max from Where the Wild Things Are, and I got it!  All of it!!  I found the most adorable little cottage on Airbnb.  It looked like it was plucked out of a fairytale!  After booking it (all I cared about were the aesthetics) I then decided to read about the place.. I'm not a researcher, I've never claimed to be.. and yes I judge books by their cover.  After reading I saw that the cottage was located in West Kill off of Devil's Path... so naturally the girls and I were convinced that we were going to get murdered.  Of course, we fast forward and as soon as we got to the house were in love! Even after getting to there at 10:30 at night.  Call me crazy but I'm very sensitive to energies and spaces and I get creeped out very easily, but this place felt SO nice.  There were great vibes happening between those walls.  (I still lit a little sage just incase!)

The owners, Kim and Robert, had just renovated the 1950's cottage and the decor was perfection!  They had pour over coffee drippers, flatware from Fishs Eddy, Danish modern furniture, a brand new grill, and the most comfortable beds!  At night you were falling asleep to the babbling brook beside the cottage.  No cell service, no TV, no internet, just a land line!  It was SO refreshing.  Kim stopped by Saturday morning with fresh veggies from her garden and homemade jam and gave us some hiking tips for the day.  While Sadah and Nicole went out to buy some food for the cottage, Ash and I ate snap peas and planned out our trail.   

There were soo many pictures, so I split them up into sections!

Saturday, after our hike, the girls set the screened-in porch up for a little birthday celebration. They did such a great job!  Sadah had made the cutest succulent cupcakes in little tera cotta pots.  There were presents and champaign and hot dogs! All the best things!  After dinner we had a little Craftermoon session and made our head pieces that we would wear around the fire pit. 

Our main activity Saturday was our hike.  Our 10 mile hike.... and we are not hikers.  We knew we were in trouble when this old man who worked at the fire tower said "Well you girls must be experienced since you're doing this trail."  Seven hours, several marshes, one rolled ankle, one bum knee, one snake, two panic attacks, zero walking sticks, and one beautiful waterfall later we were out of the woods!  I immediately started singing Taylor Swift.  

The views were stunning and I personally think it was worth it.  

After the hike we showered and then I had two personal firsts.  I successfully built a fire (thank you Alfredo) and I successful barbecued!!  Ash kept the fire going which was the hardest part. We were very proud.  I then had my Max moment, we played with sparklers, and then ended the night by staring at the stars for about an hour before bed.  Even back home the stars don't look like that.  It was so nice.

On Sunday we said goodbye to the little gingerbread house and made our way over to the Phoenicia Diner, then to Woodstock, and then to our final destination..... the World's Largest Garden Gnome at Kelder's Farm.  I made friends with a cow there.  Her name was Sally.  

It was the perfect way to honor 30 years. 

“let the wild rumpus start!”

— Where the Wild Things Are

london town

London, the final trip of my travels!  

Landing in England gave me butterflies.  Their land is so lush.  The trees and the gardens were overwhelmingly beautiful.  We stayed at the Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch which definitely has a Brooklyn vibe going on.  I highly recommend staying there.  They did a great job with the overall design of the hotel.  The service was great, their drinks are strong, and the rooms are perfection.  

The highlight of the 3 days in London was hands down Sunday's High Tea at Sketch.  Yes, the place with the egg pod bathroom.  You walk into this place and you feel like you're in a fairy tale.  The first room you pass is the The Glade which looks like an enchanted forest.  It literally made me gasp.  High Tea was served in The Gallery which was the pink room.  The room made you feel like you were in a dream.  It was an Interior Designer's heaven.  An entire room with a theme that was carried out through every little detail.  Everything was rose gold and pink. They had the perfect coupe glasses and rose gold miniature table lamps at the table.  The food was delicious, the cocktails were really tasty, and the tea of course was great.  I loved the dinnerware and tea sets.  At the bottom of your tea cup it said "forget about it." Loved it. There was a little surprise around every corner.  And yes.. the bathrooms were so cool. It felt like you walked into Milk Bar in Clockwork Orange.  I took a video... it's fine.  Each pod/stall had sounds of birds chirping.  I think I was in there for about 15 minutes just taking pictures and videos. 

We of course squeezed in all of the major sites in between my work schedule.  Seeing these structures and the architecture gave me goosebumps.  When I see buildings that I have only seen in photographs it's as if I'm seeing a celebrity.  My stomach drops and I get a little girl on Christmas morning excited.  And the ravens!  The ravens were so huge.  Seeing them in person made me feel confused. Like they were only supposed to exist in Edgar Allan Poe stories. They are gorgeously creepy animals.  I was in awe of them.

The final stop of the trip, which was my favorite site of the entire week, was the Abbey Road crossing.  My parents were SO excited when I shared my photos with them.  The crosswalk is a pretty busy intersection so you had to walk quickly. 

I absolutely loved London.  It also made me realize how much I speak in an awful fake British accent on the regs.  I had to stop myself each time or else I would get horrified looks from people...... something.. to work on.

3 days in sweden

We took a train from Copenhagen to Stockholm.  The ride was beautiful and just as I expected.  Rolling hills and farm houses. Horses and cows and lakes.  Fields of flowers.  It was definitely a ride to clear the mind.  

Sweden was more of a work trip for me, but work in Sweden doesn't ever feel like work.  We had a large conference down in a beautiful seaside town where we barbecued and danced on a dock till around midnight. The sun of course barely went down.  We stayed at the Miss Clara Hotel in Stockholm.  It was so beautiful.  The rooms each had tall windows with a comfy little window seat.  

I was also very excited to see my friend Katinka's store for the very first time in person. It is called.... Katinka's Store haha.  There is a mix of second hand and local designer clothing.  Her dog Zoe is the cutest pup.  She just follows you around and when you go to try on shoes she'll hop in your lap.  She is hysterical.  I ended up purchasing these little wooden butterfly coasters that Katinka found at a local flea and these shoes that are made from recycled plastic and hemp.  They are THE most comfortable shoes I have ever worn.  Katinka is the sole distributer in Sweden and Denmark I believe.  She has an online shop which is katinkasstore.com.  

I of course had to visit the GANT Rugger store!  They now have pour overs!!  The coffee was delish but it unfortunately did not cure my hangover from the night before.  The store was beautiful, as they always are.

We definitely partied hard in Stockholm and still managed to get a lot accomplished.  My favorite night was when we got out of this club early early in the morning and saw the most beautiful crescent moon over the water.  It was jaw dropping.  As was the whole trip.

copenhagen day 2

It is day 2 and I am exhausted! We managed to fit in everything in!  We saw the smallest hotel in the world, The Central Hotel + Cafe.  With only 1 room above an adorable cafe it is definitely the cutest hotel I've ever seen.

We then ate breakfast at Granola (thank you AGAIN Hannah!) and the food was of course... so so good.  YUM!  We then walked over to Nørrebro and found this little cafe owned by the nicest man called Arabica.  He was so friendly and hospitable and the furniture in the space was really cool.   After some lemon ginger tea we went shopping for home decor!  I found some great additions for my studio.

After some light shopping we went over to the Assistens Cemetery where Hans Christian Anderson is buried.  It sounds morbid but the cemetery was jaw-droppingly beautiful and the Danes have picnics and treat it as a park.  It's actually a nice idea to bring life and happiness to a normally sad place.  Sadah and I laid in a patch of daisies for about an hour.  It was lovely.

Next on the list was "Paper Island" or Papirøen.  We took a little ferry over to this spot and it reminded us a lot of Williamsburg.  It was a warehouse on a dock that had food trucks and food stands from all over the world inside.  The food, per usual, was fantastic.  Sadah got this gin drink that was the most beautiful thing we've seen all trip.  And it tasted as good as it looked (that matters to some people I guess).  

After finishing our drinks with our legs hanging over the dock we marched on to Christiania.  Christiania is a magical place filled with graffiti, overgrown plant life, and little stoners and photography is NOT allowed (which was obviously kiiiilling me). The large scale paintings of cameras with lines through them got the point across.  Christiania is a self-governed society that has its own flag and currency!  It was pretty cool to see.  This little fairy park was my favorite.  There was a tree with a red heart painted on it... and I couldn't take a picture.. and it shall live in my dreams forever.  

After Christiania we went over to the Dome of Visions which is by far one of my favorite spaces.. in life.  The dome is in existence to create awareness and more importantly initiate action and solutions when it comes to sustainable design.  The space is basically a lounge within a greenhouse with a bar to top it off!  Right on the water.  In Copenhagen.  So.. heaven.  Loved it!

Now it is time for bed once again, for tomorrow I am off to Stockholm!! 

inspiration trip: copenhagen day 1

My friend Sadah and I landed in Copenhagen this afternoon and to be honest it felt like a city or town in New England, but as the day went on we definitely discovered some unique little treats.  The food so far has been absolutely something to write home about.  The smørrebrød at The Royal Smushi Cafe (thank you Hannah) was SO good! The setting was perfect in this back, brick lined alleyway and the caffeine was just what I needed.  

We then took a boat tour to get, as Sadah would say, a lay of the land.  It was beautiful.  I found some house boats that I wouldn't mind calling my own one day.  

Finally we went to Tivoli, the 2nd oldest amusement park in the world.  The same park that Walt Disney himself used as his muse for Disney World.   It was very magical.  We ate cotton candy that was double the size of our faces and I road on the carousel.. by myself.  Yes.. I was quite literally the only one on the ride.  I sat on top of an elegant elephant as I pretended I was Princess Jasmine from Aladdin.  

We ended the night with some wienerschnitzel, rhubarb ice cream, amber lager, and a light-show on the pond!  

We are now sitting with face masks on about to pass out.  Weeee look like something out of a horror movie.

Night night everyone!