Pictures And A Giveaway

Hi everyone!

We have over 700 pictures of our trip we need to get through and organize.  Don't worry...I don't intend on turning this into a "my vacation" blog.  I did want to share a few pictures with you today so you know we REALLY were in Venice and Greece.

After we have more pictures ready to share I will add a page to my sidebar so you can take a look if you like.

VENICE

Venice was as beautiful as it was twenty years ago when we were married there.  The only thing that seemed to have changed is now there are a lot more people and boats!

MYKONOS

Mykonos was our favorite stop on this trip.  Steve and I were one of the few off the boat as soon as it docked at 7:00 am.  We wandered through the quite alleys where there were no other tourist and the locals were just sweeping off the streets in front of their homes.  It was so peaceful and beautiful it almost seemed unreal.  The town is famous for it's beautiful jewelry and I took some time to do some shopping.

I came home with an pretty blue enamel bracelet and earrings that remind me of the color of Mykonos.

SANTORINI

We loved Santorini  for the beautiful views and architecture.  I braved the cable car to the top which was shaking and moaning the whole way.  Here I bought some handmade Olive Oil soap for myself, a couple of trinkets for the giveaway and I discovered Cappuccino Freddo which is an iced coffee with a cold milk froth on top...delicious!  

Now for the giveaway. 

I hope you like the things I selected for you on our trip.

The giveaway includes a pretty pouch with silk flowers and a vintage square 32" linen table scarf both from Venice.  Also included is a bar of pure olive oil soap and a six strand necklace of natural coral, amethyst and turquoise from Santorini.  

To enter the giveaway just leave a comment telling me your favorite vacation spot.  For an additional entry help me spread the word by adding the giveaway to your sidebar or FB page.  Be sure and leave a second comment.

The giveaway will end at midnight on 9/22/11 and I will contact the winner the next day.  If you don't have a blog please make sure and leave your email address so I can contact you should you win.

Good luck to everyone and don't forget to link up here Wednesday evening for the Open House Party.

Hugs,

Sherry

I'll be sharing our trip at the parties below.
Savvy Southern Style
Faded Charm White Wednesday
Common Ground
My Romantic Home
French Country Cottage

Second Honeymoon

Thank you all for the wonderful comments on my Frenchy vanity.  I truly appreciate all the sweet notes you left.

I mentioned in an earlier post about our upcoming trip to Venice and now I want to share the details with you.   Most of you know Steve and I were married in Venice  20+ years ago so this trip will be a long overdue second honeymoon.

I am a PLANNER..down to the smallest detail!  My husband calls me his "tour guide" and happily steps away from the planning process.  To give him credit though he picks up languages easily and this comes in very handy in a foreign country.  Unless when we were in France and he asked to buy four postage stamps and we get four Sprites instead!  We had a good laugh over that!

We will spend three days in Venice on our on and then join a cruise ship. Steve and I have been very fortunate to have traveled all over the world and we have always traveled independently. Being on an organized trip will be very different for us but in a lot of ways I am looking forward to someone else handling the luggage, not searching for hotels and restaurants and having time to relax on the ship. I guess this is a sign of getting older and not wanting the hassle that can come with traveling on your own. Sigh!

Here are some of the places we will visit during the ten night cruise.

Venice

Split, Croatia

Corfu 

Crete

Athens 

Mykonos 

Santorini 

Olympia 

The ship returns to Venice where we will stay another three days .  The Venice Film Festival is being held that week and I hope to get tickets when they go on sale this month. 

When I was a child I remember seeing photos of Jackie Onassis on her yacht docked in the port of Mykonos. Even at a very young age I thought what a beautiful place it was and how one day I would visit there. Now I will be able to check one more thing off my bucket list!

Traveling to Europe is very expensive, especially Venice.  In the next post I will tell you how we are doing this trip on the cheap! 

xo,

Sherry

I am partying this week with:

Savvy Southern Style

Romantic Home 

At The Picket Fence 

Wedding Blog Party In Venice

Stephanie at Angelic Accents is having her annual To Have And To Hold Wedding Blog Party and I thought it would be fun to re-post about our wedding in Venice.  We are leaving for Venice this August for our 2nd honeymoon .  I am so excited to be visiting this beautiful place again and I'll be back soon to tell you the details of our upcoming trip.    

This is the Palazzo Dandola where we were married on the rooftop terrace overlooking the Grand Canal. The palazzo dates back to the 14th century and is just steps from Piazza San Marco. It is now the magnificent Hotel Danieli.

Sorry about the poor quality of these scanned pictures. These were taken before digital cameras were popular.

The view of the Grand Canal and the island of San Giorgia was magnificent.

After the ceremony we stepped out the door of the Danieli to pose for more pictures. All of a sudden there were dozens of people surrounding us. Several sweet Italian ladies came up to touch my dress and say congratulations. One even gave me a kiss on the cheek. They were applauding and cheering for us and by the time we walked to the gondola we had a quite a crowd  following us and tourist running to take our picture.  One poor lady almost fell off the pier trying to take our picture.

It is a tradition in Venice for the bride and groom to ride a gondola through the canals after the ceremony.I can't tell you how nervous I was about stepping into the gondola in my wedding gown and heels. I had this vision of landing in the water and my gown floating above my head!

As we rode through the Venice canals hundreds of people gathered on the bridges and sidewalks and yelled their best wishes in many different languages. When we replied to thank them you could hear shouts of "Americana's".  I guess people thought they had encountered an Italian wedding.  Boy, were they surprised when they heard my heavy southern accent!

How did we put a wedding together in Italy when neither of us are Italian nor know anyone in Italy?  I found this wonderful lady in Texas that planned weddings around the world. We were able to plan the entire wedding by email and phone calls. She arranged for us to go to the American Embassy in Milan and complete the necessary paper work. She would email me pictures of different wedding locations, hotels, flowers ect. . She arranged for a photographer and minister which turned out to be the most difficult. Try finding a officiant that is not Catholic in the town of Venice!  We were met in Venice by an interpreter that accompanied us to to complete the paper work and handle any last minute details. Unfortunately the company Weddings Around The World is no longer in business.

Marriage certificate

There was only one glitch in all the planning. The wedding planner neglected to tell us that we would be required to have a civil ceremony prior to the actual ceremony that evening.. We showed up at the government office to complete paper work and we were told we were having our ceremony now.  I was married in a navy blue knit skirt and white t-shirt and Hubby wore khakis. We were married by the Mayor of Venice wearing a ribbon of the Italian colors and then he presented me with a dozen peach roses from the city of Venice.  The Mayor told us he thought we were the first American couple to ever be married in Venice.

Steve and I have been very fortunate to travel around the world but Venice will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Thank you Stephanie at Angelic Accents  for hosting the To Have And To Hold Wedding Blog Party and giving me the opportunity to share this special day again.

xo,

Sherry

In Love With An Italian

No,  I haven't left my wonderful hubby for a Italian man.  Though,  if I could live anywhere in the world it would  be Venice.   Of course Steve would be be going with me and I bet I wouldn't have to twist his arm.

My new Italian love is this fabulous wall plaque that Gina of  Gina Ceramics  sent me.  She hand paints the most gorgeous Italian ceramics in the Renaissance style.  Gina was trained in Italy, Holland, Belgium and Germany and now lives and works in a small artist community in Utah.  She also teaches and is offering a workshop  this year on July 15-16 where you can learn to paint ceramics in the 500 year old Renaissance style. This workshop would be a dream come true for me and I would jump at the chance if the dates didn't conflict with our already planned vacation.  I hope to attend one of the workshops at a later date.

This is the plaque Gina hand painted.  Now you see why I am in love!

Below are just a few examples of Gina's ceramics.  To see more please visit her Blog or Etsy shop.

Thank you Gina for this wonderful gift!

Now that we have established my love for anything Italian I want to show you some of my collection.  Some of the pieces are already packed up so I'll show you those at another time.

There is a reason I chose an Italian themed post today.

We are going to Italy for our 2ND honeymoon!!

Reservations are made and now we just have to be patient until August.

I'll be back later with details.

Partying this week with:

Savvy Southern Style 

Common Ground 

Between Naps On The Porch 

The Charm Of Home 

The Romantic Home 

French Country Cottage 

At The Picket Fence 

A Stroll Thru Life 

Hugs,

Sherry

Mantel Disaster Rectified

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was Hubby's birthday and I talked him into playing hooky. We went to the movies, dinner and then home for cake and presents.  If you see the movie Tourist  notice the hotel they stay at in Venice. This is the hotel we were married in and I have several pictures of us on the spectacular staircase that is in the movie. It was a treat for us to see the interior shots of the hotel.  You can see pictures of our wedding in Venice here. 

 Hubby and I went to Richmond Christmas Tour Of Homes today and boy was it cold!  I was hoping to get some pictures to show you but there were so many people it was impossible.  I can show you what I have been working on though.

After my Mantel Disaster was cleaned up I took a deep breath and started over on the mantel.  Since all but two pieces of my mercury glass was shattered I had to come up with an alternative.  I added a couple of Old Britain Castle plates to the mantel along with the two surviving pieces of mercury glass and a newly purchased tree for the center. 

Our tree is a mishmash of hundreds of ornaments! I have a collection of Radko ornaments hanging beside Dollar Tree ones. There are ornaments my grandchildren made and some I have collected over many years.

My sweet friend Lynn at  A Vintage Nest  recently gave me a pair of antlers to add to my collection.  I put the antlers with some fresh greenery in a mercury glass bowl.  Luckily the bowl and candle holder behind it were not on the mantle when everything crashed to the ground.

I'll be posting more decorations at my Share The Decor  party. I look forward to seeing you there.

Please stop by and visit the following parties for lots of inspiration:

Be Colorful 

Nesting Place 

All Things Heart And Home 

French Country Cottage 

The Shabby Chic Cottage 

Savvy Southern Style 

Funky Junk Interiors 

Hooked On Houses 

My Romantic Home 

The Tablescaper 

Southern In My Heart 

Under The Table And Dreaming

Happy Holidays,

Sherry

 

A Win & A $200 GC Giveaway!

I recently won a giveaway from the beautiful and talented Melaine at  My Sweet Savannah .  My gift was a custom art piece from  Modern Bird Studios.   I submitted a photo taken in front of our hotel in Venice.  Venice will always have a special place in my heart because Hubby and I were married there.  You can read about our wedding  here. 

Modern Bird Studios  took my photo and turned it into a wonderful personalized art piece, hand painted on wood.  When I opened the package I could not believe how beautiful it was!  The shadows in the painting are amazing and they seem to change in different light. The photos here can not capture how stunning this painting really is. 

Thank you so much Melaine and Modern Bird Studio for this fabulous gift!  I will cherish this always.

Now for the Giveaway...

I love my gift so much that I asked Megan and Gregg if they would do a personalized art piece for one of my readers.  They have generously offered a $200 gift certificate to Modern Bird Studios  as a giveaway!  Thank you both.

To enter :

 Visit  Modern Bird Studios and come back here and leave me a comment.

For extra entries:

1. FOLLOW Modern Bird Studios on Twitter for 1 extra entry

2. LIKE  Modern Bird Studios on Facebook for an additional entry.

There are three chances to win so please leave a separate comment for each entry. This giveaway is open to the continental US and ends at midnight 11/1/10. Winner will be drawn randomly and announced the following day.

You do not have to be a follower of No Minimalist Here to win. I do really appreciate my following friends and those that take time out of their busy lives to visit me. Thank You!

If you don't want to wait to see if you are a winner Modern Bird Studios is also offering a 15% discount to my readers.  The discount is available for up to one week after the giveaway ends. Use the code NOMINIMALIST.

Thank you so much for entering and good luck to everyone.

I will be attending the following parties:

My Backyard Eden 

A Stroll Thru Life 

Between Naps On The Porch

Southern In My Heart    

My Romantic Home

Color Outside The Lines

xoxo,

Sherry

Disclaimer:  I received no product nor compensation from Modern Bird Studios for hosting this giveaway.