Been There...Wanna Go There

For lack of reason, I'm blaming it on the weather. I COULD walk out of my house (with a mere 20 minutes warning to pack) and just GO. Of course the stars would all have to align and money would have to bloom on my redbud out back.

I've ridden a gondola in Venice, Italy under this bridge:

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...so I truly can't complain. But I've never walked on the Great Wall of China:

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...which is a dream. I've hung out in the markets of Seoul, Korea:



...and loved shopping the market Iteawon. But I long to ride the Orient Express for endless days:



...having breakfast as the Alps go by. I've given Wrigley's gum to children in the Togo, Africa bush:



...and that gives me some perspective.

This blog has evolved into...well, it's tamped my wanderlust for now.

But I'm carrying my passport on my person just in case someone says, "Wanna go to...?"

I'm SO Ready For Spring

I'm an eternal optimist. And I'm having issues staying "up". The weather is killing me. If it's not raining, it's snowing OR in the 20's Farenheit. And I'm in Mississippi for God's sake!

I was on a roll. Walking every day and doing well watching what I ate. Yes, I realize this sounds like a cop-out, but it's NOT. It's too COLD to walk. And when I don't walk, I cheat. And don't give me this "awww...you have no idea what cold really is" speech. I could care less. I have warm Southern blood. I want warmth.

I'm SO ready for Spring. I want to garden. I want green shoots coming up. Never before has everything been so brown. (Another reason my walks are curtailed. My brown world is uninspiring these days.) And it's to be in the low 20's and 30's nightly for the entire next week. Not to mention snow predictions for Thursday and Friday.


The above pictures are of the garden featured in the blockbuster "It's Complicated". Oh yeah, I'm having a couple of raised beds this year. And I want a gravel walkway between. I have a lovely yard that shows off my hard work. I've walked it's dead, brown glory several times recently determining just where to place these new beds. They will contain those gorgeous tomato stakes too. No chintzy metal ones for me this year!

Until then, I'll continue wearing coats, hats, scarves and gloves. And dreaming. And cheating. And when Spring DOES get here, I'll post pictures of my raised beds. With fancy tomato stakes. Hopefully with green shoots everywhere.

Oh, and I'd be thrilled to have Mr. Baldwin too.

Again, I'm SO ready for Spring.

The Exact Place I Wish To Be Right Now

I wish to be lying in that very hammock. How stinkin' cool is that? Misool Eco Resort in West Papua, Indonesia looks to be a perfect place to melt away any and all stress, which is a main component in the perfect vacation. Below is a view of some of the 11 cottages available with 8 being on stilts over a quiet lagoon. I'll have nothing less than a stilted one. They are built from reclaimed wood and all furnishings are from local craftsmen. There is also a dive shop, restaurant and private pier.


Oh how I'd love to wake up to this view. The sound of the waves would wash away the cobwebs. Only improvement I can imagine is someone calling out, "Here's breakfast." That chair is for me to savor my breakfast in. I've a stack of books to read which I would take along. I want to laze around all day for 10 straight days, right here. Get a slight tan and go to dinner each evening. And no, I would not get bored.


Funny how my mind goes to what wardrobe I'd take. Linen, long, flowing swimsuit cover ups, big fat sunglasses. Total comfort all day, but something lovely for dinner. Please notice the outdoor shower below. (I recently bought one for my backyard at Dirt Cheap. I love rinsing my feet and hands before coming in from yard work. Of course mine is not made from a lovely tree trunk, just lowly teak.)



Wanderlust is stirred up. Awwww, let me dream.......=)

I Officially Have Go-i-tis

First, a non-relevant statement to this blog. I am SO thrilled when I get comments!

Today began early. Now ending late. I'm bone tired. And I have desperate wanderlust. I love my blog and I wish to post daily. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. My brain is bouncing around when all I am trying to say is blogging completes me. When I'm not blogging I'm thinking about it. But life intrudes and I can't make it happen as often as I like. Then I get grumpy and everything that bugs me mushrooms. Right now I want to go to another planet...I mean continent.=)

Shall I dream a bit? Hhhhmmm. If I could fly away to anywhere of my choice today, it would be to China. I really want to walk on the Great Wall. Or India would be grand. I want to pose in front of the Taj Mahal with my arms flung high and wide, like in all my other pics in other countries. Istanbul...here I come. Well, in my mind anyway. I really want to get lost in the marketplace. Let me see...one of those thatched roof huts on stilts out over the water in Aruba would be amazing. Tomorrow, please. Also include a massage therapist that comes to the hut. And place the table in front of that wide door with the view. Ahhhhh...

Gotta go. Need to browse around on Expedia for ticket pricing. Bye bye, now.

Ok. Umm. Speechless.

A picture says a thousand words. All of which I can't verbalize for now. Whew.

Shall I try? Is this a lobby? Restaurant? Hotel room? Is that a suitcase? Do I also see a briefcase in the background? Is the table from room service or last night's party?

All that and I haven't mentioned HIM. A suit, pocket handkerchief AND cufflinks. Reading the morning paper. Is it coffee or tea in that dainty cup? No time to shave. Did he have the flowers delivered? Were they for me? Hehe...

Mr. Gerard Butler is a multi-talented beautiful man. A man that can play the disfigured "Phantom" and the charming, thoughtful husband in "P.S. I Love You" has to be a romantic.

Ok. I'll stop now.

My Life is Changed...(nothing spiritual=)

How sad is it that my new pillow is what I am referring to? Don't give me some cock and bull story about it having to do with the number of birthdays I've celebrated. That has nothing to do with it! This pillow is "heaven" made of foam. If you are familiar with Tempur-Pedic, you know they make mattresses (a dream that I will own one day) and pillows. I now have half of the original dream. Well, if you call a pillow half. I slept on a Tempur-Pedic mattress at my cousin Rhonda's home last year. I admit that I've always had reservations about these. My thought process was that "memory foam" would awaken me each time I changed sleeping positions. Not so. I was amazed. So I treated myself to a pillow. Kohl's stocks them. Go on. Treat yourself. It's SO worth it.

Now if only Dirt Cheap would get a shipment of these mattresses I'd be set for life.

Pink In Paris

I peruse multiple blogs daily. They range from cooking, design, fashion...all the way to dieting. Therefore, I see many images daily. It's not often that a picture grabs me. Grabs me and just won't let go. This one did. I am feeling spring yearnings and this one caused them to mushroom out of control. I am envisioning setting a table with a shimmery pink cloth, a white soup tureen (to use the silver ladle in the picture), and serve peach bellini tea from the pink tray. All of this under my pergola of course.

The street vendors in Paris make my guts smile. Moseying along the riverwalk is an absolute favorite pastime. Well, one of them anyway. Viewing the bridges that span the river is life changing. (I have actually taken a couple of evening dinner cruises and viewed most of them first hand. Even the undersides are breathtaking.)

Pink, silver, the riverwalk, the Seine and architecture...a lethal combination in Paris.

Image via apartment therapy

Travels of 2008

There is more than one. But only one wins over all others. My visits of 2008 were wide and varied and I only hope to cover 1/2 the miles in this year as I did last year.
Paris? Indescribable. Germany? Breathtaking. Africa? The winner. Hands down.

(Palm tree studded view across the pools to the Atlantic.)
The resort, the Hotel Casa del Papa in Ouida, Benin, West Africa is my choice of where to return. From the moment of arrival, I felt my inner most being begin to relax. I'm unsure if the break from the mind-numbing, spirit-disturbing country of Togo is the reason, but I truly don't think so. I absolutely loved sleeping with the sound of waves of the Atlantic crashing in. The swish of palm trees was comforting. The bungalows were crisp and clean with Egyptian cotton linens on tester beds and old Air France posters for artwork.



I lay for hours under this private low-hanging hut listening to the ocean, reading, and yes, napping. Ever so often a friendly employee asked if I needed anything. I had several Coca-Light.



Dining here under a thatched roof as the sun faded and the pitch black night made the ocean invisible to the eye, was glorious. The fish was fresh and as tasty as any I'd ever consumed.

My new tradition is listing the places I visited during the year. An overnight stay out of the county I reside in qualifies. Notice that's c-o-u-n-t-y, not country.=)

Travels of 2008

Houston,TX
Jackson,MS
Atlanta, GA
Nashville, TN
Indianapolis, IN
Baton Rouge, LA
Paris, France
Lome, Togo, West Africa
Ouida, Benin, West Africa
Tupelo, MS
Biloxi, MS
Mannheim, Germany
Strasbourg, France (spent the day only)
Winston-Salem, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Covington.LA
Laurel, MS

I'm amazed that I hit 3 continents this year alone, with Africa being a first time continent. I begin every year wondering how I will manage a new city or country visit, and somehow....it just happens. May the force be with me yet again this year!

"Swanky"

Every time I pass this building, my heart speeds up. The owner allowed me a walk through and you could audibly hear my brain clicking. In "my" perfect world, there is a design shoppe on the bottom floor and I live upstairs. The corner entrance would boast a carved wooden sign stating the name "Swanky" with "interior/event" just below. I laugh at myself, but I just can't get away from that name. I love the idea of answering the phone, "Swanky, may I help you?". Large square copper pots with ball topiaries in them flank the front door in my vision. A chalkboard on the sidewalk with a daily quote would be a must. Brightly lit window displays would be impossible to pass without stopping to peruse. Accessories, custom furnishings, a few antiques, even some consignment pieces would make any heart rush upon entrance.

The building is the original Citizen's Bank. There is a beautiful conference room upstairs with mahogany walls that I envision as a dining room. I can see the sparkling chandelier. I'd love having lamps lit at dusk in those front windows with the view of the courthouse. The ceilings are high and the windows tall. My prized art would showcase perfectly.

What's that quote about dreams? "Dreams are necessary to life."~ Anais Nin

What I fail to mention here is I'd have to find me a billionaire to accomplish all this. Feel free to make introductions.

This is exactly where my heart is today, on the water in sleek teak-decked sailboat. Oh, and while I'm fantasizing I may as well admit I parked my little convertible (pictured below) at the dock before boarding my boat. We're dropping anchor in a small cove at Horn Island and Wentworth (he's my imaginary chef) has prepared grilled salmon to top our salads. The centerpiece on the table is a large hurricane with a 3 wick white candle. (The back deck has a removable table. Perfect place for dining in the sunshine.) All white linens and a smattering of sea shells complete the setting. I think I'll ask him to set my ipod to play Jamie Cullum.

We'll be back to dock just after sunset, all windblown and with pink noses.

Oh man, I forgot about Wednesday night ensemble rehearsal at 5.30. Sheesh, guess I'll have to wait till another day...

Craving vs. Wanderlust

My home, which I refer to as "Never Finished" is what we call here in the South, a "Katrina" house. I purchased it in sad repair. Three trees in all went through the roof of the house and garage. A blue roof was not even put on. The garage had the most damage, but when I walked up, visions of parties floated in my head. The garage is deep, two cars can park one behind the other comfortably, as well as beside each other. In other words, four vehicles in all can fit. All that AND a storage room the entire width across the back. I envisioned linen clad tables with sparkly chandeliers dropped over them and easy jazz piped in. The garage literally sold me before I sat foot in the house. But there the vision did not end.

A small convertible could be housed perfectly during the "too hot" and "too cold" months. Finding the right one is a challenge, literally. If I could curb some of the wanderlust, it just may be possible. Some far reaching place on the globe always beckons, and the vision is bumped further away. At some point the craving for a convertible will overcome the wanderlust, and I'll be setting pretty. Well, a convertible will be setting pretty in my remodeled garage. Preferably one EXACTLY like the photo I found at www.cocokelley.blogspot.com.

I won't even mind taking down the hammock to park it.

Is there such a thing as lusting for a mixer?