Pink Saturday

Okay, I really am about to get done with my vacation photos, but here are a few more.  Mostly these are the handiwork of the Walt Disney gardeners.  Here some hanging baskets in Italy at Epcot.

 Containers in England at Epcot.

 A container in France at Epcot.  Can you tell the World Showcase is our favorite!

Again, France in Epcot.  I really don't know why anyone would like this place.;)

They had a whole new fireworks display this year at the Magic Kingdom.  They lit fireworks off the deck of the castle to music from Pirates of the Caribbean.  I really liked that.   I swear even the smoke from the fireworks has a hidden Mickey in it.  They think of everything!

And last but not least, pink fireworks at Epcot too.

I will link this to Beverly's Pink Saturday at her blog How Sweet the Sound.
I will also link to Summer Sundays at The Tablescaper.

Ghirardelli Chocolate

When I visit Walt Disney World a visit is never complete until I have gone to the Downtown Disney Shopping Center and visited Ghirardelli.  If you don't know about Ghirardelli it is some wonderful chocolate made right here in America.  This picture of the outside of the shop shows Domingo Ghirardelli; an Italian immigrant, and his chocolate making history in San Francisco.  When you turn the corner to the front of the store the feature attraction is the chocolate.

This marquee on the outside of the building shows my favorite chocolate the "Drinking Chocolate."  I will get to more about that in a minute.

Step inside the door and a person hands you a square of chocolate free!  Yes, free chocolate.  Do I need to say more.  This is one reason this has become one of my favorite stops.  This wall display has some others.  Here you are looking at chocolate drops and chocolate covered fruit.  The saleslady's hand is on the chocolate covered blueberries,  right next to it is chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered apricots.  We have bought these in years past and they are delicious!

Check this out!  Shelves of chocolate squares in cellophane bags tied with satin ribbons.

Okay now we are getting to the serious chocolate lover's display.  Here is what you are looking at, chocolate lava cake, triple chocolate brownies, chocolate dipped strawberries, a fondue set, chocolate caramel fudge sauce, bittersweet chocolate fudge sauce, hot cocoa (in these flavors) double chocolate, chocolate hazelnut, and white mocha, and a cookbook opened up to the chocolate lava cake recipe.  But that is not all....

this little golden tin has drinking chocolate, just like the picture in the marquee out front.  I did a Foodie Friday post on this back in the winter.  You can view that here.  What is so special about this drinking chocolate is that is isn't hot chocolate.  It is true liquid chocolate.  It reminds me of the movie Chocolat when Vianne (Juliette Binoche) makes chocolate for Roux (Johnny Depp).  The best part is you can make this at home with the recipe in my Foodie Friday post.  I got the recipe off of Ghirardelli's site and you can visit that here.  You can also order most of things you see here at their website. 

 This store is also a working soda fountain shop.  They can make you almost anything.  

The lady behind the counter on the left is making the homemade waffle cones.  They smell amazing.  

So, your wondering what did I buy?  When I headed toward the store; leaving the van, the teenagers were shouting buy chocolate, lots of chocolate!

 So, a bag of the little chocolate squares with the satin ribbon made it back home with us.  If it had not been packed deep within my suitcase it might have been on the endangered species list.

But, through 1,000 miles of highway, growling teens, potty breaks, and fast food from hell; these fabulous little chocolate squares made it home in my suitcase for me to break in two and slowly savor each delectable bite. Ghirardelli a Foodie stop in heaven.:)
I will link this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.
I will also link to Laurie's My Favorite Things at her site Bargain Hunting and chatting with Laurie.

Sneakity Peek: Rugs for Pure Style Home!

As I recently mentioned, we're working on getting an online store up & running for Pure Style Home.  It's going to be filled with one-of-a-kind things I absolutely love and want to keep.  (But because I'm not independently wealthy and don't have ten houses, must sell ;)  I am SO INSANELY EXCITED over the rugs we just recently found to be sold in the shop!!  (We were only able to buy 4 to start out with-  rugs are a serious investment- eek!)  All of the rugs chosen are hand-knotted, have an antique washed feel, and I want to keep every single one.  I'm in the process of photographing them and was just too excited not to share with you.  This one is a Mamluk rug, created in the style of rugs produced during the Mamluk Dynasty in 14th Century Egypt.  It's full of golds and browns with splashes of pale blue-green:

It's approximately 8 x 11 and I'm seriously in love,  Here's a close-up:

I'm really not a sales person but have started this venture out of my love for stuff.  Yeah, there I said it, I LOVE STUFF.  But I can't keep it all, and in my job, I see so many beautiful things that it's hard to walk away from them.  It's hard for me to "sell" things to anyone, but if I don't, I'll end up with either a house smashed-full of beautiful things and an empty bank acoount or having to continue to walk away from all of these treasures.  So, the new shop will be my outlet for making these items available to clients & others who love them as much as I do...  a place for my "uncommon finds."  I hope you never feel that posts like this are "salesy" and that I'm trying to push anything on you...  I hope you see it as me being so excited that I want to share things with you because that's truly what it is.

{A bunch of the other items in the photos above will be for sale too, but I'm not sure which ones yet as I'm having trouble parting with them- ha!}

 

I'm adding inventory to the store daily and am trying to get it up and running as quickly as possible.  I'll keep you posted!!  Would love to know what you think of it!!

A Taste of Fall

Now I know some of you are not ready to hear this, but fall is around the corner.  Yikes! I know.  I register the kids for school in less than a week.  The days are already getting shorter and the apple trees are getting some color.   So, for some of us who get excited by fall (that's me), I just couldn't help myself.  I had to do a fall colored table.  The catalogs are coming too, with all the fall tablescapes!  Can you tell this is my favorite season and the only one I have yet to blog about.  So, enough talk, here is my taste of fall.

The star of this table is my new lantern I reviewed for CSN Stores. Click here to read that review.  

It is a double candle lantern.  With plenty of room to decorate around the candles.  

 Just look at the curved glass sides!!  Oh, okay I'm moving on.  I kinda like this lantern can you tell?

 Lantern provided by CSN Stores.  Click link to view all of their great online stores for your fall needs. 

Goblets by Icon Glassware pattern Capri.

Dinner and salad plates by Hotel Balfour.

Flatware vintage.

Napkins vintage.

Table runner vintage.

Wine jug vintage. 
I will join Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday at the blog The Style Sisters.

I will join Susan for Tablescape Thursday at her site Between Naps on the Porch.

I will join Gina for Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

I will also join Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.
And, Inspired by Fridays at The Inspired Room.

Please go over and check out all of the lovely things going on.

The Tempel Lipizzan Legacy

A few miles from my dad's lake house (where we're visiting now) are the Tempel Lipizzan Stables which house Lipizzans, Europe's oldest domesticated horses, owned by the Tempel Smith family (of Tempel Steel).  The grounds are incredible and we love going to see the shows.

 

{The Stables}

According to Lippizan.com, "Lipizzans are Europe's oldest domesticated breed of horse. They not only possess beauty and nobility, but also a rare combination of courage, strength, ability, temperament, and intelligence.

The Lipizzan breed had its beginning in 1580"... and was created by a combination of different breeds... They have been moved throughout the past 400 years numerous times to survive various wars including the Napoleanic Wars, and World Wars I & II.  "In 1945 General patton executed a daring rescue of the Lippizzans, the story of which is told in Disney's The Miracle of the White Stallions."

{photo of a photo I saw in the stables}

"In 1955, millionaire Tempel Smith (Tempel Steel) of Chicago, imported 20 Lipizzans from Austria, 11 from Hungary, and 6 from Yugoslavia..."

{Me creepily taking photos of one of the riders who was resting between performances...  he totally caught me- oops!}

..."Tempel Smith devoted 15 years, until his death in 1980, importing and breeding his herd to over 400 horses. Since Tempel Smith's death, much of the herd was disbursed. However, Tempel Farms still breeds a number of Lipizzans each year, and they still successfully compete Lipizzans for Tempel Farms."

 

{The Show...  The woman above was so beautiful & poised...  exactly what you would imagine. }

This year, the weather was perfect when we took Christian & Justin to see the show.  The horses are just incredible:

I can't believe how high they jump!!!

The boys had so much fun and even 7-month-old Justin was into it...

 

 {I loved this photo from the stables}

And Christian loved the old "fire truck"- 

I'm apey over the Guest House, which sits high up on a hill overlooking the grounds:

 

It can be rented for private events and there's a pool in the back:

  

... which overlooks this:

 

And the stables house some of the best design I've ever seen:

The hallway was gorgeous. 

 

They've kept everything as it was in the 50s:

Check out the heat lamps the horses use when being bathed:

...And of course I can't see all of this and not start to think about interiors.  Oh my gosh, please someone call me with a horse fetish!!!  (err passion ;)  I'm dying to do a home for a horse-lover now!!

  Check out these photos taken by Roger Davies for Elle Decor of Mark Badgley and James Mishcka’s home:  Mmmmmm.. love it!

 And this one from Nuevo Estilo Magazine via La Dolce Vita:

(I can't help but get a little bit excited for Fall when looking at all of these images but I'm holding it back because Summer's still in full force.)  

And one last picture of the horses as we drove by another day on the way home to the house...  You can see them right on Hunt Club Road: 

  

{The Tempel Lipizzans}

If you're still in the mood for horse-inspired interiors, definitely check out these 2 posts full of equestrian eye candy:  (so gorgeous!!!)

Chic Equestrian Style in Home Decor by Simplified Bee
Equestrian Chic by La Dolce Vita