May Around The Web

May is one of my favorite months of the year, and my allergies haven't even been quite as terrible as normal! This month I traveled to Chicago for a work event, tried a Soul Cycle class, attended Hallmark's Creative Leadership Symposium (and a Gemma O'Brien Meet & Greet!), spent Mother's Day in KC (complete with a delicious lunch and the Symphony Designers' Showhouse), watched my youngest sister, Grace, graduate from sixth grade, participated in a piñata making workshop for one of #My5Days, marbled paper with my team at work, and continued working on Mother's Day 2018 cards!

Looking back, this month was filled with some pretty special opportunities and lots of making. One of my favorite parts of these posts is thinking back on what I accomplished during the last month, and of course seeing what inspired me. I have been constantly impressed by Nick Misani's Fauxsaics. They are stunning! If you haven't already seen them be sure to take a look. I noticed on Instagram he might be teaching a class to share his process, which would definitely be something I would need to sign up for. Here are some of my other favorite finds this May:

• I love this faux-flower DIY from Sugar & Cloth!

• These are the perfect shorts to celebrate warmer weather. 

• An interesting read, good thoughts for business owners and those working corporate jobs.

• A beautiful home in Berlin.

• I would love to try making these smoothies, they are so pretty!

• A great guide to pressing flowers, I also want to get Beci Orpin's new book, Sunshine Spaces. 

• I don't need these pineapple earrings, but they sure are cute!

• Create*Cultivate in New York looked amazing, and these thoughts on Instagram are worth reading.

• New balloons from Studio DIY!

• I've been dreaming about an outdoor space at our next place, and I loved Emily's patio. 

• AND Pippa got married this month!

Until next month, happy reading!

DIY Crepe Paper Flowers for Think.Make.Share.

Today on Think.Make.Share. you can learn how to make these beautiful crepe paper flowers! This was one of my favorite workshops to participate in, I loved how each person's flowers turned out so unique using the same steps. I plan on displaying mine in a vase, but I have also seen some beautiful paper flower cake toppers. Now I just need an occasion to bake a cake! I hope you're inspired to get making. 

---

Diptychs 14

Muted pastels, a bit of wanderlust and some florals for Spring. Enjoy! 

1 Left | Right
2 Left | Right
3 Left | Right
4 Left | Right

---

New Orleans: Oak Alley Plantation

Our last day in New Orleans we took a mini road-trip to Oak Alley Plantation. The weather was perfect so most of our time was spent wandering around the property enjoying the huge oak trees.  During our tour we learned that nobody knows who planted the trees, and they are thought to be around 300 years old! It was crazy to realize that these trees are older than America. 

After our tour of the house we ate lunch at the restaurant just off the property, and afterwards went on a self-guided tour of the rest of the property. If you have a car when visiting New Orleans I would definitely recommend Oak Alley, if not for the history just to see the trees. We spent our last evening back on Magazine St. eating at the Israeli restaurant  Shaya. It was amazing. I hope you enjoyed following along our quick trip!

---

New Orleans: The Garden District

After having spent our first two days mainly exploring the French Quarter, by day three we were excited to experience a different part of the city. That morning we took a guided tour of the Garden District — I highly recommend Two Chicks Walking Tours! The homes and history of the neighborhood were both fascinating, I especially loved all the details in the architecture.

After our tour we stopped for lunch at District: Donuts. Sliders. Brew. My glazed donut was delicious, and I had a great salad and green juice as well! The rest of our afternoon was spent exploring the stores along Magazine Street. We later realized that we had spent most of our time walking the wrong direction, the main shopping was a few blocks in the opposite direction, but having spent all morning walking we didn't spend too much time shopping anyway. One of our favorite finds was Century Girl Vintage. 

One of the most interesting parts of our tour was visiting a historic cemetery. This particular cemetery mostly was utilized by the working class. Our guide even showed us where he will be buried someday, his family has lived in New Orleans for generations. He also spent some time "debunking" some of the ghost tour stories we had heard the night before, but I got the impression actual history was sometimes just as unbelievable. 

That evening we spent a few hours relaxing back at our Airbnb before heading to The Gumbo Shop in the French Quarter for dinner. If you find yourself in New Orleans don't miss the Garden District. Just walking around could have entertained me all day, and there are so many shops it would be hard to pop into them all. Be on the lookout for one last recap from our trip later this week! (We spent our last day at Oak Alley Plantation outside the city.)

---

Rengo, Chile

The second half of my family's trip to Chile was planned completely around visiting my Dad's host family from when he was an AFS student in high school! He lived in Rengo, Chile for one half of his year, and we spent two nights at his family's home in the countryside outside the city. We had an amazing time meeting everyone and hearing stories from his time in Chile. They also treated us to some wonderful food and graciously allowed us to realax by their pool.

I especially loved walking around the plaza and the main streets of Rengo. There were still some New Year's and Christmas decorations up, which felt pretty strange with the Summer weather, but at the same time festive in a way we don't experience in the US. And as always I was a huge fan of thebright florals, palm trees and colorful homes!

This part of the trip was especially meaningful because it is what brought our entire family to Chile. Without my Dad's experience we would not have been able to spend a few days experiencing daily life with this family. During other trips I have purely been a tourist, so this was a nice change of pace and allowed us to see a more authentic version of life in Chile. Enjoy!

---