Napa Getaway

As I mentioned the last time I posted, I wanted to share some of my favorite snapshots from our recent Napa getaway.  It was an awesome time and I tasted a lot of great wines!  We visited a variety of spots in Napa and Sonoma, and the ones I've included here were a few of my favorite.

One of our first stops, Far Niente, had the most beautifully manicured grounds of the wineries we visited.  This makes sense considering the owner originally made his money in the nursery business!  All of the spring flowers were in full bloom when we visited in early April.  The wines were really great as well, mostly Cabs, and my husband liked them so much we joined the wine club!  Two more notable items about Far Niente are the underground caves which were carved out after the building had been there for many years.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of great snapshots of the caves since I would have needed a stand for my camera.  Additionally, as part of the tour you get to see the owner's car collection (added bonus for the husband).  I will note, though, that our tour guide - Zack - corrected me when I called it a "car collection;" he was quick to point out that these cars are driven regularly.  La dee da.  :)  A few snapshots from this stop:

Me and my husband in the underground cave:

Waterlogue: I've Jumped the Bandwagon, and a Giveaway

Are you familiar with Waterlogue?  For the un-initiated, it is an iPad/ iPhone app that allows you to transform your photograph images into a "water color."  I first came across these images on Instagram about a month ago.  I'm one of those people that tries to avoid the latest trends because I think "I'm too cool for that!" (HA!); so naturally I avoided the app at all costs.

I lasted almost a month before I saw this app creep its way into the blog universe.  Upon seeing what bloggers were doing with the images (Shine Your Light, here and Imparting Grace, here), my first reaction was to jump as quickly as I could onto the first iDevice I could find and buy myself that app!!

 (My new "water color" image hung above my nightstand)

Instagram Junkie

We are back from a family beach vacation and I'm almost back into a good routine.  Until I have more time to share recent projects and posts I've been working on, I thought I would share some of my recent Instagram photos and invite you to follow along at #dawnmreeves, or by clicking here.

I'm an Instagram junkie - I will blame it on my new camera...I love taking and looking at lots of pictures.  It's even more fun sharing them and finding new inspiration from others picture's, as well. 

I will soon start to share house projects I'm working on along with some of my other favorite images from the week.  Here is a sampling of my favorite April photos:

Daydreaming About an Oceanside Resort

My husband and I tried to fit in several of our "dream" vacations before we had children.   I shared a small look into one of those trips - to Italy - here.  However, we never checked the box on my California dream vacation: coastal towns filled with gorgeous gardens and ocean vistas, sprawling wineries high up on beautiful mountain ranges, and let's face it, lots of good food and fine wine.  Ok, I've fooled no one, any wine will do really. ;)  

So, you can imagine my excitement when I learned that my husband was awarded the opportunity to spend several nights in Santa Barbara, CA, a quaint coastal town.  My husband's company awarded their top salesman with a four night stay at The Four Seasons Biltmore resort.  It was gorgeous!  I suppose that is an upside to having a salesman husband: great perks when you exceed sales goal.   Let's not talk about what happens if you fail to hit your goal.... ;)

A peak into the Four Season's resort lobby:

Where I've Been Lately...

It's been quiet around here, yes, but here is a look at the reason why. I wanted to quickly share a few photos. Also, you can follow me on Instagram to see more. I think the link is on my blog?!?!? I'll look into that. Sorry for the drive by nature of this post....

The decision...and other weekend happenings

What decision, you ask?  After four long years, we've finally selected our kitchen hardware.  Ok, maybe it isn't that exciting for you, but it is for me! 

What hardware made the cut?  Could it possibly be that special?!?!  No, probably not.  But for a decision as permanent as this one, which requires holes drilled into our cabinets...I get nervous.  These pulls, however, have me ready to make the commitment.....

They arrived in this box....

Just the name of the store alone makes me happy.

...and here they are...

Happy Friday...and other random-ness

I'm finally getting into a groove with my new camera.  No, I still have yet to sit down and read through that owners manual; but I will soon, I promise myself.  We have several exciting road trips planned for this year and I don't want to be unprepared and miss any treasured moments.

 

Surprise Valentine Spa Day and Getaway

Last Thursday, my husband surprised me with the news that he had planned a spa day, dinner, and hotel stay for us downtown in the city.  And oh yeah....we were leaving the next morning at 10 am!  Today I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite pictures from our getaway at Allyu Spa and Hotel Monaco.

Camera Upgrade!!!

After much debate, I bit the bullet and upgraded to a DSLR camera....

Breathtaking Vistas and Our Stay in the Amalfi Coast

I recently came across a post by Michele at Hello Lovely highlighting her stay at this beautiful apartment while in Paris.  After reminiscing with her, my mind kept wandering back to one of my favorite all time trips.

In 2007, two years after I was married to my husband, we were lucky enough to travel to Italy - a prerequisite of mine before there was any talk of children!  I, correctly, assumed that once our little ones were here, romantic trips to far away places would likely be a thing of my dreams.  Luckily, I had the chance to visit the Amalfi Coast, because it is literally the place that dreams are made of with its soaring cliffs, breathtaking views of the Mediterranean, and enchanting atmosphere. 

My favorite stop of the Italy trip - although I enjoyed it all - was in Positano, a seaside town situated amongst the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast.  The Amalfi Coast, a stretch of coastline and series of towns, is on the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula in Southern Italy. (Wikipedia, baby :))

The photo above is the perfect characterization of Positano: cheerful, colorful, charismatic buildings built into the rugged and soaring cliffs of Amalfi. 

Seven Ideas to Create a Gallery Wall.....

I was recently asked to share a tour of my home at another bloggers site and I said "yes, absolutely"!!! However, besides for the Christmas-y pictures I shared here, I have no other pictures of the main living spaces of our home! 

One thing I needed to add quickly and cheaply to certain rooms - to get ready for sharing my home tour - was wall art.  Tomorrow, I will share a few ideas that I came up with to quickly and cheaply add some life to our walls.  However, today I will focus in on one of those ideas: creating a gallery wall using your own images.

I'm not going to tell you what color and size frames to use or how you should arrange them.  I want to talk about what you will put inside them. 

I love the idea of using your own photos because it is personal and an easy conversation starter. It's also relatively inexpensive when considering the alternative fee of paying for the rights to someone else's image.   I use Costco for printing my photos and an 11" x 14" only costs $3.12.   Furthermore, Hobby Lobby sells a very large selection of frames and mattes and often offers these at 50% off.

You don't have to be a professional to take good pictures.   I am by no means a photographer.   I've never taken a photography class and I have never read the manual of my own camera. I do not own a DSLR camera, either, so I'm working with the basics here.

What I do have access to is Google's free Picasa photo editor. This allows you to easily edit and crop photos to make them more interesting. If I gave you only two tips it would be:

• Turn off your flash! It is unflattering to EVERYTHING. This means you need to have a steady hand and access to good light. So just go outside!
• Frame your shot! Consider the objects in the background / foreground and depending on your subject, get up close, up high, or down low....just make it interesting! You have another shot at making it interesting once you edit your photos, so don't be overly concerned yet.

Here are a few photo grouping ideas I came up with after browsing pictures I've snapped over the past several years:

1.  Bold Colorful Photo Wall.  Do you feel like you want to inject color into an otherwise bland room? Get up close and personal with...a fruit stand...or bouquet of flowers:

Road Trip to Iowa

Where do you find your inspiration? For me, nature is a great place to start.

This past weekend, my family and I took our second annual weekend road trip to Iowa. My husbands step-dad owns land there in South English.  The view above is what you see from the kitchen window of his house.  I so much enjoy taking a walk outside of his home on a crisp morning and taking in the surrounding beauty of the fall landscape.

While driving through Iowa, I loved looking out my car window at the old weathered barns, cattle, and rolling hills of corn: