Bali, part 2

Only 6 weeks late, the finale to the Bali trip. So where did I leave off in the last post? Oh yes, I had throughoutly recounted our first day and impressions. After that first day, we were feeling a bit run down so we decided to scale back the pace quite a lot.

We ate more unusual fruit.

We relaxed poolside (not pictured.) I got a lot of incredibly cheap massages. (also not pictured)

We went to a 'cultural park' that had new statues and traditional dancers.



We visited more temples.


We encountered wildlife.





We had a beachside dinner at sunset



We rode on top of an elephant




Before I got there, I was really excited about the shopping but try as I might, I couldn't find much worth dragging home. Im told the furniture deals are amazing but I didn't find anything worth shipping home. And no matter how many stores I looked in, I didn't find anything I just had to have. So I purchased almost nothing.

And then we were back in the air waving goodbye.


Overall, it was really an interesting experience. There are a lot of beauty and culture in Bali that you will not find elsewhere. My expectations were very high so I admit it fell short just a tad - but that is why traveling is so important. Visiting is appreciating both good and bad.

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Giving thanks...

Apologies for the lack of posts this week. I won't bore with my mundane reasons of why I've been unimaginative but rather wish you and yours a most fabulous Thursday. Whether you are sitting down for a turkey feast or just making your way through your normal routine.


Christmas Eve 2006, Saks Fifth Avenue Light Show, NYC

I've had much to be thankful for this year. One of those things is you - a huge source of motivation and inspiration day after day. So if you are a blogger who continues to inspire or a regular reader who motivates me with your kind words of encouragement or just a silent reader who stops by on occasion to take a peak into my weird little life, I want to thank you.

Style and Skill Design Crush: Man Shops Globe

Who else is watching my new favorite show, Man Shops Globe? For those that haven't heard of it, its all about Keith Johnson - home buyer extraordinaire for Anthropologie. Each episode features a new exotic locale where he hunts for a few pieces for display or sale in the stores.



Based on the fact that I drool all over the home section in both the Anthropologie stores and online, Keith and that entire team is clearly doing something very right. Who hasn't wondered where they find some of their most fabulous stuff?

That said, Keith is easy to love to hate. He has great taste but can't quite articulate the process by which he finds his inspiration. Ok, I'll give him that as it seems an impossible skill to explain. He has a design team back home that will revamp pretty much anything he finds to perfection but by that time he is already on to bigger and better things. The most frustrating part is that Keith lives a life that seems impossibly glamorous but is completely unphased by it all. Sure, he has been everywhere and done everything but can't he feign a wee bit of excitement occasionally? Maybe he is just tense around the cameras and that will wear off over time? Or maybe he is medicated? In other words, Im green with envy. I want to be him.

On the likeable side, Keith admits to having the best job in the world and I agree. That said, its probably pretty stressful to HAVE to find something amazing on each trip. I know I have a hard enough time finding a fun souvenir in my travels no less something that would please a finicky design team and shoppers across the US.

Should you be polishing your resume in the hopes of taking Keith's spot, think again. Keith's long time partner just happens to be the CEO of the company that owns Anthropologie. Or at least that's what the internet tells me (and I believe everything I read). I'm not sure if that would make his job more or less stressful.

So are you watching? What do you think?

Thanksgiving Freebie: Menus Download

Judging how seriously we take Halloween, you might think a major fete was about to go down come Thanksgiving. Well, you'd be wrong. Next Thursday will be a very quiet meal at home with just a few family members. (Finding a small turkey can sometimes be a challenge.) Thanksgiving was never a major holiday for me growing up so its not much different now. Its really just a day to enjoy the real start to the holiday season by watching the parade on television.



But I know many of you are having much more gala affairs so I thought I'd whip up a little something for your holiday table. A simple blank menu download in two festive shades: traditional autumn orange and more funky purple.

{ Download my Thanksgiving menu here. }

Hope all of your holidays are joyful! I'm thankful for having the day off to work on my Christmas cards and other little projects. What are you thankful for this year?

Holler!

I feel a little behind lately - not only with blog posts (I have a few goodies planned for you including a thanksgiving menu download and a holiday giveaway!) but with everything. Where does the time go? How can thanksgiving possibly be next week? So much to do! But I'm not going to ruin my holiday spirit. This is my new motto:

Aside from not letting my to-do list get in the way of the holiday joy, I'm also not going to let it stand in the way of good manners. So I didn't want to go too long before thanking 4 lovely bloggers who featured A Brooklyn Limestone in one of their posts. As if I didn't already get a warm and fuzzy when I know someone reads my ramblings! When someone feels strong enough to share it with their readers, its even more humbling. Thanks ladies.

I'm a long time reader of jeremy & kathleen. They are fun (and stylish!) neighbors that I wish I had. I even love their cheerful banner! Thanks for featuring my Coney Island photos.

Their subtitle really does sum it up. Simple, natural and cozy is what Vermont Cottage is all about.

I discovered TEOT for the first time via flickr. They discovered me by way of Apartment Therapy. Full of inspiration and I'm honored they picked my house as part of it.

As you know, My Sparrow is one of my sponsors but she is also the writer of another great inspiration blog, greige. Check them both out.

Speaking of sponsors, would you like to advertise here?.

postscript: If you featured me or A Brooklyn Limestone and I didn't mention you - please let me know. Sometimes I miss them.

Sweet Cookie Exchange Invites

Before we get back to Bali, I thought it was time to interject a little bit of holiday spirit here. I know, I know, its not even Thanksgiving yet but I swear these are time appropriate.

My friend holds a cookie exchange party every year so I offered to help with the invitations. You know how I love to make things a little bit fancy, right? But with homemade cookies being the basic gist, I didn't want to make it too refined. It had to have some homemade charm.

So instead of your regular flat invitation in an envelope, these come with a little gift to the invitees: A small cookie spatula!

I only own a silicone spatula but these have a little beveled edge that really help "lift" the cookie from the sheet quite nicely.

The invitation itself is 3 tags. You see the first one. The second has the details about where the party is and when to rsvp, etc. And the third tag has the cookie exchange rules.


To mail, I wrapped the whole thing up in brown paper. I would have loved to add some pretty string but I don't think the post office would have been cool with that.

So why am I sharing this with you? Well, aside from liking them - I know some of you host your own holiday parties and this was a very simple idea to borrow should you want to gussy up your own versions. I promise you, these didn't take very long to make. You could easily use hand written tags if you want to make it even easier. These spatulas were purchased for $1 each but if you could swap them with a wooden spoon or whisk or cookie cutter. All in plentiful supply at your dollar store. Wouldn't finding this in your mailbox put you in the holiday spirit?

For the record, I can't bake a cookie to save my life. I'm not being modest - I honestly can't seem to accomplish a decent chocolate chip cookie. I can make bread and cakes and other dishes that seem far more complicated - why does the cookie allude me? So Ive been furiously trying out a few different cookie recipes in search of "the one". I think I've found it. Its the one in the backgroung below.

Tasty and I hope it’s a fun twist on a holiday idea. Don't expect Martha Stewart here - I know my limits. So I'm going to keep practicing and work on a pretty package. Don't you find things taste better if they are presented nicely? That's my philosophy on life I suppose. I'll share the final product and recipe if you are interested.

Am I the only one singing Christmas carols in my head?

Beautiful Bali

I've been back almost a month so its high time I shared some photos from Bali!

Overall it’s a very fascinating place. Bali was likely the most hyped destination for me because so many people had told me it was their absolute favorite place in the world. That alone set the bar really high but then the research beforehand really got my expecatations in overdrive. The reality was a bit different than the picture I had painted in my mind - in both good and bad ways. And since experiencing a different reality is the whole point of traveling - it was a great trip. In terms of scenery, culture and feel, it’s a hard place to describe. There is a lot of contrast here. Imagine alluring sun, sand and sky dotted by stunning ancient temples everywhere you turn. And then along side all of that add great mounds of garbage, dogs running wild, an army of motorbikes whizzing by and roosters crowing all hours of the day. My photos don't really capture the true Bali but I'll do my best to describe it. Judge for yourself.

After a few days in Hong Kong, it was back to the airport for a 4 hour flight to Bali.


Coming from a few days in hot and humid Hong Kong, I didn't expect to be quite so overwhelmed with the heat. Its hot! Really hot. And humid.

We stayed in the Tanjung Benoa region. The resort was gorgeous but we didn't spend that much time there. Bali is pretty spread out and you spend a lot of time in the car going from place to place. (Unless you chill at the beach all day which, if you've seen my photo, you know I could never do. Think bacon on a frying pan.)



Our first full day there, we let our tour guide set the itinerary. He took us North. I wouldn't have minded a little more explanation of where we were going or why - but the car was cool and we were on vacation. We just let him take us wherever he thought would be interesting.

First stop was the Taman Ayun Royal Temple




More driving and we stopped on the side of the road to see a sweeping view of rice fields. Its easy to forget just how much work goes into every single grain of rice we eat.


Another temple awaited us next - this one was the Ulun Danu Bratan.


More driving followed until our guide pulled over to the side of the road and told us we were going to see a waterfall. Well, that sounded pretty good. Where was it? As he lead us to a parting it the trees, I glimpsed this.

Oh. (While I realize 500 meters isn't that far really - I was tired and grumpy and hot and getting rained on and slipping on moss. Trust me on this, it felt like we were walking back home.)


Nothing like a surprise stroll in the vegetation on slippery rocks, in treadless flipflops to wake us up! It was worth the risk to life and limb but word to the wise: wear sneakers.

Before we called it a day, we made a couple if stops on the way back for fruit. The fruit here is a bit different than what I can buy at home so I was very interested in all the exotic varieties.

The most unusual is probably the Durian. World renowned for its bad smell. So we pulled over at one of the many roadside stands selling them and had a taste test.


They were really heavy and those little points are pretty sharp. It doesn't smell as bad as I expected although I'm told it gets a lot worse with time. The taste is really creamy - not especially sweet but not offensive either. Kind of like garlic mashed potatoes. Definitely an acquired taste.

I think that’s enough to swallow for one post. I'll post more about our trip later. (continued here)

Like my photos? You can buy select prints starting at just $6! Click here to browse.