photography | So Pretty is as Pretty Does.

May 3

Souvenirs from Costa Rica

Our first wedding anniversary is this weekend. We aren’t traveling anywhere tropical this year, so I thought I’d revisit our honeymoon in Costa Rica with a few photographs. Some silly, some breathtaking – not only do these bring back fantastic memories, they offer great design inspiration.

{loved this restaurant in Tamarindo. I doubt I’ll live in a tropical area, but I can imagine having something similar at a lake house}

Style Goes on Forever.

Like gorgeous spring days, it feels like you can never appreciate good neighbors enough. We had wonderful neighbors during the first two years in our first home. A friendly older couple and with around 170 years of living between them, it’s no surprise that both Mr. and Mrs. M led extraordinary lives. Mr. M was a WWII Prisoner of War and was one of thousands in the Bataan Death March. Mrs. M was a photographer and artist who added color to black and white pictures before cameras had that ability.

In the past 12 months, both Mr. and Mrs. M passed away. We’ve missed having them next door – I learned something new every time we talked. Their daughter came by yesterday to tend to estate matters and asked if I’d like anything to remember them by. Even with Mrs. M gone, I’m still learning more about her – she had great style.

Favorite flowers

Ahh, flowers – one of the many awesome things of spring. High impact, they instantly make a room or a yard look better and more finished. Here are a some of the best around my yard and in my house.

{cut zinnias and carnations}

DIY photography wall

I was looking for some art work to put on the long wall in my guest bedroom, but everything I found was either too expensive or felt too impersonal. Then, I remembered that my husband took this great panoramic picture of where we got engaged and I thought it would be perfect for the space.

{the original picture}

The first thing I did was go to Ikea for the frames. If you’re creating a photo wall and have control over how big the prints are going to be, I strongly recommend getting your frames before printing – it’ll save you money and time. I got four 12″x18″ frames and I chose a very clean design because I didn’t want anything to take away from the individual pictures connecting to one another. Then, I edited the photo to make it all one hue and took it to Kinko’s where I had it printed on four sheets. This whole project took a couple hours and $80.