Estate

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a dream getaway, and today I’m feeling like the french countryside is the vacation destination for me. I would completely disconnect myself from the internet, bring a stack of books for reading marathons, and take daily bike rides down dirt roads. Here’s what else I would do:

1. Get intoxicated on fields of lavender
2. Rent a charming little house with resident farm life
3. Buy a bright-colored scarf for feeling chic on an otherwise uneventful day
4. Spend hours in a local bookstore
5. Write pretty letters to family
6. Have refreshments and good conversation on a long afternoon
7. Rent a vintage Maserati and pretend to be in a James Bond film
8. Invite myself into the neighbors’ incredible garden and make new french friends
9. Wander around cobblestone streets in the nearby town

When you spend a zillion hours a day being a web designer, your eyes start to ache with alarming regularity. My secret tip is that when I’m working late at night on the computer, I’ll invert the colors on my screen. You can’t use it while doing anything color sensitive (the photos will be negatives), but for answering emails and catching up on Facebook status’, it’s amazing.

Control Option Command + 8 = et voila! No more eye strain.

Note: The above shortcut is for Mac users. If you’re on a PC, try this.

Would it be possible to squeeze a secret extra day in between Saturday and Sunday? One that doesn’t require being anywhere or doing anything, and time is actually stopped for the entire day so nobody expects you to call or email. It would be used solely for sleeping in late and reading magazines in between binge viewing entire television seasons. Resident critters would snuggle in too, and food and drink would be magically pre-prepared for consumption. The night would end with a few chapters of a really great book, which would leave you gripped by the story but not entice you to stay up reading more until it’s suddenly 3am. You’d go to sleep early and when waking up fully rested the next morning, there would still be another day ahead of you.

photo via Carrousel

I’m obsessed with these Vintage Seed Packet stamps. They make me want to send a lot of mail and hoard them all at once.

I choose both! Live in the country, vacation in the city.

English Cottage
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