Hello and happy Sunday to you. I first want to announce the winner of the porcelain giveaway! Congratulations goes to-

Please email [email protected] with your full name and shipping address so your prize can be on it’s way.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend wherever you may be. Ours has been off to a great start, we went to dinner on a friends beautiful boat, and today stopping by to a bridal shower then maybe an early family dinner and some boating if it doesn’t rain. Summer weekends are flying by! Anyway, on we go to this weekends post…..

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1 A NEW (AND CHEAPER WAY TO BOOK HOTELS) Was told about this site by someone who travels a lot. And sure enough, when I went to book a trip we are planning early fall,  the prices were less than any I could get elsewhere. I even tried it for the Montage Palmetto Bluff and it saved almost $1400 so yes, this is a site we all need to know about! It is called Club 1 Hotels and it is the hot topic in the travel world. In case you don’t know about it, thought you might want to! Click here to find out more.

2 NEW HYDRANGEA GARDEN MELAMINE PAGODAS Oh my word, I am so smitten over these. Think these beauties might be my favorite yet plus we are introducing our newest, the mini! We will hold a tabletop sale in the next week on these and so much more so stay tuned! Cannot wait to set a table with them:)

These are exclusively ours and we have a copyright registration which we are getting on all of our exclusive products due to recent issues with “copycats” (infuriating to say the least) especially because we have to get lawyers involved, definitely the downside:(

3 INSTAGRAMS OF INTEREST What a beautiful roundup this weekend! Hope you enjoy it…..

4 BY POPULAR DEMAND Many of you saw both my chopped salad and orzo Greek salad and several have asked for the recipes. So here they are!

Chopped salad

2-3 cartons of small egg tomatoes or 2-3 heirloom tomatoes

2 English cucumbers OR 8 Persian cucumbers

1/2 a small red onion

Lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint ( fresh mint is highly recommended vs dried)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Chop the vegetables very small along with fresh mint. Add salt and pepper to taste, then lemon juice and olive oil. Goes with literally everything!

Greek Orzo

One box orzo

One carton of nice quality feta cheese

1 jar roasted peppers

1 large cucumber

4-6 sundried tomatoes

1 can black Kalamata pitted olives

Basil and mint ( a small cluster of each chopped)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Fresh lemon

Cook orzo until al dente in a pot of boiling salted water. In the meantime, chop small the  cucumber, roasted peppers,olives,  feta cheese sun dried peppers and onion. Drain orzo and let cool down, then gently stir in above ingredient. Chop herbs finely and fold in. Then add your seasoning to your liking. This can be refrigerated and does very well even overnight. If refrigerating over night, I will generally add some fresh lemon and olive oil right before serving. This too, pairs so well with so many things, great dish with a BBQ!

5 A FEW INTERESTING MOVIES/DOCUMENTARIES The first is not a documentary but fascinating nonetheless. I have been a longtime fan of Jane Gooding and to see Barbie Jane become a reality is a major victory for all little girls out there who until now were exposed to a superficial standard of Barbie and too many Kardashians to count:) Love that a Barbie has been created in honor of the amazing and elegant Jane Gooding!

I am excited to see this about The Inn at Little Washington, its a beautiful and elegant place and its renowned restaurant is getting it’s deserved attention via this series!

Love any docs about wine or food, this was a good one!

And I love any doc about ballet or ballerinas and their grueling schedules….this was the third time I have seen this but fabulous!

6 HYDRANGEA HEAVEN This is the height of the hydrangea season and I am lucky enough to have many hydrangea bushes which produce more flowers than I can cut ( or would want to cut)! They make the most spectacular arrangements and literally look great in any vessel!

7 SUNDAY’S SURVEY On the subject of travel, when you travel do you typically book through an agent or do this on your own? I would be so curious to know how you approach booking travel (not weekend trips) but bigger trips both in the U.S. and abroad. There are so many new sites popping up like the hotel site mentioned above, I would love to know…..

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And that’s a wrap, hope you enjoyed this Sunday post. Anything get your attention? Enjoyed putting the post together as I always do, hope this is a relaxing way for you to start your day. It is for me, and once our planned activities are done today, I will be ready  to call it a day, and early!

I need a nice chill night to relax and decompress a little before the busy week ahead begins. Thank you for stopping in, wishing everyone a fabulous day and end to your weekend. Until next time…..