simple christmas touches

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Anamu

A few simple touches of gold and red around our home have really made it feel like Christmas. From framing wrapping paper to making a mock fireplace, I’m quite happy with what I put together with the little that we have and can commit to. I really thought that we’d go without a tree this year since very few natural ones are imported (and are crazy expensive) so I was happy to find a little felt one from MUJI. It may not be big enough to put presents underneath, or give off the lovely smell of pine, but I love it. And best of all, we can flatten it and take it with us wherever we go without taking up much space. Maybe one day we’ll have dedicated garage space for holiday decor but for now, we’ve gotta stick to a large shoe box ;)

How do you decorate for the holidays? Do you deck the halls or just have a few favorite pieces?

con dao vietnam

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Anamu

My my was it tough to pick just a handful of photos for this post! We had the most amazing time at Six Senses in Con Dao. We’re usually the type to check into a hotel and return only after a day of exploring but this time we were total resort dwellers. Between relaxing in our villa, swimming in the warm ocean, and eating yummy local cuisine, there really wasn’t much reason to leave. And to be fair, we were on a small island so the choice was made even easier. We did venture out for a snorkeling trip that was followed by the most incredible fruit picnic on a tiny secluded beach. I kept pinching myself because it all looked like something out of a magazine spread. It was the type of setting that dream holidays are made of.

The resort lived up to its scenery too. Everything was eco-conscious and the staff was beyond friendly and hospitable. Every villa is given a butler so if you need anything you call just one person. Ours was Nghia and I knew we had come to service-heaven when after turn-down on the first night I found a lens cloth cleaner for my glasses and a jar of detergent soap; Nghia had noticed that I was wearing glasses (and that they were dirty) and had caught a comment that Joe and I made about getting a stain on his clothes. How impressive is that? We hardly called on Nghia for things but I can imagine that families really get their monies worth with all of the details that the butlers can take care of for you.

We’re already scheming our return because it truly did feel like a slice of heaven. Everything – the service, the scenery, the vibe – was perfect. Places and experiences like this is why we moved to South East Asia. Thanks for the reminder, Six Senses Con Dao.

words worth repeating / 24

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Anamu

Hi guys, we’re back from Vietnam! What an incredible four days of rest, relaxation and eating well. We both returned with painful sunburns but it’s a small price to pay for a weekend in paradise … consider our honeymoon done and done! I’ve got a ton of work to get back to so a full recap with photos will have to wait until next week. Until then here are some teaser snaps from my phone using vsco cam and instagram. Paradise, right?

for more quotes visit Howdy Day!, a daily dose of inspiration + motivation via your browser’s homepage, email or rss.

happy friday + sicily round up!

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Anamu

Happy Friday, Everyone!

I couldn’t be more excited for the weekend. Getting back in to a normal post-vacation routine is hard! My mind is still on lounging by the pool and seeing pretty new sights everyday like we did in Sicily.

Sicily was incredible. There is so much diversity on the island for things to see and do. We didn’t do any research on it beforehand since we chose our hotel based on the fact that it looked to be in the middle of nowhere. We wanted to have a week of doing nothing but being lazy and not straying too far. Well…that didn’t exactly happen.

It started with the two hour drive to our hotel in Ragusa from the airport in Catania. We were starving so we stopped in Syracuse for lunch and ended up coming across the most amazing swimming platform ever. We still hadn’t eaten lunch and we were anxious to get to the hotel so I made a mental note of the swimming spot and moved on. The deviations from Operation Do Nothing had officially begun.

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holiday, we <3 you

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Anamu

Hello, hello!

Wow, what an incredible whirlwind. We’ve return from our first full European holiday that took us to three cities in Spain and various parts of Sicily, Italy. From the bright blue waters of Syracuse to the Spanish countryside, there is truly a ton of beauty and intrigue out there. I am forever grateful to the following for making our jaunts possible: high speed trains, cheap airfares, my two little feet, and last but not least, my amazing boyfriend who is a master at driving stick.

The photos above are just a snippet of the different adventures we had in Spain (Madrid, Segovia, Toledo) and Sicily (Syracuse, Ragusa, Agrigento). There is much to share so I will post location details with lots more photos throughout the next week or two. If I can’t stay on vacation forever then I can at least give myself the luxury of reflecting on it for a while. I hope you don’t mind.

for photo captions, hover over each image with your mouse or click to view it in flickr.