Laura Griffin Designs

…and I had a wonderful, restorative weekend. I’ll post pics & more about the retreat soon.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share a lovely picture of dogwood flowers that my mom took during a recent trip to Alabama.

How ’bout one of these?

Or one of these? [...]

Last weekend, I took a long awaited trip to see my best friend Ruth who now lives in the Orlando area. It has been several years since I’ve had a chance to see her & her family and we had a blast hanging out at Animal Kingdom & Blizzard Beach.

We braved the Everest roller coaster… [...]

Just thought I’d share a sneak peek card-of-the-week with you. You can click on the above image to be taken to the full card along with its supply list & instructions. I just love the night owl from Hero Arts. He is so cute!

The final travel card in my Hero Arts series is for Rome.

When I think of Rome, I am reminded of the incredible trip to Italy that my mom & I took together in the fall of 2004.  Not only were we able to see Rome, but we also spent time in Florence, Venice, Sorrento, Capri, & Pompeii.  It was a special adventure for us since my mom’s side of the family is Italian. 

My favorite memory from the trip, hands down, was our first gelato experience.  For those that may not know, gelato is a creamy, Italian version of ice cream that is to die for.  As we were traipsing through a side street of Florence on one of our first afternoons, we decided to pop into a gelato cafe.  When we walked in the door, the person behind the counter asked us to pick out our cones.  My mom pointed at what appeared to be a waffle cone.  Little did she know what she had just ordered.  About 30 seconds later, the man behind the counter handed her this:

No kidding – this gelato cone was as large as her head! *LOL*  I immediately started laughing so hard that I doubled-over to the ground & she lost it as well.  I somehow managed to grab my camera & take a few shots to capture the moment.  Here’s another pic from the side.   I mean really…this is ridiculous!!! 

Needless to say – we couldn’t finish it & our gelato cravings were seriously diminished for the rest of the trip.  

Italy was fabulous, though, and I can’t say enough good things about our tour company, Perillo Tours.  We stayed in beautiful 4 & 5-star hotels like an incredible converted monastery with ancient gothic arched windows.  We started off in Florence visiting some of the wonderful art museums there.  We took a day trip to Venice where we travelled in gondolas under the bridge of sighs, visited the famous Murano Glass Factory, and experienced the wonderful architecture of the city.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots:

Southern Italy is gorgeous…especially along the coast line.  We went through Naples to Sorrento & spent a day on the isle of Capri visiting the famous blue grotto, drinking or first Limoncellos, & having lunch in a small cafe overlooking the ocean.  After Capri, we went to Pompeii where we saw amazing preserved structures still standing from hundreds of years ago.

Then there was Rome.  I remember the Vatican & standing in the Sistine Chapel.  It was recently restored so the colors were all so vivid. Kind of surreal to be somewhere you’ve only seen in books!  There was a trip to the Trevi Fountain…

…and an amazing dinner in a privately-owned castle.  Of course, we also went to visit the Coliseum where gladiators used to battle to the death! 

How strange that in a modern city, there stands so many ancient pieces of architecture, and yet how thrilling that it is all preserved.  I used one of my snapshots of the Coliseum in the Hero Arts card below.  All supplies are HA & the instructions can be found on their website here. Thanks for dropping by!