You, Me, and the Sea

It's a bit crazy how quickly life sucks you right back into its nonstop whirlwind after a nice, relaxing vacation. I finally found some time this past weekend to sort through all our photos (selfies galore), and they totally reminded me how vital it is to come up for air once in a while.

I had a wonderful time with Chris on this trip. It was great to unplug, spend quality time with each other, and focus on making memories. We ate sooooo much, I was such a happy camper. To balance it all out, we did a whole bunch of sightseeing, and, of course, a ton of yoga! As promised, here are some of my favorite moments from our trip :)

First stop, Venice! Our first visit to Italy was rather chilly, so it was awesome to get a second peek at this special city. Although Venice can get pretty touristy in the warmer months, it was still as gorgeous as ever.

I’d heard about a bookstore named Libreria Acqua Alta that keeps its books stacked in boats and bathtubs in order to protect them from the periodic flooding that is common to the city. As book lovers, it was a no-brainer- we had to go check it out. We spent the day walking around the maze that is Venice looking for this store, and got insanely lost for hours. I was ready to give up, but Chris was hell-bent on finding this place.

When we finally got there, I was so glad we followed through. We climbed staircases made out of old encyclopedias, and wandered through room after room, filled with dizzying towers of books. Boats and tubs were piled to the ceiling with books from all over the world, spilling over onto the floor. It was magical. Something about the musty smell of old books just makes me so very happy.

We visited the opera house to watch La Bohème, which was a fun experience. We had a great view from our private balcony room, and were happy to find that there were digital subtitles displayed above the stage throughout the show. This really helped us understand and appreciate the opera on a whole new level!

The next day, we took a water taxi to catch our ship! I was sad to say goodbye to beautiful Venice, but so excited to get on board and sail off into the sunset.

We had a private balcony in our room, which was such a treat because it allowed us to see all the ridiculous ocean views when we pulled in and out of port through the islands. It was also a great private space to get some morning yoga in. There I am in Boat pose.. on a boat :)

First port, Kotor, Montenegro! I didn't know much about this country prior to our trip, and we only stayed on land for a few hours. All I can tell you is that it is extremely mountainous and densely packed with a mesmerizing variety of flora and vegetation.

Steps into the sea in Kotor- there were tiny fish swimming around everywhere!

Most of our time aboard the ship was spent poolside on the top deck. We also got a few games of mini golf in! (That was me imitating a putter.. don't ask.)

The best thing we did on the cruise was make new friends! We met people from all over the world, and all walks of life. These new friendships added an additional element of fun to our trip, and I am so glad we are all still keeping in touch :)

One lovely couple, Joe and Megan, had been traveling the world for six months! They are sharing their journey through their fascinating and gorgeous travel blog - Check it out here!

Chris is a pretty big history buff, so he was excited to make the climb up the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. It was a steep, sweltering trek up the mountain, and not so fun in sandals. But my goodness, the view from the mountaintop was definitely worth it. Thankfully, it rained a bit while we were up there, which cooled things down - and lured some adorable turtles to come out and play!

We also strolled through the National Garden in Athens, and found ourselves walking through a purple sea of flower petals. Absolutely amazing.

This guy is my favorite travel buddy. I am really thankful to be with someone who is responsible, but willing to be adventurous, try new things, and photograph all my yogabombs. We make a good team <3

The countryside in Greece is rich in depth and colors. There are trees everywhere you look!

There were citrus trees everywhere! They were so pretty and smelled delicious.

Now i really want a little lemon tree for our home. How fun would that be?

Once we reached Mykonos, we drove up to a ranch for a day of horseback riding. This ranch was filled with the cutest animals! A tiny litter of kittens roamed the grounds, and there were geese, chickens, and turkeys everywhere.This was my first time on a horse, so I was pretty nervous in the beginning. Luckily, our horses, Hector and Spring, were so sweet and well-mannered! I quickly became comfortable and then deeply enamored with them.

We rode down the mountainside to a deserted beach.

Here we are at Fokos Beach!

Hector <3

There is nothing like seeing the world from between the ears of a horse. What a memory. I'll remember that for a long time.

I don’t think there is much need to mention how gorgeous the sea was from every single angle.

Of course, this had to happen - Mermaid pose by the sparkling sea.

To finish our trip, we visited Melissani cave in Kefalonia. It was pretty far from Arogostoli, where our ship ported, but I am so glad we decided to do this.

The top of this spectacular cave dissolved through chemical and physical water erosion decades back, allowing the sun to shine through and light up the shimmering blue underground lake below.

I'd heard about Melissani years ago, and had immediately put it on my bucket list. I never thought that one day I would actually be sitting there with my husband in that very cave, with the sun shining down on us. It was a dream come true, and the perfect way to end this amazing trip.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed my plethora of photos! Now that we are back, I have tons of exciting projects that I have been working on and cannot wait to share with you. More later!

Wonka's Birthday Biscuits

We're back from vacation, and our trip was incredible! I definitely promise to give you guys a lovely recap as soon as I get a chance to sort through all my thoughts and photos.

One of my favorite parts of our cruise experience was making wonderful friends from all over the world. A very popular topic of discussion was how much we all missed our puppies back at home. Everyone was obsessed and going insane over their little ones, and we could not get enough of swapping photos, videos, and anecdotes with each other.

Despite all the fun we were having, you can probably imagine how happy I was to get home to Wonka. A very special THANK YOU goes to our friends and family, who teamed up and took such great care of him while we were away! We arrived home just in time for Wonka's 5th birthday, so I decided to bake him some biscuit treats to celebrate!

I've researched many recipes for dog biscuits and have found that many call for ingredients and additives that may not be the healthiest for our pups. Since we keep Wonka on a pretty strict diet, I adapted a few of the healthier formulas and came up with this simple recipe.

Peanut Butter Banana Crunch Biscuits

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup smooth reduced salt peanut butter
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
1/4 banana, diced

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, and flaxseed meal.

Next, add in your banana, peanut butter, chicken broth, honey, and brown sugar (feel free to omit the sugar if you'd like, but a tiny amount won't do any harm to your pup).

Stir this mixture together until it is evenly combined, and fold into a ball of dough.

On a lightly floured surface, start kneading out the dough until it is soft, then roll or pat out until the dough is spread 1/3" thick all around. With a floured cutter, cut out your biscuits and transfer onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for approximately 10-15 min until golden brown, then let cool to room temp before sharing with your furball. This recipe produces approximately 70 small biscuits. These treats will stay fresh for about a week in an airtight container.

Wonka gobbled his birthday biscuits right up! Honestly, he'd eat anything you give him, but I'd like to think that they were a big hit :)

Ready for Departure

Chris and I are packing our bags and fleeing town this evening! We will be flying off to Venice and spending two days there prior to setting sail for a week around the Greek Isles. This will be my first time on a cruise, and I am beyond excited! Work and life have been pretty much non-stop crazy lately, and I am so thankful for this chance to get away for a little while and catch my breath. I have a feeling this is going to be a very special trip.

In the midst of planning and packing, I decided to make some holders for our passports! I found a great tutorial on Poppytalk, and took things just a step further by stamping some special words on the front. The covers were really fun and a snap to make, so I thought I'd leave you guys with this simple little project.

This was my first experiment with leatherworking, and I learned quite a lot. I visited a bunch of leather stores around the Fashion District, and they all smelled amazing! It was quite an experience to see and feel the difference between all the various animal skins.

Unlike fabric, which is usually sold by the yard, leather is generally priced by piece. Since my project required very little leather, I chose a lovely gray goatskin that would work well with other future projects. Maybe we can make some boots for Wonka? :)

I printed and cut the pattern for my cover (You can find the template that I used here). After examining and selecting a section that laid nice and flat, I then carefully traced an outline of the pattern onto the skin. A scratch awl would've been ideal for this job, but an embossing needle worked out just fine.

After tracing out the pattern, I went ahead and started puncturing holes along the dotted border of the template. It was important to be as precise as possible because leather is pretty unforgiving - once you poke a hole, it's there to stay. It helps to have a craft cutting board or even a stack of newspapers underneath as you work. This allows you to pierce deeper into the leather without damaging your work surface.

This is the part where I sliced my finger open, bled over all my work, and had to start over. PLEASE be careful as you cut!! Different sections of a pelt can vary in thickness and softness, so cut slowly and keep your hands steady so you don't end up wearing a Mickey Mouse midi ring. A ruler is also helpful for guiding your lines and creating a clean cut.

Time to sew! I used a heavy-duty poly thread that I had laying around, but waxed linen thread would give these stitches a nice, bold look. This template calls for aproximately 45" of thread for each side of the cover, and 20" for the card divider line.

Saddle stitching is a common technique used in leatherworking, and I picked it up pretty quickly from this very short and straightforward video tutorial. The key to neat saddle stitching is to keep pulling both ends taught, so that the lengths are equal on both sides, in order to set each stich before moving on to the next hole. I used this technique to stitch both sides of the cover, then sewed in the card holder divider.

Now the cover is complete, and it's time to find a new adventure :) See you guys later!