Thank you ... Merci!

These are the goods I picked up when we hit Paris on our trip and made our way to a concept shop called Merci.  I had read about it on other blogs and knew I wanted to make a stop there at some point during our travels.  I am such a sucker for packaging and I love the wording on the bags.  It reminds me of Lululemon and their inspirational quotes on bags.  I picked up a sweet little scarf to remind me of our trip.  And the girls and I picked up simple journals to fill with things we picked up on our trip.  The little red thread and Merci charm has yet to have  purpose but really ... does it need one?

This is the courtyard out front.  I was a little disappointed the car wasn't all jacked up with a display like the ones I have seen before (see below).  The little library behind Scott in the picture is a charming lunch spot.

These pictures provided the inspiration I needed to put this shop on my to-go list.  I first saw a look into Merci through decor8 here.  And found other stories from Les Carnets du Design and Ella Georgia.

The linen pillows, duvet covers, napkins and aprons are that rough, rustic linen that I love.   If I could have,  I definitely would have brought a bunch home but we travelled with carry on bags.  Pretty good for a bunch of girls don't you think ? Scott doesn't know how lucky he is...we could have travelled like the car bottom right.

Barcelona Inspiration

I mentioned in my last post that in celebration of our 20th wedding anniversary, my husband and I took Helana and Ali on a trip.  I hinted that one of our destinations was Paris (where we started our honeymoon) but to start our short jaunt abroad we landed in Barcelona for a few days.  I should be showing you all the beautiful Gaudi architectural sites but instead I thought I would start with design inspiration from a lovely little restaurant called Luzia.

We found this lovely spot by catching sight of the adorable to-go window, as we walked along Las Ramblas.

Down the side street, you enter the restaurant - we could tell by the kitchen this place was for us.

I loved the line up of toppings, ready-to-go for their tapas selection.

The space was so dreamy with the lights, benches with pillows, linen and washed wood.

I had to get a shot of the lights.  It was like a beach bag.

The bar table had a selection of treats and a cooler built in - how great would this be for entertaining!

And I love the washed wood.

Don't we look happy.  We finally found a place we could all find something on the menu we liked.  Not easy to do with two picky teenage eaters.

I'll try not to bore you with too many pictures and posts ... I'll try ...