I've put together a few photos from our Ireland visit. Hope you enjoy!
A collection of photos from our week in Ireland. Locations include Cliffs of Moher, Cliffs of Kilkee, Doonbeg, Loophead Peninsula, and Keating's Bar (nearest bar to New York)
Ireland: Doonbeg Lodge
We touched down at Shannon International airport at roughly 6:30 in the morning. This was a terrific time to start three weeks abroad even if we were a little tired from lack of sleeping on the flight. Once we collected our luggage, cleared through customs and collected our rental car, we set out to explore the West coast of Ireland... at 7:30 AM.
Living on the East coast of the US, not far from NYC, my husband and I are use to our world waking early. This is not the case in Ireland. Not only could we not find a restaurant open for breakfast, it was as if we were the only people out and about on the roads. This turned out to be a huge benefit as neither of us had driven on the left side of the road before! (Well done, Matthew! I had full faith in your driving skills and I was more than happy to be your co-pilot.)
Another plus to being up before anyone else was gaining free access and parking to the Cliffs of Moher. There wasn't anyone on duty at the parking lot nor at the entrance, so we parked and walked the cliffs, taking in the amazing views, flowers and birds. After roughly an hour and a half, we noticed people began arriving and the shops started opening. We stopped to ask if we should pay and were told "If you get here that early, you deserve free entry" It was a great start to our Ireland visit!
Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
The majority of our stay in Ireland was at a Trump property: Doonbeg Lodge. The property is a 5-star links golf resort located on the Atlantic Ocean. Side note... neither my husband nor I play golf, but we are very drawn to life on the water. Though we didn't use the golf course, we've heard it's quite lovely.
The resort has a main building, a cluster of suites across the courtyard, and several cottages located seven minutes away by foot. Our suite, #15, is located in the main building and from the master bathroom, you can see and hear the waves crashing on the coast. Perfect. Suite #15 includes two bedrooms, a main sitting room, a full kitchen and 2.5 bathrooms. The building itself was built in 2004, but has the look and feel of an antique estate by the sea.
The hallways are wide and outfitted with either dark-stained wide wooden planks or warmly aged stone flooring. Throughout the main building are collections of frames and touches of home with wooden tables, wool runners, collection cases & glass jars and other accessories. While I saw the 5-star appointments all around, I felt as though I was in someone's home, not just some industrialized business. Perhaps the reason for this was the staff working at Doonbeg. My husband and I have been fortunate to have stayed at a few luxury hotels, but the employees at Trump International, Ireland are the most genuinely warm and hard working people we've ever met. From the front desk to the wait-staff, the concierge to the management, everyone we spoke with is as kind as the day is long... and the days are very, very long in Ireland in the summer. Sunset is at 10:30 in July!
With flights from JFK to Shannon International taking only 6+ hours, I see returning to Doonbeg in our near future!
Welcome to the New Easton Place Design Studio!
Welcome to the new Easton Place Design Studio!
The *NEW* face of Easton Place!
A lot has changed over the last few months in this sweet little design studio. For starters, the logo, site and overall look & feel are all new! And for those of you who are familiar with my websites, you'll notice there are no longer stamps, cards, gifts or "fine paper lovelies" being sold. <Gasp!>
On one hand I want to tell you every last detail leading up to this change. On the other hand, I will spare you the time it would take to read about it and simply state: I was ready for a change. Change is good, in this case. These changes will afford me more time and freedom for creativity. And perhaps one of the biggest benefits I'll receive from this change is the luxury of traveling without the worry of missing a shipment or the timing of an order to a client.
One of my favorite sayings is "A change is as good as a rest". I had several weeks of rest this summer while I traveled Europe with my husband. Upon returning, I started making the changes I'd been considering over the past six months. Now I'm ready to move ahead with my new business model, fully recharged and newly inspired!
So you now know I've decided to stop selling physical goods, but never fear. There will still be plenty of designing going on in the studio! You might have noticed a new tagline up top which reads "branding | design | lifestyle". Over the past two years I've been fortunate to work with several small businesses and bloggers. I've designed their logos, web elements, product packaging, sell sheets, business cards, print ads, web ads, letterhead, postcards, custom illustrations.... the list goes on from there. These are the areas of design & branding I will be focusing on in the new studio. So if you or someone you know needs help with their business, blog, or online presence, I'd love to help.
The "Lifestyle" part of Easton Place is really about the personal side of my world. I look forward to sharing my take on home, travel, photography, cooking ... the extra details that make life just a little sweeter.
I'd love to get some feedback from you! Let me know, in the comments below, what you think of my new site! And please be sure to sign up for my newsletter. For now I write about 10 mailings per year, so there's no worries I'll be filling up your inbox.
As always, thank you for reading and following along. Maybe we can collaborate on something soon!
xoxo -Patti
Doors of Europe
I don't know when my interest in doors began. It feels like it was always there. I started a Pinterest board devoted to doors quite a while ago, but I think my attraction to doors was well established before Pinterest was born.
This summer while traveling in Europe I couldn't help but snap several photos of doors. From the size, to the hardware and the shape, one cannot escape these impressive portals and their grand accessories! Enjoy...
