One of the reasons I'm just now getting around to sharing pictures from our Germany/Austria trip with you is that we have had an unusually busy fall. The other (and probably more honest)reason, is that part of me felt like pictures could not do these beautiful places justice.....in particular, I worried my pictures would not do Hallstatt justice. In each of our trips, Connor & I usually come away with one or two spots that hold a special place in our hearts and that we talk about revisiting someday. Hallstatt was that place for us on this trip. There were moments I felt like we were walking through a storybook, it just did not feel real. As such, I've decided to dedicate a post just to Hallstatt, and will be sharing other pictures from our trip in a few weeks.

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We splurged during our stay in Hallstatt to get a place on the water, and I'm so glad we did. Not only was it a beautiful view in the morning, but I was drooling over the design inside our apartment.

We ate our first night's dinner at this little beer garden. After ordering Schnitzel, Connor asked if there were any local brews to which he was told they only had local brews. Of course.

Another peek at where we stayed in Hallstatt. How beautiful is that chandelier?

This picture below looks like a Thomas Kinkade painting to me.

Another shot of the town centerL

Another stop at my favorite market in Indy...

Playing tour guide for one of my dearest friends- Reese loved the extra attention (and extra pair of arms):

Indianapolis in the Fall

A short trip to Chicago with my friend and exploring new sites….such as the stunning Bahai House of Worship

 Lunch at Plein Air Cafe (still dreaming about that vanilla steamed milk)

Finally got to see Harper Memorial Library at University of Chicago, a must see in my book

Connor and I set out to find Indiana's prettiest Fall colors, and I think we found them

Remnants from a fun night with friends (R's painted pumpkin and homemade peppermint marshmallows)

Every year for the past five years , we have done a Fall trip with my cousin and her husband. Not only is it a yearly highlight for us, but it's always exciting to choose a new location to explore together. We've done Seattle and the San Juan Islands, Quebec, northern NY, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and then this past year we decided on Mackinac Island, MI. Mackinac Island is unique in that there are no cars allowed on the island, so the main means of transportation on the island is bikes and horse drawn carriages. Mackinac Island is dotted with beautiful Victorian hotels and B&B's. We opted to not stay on the island so that we could explore other parts of Michigan as well.  I'm so glad we did! We rented a house from AirBnB that was right on Lake Huron, and every night we enjoyed a bonfire by the water with the most magnificent night sky.   

It took some convincing on the guys part, but we toured the island on tandem bikes.  The hilarity that ensued was one of our favorite memories from the weekend. Let's just say that it's way more difficult to balance than it looks, and we only seemed to handle it well at high speeds (it doesn't help that I was thirty weeks pregnant).  There was a very close incident involving a horse.

The Grand Hotel! It had the most beautiful grounds.

Aside from the horses, this little one could not stop talking about the water.

We spent a lot of our evenings behind the house by the bonfire. It was a huge highlight, and Reese loved exploring the woods.

As you might have guessed from my instagram, we spent last week on vacation in Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan.  Sleeping Bear has been high on our list of places to see ever since we moved to Indy.  When planning the trip, I wanted to stay somewhere that felt like a vacation in and of itself….so that when/if Reese was napping or going to bed early we didn't feel like we were stuck whispering in a hotel room.  This spot I found on airbnb was even more perfect than I anticipated.  It was a darling renovated farmhouse off the beaten path filled with lots of charm and the most beautiful Turkish rugs.   This part of Michigan coincidentally reminded us a lot of the area we lived in upstate NY(on Lake Ontario) since Lake Michigan is surrounded by wooded areas and quaint little towns that seem more like villages than beach towns.  We felt right at home to say the least.  

I couldn't get over these gorgeous stairs!

This beautiful pond next to our house had the most beautiful Weeping Willows, very picturesque. 

Reese loved the squeaky screen doors and spent much of her time opening/closing them.

We did the dune hike, spent time on the beach, and had way too much ice cream than is good for any person.  For the record, Moomer's ice cream is the best I've ever had(and that's saying a lot).

 This was honestly the perfect vacation with a toddler- there were fun and beautiful things to do/see, but not so much that we felt like we couldn't get it all in with the needs of a two year old.  We came home a little more relaxed with full hearts from a week spent together.

We got back last night from our weekend in the UP, and I am still amazed at the natural beauty we saw there.  I had heard that Lake Superior's waters were a beautiful turquoise, but I admit I was still surprised by the color.  We rented this little cabin in the woods and enjoyed low key breakfasts on the deck in the morning, and at night we sat around the campfire roasting hotdogs and eating s'mores.  It was the perfect weekend for taking a break from everyday life and enjoying Fall with our best buds.        

One of the things I love about traveling, is the inspiration I take home with me from the things and people I see.  This past trip was no exception.  On our train ride from Oslo to Bergen, I kept seeing these scallop tiled rooftops on beautiful quaint houses.  The picture below is from the view at our B&B in Bergen, and again I couldn't help noticing the beautiful scalloped tile.  I feel pretty confident in saying that my dream house will have a similar rooftop.  And of course, I'm leaving you with some Friday links.....

As one always drawn to clean lines, I have often thought scallops a little too feminine for my taste.  Well, not anymore!  Here are some scalloped things that I'm digging right now......until I can get my scalloped rooftop.

Hey there, I have some more favorites from Norway that I wanted to share with you today.  Before that, though,  I wanted to let you know that I'm being featured on Design Sponge today.  As a long time reader of Design Sponge, I'm just a little excited about that.....just a little.  Ok-back to Norway.  

Bergen was my favorite city that we visited.  I fell in love with the colorful wooden houses, the fish market, and the charming harbor.

Below is a medieval Stave church that we visited, you can see the Viking influence in the architecture.  Everywhere we went in Bergen there were miniature troll figurines, and we later learned that church bells were believed to help ward off any ill-tempered trolls.  So interesting!

Below is my favorite B&B from the trip.  It was so darling, we didn't mind the mini twin beds(my 5'4" self was touching the foot board)!

Oslo's pretty opera house was another highlight-it's made to look like a floating glacier.  We watched the sunset on the lower half and it was a breathtaking view not to mention a wonderful memory.

I was so inspired by this pretty garden- proof that you don't need a lot of space to create an outdoor haven.

I'm going to end it here with the beautiful Pulpit Rock.  It was such an incredible experience to see it in person.