In this post, how I styled our summer deck, fun summer outdoor decor from Target, and the natural beauty of the country of Croatia.
It’s finally summer and now that we’re back in the Bay Area I am loving the blue skies and warm days. (Sorry San Diego, I still love you but enough of the overcast days already!) There’s nothing like a warm summer evening here in the east bay. That’s got me thinking about ways to update our outdoor spaces. In an earlier post I shared how I updated our small backyard patio and deck. It’s still a work in progress but we are loving the space so far. We also have two other private outdoor spaces – a large upstairs deck area in the front of our home and a small balcony upstairs outside our primary suite. Since we have downsized from a very large backyard I hope to maximize the smaller outdoor living areas we have now.
Our front balcony deck looks out on a pretty green space in the middle of our neighborhood. We will use it a lot during the warmer months.
It’s actually a pretty decent sized space but not quite big enough for a dining table or an outdoor couch. We found a great two-person seating set at Costco. As I mentioned in an earlier post about our back patio refresh, we have purchased all of our patio furniture in the last few years from Costco because the quality is great and they carry products with Sunbrella fabrics. By the way, love, love these chairs! They are soooo comfortable! The ottomans will also be great for extra seating if there are more than just the two of us hanging out there.
As for the accessories, luckily the Memorial Day sales were in full-swing and I was able to get some good deals at Target. I got a great deal on this 5’x7’ rug from their store brand Threshold. I don’t buy expensive outdoor rugs because they need replacing every few years anyway. It anchors the space and complements the furniture. The diamond pattern and fringe give it a boho vibe.
The lantern is also by Threshold and comes with an attached battery-operated candle inside. I bought the large size because they didn’t have the smaller one in stock and I’m glad I did because the larger one is perfect on the table.
The small faux succulent was another online sale item. Live potted plants are tricky when you aren’t always around to care for them and these look very realistic. You may notice that the large live (dead?) potted plants are looking a little crispy. The battery in our drip system timer died while we were in San Diego and the poor plants dried out. We’re hoping to nurse them back to life. Fingers crossed. The adorable starfish pillows were a recent find at HomeGoods. I bought them thinking they would look good at our beach place but they’re so cute I’m letting them hang out on the deck for the summer.
The last thing I found were these adorable lantern string lights. I bought 4 sets to string around inside the railing of our deck. They look like paper but are actually nylon so they should last for a while. I put them on a timer so they turn on and off automatically. They add a little pop of color to an otherwise neutral space.
I’m really loving how this outdoor space is coming together! Apparently so is Belle!
A few other finds from Target…
Cruising the Adriatic – Part 2 (Why I Love Croatia)
Photo: UNESCO
In a recent post Cruising the Adriatic Sea – Part 1, I shared our adventures in Greece on our first-ever cruise. While we saw some spectacular sights, including the Parthenon and Olympus, nothing could have prepared us for the stunning natural beauty of Croatia. A part of our decision to try cruising (we traveled with Viking) was so that we could get a sense of different European countries and maybe find some places we’d like to revisit later on. While this kind of travel doesn’t appeal to everyone, we liked being able to unpack once and focus on the destinations and leave the details to Viking.
We stopped in two ports in Croatia, Dubrovnik and Zadar. Both places were equally beautiful in different ways. In Dubrovnik we took a short bus ride from the port to visit the Old City of Dubrovnik. We spent a whole day exploring the Old City of Dubrovnik and can’t wait to go back. There’s a reason it’s called “The Pearl of the Adriatic”.
We did a walking tour of the city with a guide at the beginning of the day but then spent the rest of the day exploring on our own. Now we pause for another four sentence history lesson – any longer and I’m sure most of you who made it this far would stop reading;-) Dubrovnik was founded in the 7th century as a refuge from the advancing barbarians, hence the city being surrounded by tall walls. The city was a maritime power, thriving throughout the middle ages as a major continental trade hub, rivaling cities like Venice, Genoa and Pisa. It was heavily damaged in a major earthquake in 1667 with only the Rector’s palace and The Sponza surviving, and was later rebuilt in the current Baroque style that survives today. Despite not having a military presence, in the 1990’s it suffered heavy shelling from the Serbian military during the breakup of Yugoslavia, which cost $10M to rebuild.
Are you still here? Great – now for the fun stuff. The absolute best thing we did during our visit was walk the entire perimeter of the city on the top of the Old City walls. It requires purchasing a ticket and takes about two hours, depending on how long you stop at one of the bars along the way – yes, you heard right there’s beer up there! I think my husband thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Here are some of the pics we snapped on our trip around. It’s the best way to see the city from above and the views of the surrounding water are spectacular.
Our ship made a second stop in Croatia at the port of Zadar. While we could have taken a tour of the city, we opted to travel outside the city to tour a rescue sanctuary for raptors and other birds of prey. The presentation was very interesting and it was fun to hear some of the same information that I used to teach my students in science when we studied owls. We were able to see several of the birds up close and personal. The caretaker was funny, warm and passionate about conservation.
The latter part of the day we traveled to Krka National Park for a walking tour of the falls. We had no idea how gorgeous this place was going to be. The tour takes you over the Krka River via an elevated wooden plank walkway over the water. You become immersed in the wildlife and it’s just amazing. There are over 800 identified species of plant life, plus so many fish, frogs, insects, birds and other creatures. The waters are crystal clear. Toward the end of the tour, the walkway takes you past the famous Krka waterfalls called the Roski Slap, a series of 12 waterfalls. Apparently swimming used to be allowed in the area of the falls but not anymore to protect the habitat. We left that day with a much greater appreciation for the natural beauty of Croatia and we agreed that we would definitely like to come back again.
Well thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are having a nice start to your summer. If you missed my last post Beachy Home Decor Shops & Beautiful Beach Homes (try saying that fast 3 times!) you can find it here. Have a great week!
