Weekend Moments: Instagram Version

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The beautiful assortment of Sixlets at The Emporium at Thanksgiving Point.
The best sort of package that arrived Saturday morning! Love Franco Sarto!

This amazing, cute guy scaled the face of a mountain because he can.

Miss B had a horrible Saturday afternoon.

Loved Sunday dinner! It was so summery and delicious.
Hope your weekend was fabulous–bring on this week, right? Challenge: do something adventurous!

Destinations: Two-Day Paris Itinerary

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Day One: I have started every trip to Paris the exact same way: at the Louvre. It’s the quintessential Parisian experience and it easily gets you in the mood for all things Paris! A walk through the Tuileries Garden is essential. A public park following the French Revolution, this immaculate promenade is always populated with various birds, squirrels and the obvious tourist. It’s the perfect photo backdrop and it’s so unbelievably peaceful. I highly recommend pulling up a chair next to the centrally located pond and people watch for several minutes! 
Halfway through the gardens, take Allée de Castiglione toward Rue de Rivoli. Resist the dozens of tourist shops filled with “I heart Paris” tees & Chinese-made Eiffel Tower statues and follow Rue de Castiglione to Place Vendôme. I absolutely love this spot. Maybe it has something to do with the Chanel boutique? 
Continue in the same direction along Rue de la Paix until you reach the next big intersection. A quick glance to the right spots the impressive and historic Opera House. Take the tour. Really. Hopefully, there isn’t a rehearsal going in because the theater is obviously the most impressive portion. 
Following the tour, a cab ride up Champs-Élysées is extremely fun. A fun idea? Go around the Arc de Triomphe roundabout before getting dropped off for some fun shopping!
Tip: Find a Lenôtre (there’s one down Avenue Victor Hugo)–you won’t regret it.
Day Two: If it’s your first trip to Paris, this may not be the day you’d pick, but it was highly enjoyable! Paris Disney. Awesome. Best invention. 
We took the RER A directly to the park (Get on the RER A , heading towards Marne-la-Vallée Chessy, and get off at Marne-la-Vallée Chessy) and it was extremely quick! 
After our fun-filled Mickey day, we spent the evening under the Eiffel. After it got dark, we snapped a few photos then made our way (on the Metro) to the Arc de Triomphe. Thanks to the concessions price, we paid only a few euros to take the stairs to the top. The view is well worth the price and you’ll get to see just how expansive the City of Light truly is.

Insta Love – Favorite Photo Fun

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StickyGram has easily been one of our favorite apps/sites lately. Our fridge is covered in our most memorable moments thanks to these 50mm x 50 mm (that’s a little less than 2″ x 2″ for the lovely    Americans) magnets. Each sheet has nine magnets and they all come out perfectly! I’ve ordered three sheets so far and haven’t had a single issue. I love displaying our pictures and this is just another way to remember the year’s greatest events! Each sheet is $14.99, but keep a lookout for deals–I found a great promo code on Fab.com a few weeks ago!

As truly inconvenient as this looks, I really hope this product ends up getting made. It’s so unbelievably beautiful! Can you imagine owning this?! Love. If you’re going to have any instant film camera, this should definitely be in the running. The photo paper apparently will have a self-adhesive strip, so it can be posted anywhere you’d like. Details on Quietlunch.com!

Another instant camera option is this Instax! I LOVE the print size. The best thing I’ve done with these so far is just adding a bit of washi tape across the top as a simple decoration. Another option? Adhering a small magnet to the back of these decorative clothespins. They can then be easily added to the fridge or a magnetic board. Pretty!

Explore: Picnic in the Park

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Map by Anastasiia Kucherenko
One of our absolute favorite activities in London was packing a picnic and riding to Hyde Park for the afternoon. We could easily spend an entire Saturday exploring the expansive park! We generally followed one of three itineraries, which were based on tube stop.
1. High Street Kensington: As you are exiting the tube station, be sure to stop at Ben’s Cookies for quite possibly the most delectable cookie in London. Our favorites? Triple chocolate chunk, milk chocolate chunk, lemon and  peanut butter. We generally buy the tin of 4 or 8 (oops) because we can never pick just one each! 
After exiting the station, turn right and walk along Kensington High Street for a bit and you’ll see the most beautiful Whole Foods in the whole world. It’s three levels of brightly colored, gorgeous eats that will make you want to sample everything! Like most Whole Foods locations, there is a perfect salad bar, a hot food bar, and thousands of other choices. We’d pack our faves (in our Whole Foods reusable bag of course) and walk across the street to the park. Kensington Palace is visible along the way. No biggie though, right?
2. Hyde Park Corner: Hyde Park Corner (bottom yellow arrow) seems like the obvious choice and in a lot of ways, it absolutely is. You may want to grab your food beforehand (if this is your tube stop of choice) because since it’s so close to the park, there’s not many options. A ten-minute walk down Piccadilly finds a Marks & Spencer, Pret a Manger and several other quick options. Hyde Park is extremely convenient for finding a Barclays bike. There is a large row of bikes just outside the station inside the park. It sort of facilitates finding the perfect picnic spot. 
3. Marble Arch: This station (top yellow arrow on map) has so many more options than the other two because of its location. There are fast food options, a larger grocery store (Marks & Spencer) and if you travel up Edgware Road, you can find great Lebanese food shops. The north side of the park is probably my favorite thanks to the Italian Gardens. Definitely have a visit! You won’t be disappointed.
Isn’t London the best?