leave a message, i've gone to my happy place

when stuff is getting to me, i like to take a little trip to my happy place.  it only takes a minute to get there.  sometimes the destination changes... for instance, sometimes it's here:

meditation pond in the chinese garden of friendship, sydney, australia

then again, it can also be right here... talk about bliss!

rixos beach cabana, aegean coast, turkey

but nowadays, when i need to remember a quiet, tranquil spot, i can go right here:

and here...

and... yep, right here, too:

my new happy place is mohonk mountain, where ben and i spent a brief but totally relaxing honeymoon after the wedding.  the place is amazing.  we were absolutely thrilled to check into our room and find such quaint, cozy accommodations:

ben's fire

there were spots all over the place that were perfect for sitting and taking it all in, enjoying the quiet and beautiful scenery with a cup of coffee in hand.

ben and i ventured into the gardens after taking a tour of the place.  they have a horticultural staff who creates a theme for the gardens every year-- and they're all 'no biggie' about the whole thing.  this year's theme was blue.

ben and i in the blue garden

the lone muslim contemplates life & marriage

no matter where we stood on the property, we had an incredible view.

we even spent some time getting lost in the maze.  yeah, they have a maze.  ain't no thang!

this is the back entrance to the 'house'-- formerly the main entrance, where horse drawn carriages would pull up to drop off guests.  pretty much.

the food?  incredible.  it's all-inclusive, so we ate 3 gourmet meals a day at our leisure. i think my favorite was the breakfast (scrambled eggs with gouda?  yes, please).  but then, again, i also ate the most amazing pumpkin spice cake (pumpkin mousse on top of the most deliciously moise spice cake?  must. find. recipe.) ben might have a harder time narrowing it down...

luckily, after eating all those meals, there were plenty of options for burning it off.  the place was filled with activities of all sorts, from hiking trails to horseback riding to canoeing to mountain biking to skating in the giant ice rink.  we hiked up the mountain for a view from above.

and i found myself feeling as though i may have been transported to ireland...

...while ben thought he may have become superman

trying to fly away

ben forced me to get over my fear and sit on the bench (this little 'summer house' was built right over a ledge, and i wasn't convinced of it's sturdiness).

nervous smile for the camera

and obviously, every happy place should have a bottle of chilled champagne waiting for you at the end of the day.  and ours most certainly did.

honeymoon bubbly