My loves, did you have a nice weekend? I certainly did and one of the highlights was looking through thousands of pictures from the past two years as K and I make our Blurb books to commemorate 2009 and 2010 (we’re just a wee bit behind on this annual tradition, a tradition that could make a very sweet Valentine’s Day gift I might add!). I thought I might share some of the highlights as we find them. Won’t you join me for a little stroll down memory lane? Very well then…

These pictures are from just over a year ago. It was December 2009 and we had just returned from a whirlwind two-month trip to Europe to make it back to the States in time to join my darling niece for her very first trip to Disney World. There was a jaunt to New York and to Savannah, as well as a Thanksgiving dinner, in between… We then headed on a road trip across the South from Georgia to Texas to see my sweet niece perform in her first ever ballet recital. Before the major heart swelling, we stumbled upon this fabulous plantation in Louisiana with a magnificent lane of oak stress, perfect for skipping.

You can take a tour of Oak Alley Plantation and even stay overnight in guest cottages (which we did!). In the morning, you can get your share of grits and warm southern hospitality.

We were completely enamored by the 300-year-old towering oak trees and the storybook greenery. Can’t you just imagine climbing these giant trees as a child?

Oak Alley is the “Grande Dame of the Great River Road,” which is the plantation-speckled road along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It was my first visit to a plantation and it certainly had me pondering what life would be like with my own giant veranda overlooking majestic oak trees, sweet tea in hand. Daydreaming of things never before pondered is probably my favorite side effect of travel. Yours too?

Thank you for letting me share them here with you xx!

[Photos by kellygolightly]