little hotels are great aren’t they… I’ve still got lots of stuff to share from our trips last year so I’ll continue to sprinkle those in throughout 2010. There was just too much good stuff from each place to post all at once and still appropriately highlight the stores, hotels, food, people, etc. I try to mix it up and I try to mix it up to not talk about Dallas or my latest trip all the time…All that said, this is a fun little boutique hotel we ran across in Vancouver, Moda. We didn’t stay there, just popped our heads in but it’s super cute and would love to put this on the list as a place to try if we every make it back. Loved the logo, the decor and the overall feel of the hotel. Oh, and great wallpaper! (which I have a current obsession with that I still haven’t gotten out of my system)

Happy Friday all!

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don’t let the name fool you… because if you like roughin’ it, this ain’t for you my friend. I mentioned that we spent our wedding night at Rough Creek Lodge and that I would follow up with additional info — there’s so much more to tell. Rough Creek is lux, rustic lodge  about a two hour drive of hill country scenery from Dallas near Glen Rose.

Read more for photos and the full scoop on this amazingly luxurious and convenient little getaway.

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now that’s a quilt… When we were in San Antonio for the holidays we did a little exploring and I have some great things to share. I’m excited to introduce you today to artpace. The installation above is a mega quilt by artist Adrian Esparza that spans 84 feet… it was huge, magnificent and impactful. I’m all for art that is huge and repetitive…just something about it’s presence.

Artpace was founded by artist, collector, and businesswoman Linda Pace, (yes, like as in Pace Picante!) to serve as a laboratory of dreams, providing artists from all over the world with an environment that would encourage experimentation and growth. And that is exactly what it is. It reminds me of SITE Santa Fe in that it’s very unconventional and you will never know what is next. In my opinion, one of the things that pushes both SITE and artpace is the focus on local. The program at artpace brings in three artists (one from Texas, one from elsewhere in the US, and one international artist) three times a year to live in residency (at the artpace studios) for two months and just play. The result is an eight week, stellar exhibition that has been a launching pad for HUGE names in art such as Teresita Fernández (she also has a piece in the new art collection of Cowboys Stadium). View her artpace install here from 1999.

Explore and enjoy this experimental haven.

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oh how I love sleep… I’m in NY and wanted to share pics of my hotel. NIGHT. It’s sort of goth-like which sounds bizarre, and kind of is really, but if you don’t mind lack of color (and we all know I don’t) then it’s very cool. I love all of the texture in the interior and the clever uses of materials to break up the monotony. There’s nothing boring about the salt and pepper/good and evil/ebony and ivory color palette. When I was reading reviews online someone said “It’s a nice hotel but it’s dark” uh, hello…the name of the hotel is NIGHT? It’s a boutique so it’s small…kind of reminds me of my hotel in Belgium, except well, instead of all white…all black!

Check out pics and more details about the hotel…

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