the door is open!

Happy Friday, guys! Joe and I are road-tripping to Sedona, Arizona for a friend's wedding and while there, we'll be staying at a place we booked via Airbnb.

Airbnb is all about Mi Casa es Su Casa so I thought that today was perfect for sharing some fun news from the Muñoz family. If you caught this post from our wedding/holiday in Colombia then you might remember that my parents were planning on opening up our family country home, aka finca, as a bed & breakfast for travelers. Well, the day has come and their door is open - they're now official Airbnb hosts!

If Colombia and the coffee region have ever been on your hitlist, do consider staying with my folks. My mom is crazy for hospitality (her breakfasts have gotten rave reviews!) and my dad loves nothing more than to share his beloved Colombia with people. Seriously, he kept a stack of Colombia related books on the coffee table that he would open up to show to everyone who came by our house.

Now he and my mama are back in Colombia and they can share the real thing from Finca La Hamaca ( the 'hammock country house'). All of the info is on their Airbnb page where they also list some recommended sights to see and things to do. In addition to a hearty breakfast, the price per night includes transportation and guided day trips by my dad - a huge plus in the coffee region where things are spread out and most locals don't speak English.

I could talk the finca up for days but I'll stop myself now in case you do find yourself there. I wouldn't want to spoil all of the surprises ;)

Happy Travels!

bienvenidos

Welcome to our finca, my family's country home in Pereira, Colombia! Before I get to sharing wedding photos I wanted to show you why we chose to get married there. It's not just because it was free or because we had our pick at fresh fruit and eggs all day and everyday, but because it is beautiful and tranquil beyond belief. And...it's our casa.

This is where we spent a good part of our trip prepping for the wedding, relaxing, eating and simply enjoying each other's company. My parents have been painstakingly renovating and decorating it for the past ten years and though they still have big plans for it, it's already perfect in my eyes. It's nature all over...the flowers, plants, fruit trees, free range chickens, ducks, dogs, neighboring farm animals and our reliable entertainment, tropical birds. Bird watching alone made me forget all about internet access and what happened on The Walking Dead that week. Joe had his fair share of hamaca (hammock) naps and I just loved being around my mom and dad, seeing what they were up to, enjoying the proximity for impromptu hugs and kisses to/from them.

The finca has all of the collected touches that my parents taught me to appreciate. They made every effort to bring antique and country-style finds that they had bought while living in LA for the one day that they moved back to Colombia and could really make the finca the home they always wanted it to be. So much has been made by hand, too, with materials found around the property and a little ingenuity. My mom and dad are so creative that I can't wait to see what the place looks like in a few years. But of course, we won't be waiting that long to go back. Joe was scheming up ways to work there as the innkeeper and maintenance help just so that we could stay! You neevvveerrr know.

If you're planning on visiting Colombia (which you totally should if it's not already on your 'places to go' list) my parents will soon be posting the finca on Airbnb and offering guided day trips around the Coffee Triangle. They are the most amazing people that I know so yes, staying with them comes highly recommended, bias or not :)

weekend, we

Hi everyone. Wow - I'm still pinching myself in disbelief over everything we did and saw over the weekend. There's so much to share that I needed to split today's post in to three!

The last two photos? Yeah we did a lot of that. Our bed & breakfast for the weekend, Hotel Endsleigh in Tavistock, Devon, was extremely conducive to relaxing and we took full advantage of it. The decor was perfectly elegant yet comfortable and cozy, the staff gave just the right amount of friendliness and space, and the library was packed full of books from Dickinson to Polish Folk Art.  The day-long log fires and afternoon teas made unwinding in the common rooms that much more pleasant and though there were other guests sharing the house, we hardly ever noticed them.

This was our first stay in the English countryside and I don't think that we can ever go anywhere else! We happened upon Endsleigh after inquiring with dozens of b&bs' closer to London but since we were booking just a few weeks out, no one had vacancy. We expanded our search and by that point we wanted to do the countryside so bad (and do it well) that we said "to hell with it, let's splurge!". Hotel Endsleigh was heaven in so many ways - just wait until you see the full views. It's no wonder that the Duke of Bedford decided to build his home on that spot in the early 1800's. It was the prettiest location then and it definitely lives up to its reputation today. What a dream.