MY FAB FALL TRAVEL LOG

TE and I enjoyed an afternoon walk near the Bay Bridge in San Francisco on a sunny fall day! (above)

In the last month, I have weekend traveled a lot.  I went to Charleston, SC for a wedding, to San Francisco for a football game with TE and met up with my cousin and his wife, to Chicago for a marathon (TE ran the marathon while I watched...don't worry I haven't all of a sudden become a world class athlete too), to High Point, NC for business (showing the COCOCOZY rug collection to buyers and designers) and now I am home here in the Hollywood Hills.

My suitcase has stayed open on my bedroom floor for the last month...clothing, accessories and essentials rotating in and out.

Here are a few pictures from my travels and some chic travel must haves!

A beautiful building on Russian Hill in San Francisco (above)

Coach - Bourough Bag in Black Pebbled Leather - a  chic bag for city hikes!above)

Fall leaves - color! (above)

Coach - Large Clutchable in Oxblood Pebbled Leather -  a cool clutch for day or night! (above)

I walked down these secret stairs in San Francisco's Russian Hill. (above)

View from our hotel room in Chicago before TE ran the marathon a few weeks ago! (above)

Coach - Accordion Zip Wallet - Fit a lipstick and money in this nice size wallet and call it a night! (above)

For the ultimate guide to stress free travel and to see more cute travel accessories, check out the story on Domaine Home!

Domaine Home feature with the ultimate travel guide and must haves. (above)

Planning my next fall trip...maybe New York in November?  Hmmm...could be a nice!

Happy Thursday!

xo
Coco


All travel photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

(Sponsored)

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AN chicago, clutch, fall, fashion, handbag, purse, red leaves, san francisco, travel, wallet

MOROCCAN SHADES OF BLUE - CHEFCHAOUEN!

Photos by Coco of COCOCOZY's sister DS!

Mom and sis DS just got back from Morocco today.  They are now in Paris.  Oh such is the life. Right?

Anyhooo...ever since my older sister DS has been with iPhone (for the last 3 years), she has transformed from a girl who never took one picture in her life into woman who is acting like an amateur photojournalist of sorts.  Her real job has nothing to do with photography...DS is a partner at a law firm...but I've got to give it to Steve Jobs and those peeps at Apple...through the iPhone, they managed to take her from passive observer to active photographer when she is traveling!

Thankfully DS has started to snap photos because even though I haven't taken a real vacation in a few years due to the launching of the COCOCOZY home furnishing collection, I've gotten to see some pretty interesting places through the lens of DS's iPhone!

Just earlier this week, sis DS and Mom were in Chefchaouen or Chaouen Morocco...a city in the northwest of the country that is all awash in blue.  The city was founded as a Moorish fort in the 1400s.  Today its blue walls, buildings and houses make it a mecca for tourists.

Anyhooo...thanks to DS...here are some views of a blue city in Morocco...Chefchaouen!

I love the stonework on the ground in this city square! (above)

What do you think of sis DS's photography and this blue Moroccan city?  Are you traveling any place fantastic this summer?

Happy Friday!

xo
Coco

All photos in this post from my sis DS on iPhone

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AN blue, Moroccan, Morocco, travel

Nbaynadamas DESIGN GUIDE: A WALKING DECOR TOUR OF PARIS (aka AN AUDIO VIDEO POST WITH SOME VERY RANDOM STUFF)!

A flea market on the banks of the Seine, a hotel with crystals embedded into the walls, a sneak peek inside the chic restaurant and store of Ralph Lauren and many many many random things that caught my eye along the streets in Paris.

This is today's DESIGN GUIDE!

Now before you watch, three warnings:
1. Video skills at end of the post leave much to be desired. Some of the videos are so shaky you might get motion sick...and it is hard to hear my voice. I know...same question will come up...why post this then? I know.  May I say amateur?  Amateur might best describe the whole compiliation.  Not an audio/video master piece...but hopefully slightly amusing?!?!@#

2. I am not a decorator or designer, so this is the lay persons design tour of Paris.  Have to reiterate and caveat this point for the design pros who might watch this DESIGN GUIDE and be like "What in the world?...This is all that Nbaynadamas girl found to talk about when she was in Paris...OMG...!"

3. Long...I know this too.  This is a long audio/video post.  Hopefully entertaining...or at least entertaining in a perplexing kind of way like, "Why would anyone do this?" type of way or "Why would this girl put all of these photos and videos together and post on Youtube...and then talk endlessly about them? Interesting...must watch to understand this creature."   I tried to make it short...but I can't seem to be brief. A problem. I know. I got it.  Need to practice not talking, or rambling, or chit chatting or even murmuring for a bit.  Sometimes I can tell my friends on the other end of the telephone line are stupefied by my ability to chit chat...in particular my guy friends who are at the other end of the spectrum of not chatting at all!

Okay.  So........

I hope you enjoy (or at least get through it)!

Happy Tuesday!

xo
Coco


All photos in this post by Coco of Nbaynadamas

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AN decor, design, DESIGN GUIDE, Deux Magots, doors, furniture, garden, Paris, Paris doors, planters, plants, store, the Louvre, travel, vacation

CASTLE TOUR: WORTHY OF ROYALTY ON THE OUTSIDE - BLANK CANVAS ON THE INSIDE!

Images courtesy of Light Locations


Exterior of Wardour Castle in England. Palladian architecture in a English country setting. (above)

I promised a castle last week (somewhere on Facebook or Twitter or someplace)...so I'm delivering a castle...

This is going to sound weird...but I always thought I would live in a castle one day. Low and behold I found one. It is the Wardour Castle is Wiltshire England. Was browsing through locations agency Light Locations site and I saw the word "castle" and stopped. I immediately emailed the company to ask if I could use photos and they said, "YES"!!

A castle...my dream...wow...me in a castle...I can see it. I would happily even wear a crown if I had to...not a problem.

Turns out this castle was actually built in the late 1700's...it is a rebuild of an older castle that had fallen to ruins. Just about two hours outside of London, I think this would be a lovely spot to have. Don't you?

The castle does not belong to royalty..now this once regal neoclassical country home owned by the Lord Arundell of Wardour...is now used for locations for films and photo shoots...hmmmm...

No matter what is used for now...I'm focused. I want a castle. Simple.

Thought this remodeled castle interior could allow all of us to dream about what could be done with this space. Grand rooms, high ceilings, stunning architecture...I can see myself walking down the stairs in a ball gown now...hee hee...

Hope you enjoy!
























I think I love the double staircase the most. What would you do with this space...would you even want to live in a castle?

Have a nice Thursday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Go to the Nbaynadamas FACEBOOK PAGE for a little floral visual trivia - the idea of good friend CB who is vacationing in Michigan right now! Three photos..can you figure out the difference between botanicals and fauxtanicals...figure out which plants/flowers are real and which are fake!

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AN castle, england, historic home, modern remodel, Nbaynadamas, palace, travel

WEEKEND PHOTO: WISHING FOR PARIS!

Photo in this post by Coco of Nbaynadamas

The Arc de Triomphe. A sunset in Paris! (above)

It has been a week here in L.A. One thing after another. So this morning I woke up thinking where would I rather be right now (as the dog is barking at air in the other room...creating the normal morning chaos that he does)...and I thought Paris!

Paris...a city of divine architecture and design...for me, a true escape. I go to Paris every other year usually...this last year I did not...hopefully this summer will bring me there again!

Well I am not in Paris, unfortunately, but I did find a photo I took in Paris a few years back. The photo was taken when I had convinced my friends to jump in a cab with a bottle of champagne to ride down the Champs Elysees and circle the Arc de Triomphe at sunset. I told them the light would be just right to see the beautiful architectural detail on this monument. I was right.

Ahhh...Paris.

Have a great weekend.

xo

Coco

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AN architecture, Nbaynadamas, Paris, travel, WEEKEND PHOTO

VACATION DISPATCH: NANTUCKET BOUND - THE TRUTH WEIGHS HEAVY ON MY MIND!

Photos in this post by Coco of Nbaynadamas

Hydrangea in Nantucket (above)

In the Boston Airport and waiting for my flight to Nantucket. Headed there for a bit of a vacation.

Am watching CNN on a television at the Cape Air gate in the Boston airport (lots of very very very very preppy people surrounding me). CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer is creating hysteria. In this instance, in the same panicked voice that he is talking about Afghanistan, he is reporting on the devastating, shocking attack on...Twitter....yes, Twitter...hmmmm.....?!$%^&*!? The attack it turns out is a "hacker attack" on Twitter...nooone injured...just that the tweeting was stopped for awhile. Ridiculous...really...not a news story...really!

Back to the topic of Nantucket...

All of the photos in this post are from a trip I took to Nantucket two years ago...last time on I was on the island. Love these photos. The island is so beautiful and green. Love the classic purple hyndrangea and the island grey shingle houses. Can't wait to get there this time and take more photos!


Exterior of a classic Nantucket style island wood home with grey shingle siding and white trim. (above)

Anyhoooooooo, am headed to Nantucket to vist FF, CCF and godson CGF. They get a house on Nantucket every summer...leaving the sweltering heat of New Orleans behind. We have quite a schedule this weekend...includes a dinner/dance at a yacht club on Friday night, the Boston Pops concert on Saturday night and on another night a dinner/birthday party for CCF on an antique yacht owned by one of their friends.

I am flying Cape Air to get to the island. Have been several times and each time one of the airline's policies always gets me. When arriving at the ticket counter you are asked for your i.d. ...and you are asked how much you weigh! Here's how it goes usually (as it did today):

Me: "Hi, I would like to check in for the flight to Nantucket"...

Cape Air Rep: "May have your name, i.d. ...and how much do you weigh?"

Me: "How much do I weigh? Today?"

Cape Air Rep: "Yes. Today."

Me: "Well, I only ask about today because I was skinnier earlier this year...and then I stopped working out for a bit and that could have affected my weight a tad...."

Cape Air Rep: "Miss. How much do you weigh?"

Me: "How much....let's see....uhm, err, uh....?"

Cape Air Rep: "Miss...please"

Me: "Well I guess I weigh XXX????" (Notes: 1. I know I fudged a bit on my weight by a few pounds...can't have real weight recorded in Cape Air's records; and, 2. I should have told her I didn't know how much I weigh...which I don't because I have not gotten on a scale in months knowing that the reading would cause great displeasure...but if I said I didn't know how much I weighed (and told the truth...hmmm...truth...), she would have subjected me to further public humiliation by weighing me right there in the terminal!!! No thanks!!!!)

Me: "Yes that's it...I weigh XXX" (I liked the way this new number sounded so I repeated it.)

Cape Air Rep: (looking at me suspiciously)

Well, anyhooo, I made it to the gate, inspite of the "how much do you weigh" conversation...now sitting waiting for my flight and just found I did not make stand by for the earlier flight...so here I sit, waiting to get on a small plane, on the way to Nantucket, with CNN anchors ranting about the hacker "attack" on Twitter. A good day!


Wood bench on a cliff overlooking the water (Atlantic Ocean) in Nantucket. (above)

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AN architecture, exterior design, Nbaynadamas, outdoor living, travel