Bonjour -!- We’re home from the Côte d’Azur and this is just a quick note to tell you that we had a wonderful trip! I know, I know … I never make ABCD Design blog entries on a Saturday but alas … I have a few good reasons:

1) I am completely jet-lagged. By 5am on a Saturday I finished my morning espresso. ‘Nuff said.

2) While I was away I realized how much I L O V E writing the ABCD Design blog -!- I truly missed the interaction and sharing all the things that inspire me. Now that it’s in the past I wonder if I should bother with a recap or just move on to what’s moving me now?

There was so much to do/eat/experience/see/relax/enjoy on our trip that sitting on the computer when the sun was hanging high in the sky seemed like crazy-talk. After all, this blog is all about beautiful things and living a well-lived life.

For years Mr. D has been a slave to his blackberry. Working for a London based firm caused him to wake-up, roll over and check/respond to inquiries and e-mails starting at 2am. Can you imagine? Together we ditched the internet for ten days. I suggest you try it on your next vacation – it’s so refreshing! We were able to enjoy our life with 100% uninterrupted time together. We did not even have that opportunity on our honeymoon (at that point he was working hard to make partner) – so this “job free thing” was a bit of a blessing – go figure?!? The day that Le Tour De France started we climbed the mountain (in the background of the photo below) for a fabulous view of the City and an awesome glimpse of the riders as they sped by.

3) While we were away I did have spotty internet access on my blackberry. As for Twitter – I did not discover the UberTwitter application until the last day we were there. (FYI: I have not quite grasped it yet!) Needless to say it is really difficult to “be interactive” “Re-Tweet” and “follow back” while frolicking on the beach and being totally “present.” During our trip I mostly twittered status reports and called it a day. Twitter did however come in handy at the presentation of the teams…

Mr. D and I sat in the stands waiting to see Astana (our favorite team) to be announced. We were eager to see how the French reacted to Lance Armstrong joining the race after a four year “retirement.” So you know, he fetched the loudest cheers. The French LOVE him for what he has done for the race. Astana was the second to last team to be announced. I was getting antsy. I tweeted at Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) ”We’re here to cheer for you! When is Astana coming out?” He wrote back ~no kidding!

The fact remains that I really missed interacting with my Twitter “friends” while we were away. It is such a optimistic place. I love the feedback, compliments and friendly interaction/inspiration that becomes a sounding board for me each and every day. Not to mention, you can make fabulous connections with people like Ronda Carman from All The Best Blog. Ever since I pulled my head out of the sand and realized there was a design blog world out there on the internet – Ronda’s ‘All The Best’ has been one which I aspire to emulate. She touches on food, fashion, interior design, travel and tastemakers = all of my favorite things! Which brings me to share some très merveilleuse nouvelle!

To my complete and utter delight Ronda Carman from All The Best Blog welcomed me home from vacation with the most wonderful two-part profile feature of ABCD on her blog. The first part was posted yesterday and the second is expected on Monday … please do check it out.

Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / ABCD Design Inspiration and I love this and Sealed with a Kiss and Thank You For The Mention and Travel and Uncategorized and What's on? and YAY