No, you didn’t read it wrong. I put "melancholic" and "holiday" in the same title. Let me tell you why: Here in our neck of the woods, beachgoers suffered a significant beach withdrawal, which seemed to have no end during the pandemic; and those who had always just taken it for granted started regretting not having taken advantage of ocean life more often. So when they magnanimously freed us, we and our pets flocked to the beaches, which smacked of a cautionary tale for a new variant... so as a mostly responsible, post-pandemic being, I decided to continue not to partake in the beach festivities—until one day we decided to take a day trip to a beach 2 hours away from home to satisfy our desire to splash about in the warm ocean water. It happened to be a very quiet, secluded beach... and as we reached our destination, we realized it had gone from a very sunny, blue-skied day to drab and overcast.

Long story short, it didn’t rain that day but it remained moody.

We took a stroll down the quietest stretch of beach I’ve been to in years; the air was chilly and it felt incredible. We ended up staying the night at a petit hotel owned by a French man who exalts privacy and peace to the point of not welcoming children... while admitting pets. That day is fixed in my mind as a beautiful memory of a short-lived, moody holiday.

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In a week where it feels like the weather has risen to merciless degrees, I find myself drawn to the soothing and cooling darkness of these interiors; and as contradictory as this might sound, I happen to think natural light is everything – but at the same time I also prioritize dark and moody ambiences in my home, because at this point in time everything feels like a smack of sensory overload and my mind feels more at easy in the moodiness of a darker room. I do feel strongly about the images shared here... and perhaps you do too.

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Keeping with the color theme of late … remember when I wrote about timeless-affable beige and explained how I love it paired with earthy colors and raw textures? Well, let me tell you that while I do love the combination—and I mostly think they go perfectly well together because I love nature and all it has to offer—beige with touches of black might just be my favorite combination for now (right this very second). I know I've already told you about how lovely beige is — but really, isn't it so elegant-yet-not-stuffy coupled with with a hint of black? I think so.

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