The 4th of July

Galvanized Metal Party & Ice Bucket

Globe Paper Laterns

Glass Display Hurricanes

Agua Fresca Jug with Ladle

Hammock & Marine Flags

Mojito Bar Tools

Stained Glass Sea-Life Napkin Rings

Baja Recycled Glass Goblets

Mezze Chip & Dip & Triple Condiment Set

Glass Drink Dispenser

Bristol Lantern

Casa Recycled Glass Pitcher

Marine Flags

Talavera Dishes...so beautiful

This Coke cooler is so adorable...brings back a lot of childhood memories.

Mezze Appetizer Plates

Beautiful table setting ~ Pottery Barn

The Forth of July is my favorite summer holiday...love to create a new table setting each year, try new recipes along with those traditional ones. I found some beautiful and fun pieces at Pottery Barn that would make for a great backyard BBQ with family and friends. It's inevitable that it will be hot here, so to serve a variety of cool tropical drinks with fresh fruit is going to be on my list this year. Just light the sparklers, sit back, relax, take a lot of pictures, create new memories and remember the old, and have a wonderful holiday!

photos edited with Picnik

Most pictures were found on Bing

Summer has arrived….and it arrived in all its glory here in Florida, temperatures in the upper 90’s, we all still want to be able to go into our backyards and enjoy the sunny days and breezy evenings. My entire backyard is covered in Saltillo (Mexican tile), except for about an 8’ perimeter around the whole back yard, which houses a variety of palms, plumeria, heliconia, large bamboo, and other tropical plants and flowers. And in one end we have a 10 person in the ground spa; it’s large enough that we use it as a wading pool or just float on a nice comfy raft. Though the tile is made of natural clay from the desert, it doesn’t get that hot, even in Florida temperatures. But nonetheless, it still get’s warm back there during the summer months, so any feature that we can put back there for shade and aesthetic value is welcoming. You can look at any design magazine from the desert southwest, Southern California and of course here in Florida and they will feature some beautiful cabanas and patio umbrellas, which seem to be growing in popularity, probably due to the fact, there are so many different colors and styles to match anyone’s taste. My favorite cabanas are the black and white stripes, they just epitomize the “Old Hollywood Glam Era”, and the black/white combination invokes a cooling effect. I’ve added pictures of some I thought were very pretty. And…the fourth of July is just around the corner, what a better time, if you already don’t have them, to get some for your backyard parties. It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy the summer and keep as cool as possible!

Tropical Nights...

For those warm summer nights, when the pool, tiki and landscaping lights come on, the sun has just set, and you want to just sit back and relax by the quiet of the evening…what better way than to make yourself a beautiful tropical refreshing drink, whether it has alcohol in it or not, to me, besides the tropical flavor of the fruit juices or whatever you chose, the garnish just makes the drink, which can include the glass rimmers. We’ve all seen or purchased them one time or another. I’ve added a few pictures of some tropical drinks, which I just love. And for those rimmers, they are better if you make them yourself. A few that my family and I like are so simple to make and you can keep them in nice glass container and they will stay fresh for some time in the refrigerator.

Coconut Rimmer - roasted lightly coconut from the bag in the oven until golden brown. Allow to cool, place in food processor until finely ground, place in bowl and mix equal parts granulated sugar. This is great as a rimmer or lay gently on top of a Pina Colada.

Mojito Rimmer – place the green peel of 3 limes in food processor until blended to a finely course texture. Place either in the microwave to dry out, not burn. Or allow to dry naturally. Mix thoroughly with sugar to the taste you prefer.

Fruit Rimmer – select any of your favorite dried fruit, mix until finely course texture in food processor, remove as much moisture as possible, but not completely, mix thoroughly with sugar to your taste. This is great on any type of tropical drink. Again, it can be gently placed on top of the drink itself, if desired.
Sit back, relax, look at the stars and enjoy the evening!!!

Let it rain....please

For 25 years, I've been growing Plumeria/Frangipani, but this past winter here in Florida was very damaging to all these beautiful trees. After several weeks of freezing weather it delayed the early spring growth of leafs and flowers. Many of us, who grown them in our yards thought we may have lost them. But, through much trimming and taking special care, I did not lose any trees. I am so grateful! Though my tallest and oldest tree, was almost 25 feet tall and 10 feet wide, is now around 6 feet tall, but it made it. This just shows the strenght of these beautiful trees. I currently have around 35 variety of Plumeria throughout my yard. The new starts are coming out all over the trees instead of top, it is just amazing how the leafs are popping out everywhere. We hope this means a season of numerous beautiful flowers. Today, a friend of mine brought me a Plumeria cutting from his recent trip to Hawaii, the flowers will be a deep tropical red. I was so happy that I came right home and planted it. A few years ago on a trip my family and I took to Hawaii, my daughter climbed a few huge Plumeria trees, and cut some starts for me, but it was such a long time before arriving back home, spending another week in Los Angeles, they didn't survive...so this one he brought me today, is very special. It brings back so many wonderful memories of our Hawaiian vacation. Now, we just need rain...it's been a couple of weeks.

Some of my Summer Essentials...needed here in the Sunshine State...

"THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING IS FINISHED. YET THAT WILL BE THE BEGINNING." LOUIS L'AMOUR