Summertime Cocktail

Summertime, and the livin is easy…

It’s got to be 5 o’clock somewhere in the world, time for a Friday summertime cocktail to celebrate the summer & the weekend! Here’s the perfect drink to clink with friends.

We tend to be more cocktail/mixed drink folks than we are beer or wine folks, although, we can hang with either crowd, and do so regularly.

However, our favorite cocktail, is a riff on the traditional Bermudan National Cocktail – the Dark & Stormy.

The traditional Bermudian recipe, from Goslings Rum and is considered their “Signature Drink”.

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My Ottoman Empire

Yesterday, it rained, and rained and rained.

It was predicted, but who wants rain on a weekend? Not me.

The pedicure,  or look ma, no more claws!

The pedicure, or look ma, no more fugly toes!

I only left the house for my regular tithing to the beauty gods for a mani and pedi at a new salon up the street.

The old paws were looking like Howard Hughes crazy man claws and it WAS definitely time.

In between rounds of rain, it was overcast and threatened to rain some more.

The Grrr Girls and I were stuck in the house the whole day, and I knew the three of us would have cabin fever come the morning.

This morning, I awoke to clear skies, light breezes AND the new ottomans on the deck.

New ottomans - Doesn't this look comfy?

Doesn’t this look comfy?

I feared I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise to you to share what they looked like because of yesterday’s all day rain-fest.

However, as the meteorologists predicted, the day dawned with a few clouds, but the sun was out, and out it remained.

The high for today: 80 degrees, and it was lovely.

Two uninterrupted hours to myself

My breakfast was eaten right here…

new ottomans - My perch this morning

My perch this morning

I also caught up reading a weeks worth of the blogs I follow – so much happened in the last week!

new ottomans - Come sit beside me

Come sit beside me

And the Grrr Girls rounced and pounced in the backyard, working off some of yesterday’s cabin fever.

New ottomans - Sit a spell, we'll have morning coffee or an evening beverage

Sit a spell, we’ll have morning coffee or an evening beverage

And, yeah, I know, I need a more stylish end table.

Regardless, it was the perfect start to a lovely and relaxing day.

Hope your Sunday started as nicely as mine, I’m looking to many more mornings on the deck.

Ottomans, Monograms & Blooms

A Friday Round Up

Happy Friday everyone!

I’m excited for the weekend to arrive.  

This post is about a few things: stuff about to arrive, and stuff that arrived.

Impending Ottoman Arrival

Breaking news — The new ottomans that match the deck chairs have arrived in store, and once this post is done, I’m off to acquire them. YAY!

New ottomans for the deck

New ottomans for the deck

I’ll add them to the deck, style it and photograph for sharing on Monday.

It’s safe to assume that they’ll look better assembled, than my photoshopping implies – wink wink.

One step closer to a fully styled deck.

Our First Domestic Tattoo Monograms are Here

In the original post about our married monogram, I’d forgotten that I did have pre-married monogram from a long time ago.

My Pre-married Monogram Cocktail Napkin

My Pre-married Monogram Cocktail Napkin, circa 1997

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where my next design inspiration is stolen coming from.

The backyard deck is really starting to come together as an actual outdoor room.

Our deck, mostly finished

Our deck, mostly finished, circa Summer 2013


Last year, after it was installed and painted, I didn’t know what to do with myself on the deck, besides have meals.

So that’s all we did.

I had a nice loooong winter to think about how I’d really like to use our new space, and what it would take to get us from just a dining area to a more usable space.

The long winter of 2014, or my deck dining room waiting for spring

The long winter of 2014, or my deck dining room waiting for spring

And after much pondering and thinking and Pinteresting, we concluded there wasn’t really any place to hang out, have iced Arnie Palmers and relax.

To remedy that, we splurged on two all-weather wicker chairs with Sunbrella cushions.

The second Allen & Roth wicker chair

New Patio Chairs!

They were a big hit at the mother’s day party I hosted for Tim’s family…

but once everyone left, and we put the furniture back into every day mode, it seemed to be missing something.

I have all the elements needed for a well-functioning deck: a great grill for burning, err cooking, a comfortable dining table & chair set, and a hangout spot with oversized wicker chairs.

But its still bor-ing. [continue reading…]

Easy Key Lime Pie Recipe

Key Lime Tree

Key Lime Tree

I grew up in Florida where key lime pie was as ubiquitous as alligators, palm trees and sunshine.

Any restaurant, worth their salt, had a ‘house made’ key lime pie as standard dessert.

It was not uncommon for folks to have multiple citrus trees in their yards to supply the cooking and baking needs of their family.

Can you imagine having your own stash of oranges, tangerines, grapefruits and limes?

The only trick was waiting for the crop to fruit. [continue reading…]

In other words — Should I cut my hair?

Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell in Hook

Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell in Hook

Hair is a powerful thing.

Pretty hair can make a plain woman not plain.

Take a pretty woman, and give her pretty hair and it can make her look WOW…

Conversely, not pretty hair can can make a pretty woman look not so hot.

Remember what Julia Roberts looked like playing Tinkerbell in Hook with that dreadful pixie cut?
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