creations in the sand

August 5, 2016

I love checking out sandcastle contests at this time of year! One of the great things about living on the coast in Connecticut is that it is easy to find one!

Today for Friday field trip, I am sharing a few of my favorite sand creations from a recent contest. It was not easy to edit my photos to post just a few sand sculptures, but it was easy to pick my favorite!

There were plenty of wonderful creations, but the couch design was my personal fave! Isn’t it great?

The best part of this Christmas in July themed creation was probably the music! The creators played the Hawaiian Christmas Song (Mele Kulilkimaka) during the judging! I had the Christmas classic by Bing Crosby stuck in my head for at least a week after the contest!

Namaste!

Some of the animals looked really great…

And, insects as well!

Maybe I have inspired you to play in the sand a little bit this weekend? I hope so! Have a great one!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

surf’s up!

July 15, 2016

I have shared some of my California trip from this past spring in previous Friday field trips. Today, I am sharing the last – but certainly not least – of visited spots during my quick visit to the West Coast.

Today’s Friday field trip is to the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente, California.

Conducting some research on surfing history prior to my trip made the visit particularly interesting. I read the book Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku by David Davis and was fascinated with Hawaiian surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku. To find out that Duke’s boards were part of the center’s collection was exciting!

Duke was the first to be inducted into both the surfing and swimming Halls of Fame and is considered the “father of modern surfing.” Being up close to Duke’s personal collection of surfboards – built in the day of wooden boards – was awesome!

These wooden works of art were magnificent to examine. The Flying “V,” circa early 1920’s, made from a solid redwood plank and signed by the legend was my favorite! It stands 9’ 4” and weighs 76 lbs.

This was one of Duke’s personal surfboards purchased from his estate in 1985 for $3,000. Built in the mid-1930’s, standing 11’ 6” and weighing 80 lbs., it was made from redwood, mahogany and balsa.

Dick Metz, the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center founder, served as our tour guide the day of my visit. A surfer from the age of eight, Dick helped inspire Bruce Brown’s landmark 1964 documentary surfing film The Endless Summer and surfing stories were in no short supply that morning!

If you have any interest in the surfing culture, I strongly recommend the Pulitzer Prize winning book Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan. (I read it on the plane ride home from California!)

Mahalo!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful weekend! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

lunch in laguna

July 8, 2016

Join me for Friday field trip as I take you on a little trip up Cliff Drive to Las Brisas – a restaurant with one of the most scenic views in Laguna Beach, California!

Las Brisas provides wonderful meals inspired by Mexico, and served with California freshness; using local ingredients.

The food is wonderful, but coupled with the view from a window table, the experience can not be beat! Of course, a Mexican inspired meal has to begin with a little fresh guacamole!

Even with a wonderful meal, for me, the focus was on the view! And, after the meal, taking in the view outside the restaurant is definitely in order!

Within a few walking steps, a gazebo with a lookout spot provides a clear view of Bird Rock.

A great spot to enjoy a little daydreaming…

And, to do a little bird watching.

Have a wonderful weekend friends! Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

laguna beach!

June 24, 2016

I recently made my first visit to Laguna Beach! It may have been a brief encounter, but it was a fabulous one! I am sharing a few photos today on Friday field trip.

I was in awe of this iconic beach and I had to be sure and document my visit with a few photos. I hope they inspire you to take a trip to a beach – no matter how brief – on one of these marvelous summer days!

I didn’t do any shopping that afternoon in Laguna, but I did bring back a valuable memento. Holding the papers on my office desk is a smooth, pale gray, heart shaped stone that I have marked very carefully in white permanent marker with the letters L-A-G-U-N-A.

It is a reminder that I will be back someday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful weekend! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

lunch with a view

June 17, 2016

I showed you the fabulous hotel I visited in California recently. But, I didn’t show you the fabulous restaurant I visited IN the fabulous hotel! For today’s Friday field trip, we are visiting Raya!

I almost didn’t make it to Raya (the fabulous restaurant) because I was on a work trip and I didn’t have a speck of free time. But, you know what? When the assignment was completed, I had about an hour to spare while I waited for my transportation to arrive. I decided to use that time to grab a pre-flight snack at the restaurant I had wanted to visit the entire time I was at the hotel!

soup at Raya pleasure in simple things blog

Poblano, garlic, goat cheese, and white soy – the start of my Zucchini Flower Soup served tableside at Raya in the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

I wasn’t even really sure if the food was any good at this restaurant – which I assumed it was based on the rest of my experience at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. But, what I did know about this restaurant was that it had an amazing view! I had walked past it (usually, very much in a hurry) so many times while at the hotel!

I just wanted to sit in Raya at one of the tables with the ocean view! And, that is exactly what I did on my last day at the Ritz, minutes before I was set to leave my new favorite hotel!

You can see more photos of the fabulous Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel by clicking here.

Thanks for stopping by for today’s Friday field trip!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. The food was good and I was also able to share the experience with two great people! Enjoy your weekend!

no comments

creating white sea glass

June 14, 2016

Last week, I showed you how easy it is to create a sea glass look to glass using the new Krylon spray paint. I showed a couple of examples to get you inspired.

I received so many emails asking why I didn’t include the ‘ice’ color in my post, I decided to dedicate today’s post to a demonstration of that particular color!

The ‘ice’ color of the Krylon sea glass spray paint actually happens to be my favorite of all the colors! I guess I should have included it in my post last week, but here goes! As I mentioned last week, it takes mere seconds to complete a spray painting project! Here you can see me spraying a cute little Weck jar.

And here, the beautiful result! Ready to use in minutes!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment

a redo becomes a buffet bar

June 10, 2016

Normally, once I post about a redo on a piece of furniture, I don’t ever show it again. Today I am going against the norm. For Friday field trip, I am giving you a glimpse of a past furniture redo in its new home. It started as a paint project in October 2015, when I transformed an old buffet with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Napoleonic Blue.

(For the full, original post of before and after photos, click here.)

The owner of the buffet recently used it in her coastal home to set up a bar for a brunch with friends and today I am showing you how great the piece looks ‘in action!’

Not only does the bar buffet look wonderful, but the brunch food does as well! Let me share the menu!

Marinated tomato and Burrata salad…

Broccoli and cheddar quiche…

Crème brulee baked French toast…

Chateaubriand roast with basil butter and rosemary…

and, of course, Mimosas!

Nice job styling the bar and creating the food, Ashley! I am so glad the piece has a great home! Thanks for sharing!

I hope I have inspired you to use a piece of your own furniture in a special way! Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

sea glass spray paint

June 7, 2016

We have all made sea glass looking jars from glue, water, and some food coloring – haven’t we? If you haven’t, please don’t even try it! There is a new sea glass spray paint that makes this process so much quicker and so much less of a mess! The effect is created, literally, in seconds -and dries almost as fast. It is possible to transform your entire recycling bin of bottles in mere minutes!

I actually had an empty recycling bin when I decided to demonstrate this new Krylon spray paint, so I made a quick trip to the dollar store. I found some great looking bottles for this exercise and sprayed some to use as table numbers – a fun way to dress up party tables! After spraying, I just added numbers.Of course, there are tons of ways to use the bottles once they are painted! Like…making labels to add to a bottle – easy to do with a home computer!

Because I ended up buying bottles from the dollar store, they are all the same size and shape, but the beauty of using this paint is that you can create a cohesive grouping of bottles by simply painting a variety of shapes and sizes all in the same color.

This Krylon sea glass paint is available in more colors than you probably have sea glass! They include lemon, aqua, ice, cornflower, rose, sea foam, ruby, and amber. Of course, though I didn’t use it for this exercise, ice is probably my favorite! Yes, white is my favorite color in sea glass!

Here is an example of the amber color paint. I used it on a clear glass candlestick. When I put some of my brown sea glass next to the painted candlestick, look how similar they appear!

I hope I have inspired you to create something fun of your own in your favorite sea glass color using Krylon spray paint!

P.S. For an evening party, battery operated lights in bottles are a nice addition. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

visiting dana point

June 3, 2016

This week, on Friday field trip, I am sharing some of my gorgeous hotel views from my short stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point while on the West Coast! I was so very lucky to have the opportunity to stay at this awesome hotel for a work assignment.

Named after ‘east coaster’ Richard Henry Dana, Jr., author of the book Two Years before the Mast, Dana Point was the spot used by film producer Bruce Brown for the 1966 surfing documentary Endless Summer. (Music buffs may recognize the title as the same as the film’s theme song by The Sandals.)

I was up at 5:00 am for workouts during my stay at the Ritz, and local surfers were already dotting the shoreline and providing some great entertainment for those of us interested in being spectators while enjoying an amazing ocean view!

The views also made for wonderful al fresco dining!

The sprawling footprint of the hotel optimizes its expansive ocean views. Believe me, my photos do not do the view justice, but I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel – Southern Orange County at its finest!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

coastal in newport, ri

May 27, 2016

Earlier this week, I shared some of the wedding details from the Newport, RI wedding I recently attended. Today, for Friday field trip, I am sharing some of the coastal décor details from my stay at the Newport Marriott.

The photos above and below are details from the bed headboard.

The painting hanging on the bathroom wall created the feeling of a porthole.