Back to the Beach

It's only been a week, but the zen-like days of sunshine seem like a long time ago.  Mr. Pressed Pants and I took a much deserved beach break and scooted down to Seaside, Florida for a week.  And it was PERFECT!

If you're not familiar with Seaside, click here and read about it.  For me, it's Fantasy Island, Nirvana, Disneyland, and Heaven all in one.  I. Just. Love. Seaside.  It's a planned community that celebrates the simple, good life.  It mimics a small town where you can walk to do everything and pass your friends along the way. 

 

The town is located on one side of 30A along the Gulf Coast. Then the beaches are across the street with nine pavilions that lead down to the pure white sugar-like sand.  Each pavilion is different and this was "ours".    

 

Doesn't this just beg you to hurry down and put your toes in the sand? 

It says "Hurry"!

Here's my own personal Cabana-Man!

 

Don't you just love what children leave behind? 

We had night after night..........

of perfect sunsets...........

 

and even one beautiful rainbow.

We had delicious beach food at Bud and Ally's which is always our first stop when we arrive.

And a lobster roll of your dreams at the Shrimp Shack.

And who wouldn't want to have Thanksgiving at Stinky's?

And then when we wanted to step things up a bit, we went to Alys Beach and ate at Caliza.  I did a post on Alys Beach the last time we were there.  See it here.  It's a stunning place and we loved it, but this time, Seaside was just what the doctor ordered.

 

(from Seaside.com)

The architecture is so special.  If you ever watched the move "The Truman Show", you'll know why they filmed it here.  It is so fresh and beautiful.  Lots of widow's walks, clapboard, and many, many porches.

 

(from Seaside.com)

There is a uniformity, but each house is different and has lots of unique characteristics, and lovely names 

I love this hot pink one!

And these brightly colored ones.

 

This is my favorite. 

 

 Look at the shape of those pillars. 

 

 See the three windows in the middle of the first floor?  They are concave!  Yep!  Just like a curved bay window, but backwards.  It made the porch so much bigger and prettier. And guess what?  All of the porch furniture was round, too.  Soooo cool.

I also drooled over this lattice on the side.  It's a good thing no one was at this cottage the week we were there, because I sort of stalked it.

 

And here's the charming little guest house that we rented.  It is called Moonlight Hug.  Don't you just love that?  Perfect for the two of us.

 

Every cottage is required to have a white picket fence around it, and each fence must be different from any other fence on that street.  That makes for some creative designs.  And any plantings must be indigenous to the area.

 

This photo makes me feel so good that I have made it my screen saver for my phone.  It gives me an immediate Calgon moment!

 

Linking To:

 

Oh! The Places I've Been

at

The Tablescaper

Turquoise and White Summer Dinner Party

First, I found these beauties!

Then I found these to go with them.

I already had these.....

And these.....

And these!

And a dinner party was born.

Place mats are from Homegoods, dinner plates and salad plates from Z Galleries, and soup tureen from Target.

Here's the way the table came together.  We were expecting six, but ended up with a cozy four. 

I wanted to keep the turquoise and white and coral thing going, so the center of the table was a very simple gathering of a large piece of white coral surrounded by white shells.  Then I threw in a few pieces of turquoise sea glass to give a tiny bit of color.

Couldn't be easier.

I put these large extra-white roses in some clear turquoise glasses from Martha Stewart.  There was an arrangement at each end of the table.

Here's the bread and butter plate I used.  It says "Made in Italy" and the mark reads "Andrea Galvani, Pordemone" and has "Carbone" in script.  I have about 6 complete place settings, lots of serving pieces, and an espresso set.  I bought it years ago at a consignment shop in Shaker Heights, Ohio that benefited the American Red Cross. These butter shapes are made in a Wilton candy mold from Micheal's.

I put a Greek Gazpacho in these.  It was a new recipe that I had never tried and it was yummy.  Perfect for our hot summer night.

We aren't martini drinkers and not many of our friends are, either, but I totally had to buy these at Tuesday Morning.  They are deeply etched in such a cool beach theme.  I immediately envisioned a crab salad in them, but because I was serving seafood for the main course, I used them for dessert.  I just grilled a slice of pineapple, and put a scoop of Hagen-Daz pineapple-coconut ice cream on top and sprinkled a bit of toasted coconut over all.  I diced the pineapple to fit the shape of this glass, but I usually just put the ring on a plate and top with the ice cream.  Listen..........this is great........this is easy..........people love it!!!!  Why bake a cake? 

 

The flatware is my off-white French knock-off.  It looks great and was a fraction of the cost of the set that I thought I had to have.

Salt and pepper in a shell with horn spoons.

I took most of these photos the night before the dinner.  The lighting was not great and these turquoise pieces seem to be sort of fighting, but truly, it was a beautifully harmonious table.

This rattan runner and sea-themed stuff has been on the dining table for a couple of weeks.  I moved it to the sideboard for the meal.

Just a Pottery Barn bowl with sand and shells and a little sea glass.

These Pottery Barn hurricanes have the same treatment.

The small chest in the dining room has a clear turquoise bottle filled with a few simple snips from the yard.  It has a very narrow neck, so only a very few pieces of greenery will work.

I set up some glasses in the bar with these Caspari cocktail napkins.

And here's the coffee service with a shell-handled spoon for the sugar.

We had this appetizer out in the garden after we all got drinks.  Do you remember fixing this all of the time in the late '70's?  It's a veggie pizza on crescent rolls with a ranch dressing mixed with mayo and cream cheese.  Then any veggies (I used broccoli, zucchini, summer squash, green onions, and grated carrots.  Then top with shredded cheddar.  It is so refreshing and tasty, especially for summer.  I garnished it with basil leaves and garlic chive blossoms.

Here's a close-up.  Does it make your mouth water?  I took the left-overs to a picnic the next night and they were licked clean.

I was wishing that my blogger friend, Alycia Nichols from Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One could join me that night.  I really must find a way to meet her for a "for-real" hug.  Do you think that it was Alycia-worthy?

Menu:

Veggie Pizza

(served in the garden)

Greek Summer Gazpacho

(Southern My Way by Gena Knox)

Beach Street Cajun Shrimp

(Susan Branch's The Summer Book)

served over

Orzo Salad With Corn

(Stonewall Kitchen's Harvest)

Pineapple/Coconut Sundaes

*Sorry...no pics of most of the meal.  I just can't talk and serve and photograph at the same time, it seems!

I'll be posting at:

Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

French Country Home for Feathered Nest Friday

http://frenchcountryhome.blogspot.com/

Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday

At The Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday

http://www.atthepicketfence.com/

Stuff and Nonsense for Fridays Unfond

http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/