Peonies on the Terrace

Well, this table came together in a flash.  A quick stop at Trader Joe's and a chat with a friend in the frozen food aisle lead to an impulsive invitation for dinner.  Almost all the food came from those very aisles, and so did the flowers.

Oh!  The flowers!!!!  Aren't they smart to put them right at the front door?  You see these beauties and right away you put some in your cart and begin to make plans for a special night. 

Peonies!!!!  A very special flower in our family!  They are elegant and fragrant, and beautiful, and magnificent.  I just had to grab some.

Since our border flowers are looking pretty good, and the weather was delightful, I decided to set our table outside on the lower terrace.  I also thought the pink petunias would compliment the pink peonies.

In the spirit of making things easy and quick, I grabbed these pink toile melamine dishes that I haven't used in quite a while.  They were made by Swell, which was sold by Target years ago.

The glassware was a high/low mix of this hot pink bubble glass and clear Juliska stems that I used for wine.

The napkins are from the Palm restaurant line, and these soup bowls were also from Target.  I served visychoise in them, as Mr. Pressed Pants has been asking for it.

This plastic flatware is a cute, vibrant knock-off of some ornate silverplate. 

This French salt and pepper holder is the only serving accessory I used.

I love the way this all came together. 

Can you see the lake through the trees?  The Canadian geese were pretty noisy, but, they were not nearly as noisy as the bullfrogs!!!

It was a mosquito-free night, though.

This is a little bit of heaven, and it's even better with friends to share it.

Try the lemon piccata chicken from Trader Joe's refrigerator case!  We  all loved it.

Here's the view from the upper terrace. 

This is what happens when you don't stop to think about things, and just blurt out an invitation.  What the heck!  The house was pretty clean, the landscapers had been there, and the food was almost ready.  When the friends are that good, it's almost a "Come-as-you-are" party.  We even ate leftover lemon cheesecake from a luncheon that I gave on Tuesday!!!! Capture the moment and make a memory!

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Sundays at Home

The Summer of Orange and Turquoise

I seem to be in love with this color combination, so I've re-done our terraces in these cheerful cushions and pillows.  Even the pots have been planted in a much more vibrant, coral and white palate. 

(Disclaimer: I've been waiting weeks to have our stonework pressure washed.  I finally decided to photograph for this post with grimy stones, because, well, summer is almost HALF OVER!!!!)

This makes me smile every time I look at it.

Doesn't this make you want to grab a good book and chill out?

This has so much more pizzazz than our former color selection for the cushions.

 

This was last year on the terrace.  I was all about a woodsy color combination, and it worked really well........

until I spied this fabric!  Then some sort of hunger for color kicked in and I was all about turquoise and coral.  

I'm so glad for the change.

I even changed all of our swim towels to turquoise and coral.  Monogrammed, of course!

This large pot at the corner of the wall is loving the summer rain.  Can you see those tiny coral petunias?  They are so cute.

This pot has just a touch of coral begonias in with the hardy grass.

This one is full of begonias with a couple of white impatients.  

 

The hummingbirds just love this hibiscus.  And I love it, too, as it is just outside my kitchen window and I can admire it AND the hummingbirds!

And this $15 palm from Lowe's makes us all feel like we are in the tropics.

Let's go up the stairs to the white deck.

With the left over material, I made a runner for this table, and turquoise stripped cushions for these side chairs.  Things are looking so good.  Usually, we are beginning to feel the effects of the 90 degree weather by now, but we've had lots of rain to help things stay green.

Even the fern pots are filling in nicely.  Thank goodness that one of the improvements we made when we first moved in was to add drip lines to all of the pots.  I could never keep them watered by hand.  We also just had the deck re-stained and it's beautiful.

That's the view from the upper terrace to the lake.  Maybe I'll soon find time to take those kayaks out, but for now, I'm anxious to set this table for our neighbors tonight.  Wait till you see what I have planned!