Vacation Days continue in Bermuda

Just got back from a week-long cruise to Bermuda.  It was pretty, warm and fun: here's the white lava cocktail I sipped as the ship left the harbor.

There were gorgeous sunsets to watch as they slid into evening.

Dinners to get dressed up for:

and oh, so much food.

Excursions to the Royal Naval Dockyard

and St. George

where we couldn't believe how blue the water was

and we made a few new friends.

If you like pink as I've mentioned I do more than a few times before, this is the place for you, especially in the town of Hamilton:

so many pretty houses (in other colors too).

We took a sunset glass bottom boat to see the coral, fish and a shipwreck below.

And went to Horseshoe Bay

probably the most beautiful (and pink!) beach I've ever seen

where we climbed up a cliff to look around for miles

and the water was still clear.

Although this is NOT the way that I came down again.

It was a lovely trip, more pics to come!

B-Y-O-Birthday

My family was a little surprised when I brought my own birthday cake to the party they had for me on Sunday, but I just wanted pink frosting from Magnolia Bakery and special candles from Caspari so I thought I might craft my own birthday for a change.

Those paper flowers are from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: cut a standard 20" x 30" piece of tissue paper into 12 pieces that are 5" x 10" each.  This will make 3 flowers as each one has 4 layers of tissue.  Stack 4 layers on top of each other and start folding like an accordion fan.

Secure the folded piece in the center with floral wire (I used a fairly bendy 28-gauge wire) and twist.  You can cut the edges in a rounded shape, or into points to vary how the petals will look.  i also added some color to the ends with a pink marker like I did for my Mother's Day corsage.

Then the fun part!  Carefully pull the tissue layers apart and you'll have delicate petals: it's easier to see on a black background, just do one side at a time....

and then you will have a flower with rounded petals.

Or more pointy ones.

I hung them outside from the deck umbrella 

by the pink hydrangea and votives I brought.

And my family loves cheese so I brought Oregonzola (and misspelled it on the marker, oops!), brie with mushroom, smoked gruyere and chevre with herbs and garlic.

We sipped pink lemonade and rose wine by my Mom's lovely flowers and she was even growing tomatoes and strawberries!

It was a lovely pre-celebration, thanks, Mom and Dad!  And since tomorrow is *the* day, we're heading to the beach since it's always been my happy place.

Crushing on Color

I'm adoring the new issue of Martha Stewart Living for May, all about finding the "hue for you."  I write about pink a lot and sometimes purple, and love the palate of both with cream.  It got me thinking about shades, flavors and textures, for example:

A Pink Marc de Champagne truffle from Charbonnel et Walker, a gift my boyfriend brought me from London a few years ago,

lights at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in the Lower East Side,

water kimchi at Bibim-Bar in the East Village.  We weren't sure what it was when we had it a while back, but loved the color (and the taste),

mix for macaroons that reminded me of wampum: beads made from shells highly prized if they were rare purple,

nail art done in Korea with O.P.I. polish in Hawaiian Orchid, so pearly it reminded me of a pink seashell,

and this pic from last spring on Hudson Street.

Pink and purple together can make a gorgeous sunset,

and then it's just a tiny step away to blue, like these hyndrangeas for my Mom's birthday

and at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco.

And in more macaroons.

I've always loved water, and each ball in this display was filled with it at the Dining by Design tabletop event for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids).

At another event, Zaha Hadid's mobile art installation for Chanel emanated a futuristic blue glow,

and back at Angel Orensanz Foundation, this is their starry ceiling.

Hmmm...I see another blog redesign in my near future.

What's your favorite hue and do you love it alone, or mixed into a palette?

Just In Time...

It's my 50th post and I finally finished a knitting project!  I can't even remember the last time I could say this, but today I completed my merino candle flame cowl from this pattern by Sarah E. White.  Yesterday I visited the Totallysuperdeluxe pop-up sale hosted by Jocelyn Joson in her husband's video studio in Soho and found out they have these every other month, cool! 

I bought the frosted glass buttons above and wasn't sure what I'd use them for until I was finishing up my cowl...

I started this at the beginning of the month with Organic Merino Wool DK from Sublime that I got at Gotham Fine Yarn in the Lower East Side and thought the buttons would be a nice, little touch.

I admit that I sometimes start more projects than I finish, so it was good to get one done just in time for what will hopefully be a spring warmup soon after not such a great weekend. 

I also bought some bright daffodils to cheer me up and put them on my beloved desk next to an Easter project I started.  Hmmm...still have to finish that hat for my Dad too...but gotta post this before it's tomorrow, right now it's 11:59 p.m....