Nassau, Bahamas, Dominated by Pink Buildings

I am up for another double post. Saturday is a busy posting time on my blog because it is Sightseeing Saturday which I am committed too and Pink Saturday, that Beverly of http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ is also committed to. Usually, I keep the post separate but today, I will fuse them together and you will understand why when you see them.

Please visit Chandy at http://whatnowtablescapes.blogspot.com/ and check out what beautiful sights she is sharing with us today.

Since we just came back from a trip to Bahamas, let me share you a few pictures, a lot of them pink. I might be wearing green here but do you see the pink flowers arounf?

There is AJ in a pink shirt pretending to play the drums against a pink peacock feather sculpture.

There she is again posting by the casino.

Do you see how dark she has become? Here, ready to go for a swim again.

Cocktails with her dad, my ex son in law.

Now, the pink buildings start.

But wait! I wanted to take a picture with this Bahamian guy but we ran out of time. How do you like his full pink lips?

More pink buildings.

The straw market.

More pink buildings!

and more

and more

and more

How about some pink bikini glasses?

My hubby wanted me to take a picture of this sign......so appropriate for me, he thinks.

No pink here but I thought the policeman's uniform is cute. OMG! I gained so much weight already!! I gained 10 lbs. and need to work it out.

On the upper deck playing mini golf. Would you believe that AJ won against all of us? She had 2 holes in one.

Another pink building, the famous Atlantis in the background.

AJ, taking her game so seriously. The stones are kind pink too, aren't they?

I guess that is enough for me to share with you today. Don't forget to visit Beverly and Chandy and check out what they have to share today, and then go visit everyone on Beverly's list too. If you ever want to post for Sightseeing Sat., please email or leave me a comment with your blog address by Friday. My post is usually ready by 8 PM on Friday. Thanks!

Exotic and Feathery

Being out of the country, I missed TT last week but I will more than make up for it today. Tablescape Thursday is hosted by Susan of http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/. If you want to see amazing creativeness on tables, make it a point to visit Susan's blog.

This is not my main tablescape but I created this mini one just to wish you all a Happy Independence Day! I bought this bicentennial eagle plate in a yard sale for about a dollar a long time ago so this is my contribution for Thrifty Thursday, hosted by Leigh at http://lbratina.blogspot.com/. Make sure you visit her also to check out a lot of

thrifty goodies.The plates, napkins and tablecloth, or should I say tablepaper, are all paper....cheap, of course! (That's thrifty too!) I bought them from Big Lots. I hand carried this pair of candleticks holder from my home in FL. They're old but I like them. They were distributed by Princess House and have been discontinued. Of course if you want to see more details, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

And for the main event, I am sharing this exotic tablescape. Our recent Caribbean trip inspired me to create this.

Just want to share these lamp bulbs. They flicker just like candlesticks. Vanna of http://lvroftiques.blogspot.com/ (Vanna, where are you?) was the one who introduced me to them and I love them. Regular bulbs are very glary and it is so hard to take a picture of them but these are just perfect to emit just the right glow.

The tablecloth has an earthy pasley print and I bought it from TJ Maxx.

Artesian plates made by Tracy Porter, bought them from Horchow. Bamboo flatware from Ross for $9.99. I also bought the darker ones for the same price but I think this matches better with this dinnerware set. Please note the bamboo edge trim on the plate.

Salad plate from the same Artesian collection. How do you like my napkin fold? I copied it from the ship.

The tray server is also from the Artesian collection. I really like the peacocks on them.

The peacock salt and pepper are from Neiman Marcus. Gloria of http://wwwhappytobe.blogspot.com/ told me about them when they went on sale. Thanks, Gloria!

The small bamboo tray is part of my sushi set. I think it blends well with my bamboo theme.

I just bought this bell from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands last week.

The colored crystal goblets (set of 4 different colors) and the smaller clear wine crystals are from Ross.

Do you see those oval server set (set of 3, the other one is in the other side) in a wicker and iron stand? They were waiting from me when we arrived from our trip last Sunday. I cannot believe I won them on Ebay for $5.50 for the whole set....another contribution for Thrifty Thurs. I love the colors, pattern and they are oven proof too!

And many of you might have seen this peacock centerpiece on RMS and on Laurie of http://bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/ 's post before Christmas'2008. That was before my blogging days. Isn't he majestic? He is huge! I bought the whole set of feather balls for $5 at a garage sale.

The cardinal s&p came from a shop in Celebration, FL. We passed through there after we disembarked from the ship last Saturday. The community was developed by Disney and is really nice. I will post pics on next week's Outdoor Wed.

This s&p set is from Southern Living.

Remember this table topper? I told you I will use it on this tablescape. I really like it and I think I will get a lot of use out of it.

You can see more details on the servers here.

Whew! That was a long post. I hope you don't mind. I was making up for lost time, lol! Thank you all for your patience and taking the time to visit my blog!

Thanks, Susan and Leigh, for hosting such fun events!

Pool Update

It's Outdoor Wednesday time, which is hosted by Susan of http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ I have a few people ask about the pool so I thought of taking this opportunity to show you the progress. Just remember to visit Susan afterwards and check out everybody else's contributions too.

The pool was the easy part. It is pretty much done but it is what surrounds it that is taking forever to finish. This is the view from the master bedroom.

This is the view from the office.

Right now, they are working on the floor drain. Do you see that long strip?
And this is the view from the family room. I wish they could start adding the fun features but they can't until the concrete is poured.

Here is another view from the family room.

View from the kitchen dining. We are bird sitting until Thursday, see the 2 parrots in their cages?

and this is the view from the breakfast nook. As you can see, all my orchids are on the table. I cannot wait to put them back outside. I wish the deck would get done soon.

This is one reason they haven't poured the concrete on the deck. Our house is situated on a hill and this part of the pool's ground was 2.5 ft. lower so they had to build it up and then build a retaining wall.
What do you think? Should I paint the hollow blocks in terracota?

My poor plants on the terraces! Some have been buried in dirt, sand and cement. I can't wait to be able to clean up down there and get the plants healthy again. Looks like I am going to have to redo the whole thing.

They still have to lay the brick coping around the pool but we are able to use it. We sneak in as soon as the pool guys leave, lol! The water temperature right now is perfect, it's warm and we don't even have to turn the heater on.

Hopefully the next time I post more pool pictures is on Met Monday, when everything is completely done.

Thank you, Susan for hosting this Wed. event and thank you all for coming!