Monday, May 9, 2016

Beach Picnic Season

It's that time of year again! Pack up your picnic basket and head to the beach for fun in the sun

The Picnic - an adorable little book written by the girls of the Portland Picnic Society. Packed full of fun recipes, picnicking tips and advice about throwing together a fabulous picnic party. I bought my copy (impulse birthday present!) at one of my favorite gardening stores in Morrow Bay, but you can order a copy also from our friends at Liberty Bay Books.

I love their "advice" Chapter 1; Everything from how to plan the perfect picnic, picking the best picnic blanket and basket essentials to scouting out the best picnic spots!

Teal Coral Fan Indoor-Outdoor Pillows

Turquoise Veranda Pillows

Starfish Dinnerware + Teal Coral Fan Pillows

My picnic "essentials"? Pretty simple!

1. Wine Opener - I keep ours always packed in our basket.
2. Beach "Friendly" Glasses. Either stemless wine glasses, or fun acrylic non-breakable glasses
3. Coastal Indoor-Outdoor Dinnerware
4. Cloth Napkins (they don't blow away in the ocean breeze!)
5. Easy Care Beach Blanket - I like our cotton, Casual Throw Blankets for keeping in our basket. These throws roll, or fold up, small enough to fit in a picnic basket, can be washed and sand shakes out easily. Not great for wet sand - so be careful where you put your blanket down!
6. Outdoor Durable Pillows - need to be comfy!
7. Baskets for carrying blankets and outdoor pillows
8. Picnic Basket large enough for lunch, ice packs and dinnerware.
9. Now to plan a simple menu and you are set for a day at the beach!

Our Beach Picnic pictures were taken on the California Central Coast in a tiny coastal town that we love, Cayucos. Tom and I loaded up our Mini Cooper for my birthday and spent three days walking the beach, watching surfers, spotting whales, looking for sea glass and drinking wine watching sunsets from our picnic blanket. It was perfect - I highly recommend!

My Birthday Picnic Party - Get the look!

Starfish Dinnerware and Whale Glasses

Teal Coral Fan Lumbar Pillow - available in Square 20 x 20 size too!

Turquoise Veranda Shell Pillow

(available in Coral Orange too!)

Niko Sea Grass Baskets

Turquoise Green Essential Cotton Throw

And if you need a little inspiration - I really love this book!

The Picnic

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Picnics on the Shore - 10 Inspirations for Fun!

Memorial Day is just around the corner, and then we will be in the full swing of summer and packing up our picnic basket as we head out most every weekend to explore a new coastal town or beach.

Here are 10 of my favorite ideas to create a picnic on the shore!

1. Build an impromptu beach tent

What a fun idea from Apartment Therapy! Cool idea for your kids to create their own little fort - Complete (super easy) list of what you will need to build a quick tent to protect from the sun, sand and wind at the beach, and instructions can be found on their site; Click Here for the how-to's

2, Bring your collection of vintage lanterns to create a welcoming atmosphere.

An enchanting functional way to add light as the sun sets into the sea. I have a gorgeous red vintage lantern given to me by a good friend, I am putting it in the car for our trip up to wine country for a picnic this weekend! (so sorry - not sure about the image source!)

3. Don't forget to bring the grill!

We have a pretty royal blue bucket one that we grabbed last summer at World Market, love how it's sort of self-contained with a large bucket space for the coals, and a convenient handle for carrying. Works wonderfully to sit on a picnic table or in the sand.

(image from the LatinKitchen.com)

4. Pack a salad in a jar - pretty and convenient

I have a collection of these glass jars with the rubber seals that fit into our picnic basket, but you could use any jar with a closeable lid. These three salads were super easy to pre-make and we had them last fall for a picnic dinner before an outdoor production of Shakespeare's play "Taming of the Shrew" at UC Santa Cruz. Such a fun time! (recipe for these salads later this week - I promise!)

For lots of ideas for "jar" picnic foods - check out this list of 50 Ideas for things to make.

5. Smore's are always fun! (and sort of essential for beach fires!) And an easy way to make a creative fun dessert for everyone at the picnic

Check out Buzzfeed's list of 39 different versions of smore's to find the perfect combination for your shore picnic.

6. Pack real dishes and real silverware to add an extra special touch of elegance.

Besides it's more eco-friendly and won't blow around in the wind like paper plates. (sorry, not sure about image source) I am on the hunt right now for a vintage picnic basket like this one....

7. Pack it all in an adorable crate!

P.S. Don't forget that juicy novel you've been saving to read at the beach! (image from a lovely blog - http://hokusfiliokus.blogspot.com/)

8. Don't forget to bring pillows!

Love this picture of romance, but truly, I would make sure to bring outdoor friendly (and pretty) beach pillows to be on the safe side of salt and sand.