When you live on the water I think you want something reflective of your surroundings.These photos from a friends house overlooking a lake show a balance of simple comfy casualness mixed with sophistication. Of course I love all the sea details with starfish, shells and fish strewn throughout the house.
A little breakfast nook to have coffee, afternoon tea or just relax and readThe view is the main attraction but there’s no shortage of places to sit & chatCountry Style hanging pots & pans with lots of sunshine that flows from all directionsI like the wood details & oversized chair & sofa – well suited for the location
I like this stained glass piece in the entryway even though the owner wants to replace it with something different.
Colourful artwork is displayed all over the house but I’ve decided not to post photos as they are stolen private.
Do you have a favourite home style?
For me, it’s a mix of belongings picked up from various travels. All that matters is that they have meaning to me and bring back memories of places, people and times. I like a combination of rustic and modern, colour, black & white or plain white walls with lots of art. I’m leaning towards less is more now (don’t laugh, I mean that). Ideally, I would have several small homes and each one would be different. A pied-à-terre in Paris, New York and something on the beach. In the meantime, I will live vicariously through some of my friends. It’s always nice to see other people’s tastes.
Finally I’ll get to wear my Trina Turk tankini from Palm Springs. It’s exactly the kind of piece I’d wear for a party – not an everyday bathing suit. I’m taking a clue from these world famous pools and what women wear when either swimming or lounging at them.
Here are the 10 CHICEST SWIM DESTINATIONS and ideas for what to wear on your visit. Whether you hang out in The Joule’s rooftop cantilevered pool in Dallas or travel to Bali to swim among the treetops, you can be certain that these will outdo your standard midday dip.
Bondi Icebergs Club – Bondi, AustraliaHanging Gardens Ubud – Bali, IndonesiaSan Alfonso del Mar – Valparaiso, ChileGrace Santorini – Thira, GreeceHotel Molitor, ParisThe Standard Hotel & Spa, Miami BeachThe McCarren Hotel & Spa – Brooklyn, New YorkThe Beverly Hills Hotel – Los Angeles, CaliforniaThe Four-Seasons Hualalai at historic Ka-upulehu, Kailua-Kona, HawaiiThe Joule – Dallas, Texas
Source: style.com for story and photos
Photos: various – Net-a-Porter, Getty Images (Beverly Hills pool photo) and respective hotels.
Which is your pool style?
While I like them all, I gravitate more towards Paris and Beverly Hills (for the love of stripes) & Hawaii. But I love the lingerie inspired Texas two-piece.
Thought I’d share some photos of meals my friends prepared last week. Starting with Bill’s Food on Prospect Lake: It helped that we ate outside and had an amazing view but that did not overshadow this chef’s creation of: charcoal grilled wild salmon with macadamia oil, dusted with magic dust from “The Hitching Post” from “Sideways” fame, creamed corn with chanterelles, onion & bacon and hand picked wild rice from North Western Ontario. Bill, did you pick that rice yourself? It was magical!
The salad of baby arugula, beets, blueberries, goat cheese and avocado in a vinaigrette of hazelnut oil, lime juice & a drop of honey.
THEN moving over to Piers Island:
Mel’s Meal:
It started with an appetizer of Bill’s (he gave me some to take over) venison tenderloin stew with chanterelle mushrooms & gnocchi. Rich, smoky & tasty.
The star in this dinner goes to the succulent giant prawns sourced from a local supplier and barbequed with butter, garlic, s+p and crushed red dried chillies from India stuffed with yogurt & masala spice. Amazing! Again, barbequed wild salmon (you know we can never get enough of those omega 3’s) but this time marinated with olive oil, maple syrup, lemon, s+p. Green beans with garlic chunks, olive oil & shaved parmesan. Mel, you killed it!
Took’s Terrific Thai dinner:
Our Bangkok evening – oh, we’re spoiled! We helped ourselves to the most delicious home cooked Tom Ka Gai Coconut Chicken soup, Panang Curry, Thai Rice & Took’s secret sweet recipe of pork with tufu & veggies. All this while watching Thai gogo dancers, wild music & goings on in Bangkok on an IPad. Didn’t go with the view but we watched for a little while before deciding to just enjoy the quiet. We had a cherry pie for dessert but ended up having Lychee fruit instead because we were too full. Took also made a beautiful spicyThai salad with tuna for lunch.
BEST PART: I got a private cooking lesson the next day on how to make Panang Curry from scratch. That’s how much I loved it. I’ve made Thai curry pastes & curry before but not like this. Took walked me through the whole way, all the while with a watchful eye. I was tearing & chopping the leaves all wrong for garnish before this. My sister came for dinner the night I got back to sample my new creation – successful review!
Kaffir Lime Leaves
What did I make? Nothing. Well, nothing like this. My little contribution was an assortment of baked goods – cookies, muffins & a blueberry/lemon loaf. More breakfast/snack based items although we had breakfast cooked for us too. Not sure I can invite any of these people over for dinner…unless they like hot dogs. I have tons of condiments.
View from living room – house on Piers Island (Gulf Islands in the distance)
Spending the summer in Vancouver near the beach makes me feel like I don’t really need to escape. The weather has been perfect and with plenty of picturesque places to walk, run, rollerblade, ride a bike or just relax in a chaise lounge, why go anywhere else?
because I didn’t want my deck shoes to go to waste
But having said that, I just came back from spending three amazing days & nights on two little hidden gems. The first day/night was spent with a friend who lives on Prospect Lake where the water is warm enough to swim in and we watched a resident bald eagle at fairly close range. And we ate very well.
Prospect appies that houseguest Bill prepared – cordon bleu style. He even made homemade elderberry jelly. I don’t even know what an elderberry looks like but the jelly is superb, especially on homemade pecan smoked duck breast. Oh; he also made goat cheese filled siljans with roasted red pepper & garlic jelly…yeah!The bald next door neighbour is a member of the extra mile high club
The last two days/nights were spent on a friends oceanfront property on Piers Island which is a little island near Sydney, B.C. There are only about 40 permanent residents and about 123 ocean front lots. We took his boat from Canoe Cove and landed on his doorstep about a 15 minute ride dock to dock.
From dock to deck. On Piers we didn’t have far to go – to get to where we were going.
Soooo I can be an island girl as it turns out..at least for three days. A break from the city is a nice change and doing nothing but taking in the view, eating good food while taking in the view and walking the dogs while taking in the view is really as good as it gets.
Prospect View with a bowl of homemade soup
There were two dogs on Prospect and three on Piers and they were in doggie heaven. Piers has no cars so we could take them off leash through the trails. People leave boxes of unwanted stuff outside their places with notes attached that say “help yourself.” Someone left a bike and our friend was going to buy one so we ended up bringing him the one we found. At least I’m hoping it was meant to be taken (it was).
From the back of the house on Piers Island – to the trails that feel like you’re in the country
Many arty people who have little work studios and make jewellery and glass objects live there. More people tend to paint and make jam in these places. Come to think of it, the last time I went to Gabriola to visit a friend we overnighted on Saltspring, left with a bag of quince berries from a B+B we stayed at and went back to Gabriola to make quince jam…because that’s what you’re supposed to do in these quaint locations. Take it easy and make jam.
Bill made me a Nespresso Cappuccino Fantastico. Those machines are a great investment.
Tea Time on Prospect Lake
What is it about these small islands that brings out your artistic side?
Is it because you have more time on your hands or is it simply a better place to be?
– Only no time will tell –
I tried to load one more little thingfrom the wheel barrel to the boat….looks like I’ll have to wait until next time. Hope that time is soooon.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played piano (if that’s what you can call it) so imagine my joy to see this strategically placed pink piano on my walk over the bridge… just had to plant myself down for a few minutes, enjoy the view and try to come up with a tune.
Well at least I tried! I think the Red piano in Vegas performs better.
I thought I could make it through summer without a pair of plain clean (they must be clean) white sneakers but that is proving to be not the case.
You would think that with the variety of ballet flats, wedge sandals, flip flops, gladiators, deck shoes and other colourful walking sneakers there would be no need.
I think white sneakers (not running shoes) are a necessary addition to a summer wardrobe. Here’s why:
So I’ve been on a crazy cookie baking kick of all kinds (post those later) and took a break to make these – just because I can’t remember the last time I made muffins.
They’re not difficult to make and the variations are plentiful. However muffins can be funny because they need to be moist but not wet and have a fair amount of fruit to be good. I like them fully loaded. These turned out perfectly yummy and since I had strawberries and ripe bananas at home, I just went with it. The addition of Greek yogurt is a nice touch. Great with coffee/tea for breakfast or mid morning energy snack.
STRAWBERRY BANANAMUFFINS
Ingredients
2 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sliced strawberries
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, mix mashed bananas, Greek yogurt and melted butter, using wooden fork or spoon. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix just enough to blend the ingredients; do not over-mix, the lumps will work themselves out.
Add sliced strawberries to the batter and mix them in to distribute evenly through the batter.
Grease a regular size 12-cup muffin pan with a non-stick spray. Or better, use the paper fillers. Pour the batter evenly into each cup, about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a tester inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Cool on rack. Remove muffins from pan and slice to serve.
Storage tip: These are best stored refrigerated and they can be frozen.
I think I’ll be making more muffins. Do you have any good recipes to share?
The 37th Annual Vancouver Pride Parade took place yesterday and is one of the city’s flagship events!
Attracting crowds of more than 650,000, it is considered one of the largest.
It was certainly fun sitting with a few tiki inspired friends from the comfort of a condo on Robson.
We looked down on the crowd so to speak and our gracious hostess with the mostest made sure we were looked after.
The VIP (very interesting people) sectionI always did love watching roller blading in the nudeThe cleanup that began moments after the parade ended – like it never happenedThe party never ends – Sunset Beach after the parade – Food/Music/VendorsMy pride inspired cookies. Oatmeal/Raisin with a splattering of rainbow coloured Indian Fennel candy.
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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