Watermelon Wednesday's #1....Refreshing Punch

Kicking off Spring and going into Summer, every other Wednesday I'll be posting creative food and beverage recipes to infuse watermelon (my favorite fruit) into your spring and summer season.  This first week starts off with a fabulous punch recipe from Martha Stewart Living...

Ingredients

Serves 8 to 10

• 1 oblong seedless watermelon (about 14 pounds)
• 3 cups seltzer

Directions

1. Cut top third off watermelon; trim bottom just enough to make a flat surface. Scoop out flesh.
2. Working in batches, puree watermelon in a food processor. Strain through a fine sieve; discard solids. (You should have about 9 cups juice.) Cover rind with plastic wrap. Refrigerate juice and rind until chilled, about 1 hour. Combine juice with seltzer; transfer to rind.

Doesn't this look so refreshing?

So excited it's almost Spring.

Loving the smell of lavender.....

I recently discovered the online shop Dreamy Whites....and decided to order a lavender pillow for my living room.  It arrived yesterday and it is so pretty I thought I would share some photos of it.

It came so beautifully packaged....along with a matching sachet,
 a burlap sachet of lavender and a bouquet of lavender.

I just love this little pillow.  It smells so wonderful. 

Tickled Pink....

I've really been enjoying playing with flowers lately.  I've been practicing on how to make different arrangements with some of my favorite spring flowers.  While I have always loved roses, it seems all of a sudden, every where I turn...I'm either seeing them somewhere...or buying them for my home. 

This was really quite simple to make.  I soaked some floral foam in water...making sure that it was really moist.  I put it in the bottom of this pretty green glass pedestal bowl and randomly inserted the pink roses.  From there I dropped in some white flowers & greenery to break up the pink...and then draped moss around the inside of the bowl to hide the floral foam.

  

I'm really pleased with how this came out...and the flowers really lasted a long time.  I think my next creation will be with daisies.  They are perfect to ring in Spring.  

Happy Pink Saturday!

Joining up with How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.

The Ultimate Kitchen....

Hope your having a wonderful Monday.  Thought I'd share some of my favorite kitchen photos from Country Living's Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Decorating.   

The ultimate Farmhouse Sink!!

Wish I had a kitchen door to turn
into a chalkboard.

Open shelves look terrific in this farmhouse kitchen.

The splash of yellow and marble countertops
are my favorite touches.

What's there not to love in this kitchen?

Looks amazing to cook in. 

The lower cabinet doors in glass
 are an interesting feature. 

Soft and pretty colors. 

I think my favorite is the first one with the wonderful sink.  But it's almost a tie because I really love the vintage one (5th photo) with the amazing red stove.  Which one do you like best?

A Sunny Saturday.....

Well Spring is officially in the air here in South Florida.  It's a gorgeous day.  So with that...I thought I would spend my afternoon shopping around for some springy outdoor accessories to spruce my backyard up. And here are some sunny photos to keep all of you who are still struggling with cold weather optimistic that warm weather is right around the corner.  

Have a happy Saturday.  

The Roses of Park Avenue....

So I spent a good part of this week in my home away from home...NYC. Imagine my surprise and delight - along with the idea for this week's Pink Saturday  post when I saw this.....

And then I looked and noticed down another block there were more rose sculptures...and then further down even more. I was immediately intrigued and found out that from January 25 through May 31st, Artist Will Ryman's The Roses...will transform Park Avenue from 57th to 67th into a spring garden of beautiful roses....complete with the prerequisite insects, ladybugs and other little accompanying creatures.  There are 38 sculptures of rose blossoms as high as 25 feet...coupled with random individual scattered rose petals between 63rd and 65th.  The sculptures range from five to ten feet in diameter and each cluster has a ladybug, aphid beetle or bee which gives it and extra sweet little touch. 

I love the ladybug

The bumble bee on top is so cute...

Here are some night shots I took...of some of my favorites.....

One last shot of the precious ladybug....

Happy Pink Saturday..... 

.....Have a great weekend  

Linking up to How Sweet the Sound's Pink Saturday...

Working with Eggshells....

Good morning and Happy Thursday!  Thought I'd share with you this creative little use of leftover eggshells....I'm going to try this and I'll let you know how it turns out....

Country Living Magazine

Have you ever creatively used leftover egg shells? 

Any tips to pass on?