Our storm shutters got up (thanks to our handyman, Doug) the day before St. Thomas was pounded by hurrican Earl going by as a catagory 4 storm. » read more
Looks as if Saint Thomas and the whole Virgin Islands, British Virgin Island and surrounding Puerto Rico, is gunna get hammered with wind and rain from Hurricane Earl. We had our storm shutters put up to protect the house. » read more
I love shelling and looking for things on the beach! These are a few of my find this month (Which I am so proud of, that they are now in my pottery barn glass candle holders with sand) for all to see in my kitchen. You never know what mother nature will wash up and give you! » read more
There is nothing like California in the fastly approaching "end of summer/start of fall" because the weather is just great. The weather didn't disappoint again this month while I was there. » read more
Alot of folks are focusing on getting the kids ready for back to school but one lucky man, is focusing on blowing up his fabulous vacation photos that he took while visiting the Virgin Islands last month and getting them ready for them to go in custom frames I made him. He had a great eye for capturing the perfect sunset, a turtle swimming (took while snorkeling or diving) and lonely palm trees that will look great hung up in his living room. » read more
Personally, I don't watch anything related to sharks because I wouldn't want to every get back into the water, if I did. The Discovery Channel is celebrating Shark Week with a Shark Cam linked to the Sea World in Georgia. » read more
What should you do when the temperature get above 90 degrees in the summer? well, pull that beach chair through the sand and park it right in the water. Ohhh. » read more
Sometimes I get a thank you or response after I mail an order, sometime people send me pictures to post of where they hung their art and sometimes, I don't hear a thing (so I just assume they are happy with their artwork. (smile) ) but this thank you e-mail tops the charts. » read more
Sometimes tools are just tools and sometimes you can find tools that are stylish at the same time. Now, I have seen the pink hammers and pink screwdrivers marketed to the girls in the household but I prefer the regular Ryobi heavy duty tools for working with vs. » read more
The 4th this year really went to the dogs. I was getting ready to ship a "Beware of Dog" sign to Hawaii when another order just came in from anaheim, CA for the same sign too. » read more
I am definately a shopper, it's just in my genes, I can't help it!
I saw these cute boxes at Home Goods this week and it took all my effort NOT to buy them. They had individual spaces to seperate things inside. » read more
yeah, I have a personal plate that I just love. Of course it has to do with pets and gives money to the humane society; what else would I have on my car right?
I think they have sold over 400 personalized Animal Federation plates to support the local humane society (and by the way, the number 1 through number 10 plates sold for thousands of dollars at the annual doggie ball) but all the license plates in the VI are cool looking I think. » read more
Nothing like a beautiful wedding to life your spirits in the heat of the summer in St. Thomas. » read more
It's the coolest thing to see the lizards here loosing their skin. It's that time of year again apparently. » read more
Well, rainy season came early this year but we love, love, love the rain and so do the plants. We got over an inch and a half just yesterday and today doesn't look much better. » read more
Here is my new Welcome Pineapple just added to the website as a product. Since the pineapple is the universal symbol of hospitality, friendship and welcome, it's only fitting that I added it to my list of fun things to make don't you think? We see the pineapple symbol in the Caribbean, painted on furniture, doors, and artwork to welcome people into your home. » read more
It just doesn't get any better than renting a boat with a captain and heading to the British Virgin Island for a day of fun and sun. We had friends come see us from San Diego this last week and since our boat was being worked on, we decided to rent a boat from our good friends at Nauti Nymph power boats. » read more
Cinco de Mayo at Yacht Haven Grande Wednesday night had chihuahua races, a taco eating contest and live mariachi music as a fundraiser for Rotary Club of St. Thomas. » read more
Carnival Village 2010 rides open tonight and boy is everyone in for a surprise; surprise freaky heavy rain weather that is! Tonight at 6pm the rides are opening and local musicans will be taking the stage at 8pm (Soca music festival). It has been raining now buckets for hours and hours and we have had about 3 inches of rain so far with no end in sight. » read more
We have seen this new master planned Caribbean community being built for a few years now it seems, but today we decided since The Raphune Vistas was having an open house, we would actually go and take a look for ourselves. From the road, you can see the very colorful units on the hillside and there is a long dirt road that takes you to the top where the models are. » read more
Well, it's that dreaded tax day for most of us and not really a time to celebrate (well, maybe once the taxes are sent off to the taxman) but there is one place this evening that will be really celebrating here in the islands. The island of Saint Croix is hosting it's annual "taste of Saint Croix" culinary event competition at the Divi Carina Bay Resort from 6-9pm this evening. » read more
I saw this painted door sign while getting coffee at Barefoot Buddha and it just sums it up in four simple words; Communicate, Participate, Create, Change. Enough said! » read more
Giving back to the community in which you live is very important to me so when my friends again this year asked me to donate some auction items to raise money for the youth group at the St. Thomas Reformed Church, I gladly said yes. » read more
We are always excited to get a new restaurant in Saint Thomas, no matter what kind of food it serves. We have been hearing good things about a new place called Linda Bean's Maine Lobster place on the waterfront at the harbor so while it was a "no ship" saturday we headed down to check it out. » read more
It seemed as though the ships leaving the harbor of Saint Thomas tonight were just coming and coming and coming, one after another! We usually see one right after another but these were all in the same area all at the same time as if they were racing to see who could get out fastest. There were 6 ships in, setting a record number of cruise ship passengers in port, and breaking the 20,000 mark for the first time! It was a good thing I didn't have to go anywhere near town yesterday to run arrends or shop. » read more
How can you tell that the Rolex Regatta is here again in St. Thomas? Just take a peek at the amount of boats in the downtown harbor, Redhook and Yacht Haven Grande and when you say to yourself "hmmm, there sure are a ton of sailboats that I never noticed before" and you will know! You will also notice that the traffic gets crazy in Redhook (where it usually isn't) and the marine stores seem to be filled with tons of boaty people all dressed in matching shirts and hats (and they are new and colorful too). » read more
It's a very good thing that our island is only 13 miles long, with no freeways to deal with (we never really get over 30 miles per hour and one strip of the island you have a little straight-away and can get to 40 mph for about 10 seconds). I am glad that my gym and the stores that I shop at are close by my house and if not, I save up all my arrends to run all in one day to save time and gas money. » read more
We are in the middle of our very high season here for tourists (while it's still snowing a ton of cities all over the states, he he he.. » read more
We love rock iguanas like we love our dogs and cat. They aren't so cute and cuddly, and I say that we love them when they are hanging out at a distance from our house! This week while boating with our family here on Spring break, this little creepy guy was at the boat yard just hanging out watching us on the sidewalk near our boat. » read more
I just can't kill this plant. Not that I want to, mind you, but it's had more than a few bug challenges, fungus, been cut back way, way, way too far (by me) and still it hangs on and produces the most beautiful flowers almost all year long. » read more
Sean Kinston was here in concert this week and it was cool to be able to go see him at Yacht Haven Grande. One of our favorite local bands, Cool Sessions out of Saint John (latin, french, caribbean type music), opened for him too which was a treat. » read more
Sometimes the color of the water here in Saint Thomas, at Megan's Bay beach, is super blue. Of course the views are always amazing but this week we had an extra freaky blue water day so I drove to the top of Drake's Seat to catch a better view of it. » read more
And the winner of the Saint John's, 8 Tuff Miles race is Thomas Chorny, age 33 out of Bloomington IN. He won the race in 46 minutes and 26 seconds and that is a new record, beating out last years winner's (a local from Saint John mind you) record time of 49. » read more
Saint John (and Saint Thomas too of course) is busy, busy, busy these days coming off (what I think is the busiest week of the whole year even over Thanksgiving and Christmas), Presidents week. The harbor in Saint John was so packed with charter boats and rentals on Friday, that we couldn't even pull up to the dock where we normal go but I had to be let out at the National Park area only reserved for their boats (which they don't like at all but were nice about it at least). » read more
Every Tuesday, the Oasis of the Seas makes it's way to Saint Thomas as a port of call. It is so massive that I tried to show how big it was against the Costa, who was also in next to it yesterday at Crown Bay Dock, but I couldn't even fit it into the camera lens. » read more
We love going to Florida on vacation because it's such a short flight, they have great malls to shop at, the people are so relaxed and nice like here and the water just couldn't get any prettier! Of course we like to come back to St. Thomas after all of that relaxing to. » read more
In case you haven't noticed, January just about flew by already. I think everyone was so done with the holidays and in a fog for January that all of us just woke up and said "wow, that month went by fast!" Our next holiday is one of love. » read more
The fourth installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" will NOT be filmed in the Caribbean but instead in Hawaii starting this summer! I wonder if it should be changed to "Pirates of the Pacific" then? It's kinda of sad (even though filming wasn't here in Saint Thomas but Saint Vincent and Dominica) it was still the Caribbean waters. I am sure they shot in other places too but Hawaii? hmmmmm
The film's story is loosely based on the 1987 pirate novel, "On Stranger Tides" by award-winning fantasy author Tim Powers. » read more
Ok, it's snowing in the midwest and California is even getting days and days of flooding rain but we are so thankful our sunshine days continue here in the Virgin Islands (this is why we have so many tourists right?).
I have never, ever had an oceanview office when I worked in the states or worked outside in the warm weather (and paid my dues in a cubical for years and years) but I am lucky enough to have my art studio overlooking the ocean and a deck to check e-mail and blog from. » read more
We enjoyed some much needed rain yesterday (paired with wind and mist too) and it seems as if it will continue today as well. It makes the island nice and green but doesn't do much for the beach and sun loving tourists who are here. » read more
We are just so sad for our friends in Haiti this week. There is a large population of Haitian people who live and work here but have families still in Haiti and I can't even imagine what they must be going thru in the aftermath of the terrible earthquake. » read more
I buy my share of pretty cookbooks each year and always have the hopes of making dishing that look as good as they are pictured in the book, because I love to cook. One islandly cookbook that I frequently like to try things out of is called At Blanchard's Table, "a trip to the beach" cookbook by Melinda and Robert Blanchard. » read more
