Who's that Lady??

When Mike and I bought our first house, I decided I wanted a statue in the corner of one of my flowerbeds.

Somehow, I convinced him that he should go shopping with me to pick it out (clearly, we were newly married).

After about 25 minutes of looking at angels, babies, baby angels, and little boys peeing into basins of water, Mike turned to me and said "Don't they have something sexier?"

Ever since, whenever I see a beautiful female statue, I think to myself, "Yes, it's nice. But she could be a little sexier."

Last week I bought a statue for the back bed at the inn. I went by myself (because we've now been married for 18 years, and there was no way I could talk him into joining me).


I got her because I wanted to decorate her for weddings, and I thought it would be cool to hang a sign from her for special occasions. Seriously. Plus, nothing really grows in that corner anyway.

This little girl weighs over 200 pounds, and she stands about 4 feet tall. It took four guys to pull her out of the back of the Jeep. "God, she's heavy," said one of the guys. I told him that was a mean comment; she's simply big boned.

Big cement boned.

Anyway, I used her at the wedding today, and I think she worked out perfectly. Just like I pictured.

And--good news for the hub--she does it all while looking pretty sexy, too.

Egg-Citing Plans for Easter!!

Easter is this Sunday and the Easter Festival Committee is ready.

The big push is at 3 p.m. April 8, when the Easter Parade makes its way through downtown St. Augustine.

Bands, floats and Easter bonnets are the drawing card for this annual event, begun in 1959. What’s special is that the holiday hats are worn by horses pulling the sightseeing carriages in this oldest city.
The parade begins at the Mission of Nombre de Dios on San Marco Avenue and follows along to Avenida Menendez.

Easter promenade
Also on tap Easter Day is the annual promenade in the Plaza de la Constitucion, between King Street and Cathedral Place. The free event begins at 12:30 p.m. with visitors and residents strolling through the Plaza dressed in their Easter best. Prizes are awarded for Easter finery ranging from the group traveling the farthest from home to the oldest city to the best Easter dress and most original hat.

Other festivities
This year’s Easter Festival concludes at 2 p.m. April 15 with the Fromajardis Serenade at the Spanish Bakery on North St. George Street; and the 3 p.m. Royal Family Tea, which follows at the bakery. There is no charge for either event.

Presiding over the Easter Festival is the Royal Family, portraying the ruling family in Spain in 1672, year construction was begun on St. Augustine’s fort, Castillo de San Marcos.

Flower of the Day: Yellow Roses and Peeps

It seems odd, not having any weddings this weekend.

But our beautiful gazebo needed some quick reinforcing (we don't want anyone to literally "take the plunge"!) and so we blocked it off for events yesterday and today.

Of course, just because there aren't any weddings, that doesn't mean that there aren't any flowers! In fact, spring is in full bloom here in Florida--we've got snapdragons, carnations, bougainvilla, pentas, and even my oleander have thrown out some blooms.

But my favorite flowers today are the bouquet that I just made. The most stunning yellow roses (I just got back from a work trip to San Antonio, Texas, and I was inspired), vibrant pink carnations, and of course--Easter peeps!!

Enjoy the final product, peeps!

Flower of the Day: Tulips

I have always loved tulips.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, weary from shoveling snow and carrying water to the calves in the back barns, my brother and I anxiously looked for the crocuses first, then the daffodils, and then the tulips. I loved the tulips the best--those big boldly colored cups, the strong stamens inside. Besides, once the tulips unfolded their petals, it was pretty likely that our snow shoveling days were behind us. At least for another year.

Of course, as I got older, and had to buy my own flowers in my own yard, I began to like the daffodils more. They multiplied each year, while the tulips thinned out a little bit each Spring, eventually disappearing altogether.

But I still love tulips today--although Florida winters aren't really cold enough to plant them. But they're a great cut flower right now, available at all the florists in town, and I think they're a wonderfully versatile flower for weddings. They can be sweet, in pink and blushed hues, or they can be bold, in reds and purples. And the fact that they sound like "two lips"--well, that just makes them perfect for a springtime bride!!

This bouquet was done by our preferred floral vendor--Flowers by Krissy. She put them together for Kristin and Cordez, who tied the knot yesterday in the gazebo.

Secrets of the Locals: Best Ice Cream

You may remember that the hub is an ice cream snob.

Other men may talk about wine at dinner parties--going on about the nose of this wine or the head of that one or the blush of berries or whatever it is that they think they taste. It's like a foreign language to me.

In the same fashion, the hub can wax on and on about his favorite frozen treat--the mouth feel of the cream content, the ratio of ice cream to addition, the combination of additions at all.

Hey, I'm not complaining. You'll never find a $200 gallon of ice cream, so I'm a big supporter of his enjoying the icy treat over anything fermented.

But he can't make ice cream every day. True, he does make it for inn guests on Wednesdays in the summer. But that's a special treat.

If he wants great ice cream any other time, he drives all the way down Route 1 to beyond Wal-Mart (real St. Augustine residents *never* drive past Wal-Mart unless they're going to Orlando. The fear is that Route 1 is flat and you will fall off of it if you try to go too far). He drives to Cold Cow (http://www.coldcow.net/), a little ice cream shop owned by Jason Welty. Jason is an ice cream lover too--and he comes up with weird flavors like Mike does, too (like Trash Can, which is vanilla ice cream with 7 kinds of candy bars).

It's a great place, but going there really does feel like Columbus heading off for unknown and possibly dangerous horizons.

So imagine our surprise--our delight!--when we went to Lee & Cates, a glass cutter on Anastasia Island, right across the bridge, and saw a little ice cream truck parked in the corner of their oddly-shaped parking lot. The sign said "Cold Cow has had a Baby...Meet Cold Calf".

The sun shone down, angels sang, and the hub skipped towards it like a little girl. Yup, it was our old friend Cold Cow, in a cool moveable trailer. They had 29 flavors of ice cream yesterday; the hub and I shared a scoop of toasted coconut (which was exactly what it sounded like) and red velvet cake (which was an icing flavored batter with chunks of red velvet cake). Our friends (who are visiting from Atlanta) got a butterscotch bomb (vanilla ice cream with butterscotch and fudge) and peanut butter cookie.

We all left there very, very happy.

You will be happy if you go there too...unless you go on Monday, when they're closed. Otherwise, check them out Tuesday through Sunday, from 3 - 9 pm.

Looks *Do* Matter

Sometimes, the best recipe in the world won't impress people if it just doesn't look good (case in point: trifles are awesome for the first three of four people who dive in; anyone coming later than that is going to think twice before plopping that goop on their plate).


That's why I love a good table as much (well, maybe not quite as much) as a great meal.


Here's a great example from one of our recent weddings. Check out the pineapple in the middle--it's a great way to serve fruit salad. Just cut a variety of fruits (we use pineapples, berries, grapes, and melons) into bite sized pieces, then skewer them onto a pineapple (you can cut the bottom off to make it stable). Add some fern fronds at the top to make it a little more dramatic.

Other tips I love: the dip in the front, served in a hollow pepper. Pretty dishes served at different heights (if you don't have pedestals like ours, use a cake plate, or even just a plate puttied on top of a water goblet). Cilantro or parsley sprinkled on everything.


A good bridal buffet is a little like the bride herself: it should look like what it is, beautiful as always, but a little more special than usual.


Best wishes!

Let's Paws for a Moment on March 31

Do you feel guilty when you drop your dog off at the kennel? Don't you cringe when you see your pup wag his tail, even as you're sneaking out for a nice vacation? Don't you grimace when you hear her bark optimistically as you walk away, as if she expects you to turn around and just say "Kidding!"

You don't have to leave your four legged friend at home. The Bayfront Marin House is pet friendly. So pet friendly, we serve organic puppy biscuits for happy hour! (Separate from the people food, of course).

And Saint Augustine is pretty pet friendly, as well. In fact, we have a whole list of restaurants that are happy to serve Fido, beaches that love fur bikinis, and activities that welcome your little four-legged friend.

So, if your pup will be in town on Saturday, March 31, there's an event just for the two of you. The dog walk at Butler Beach Park East is a family friendly event that will include music, food, prizes, and a cool demo by the K-9 division of the sheriff department.

You can register online and read all the details at www.360fundraiser.com/124. Or call the Humane Society at 904.829.2737.

The event goes from 10:00 to 1:00 pm. Bring your dog; look how happy *this* little guy is: