"Two Tickets to Paradise". A once in a lifetime Valentine gift.

So, my hubby usually likes to take a get away trip a couple times a year.  This year, he planned one of them for February.  A Valentine's get away.  He chose to fly us to the US Virgin Islands for a once in a lifetime opportunity.  With my husband's busy schedule, we both have really been looking forward to this time together to reconnect.

Flying into the island, I couldn't help but think of the old Eddie Money song, "Two Tickets to Paradise".  Seeing the beautiful blue water from the sky made us anxious to experience all the islands had to offer.

We started the week on St. John's Island.  After flying into St. Thomas, we took a cab to Red Hook to catch a ferry to St. John.  The ferries leave every hour on the hour, so it's not difficult to catch one.  It's only about a 20 minute ferry ride.  We stayed in a lovely villa in Gallows' Point, in the village of Cruz Bay.  The villa was walking distance to all the shops and restaurants in the little town.

This is a picture of the villas at Gallows' Point.  All are bay or ocean view.

 View from our villa.  You could see right across the sound to St. Thomas.

Gorgeous night view of St. Thomas, taken from our balcony.

Shortly after checking in to our villa, we set out to see the village of Cruz Bay and grab some dinner.  One thing we noticed in Cruz Bay, St. John is a laid back island.  The residents mingle with the tourists.  What you see is what you get.  They don't try to hide who they are.  A restaurant may sit right next door to a residence. They aren't as developed as the other larger islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix and they are OK with that.  It was very refreshing.

A local artist makes his wares out of sea grass and displayed this bird by hanging it in a tree.

Chickens roam the streets along with the residents and tourists.   As you walk the village your senses are heightened hearing the mingled sounds of roosters crowing and kettle drums being played,  and smelling the wonderful Caribbean spices being cooked in the open air restaurants.  

After a simple but relaxing breakfast on our balcony, for day one we decided to explore the island a bit.  We worked ourselves northward, checking out the beautiful beaches and some amazing sugar mill ruins.  

Caneel Bay

 Trunk Bay

 Cinnamon Bay

 Maho Bay

The sugar mill ruins are all over the island.  These were found in Caneel Bay.  We also saw some in Cinnamon Bay.

The mills date back to the 1700's.  The islands were Danish colonies back then.  The mills were worked by slaves brought over from Africa.  Owners often lived abroad and had a manager live on the property.  

The sugar industry ended after years of not rotating crops.  This made the soil not fit for growing sugar cane any longer.  Some mills adapted by being turned into rum factories.  Most mills closed and were abandoned, leaving the ruins as a window into the island's history.

While exploring, we did run across this little guy, a hermit crab crossing our path.  We were on the lookout for donkeys as well.  We were told donkeys roam wild on the island.  But to our disappointment, we didn't see any.

After a long day of exploring, we went to a locally owned restaurant, The Coal Pot for some authentic Caribbean food.  We ordered Ox Tail, Sweet Potato Stuffing and their Beans and Rice.  YUMMY!  The Ox Tail was very much like our roast beef, cooked in it's own gravy.  The sweet potato stuffing made me think of our daughter-in-law, Angie.  It was similar to her yummy sweet potato casserole. 

Tuesday was Scott's day.  We took a full day sailing trip on the sailboat, Wandering Sailor with captain Phil and his first mate, Karn.  They sailed us to Greater St. James Island for some snorkeling.

As fun as the snorkeling was, listening to Captain Phil's stories and having him sail us around the different islands, showing us amazing rock formations rising out of the ocean was even more fun.   Captain Phil, a 77 year old sailor has had his boat, Wandering Sailer for over 35 years.  He has had many adventures to share.

Carvel Rock.  The profile of George Washington's face?  And look at that water!  It ranged from Palmolive green to Dawn Detergent blue!

 Scooby Doo?  Can you see him lying his face in the water?

It got a little choppy while we were out there.  The wind caught the waves and caused them to have a nice spray coming off the top of them.

This was an interesting story.  A couple had a pizza oven put on their boat, and they deliver pizza to boats that are anchored in Christmas Bay in Greater St. James.  Their business is called Pizza Pi. A creative way to make a living in the islands.  Scott had read the story about this couple and their boat in an article in "Sail Magazine"  before we came on the trip.  It was really great that he got to see it while we were out.  

Scott, conversing with Captain Phil.

The next day, we left St. John and headed by ferry to St. Thomas for the remainder of our trip.

The island of St. Thomas is vastly different from St. John.  St. Thomas is more developed.  Many large resorts are on the island.  We came to our accommodations at the Ritz Charlton.  Very luxurious.

 The lovely infinity pool

Feeling tropical, Scott ordered pineapple juice in the pool side cabana while we were waiting or them to get our room ready.

View of the bay from our room.

View of the grounds of the resort from our balcony. 

 Interesting pod like vines hanging from trees on the island.

On Thursday we went into Charlotte Amalie or "downtown" as the locals call it.

When you arrive, there are beautiful shops where the tourists do a lot of shopping.

I love the huge storm shutters they have on all their doors.

 Soon after arriving downtown, we found this amazing bakery.  It was called "My Brother's Workshop".  It was set up as a way to help troubled young people find a way to get off the streets.  They train the teens and young adults in the art of baking as well as construction.  

Not only was their story amazing, this cinnamon roll was too!!!

Young people working in the back room.

When we turned the corner from the bakery, it was very apparent there are two sides to St. Thomas.  The side that is put up front for the tourists to enjoy, and the side where the locals live.   Narrow streets, simple dwellings and tight quarters.  But another thing that was apparent is how friendly the people are.  They don't seem to tire of the tourists and are eager to smile and welcome

 you to their island.

As you walk along the narrow streets, you can find gateways like this that lead to upstairs apartments.

And again, chickens roamed free on the streets.

We took shelter from a quick rain and asked a local where we could find some good local food.  He recommended Cuzzin's.  

 We tried their curry chicken, peas and rice and their sweet potato dressing.  The menu said about the chicken, "Dat ez not skinny street chic-kun, mon.  Dat ez wut we calls fat-in up chic-kun!"  Whew!  Good to know!  And it was very yummy "fat-in up chick-kun!".  The dressing here was a bit different than what we had on St. John's Island.  This one had sugar and cinnamon soaked raisins in it.  It was more like a dessert than a side dish.  Very sweet and very good.

On Friday we hung by the pool at the resort and spent our time relaxing, soaking in the sun and just enjoying being together.

 The day started out with breakfast eaten on our balcony.

Then we headed to the pool.

 These two little ducks seemed to call the pool home.  They were even named by the resort employees.

 From the pool, you have a beautiful view of the bay and the water sports the resort 

offers to it's guests.  

After a full day in the sun, we took a relaxing evening walk and enjoyed the beautiful grounds.

Our last full day on the island, we tried some of the water sports the resort offers it's guests.  We went out on a little catamaran,  a 2 man kayak and tried our hand at paddle board.

And remember  Pizza Pi?  The boat I mentioned earlier in the blog that we saw on our sailing trip?  Well we found out from Brandon, a guy that works the water sports hut at the resort, that for an extra delivery fee, they will deliver to this side of St. Thomas.  So we HAD to call them and have a pizza delivered.  I mean, when else will we have that opportunity?

Scott getting the pizza from their delivery boat.  (Brandon is they guy in the straw hat.  He wanted to talk to the Pizza Pi guys too!)

It was pretty yummy pizza too!

Our last full day of vacation was a day of getting to do what we hadn't been able to do yet.

One last thing on my wish list was to get a picture of an iguana.  We hadn't seen one since we arrived in St. Thomas.  While we were sitting in the gazebo eating our pizza, we saw one.  I got all excited, but sad that I didn't have my camera with me.  We only had Scott's cell phone for pictures.  So I ran up to the room, hoping the iguana would stay put till I got back.  When walking back toward the gazebo, I saw that there was not one iguana, but seven!  Yikes!  

And they were very interested in our pizza!

This guy got a little too close for comfort, deciding to join us on the gazebo.  He REALLY wanted some pizza!  He hung out with us until we decided to leave.

One of his buddies posed for me on this little hill.

On the last morning on our trip, we took a final opportunity to go on the water.  After bringing in the catamaran, we told Brandon it was our last day.  He asked, "Are you sure?"  He began to tell us his story, like so many others we talked to on this trip, he had come on a vacation and ended up staying.  OUR two tickets to paradise were round trip tickets.  We have a beautiful life at home and so much to be thankful for there.  Our own paradise, if you will.  And even though this trip has been a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we loved every second of the beautiful weather, the gorgeous water, the great food and the sweet time we had together, we have so much to go home to.  A lovely family who love us, a comfortable home, amazing friends and a VERY blessed life.

When I start having "Scott withdrawals" from his busy work schedule, I will think on our time in the islands and be blessed all over again by his generous expression of love for me and the priority he puts on our marriage.  But also be very thankful for the wonderful life he provides for me every day through his hard work.

Practical tips if you choose to go to the US Virgin Islands.  (Things we learned from our trip): 

1.  Let your bank know ahead of time you are traveling abroad.  Many banks will flag you and put a hold on your accounts if they have not been informed of your plans.

2.  The ATM's only allow you to take out $100 at a time and charge you a $6 fee each time.  This can add up quickly.  Especially considering taxi's expect cash.  So either carry extra cash with you when you travel, or before you leave ask your financial institution the best way to get cash while on the islands.

3.  Most phone plans consider US Virgin Islands as part of the US and do not require you to use an international plan, but you will want to check with your carrier before you leave to make sure.

4.  The islands are safe, but you want to use common sense.  If you are out after dark, stay away from dark, lonely streets.  

5.  There are inexpensive ways to experience the islands.  Camping on St. Johns at Cinnamon Bay is a way to have inexpensive accommodations.  Also renting a house can be less expensive then hotels, villas or resorts.  For transportation, many opt to hitch hike the islands rather then using taxi service or renting a vehicle.  Hitch hiking on the islands is very common and we were told safe in the day time.  (Although we did not try it).  Many of the beaches on St. John and St. Thomas are free.  And if you have your own snorkeling equipment, you can snorkel free.  If you don't have your own equipment, renting the gear is around $25 a day.

6.  You can't expect to walk everywhere.  The beaches are pretty spread out.  Especially on St. Thomas.  If you do choose to rent a car or scooter, remember they drive on the opposite side of the road!

7.  If you plan to go to St. John, be sure to bring hiking shoes.  There are tons of trails on the island, leading you to amazing views and ruins.

8.  Speaking from experience, you can feed the iguanas.  But if you do, they won't leave you alone!  They are VERY persistent!  :-)

Why "A Needle and a Paintbrush"?

Growing up in the Pierce home meant my sister and I had the privilege of wearing hand made clothes made by our mother.  Of course, at the time we didn't think it a privilege.  But watching my mom at the sewing machine definitely showed me the importance of having the ability to sew, and also gave me a desire to learn that skill myself.  I remember when I was young, my sister and I were in a fashion show that was sponsored by a local fabric store.  We got to model outfits that were made by our mother.  What little girl wouldn't be inspired by that?  My mom was talented even though she didn't learn the skill until after she was married.  She learned to sew from her mother-in-law.  She didn't even own a sewing machine at the time.  She made all my sister's school dresses literally by hand.  Later she acquired a sewing machine.  She used it not only to dress us, but dress up the house.  Mother made it cozy with custom curtains, bedding and other home decor projects.

So when I had the opportunity in high school to take Home Economics, I jumped at the chance.  I wanted to learn to sew like my mom.  She didn't feel comfortable teaching me because she never learned to follow a pattern.  I took all the sewing classes they had and soon began making my own clothes.  After I was married, I  began dressing up our home by making pillows, window treatments and slip covers.   And of course, when the kids came along, I made clothes for them.  I love that my mom was so influential in my desire to learn to sew and use it for my family and home.

The paintbrush is meaningful to me because my dad was a professional paint contractor.  He worked two jobs for years to provide for the family.  After he retired early from his factory job, he continued painting until he was 82!  He helped me paint just about every house we have lived in.  We have always said that paint runs in the Pierce family's blood.  My sister is an artist and has a business painting custom pallet signs.  My brother is currently a paint contractor, and I just paint every wall and piece of furniture in our house!!!  

What better blog to use to show you my craft room then my blog about how I became crafty, right?

In my craft room, I have a thrift store chair that I slip-covered.  I think it has cute lines.  I covered it with a neutral mini check.

I painted the walls using Sherwin Williams Silver Strand.

I painted my peg board using Annie Sloan Provence.

The old cabinet holding my paint was purchased from an antique shop.  I left it with the chippy paint that they had on it for the time being.  As is, I think it brings an eclectic look to the space.  Above it hangs a sign made by my talented sister.  You can find her business on Facebook under "White Hen".

My craft room is small, but I still found room for this work bench that I purchased at my favorite antique shop, Southern Crossing.  I attached a burlap skirt to it, covering the much needed storage space underneath.  Above it, I am using a drawer I attached to the wall as a shelf for additional storage.  The three tiered storage tray was made out of cake pans and candlesticks.

My chalkboard housing my project list is a section of a bi-fold door that I purchased from a thrift store. I painted it with chalkboard paint and added the drawer pull as a tray for the chalk.

My sewing table is a library table that my husband and I found while on a day trip years ago.  We spent a lot of hours refinishing it, so I haven't had the heart to paint it...YET!

I still use the old Singer Fashionmate sewing machine I bought with my high school graduation money 35 plus years ago. I can't bring myself to get a new one.

Above my sewing table I have used a drawer from an old sewing machine cabinet to store needed utensils.  They are handy without being in the way when not in use.

I used jars on the shelves to help wrangle craft supplies and keep them easy to spot while they are kept tidy.

 Even if you don't have "paint in your blood" or a long heritage of sewing in your family, you can still make your home cozy and your own.  And who knows, maybe you will want to get your hands dirty and use your own paintbrush to throw some paint on a wall!

Karen and the girls

I had the privilege this week to take pictures of this sweet mama and her two girls.  Ada, the baby turned 9 months old, so she wanted to document that sweet age.  Mama is a bit of a photo bug herself, so to be asked to capture this moment in her baby's life is a huge honor for me.  Her tiny nursery had the most wonderful light, so we shot the whole shoot there.  

The sweet connection with these two girls is unmistakable.  Big sister Nora is so sweet and gentle with her baby sister.  It's precious to watch.

Winter Woes

Living in Florida, we don't really have a dread of the onset of winter like folks up north might have.  In fact, for me winter is a nice break from the heat.  I can't wait for the weather to cool things off a bit so I can finally pull out my sweaters.  Any day below 70 degrees in Florida is an excuse to wear boots!  So for me, winter woes would be facing the fact that winter just doesn't come soon enough and doesn't stay as long as I would like.

In my home, the winter woes come from having to take the Christmas decorations down.  I try to put it off as long as I can!  I'm usually the last house on the street with Christmas lights still up.

In past years, I have used nature in my post-Christmas decor and this year is no exception.  A sweet addition I added this year was this white antique bowl that was recently given to me by my mother.  Growing up, it sat in our family room and had a matching pitcher that sat in it.  The pitcher met it's demise one day when a broom handle smashed into it.  I'm still not going to say who was holding the broom when it happened!  But my mom held on to the bowl all these years.  When cleaning out her garage recently, I came across it.  With my affinity for white dishes, I asked if I could have it.  I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but here is my first attempt to put it to good use.

I had some different orbs on hand that were made from grapevines that I purchased on clearance last year.  Some have a touch of glitter that make them feel wintery.  I added a few pine cones and moss orbs I made to fill the bowl and I put it on the coffee table.  Next to it I stacked a few books and atop of them I placed a couple candlesticks and a small apothecary jar filled with acorns.  Again, bringing in more nature into the space.

On the mantle, I kept it very simple.  I repotted a left over evergreen from Christmas and added a small white sign I made.  It's a good reminder as we begin another new year.

I like the blanket ladder.  This is a new addition.  I think blankets just say warm and cozy, don't you?  I love this way to display them.  It adds vertical interest, color and texture to the long wall without hanging artwork.

On top of my armoire in the living room, I have added a bucket of cotton stems.  Cotton is harvested in late fall in the south, so it makes for a wonderful natural addition to winter decor.

In the sunroom just off the living room, I used gum balls to add a touch of nature.  I picked these up from the sidewalk while out on a walk last year, so they have had a year to dry out.  I simply put them in a berry dish and let a few spill over on the small platter the dish is resting on.

On my small entry table, I have an apothecary jar filled with twigs.   I cut the sticks into 4 inch lengths. These too have had a couple years to dry out.  I added some twigs I purchased from Pottery Barn's after Christmas clearance table a couple years ago.  The PB twigs have touches of crystalized "snow" on them.  Added to the natural twigs, it makes the jar even more wintery.  On the wall above the table, I placed two small fern wreaths I purchased from Magnolia Market on a couple of the mirrors.  Layering items adds a bit of interest, color and texture to an otherwise flat arrangement.

In the dining room, I really kept it simple.  I literally moved the rustic tray I had on my coffee table and put it in the middle of the dining room table.   But like I've said before, when we move things around and use them in different areas of the house, they can look fresh and new again.  This bowl of pinecones was used this fall, Christmas, and now through out the winter.

In the kitchen I added a touch of winter by again using cotton.  It's snowy white balls are about as close to snow as we will get in the south.  The milk bottle was purchased in a little antique shop in Wisconsin while visiting my sister this past fall.  It bears the name of the city it was purchased in.  With the red touches I have in my kitchen, I was immediately drawn to this sweet little gem.  I sat the grouping atop a metal tray I punched from Magnolia Market.  The tray helps to define the space.

So whether you dread the long cold winter in the north, or wish it could last a bit longer in the south, you can still enjoy the warmth nature can bring to your home during those months.  And hopefully it will help melt away your winter woes.