Four Different Styles of Picnicking
There is nothing more fun or romantic than dining out of doors. There is that mystical sense of calm that seems to occur when you are relaxing at the beach on a warm summers day, in your garden or at an outdoor picnic concert. Turn off those phones, crank up some fine tunes and break out the food...
The Beach Picnic
If you are going to the beach, it must be hot. Be smart, bring a tent or an umbrella of some kind. It will keep you from getting sun stroke and you can always roll your body out for a few direct rays every once in a while. The Tiki Pop Up from the Hutshop is easy to put up, has its own wheeled bag and assembles in minutes. That tiki top is a flame resistant faux grass with wood looking steel poles. It looks cool, doesn’t it?
Are you always in a quandary when packing food for the beach? Most people end up unintentionally using sand as a condiment. To avoid that, bring easy to eat finger foods. Grapes and apples are perfect for munching. Southern fried chicken, sandwiches and cold salads in individual containers with lids work well.
The ‘Why Not?’ Picnic
Meet your sweetheart of friends for a lunch break. WHY NOT? Pack picnic hamper or backpack and take a break from your normal routine. Picnic baskets have become rather sophisticated. You can even buy one suited to the type of foods or drinks you most often pack.
Plan easy to eat food and don’t serve a five course meal unless you are going to set up for a while. Cheeses, crackers, fruits and raw cleaned veggies are a great start. For really easy sandwiches, especially with children or sloppy eaters aboard, try this:
Picnic Breads
Make or buy a pizza dough base. After it has risen, roll it out and cut it into 6″ circles by pressing the top of a large glass into the dough. Fill half of it with whatever you’d like:
- chopped ham with gruyere cheese
- mango chutney and a good Goat cheese
- diced veggies and a sharp cheddar.
- dampen the edges, fold in half and pinch the edges together. Brush with a beaten egg and let rise again.
- Bake it in a hot oven until golden brown.
These travel really well.
The ‘Let Someone Else Pamper You’ Picnic
Scott Dunn is a specialist in luxury planned holidays that can offer you and your family extraordinary vacations all over the world. If you want to dine outside in your own Villa in France or Tuscany, they will arrange it. If you want to picnic on a beach in Mozambique, no problem. Morocco, Abu Dhabi, the Caribbean…
Impromptu Style
Are you traveling a distance and just can’t seem to find someplace romantic to eat? Keep a picnic hamper in your trunk on those day trips. Find a store that might carry provisions that you’d like. Cheeses, breads, fruits and wine… Pack your picnic on the run and pull off the side of the road and find a spot to put your picnic blanket, eat, talk, doze and quite simple… live and love.
The season is upon us. If you have any recipes, suggestions or traditions or would even like to tell us what you do for your alfresco dining and picnics, leave it in the comments below. We can all use some ideas to make this season fun and enjoyable for all!
What DIDN’T Happened at the Brimfield Tweetup?
Our fellow tweeter and #Brimfield attendee @brucebarone, photographer, took some fantastic shots. www.brucebarone.com
If you are an interior designer, an antique hunter, a party person, a decorating nut AND you missed the May #Brimfield Tweetup … you missed a great time. But don’t fret- here is a beginning overview of what and who was there. Oh, and by the way, we are going to be doing it again!
Only problem? There wasn't enough time to shop #Brimfield! Photo thanks to Joanne Palmisano over at Salvage Secrets.com
A bunch of folks who tweet together, antique hunt together
Team Cucksey! photo by Bruce Barone www.brucebarone.com
If you don’t tweet, this might prove to you that you HAVE to get a twitter handle. Everyone who attended met because of tweeting. We went shopping at the Brimfield Antique Market, discussed how to repurpose our antique finds, learned from each other and found new friends for life.
Style at Home led by editor, Erin McLaughlin, did a live Facebook stream repurposing finds from Brimfield and connecting directly with their readers!
This Twitter thing is not about be a techie – it is about ENRICHING your life by finding really fabulous normal people with the same interest. Honestly, where would I have met the entire Style at Home Magazine team headed by the uber fabulous Erin McLaughlin; Cari Cucksey from her HGTV show, Cash & Cari and her amazing fiance/partner, Vince from HGTV’s Cash & Cari, Cortney & Bob Novogratz from HGTV’s Home By Novogratz that came up from New York JUST to engage with us (PS – the most fun folks in the world!)?
So the answer to my question – Where else could you have had this opportunity? Many places – but in this case through engaging in Twitter and attending a Twitter inspired event. Now, look – isn’t this worth looking into for yourself? Read – Twitter Lessons.
We are just gathering up our photos and blog posts so check back later this week for the full Brimfield report including sources!
#Brimfield Sponsor News:
Benjamin Moore announced their new metal paints and chalkboard colors!
Company C Fabrics gave a sneak peek into the their 2013 line and Spring color predictions! (you will LUV!)
Kathryn Markel’s, Debra Marcoux brought her amazing line of emerging modern artists’ work to the tent with a raffle to win a piece of original art
Warren Bobrow highlighted our drinks sponsors: Tenneyson Absinthe, Polar Seltzers, Bitter End Bitter, Rose Syrup NY
Shane Inman designed, implemented and created the most WONDERFUL ambiance of a tent
Style at Home Magazine’s White Cover next month will be picked by the voters from the #Brimfield Tweetup
Saturday at Brimfield Sponsor, Robert Allen Design, announced their GORGEOUS new line of fabrics
Blog posts to start with until our update!
Joanne Palmisano from Salvage Secrets
Wisteria Home – Betty Ann Shephard
Read More »
The Daily Basics, Fashion + Decor at the Brimfield Antique Fair TODAY!
Warren Bobrow, The Cockail Whisperer stocking the bar for the 2012 tweeters! Do you love our decor? By Shane Inman from The Inman Company.com
The Daily Basics and Fashon + Decor are hosting the ‘tent at the event’ at the May Brimfield Antique Fair again this year starting today, May 10th through May 12th.
What is Brimfield?
If you don’t know…. The Brimfield Antique Fair is held three times a year in the quaint New England village of Brimfield, Massachussets. During the rest of the year it is a sweet sleepy little town where if you blink twice, you’ll drive right through it. The fair is held on the property of a dozen privately owned properties (‘fields’) that sit smack next to each other on Route 20. The fields are packed with white tents filled with approximately 6,000 individual antique vendors . About 130,000 people visit each Brimfield week. The dates for the event, which is held during three separate weeks in the summer are; May 8 – 13, July 10- 15 and September 4 - 9.
Setting up! We will be doing a post next week on what the event looked like in full swing- check back!
Why & What is a Tweet Up
Basically – it’s a party. Our large VIP tent is reserved for anyone who is involved in Social Media. We are located on Mill Lane Road in Hertan’s Field on May 10 – 11 -12th. Join in if you are coming!
Twitter is a truly amazing avenue where you can meet others who have the same interests as you. A TweetUp is a party that gives those who tweet a chance to meet each other face to face and not just online. Our group is as diverse as can be but we all have the common interest of antiques, design and shopping. Our age group ranges from 35 to 70 and they all tweet! Our 80′ x 30′ tent has a lounge area, tables for people to eat and tweet and Brimfield oriented events and activities courtesy of our sponsors, Benjamin Moore, Company C, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts and Robert Allen Design. Our media sponsor is Style at Home magazine who is bringing their top team in from Toronto!
Celebrities!
Our celebrities are from the home design field on HGTV. – Cari Cucksey from Cash & Cari, Cortney & Bob Novogratz from Home by Novogratz and Emily Henderson from Secrets from a Stylist. Follow them on twitter during the next three days and see what we all are doing and finding at Brimfield! We will be posting great antique news, trends and information.
- If you are on Twitter and want to follow along, put up a column in your HootSuite or TweetDeck for #Brimfield.
- If you are or are NOT on Twitter, go to TwitterFall and put in #Brimfield on the left hand side under Search. You can watch what people are saying live from Brimfield. There will be links to click on to see what they are seeing.
Many of the people who are coming to the Brimfield Tweet up will be blogging about what they found and the event. We will be posting all about it next week in case you miss anything.
Cari Cucksey, 'Cash & Cari' - @caricucksey
Bob & Cortney Novogratz, ' Home by Novogratz' @thenovogratz
Emily Henderson, 'Secrets from a Stylist' @em_henderson
Read More »
Connecting Facebook & Pinterest
When looking for a way to link PINTEREST onto the THE DAILY BASICS’ Facebook page, we stumbled across a very cool app called Pinvolve. Wait until you see this.
- It links your latest Pins from your Pinterest board to a page linked on your Facebook page,
- Conversely you can pin your Facebook posts to your Pinterest boards.
There are a few more lovely Pinterest styled organizational pluses – when you check out the graphic below, you will see.
Read This Pinterest styled app for browsing Facebook from The Next Web.com to get a fuller idea about this new app. Pinvolve is free and there are a couple of paid upgrade levels available, but free is just fine.
Look below to get an idea of how it works. To try it out go to our Facebook page and click on the red P. While you are over there, we would love to invite you to ‘like’ us!
Read More »
Traveling By Train – in Style
The world of train travel today recalls a romantic age when the time spent traveling was as anticipated as the destination.
Step back into that world and rethink they way you plan a trip. Don’t just go to Venice. Go to London for a few days and hop on the Orient Express to Venice instead.
Is it costly? Yes, but of course. But if you are planning a trip abroad, it is not going to be cheap anyway. Is it worth it? It is a memory you will never forget. After all, how often do you really travel, not just vacation? Remember, life is a journey and you might as well do it in style!
The Venice Simplon-Orient Express -
Europe to Istanbul
Venice Simplon-Orient Express Train Signature Destinations/Departures |Venice | Vienna | Rome | Prague | Paris | London | Krakow | Istanbul | Budapes
One of the most famous luxury trains, The Orient Express utilizes their restored 1920′s vintage coaches and is the world’s most authentic luxury train of that time period. The legendary routes are the same as they were in their early 20th century heyday which includes the famous Paris to Istanbul run.
Each of the carriages has its own personal story, from transporting European royalty across the continent and being shot at during World War II, to being caught in a snow drift for 10 days and inspiring the events in Agatha Christie’s book Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery.
Click to see this delightful video on travel on the Orient Express.
The Maharajas’ Express -
India
The Maharajas' Express - four different journeys are offered
The latest journey offered by the Maharajas Express train, Royal Sojourn itinerary crisscross' across the golden triangle tour destinations Agra, Jaipur and Delhi along with halts at Kota and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan
The Maharajas’ Express was custom-built to be the most luxurious train in India offering state-of-the-art everything. All cabins have large windows, LCD televisions, wi-fi access, individual temperature control and full en-suite bathroom. There is one Presidential Suite which comprises a full train car—the largest suite available on any train in the world. The two elegantly decorated dining cars serve a choice of multi-course Indian and continental cuisine.
The four excursions on the Maharajas Express are; The Princely India, The Royal India and The Classical India and the Royal Sojourn..
The Pride of Africa
34 Days – Africa
The Pride of Africa - Sleeping Quarters
The Pride of Africa will give you extraordinary luxury as you view the wonder of Africa outside your window. The classic Edwardian styled coaches are fitted with every possible updated comfort.
The Pride of Africa, a 34 day adventure from one end of Africa to the other
From the Victoria Falls to the Ngorongoro Crater, you can see an Africa few will ever experience.
The 19th Century rail line was the dream of Cecil Rhodes. He never saw the project finished (there’s still a 500-mile gap in the rails even today), but this extraordinary feat of engineering and ingenuity takes you from Cape Town to Zambia where a private jet takes over and transports you to eight magnificent African locations and finally to a five star Lake Nassar cruise ship with the trip ending in Cairo. See route here.
The Royal Canadian Pacific
Canada
Royal Canadian Pacific Express Train
The Royal Canadian Pacific rail coaches were built between 1917 and 1931 and used as business and luxury travel cars for such dignitaries as Sir Winston Churchill, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip and John and Jacqueline Kennedy
The Royal Canadian Pacific continues to operate in the Canadian Rockies maintaining its status as a luxury rail experience pairing the rugged beauty of the scenery with regal elegance in travel. There are off train excursions that enrich the experience pointing out the heritage of the land, ecology and culture of the areas traveled.
This is considered a five star experience and it is easy to see why.
Other Train Excursions of Interest:
- Deccan Odyssey- India
- Danube Express - Lower Eastern Europe
- Flåm Railway – Norway
- El Transcantábrico - Spain
- The Blue Train – South Africa
- Rovos Rail’s Pride of Africa – Africa
- Royal Scotsman- Scotland
- Shangri-La Express- China
- Transibérien Golden Eagle- Russia – Goes through 7 time zones.
