For my birthday this year, a few girlfriends and I took a trip to the US Virgin Islands (St.Thomas and St. John). It was a wonderful time to relax and getaway, which gets my creative juices flowing. It’s amazing how a little time “off” makes my To Do List longer once I return, but I love that feeling of refreshed inspiration!
For this trip, we stayed at my Aunt and Uncle’s Home (available on VRBO if you’re headed that way).
It’s hard to beat waking up with a view of the ocean. And it’s even better eating meals on the porch with an ocean view (the above photo is the view from the back deck).
Driving in the US Virgin Islands is – challenging to say the least– with all the curvy road and steep hills and sharp turns – so we were glad to have our trusty Jeep Carol along for the ride.
On our first morning in St.Thomas, we brunched at Gladys’s Café. It’s a charming little place known for their hot sauce, which you can have shipped home.
Then we enjoyed duty-free shopping (not really my thing but the other girls enjoyed it).
For two days of the trip, we took the car ferry over to enjoy the beaches of St. John. While we were gone, Lubbock was getting pummeled by a snow storm, so we made a “sand man” in honor of our friends at home.
Can you see how amazingly clear the water is? Heaven I tell you, Heaven.
For our second day on the island of St. John, we visited Honeymoon Bay. It was a bit of a trek from the car to the actual beach (about a 10 minute hike), but when we arrived, our beach chairs and lockers were ready and waiting on us (totally recommend the pre-paid package, which also included the use of snorkeling gear and ocean kayaks).
I had never kayaked before, and calmly paddling through the crystal clear water, observing sea life below – I found my happy place.
I was so inspired by the colors I saw on this trip – the bright yellow of our Jeep, the deep fuschia of the Bougainvillea, the turquoise and sapphire blues of the ocean. Sometimes you can “see” colors in photos or on a color chart, but when you see them on a canvas that God painted, it’s SO much more impressive.
Check out these mailboxes – it was so interesting I had to pull over to get a photo!
And now for a dose of the inspiration: When we returned, I was working with a bride who was having a beach wedding. She had ordered something online but wasn’t happy with how they turned out (we hear this ALL the time), so she wanted to come up with a custom invitation design for her Big Day. The first thing that came to my mind was that gorgeous, tranquil water of St.John. So I proposed that we try an hombre effect using turquoise (the bride’s main wedding color). To further the beachy theme, I added a tiny starfish accent at the bottom. It was perfect, and she was thrilled with how the design turned out.
