MAXI-MIZING SUMMER

Summer doesn't seem complete without sand and waves meeting exotic threads.  We're off to Santa Cruz Beach again tomorrow.  Alright -- it's not Fiji, and board shorts may be more appropriate.  Still, out come the ikat prints and ethnic beads.

I love to be surrounded by mementos from adventures.  The scarf I'm playing with came from a souk in Morocco -- one of my most magical trips ever.  (I completely understand how it inspired both Matisse and Yves Saint Laurent!)  The ladies there taught me how to wrap my hair Berber style.  Honestly, I looked like I could tell someone's fortune.  We came home with a trunk load of caftans, jewelry, slippers, not to mention a roomful of furniture for the riad of our dreams.

The turquoise flip flops were from the charming Bay Area peninsula of Tiburon.  We stumbled upon this pleasant town by the water soon after our expedition from the East. Even the maxi was from one of our first summers here on the West Coast.  The beaded cuff and bracelet fail to ignite my memory but local artisans somewhere must have crafted them.

All these summer reminiscences put a spring in my step.  How can one resist a little summer jig!

Have you experienced an extraordinary vacation that you still think about?