Make An Easy Tabletop Fire Pit, Festive Birthday Dinner, And More

For my Five Faves with Annie and Cindy, I want to show you how to make an easy tabletop fire pit (the elements arrived the next day from Amazon) using a concrete look bowl, rocks, a small cement fire pit, and rubbing alcohol that we had on hand.

I also have the dinner menu for a friend’s 60th birthday that we had last weekend, a tv movie I enjoyed, my sister in a San Diego commercial, and more. So glad you are here!!

1. A Special Birthday Dinner

Our friends were visiting this past weekend to celebrate Bob’s 60th birthday. I set the table with these garden roses from Trader Joe’s.

Howard’s Festive Menu:

• Shrimp Cocktail
• Grilled Vegetables
• A Tomato, Cucumber, Onion Chopped Salad with Parsley and Cilantro (with a balsamic, olive oil vinaigrette)
• Sauteed Then Baked Crab Cakes With The Best Remoulade Sauce

A couple of days later, I put the leftover chopped salad into the food processor and we had a delicious cold gazpacho soup for lunch.

2. Extravagant Chocolate Cake

Bob loves chocolate and I had every intention of baking a cake until I saw this over-the-top chocolate cake on our local bakery’s website. This could be an inspiration for a homemade or bakery cake…just add pieces of favorite chocolate candy for an extravagant presentation.

3. My Sister And Her Dog In A Bank Commercial

A couple of San Diego readers have asked if my sister, Teresa is in a local commercial. The answer is yes! She is in the first shot and her dog (Chief’s brother) is in a later shot.

You may remember Teresa from My Sister Teresa’s Unpretentious But Spectacular Ageless Style.

4. Easy Tabletop Fire Pit To Add Cozy Warmth To Your Patio

When my friends Debbie and Jen were here, we relaxed in the Ladies’ Lounge (my upstairs screened deck). Debbie thought I should have a tabletop fire pit and sent me some Amazon links to make one.

By the way, have you visited my Amazon store?

1. Purchase a larger bowl (ours is from Amazon).
2. Place the marble base and small fire pit inside.
3. Surround with pebbles (I used white ones from our garden and a few shells that I collected on my beach walks). You could also use another type of rock such as river rocks, fire glass, or sand from one of the garden centers at home improvement stores.
4. Fill the canister leaving a half inch to the top with rubbing alcohol (we already had it on hand). Or you could use Bioethanol. They both burn without smoke.
5. Light the liquid with a long lighter.

We placed it on our outdoor patio table here for a quiet escape. Of course, we would put this in a different place with kids around.

That’s all there is to it for an easy tabletop fire bowl to give your outdoor space a little ambiance with a small flame.

5. What To Watch: “Faraway” on Netflix

This is a sweet, funny movie about a middle-aged woman who leaves her unappreciative family after inheriting a home in Croatia. It’s basically an escape to beautiful Croatia (mainly why I liked it)…not exactly the best storyline. They speak Turkish and Croatian (with subtitles) but English to communicate with each other. Note: I watched it by myself while Howard was watching sports.

Free TV Screensaver

Last week I mentioned how I found free screensavers on YouTube…and here’s how one looks in our living room.

Notice the fire in the fireplace is back since we’ve had a bit of a cold snap. This is unfortunate as our pool and landscaping are in but we still haven’t hopped in the pool.

Let’s see what Annie and Cindy’s Five Faves are this week:

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