Yet, there are so many places I’d love to venture to when the opportunity presents itself again, but one place I’ve been eyeing lately is the Caribbean.

So as they say, if you can’t get there, bring it home?

Luckily my home has a beach nearby and my craft closet is no stranger to taking inspiration from the enviable lives of islanders, basking in the the warmth of open air living, rattan filled furnishes, pineapple silhouettes and anything and everything possibly adorned with seashells of all sorts and sizes.

I was just excited to use my new bamboo flatware set, scalloped baking shells, and block print tablecloth from the most befitting queen of island style herself, Amanda Lindroth. Her airy coral linen was the perfect backdrop to set a table embracing all the fruits resembling island life I could muster in southern California such as mango, pineapple, banana, papaya, dragon fruit and tangelo minneola.

I displayed some of the fruit half open to add some color and texture, along with woven textiles and colorful glassware. The drink umbrellas felt like a no brainier, as unrelated to the Caribbean as they likely are but I loved the color and true vacation spirit they embody!

I set each glass ready with a grapefruit flavored welcome shot to get things going and my husband picked up takeout from Cha Cha Chicken, a delicious local Caribbean inspired spot with the best coconut chicken and potato croquettes!

With some Caribbean jazz tunes playing {ironically my husband’s favorite kind of music} and a pink sunset in full swing we chomped and cheered the evening away before packing up when the cool ocean breeze reminded us we are not in fact on the balmy beaches on Anguilla or St. Barths.

However, for a forever place to be, this one still feels pretty damn good to me.