It's Thursday, April 2nd, springtime - and what's outside my window?  Gray skies - rain - ugh.  So, I'm sitting here working, torturing myself.  But more on that later.

Since Thursday's are the Style Source Fave posts, I thought I'd continue with the outdoor theme from last week: picnics.  Seems like a bad joke right now, considering the dismal weather here.  But it's nice to dream - dream about clear blue skies, warm moonlit nights, sultry, breezy days.

So, I started checking out  popular books on the subject - the ones that have beautiful photos of food, beautiful photos of outdoor settings, and good recipes as a bonus.  (I really wasn't all that interested in the recipes - just wanted to daydream over the photos.)

And I came up with three:  Festive Picnics by Pamela Sheldon Jones and Jennifer Barry, Picnics by Hilary Hemingway and Alex Hemingway, and Picnics: Easy Recipes for the Best Alfresco Foods by Robin Vitetta-Miller (thrown in for good measure for the recipes.)

 

OK - three lovely books, lovely photographs, lovely ideas.

But now to the torture bit:  scoping out the books - not enough.  Instead, how about closing your eyes and remembering:

 the best al fresco lunch - the most beautiful outdoor restaurant - the most delicious dinner under the stars - just drowning in the beauty of it all.  It's fabulous - until the eyes open -

desk piled high - phones ringing - server gods not smiling on your computers - rain falling...  Like I said, sometimes you just sit and torture yourself.

And to take it to the brink:  a video of one of my favorite spots on earth - the Isle of Capri - and the exquisite Grand Hotel Quisisana.

Bliss and Rapture: