Elephant Bento

This adorable little heart shaped bento was sent to me from a friend of mine, and I love it. The color is so cheerful and it has two removable compartments in it, or out of it... Thanks Jenn! She was kind enough to share a few other bento accessories to help along a budding bento maker :-)
I really like the little elephant theme, she also sent an elephant cutter, and food divider (baran) with elephants, I'll be able to use those in a little larger bento.

Oh and check out the lid, I almost forgot! In the little insert I have seasoned noodles topped with black sesame seeds, grape tomatoes, and a sprig of peppermint. The other side there is chicken sausages, that cute little elephant sauce container filled with extra sauce, kiwi, and carrots (I have to learn more of what to do with carrots).

We decided to play tourists in our own back yard. My daughter and I have the summer off and yesterday was the first all sunny day in awhile. Venice is about 20 minutes south of Sarasota, a drive we make often.

We got an early start to avoid the heat that was expected and the crowds that appear when the sun comes out. First stop the beach!

It was so calm, the Gulf was flat! Just a perfect, beautiful day here! I heard on the news the other day, that the beaches in our area has a 1% chance of getting any oil on shore. The bad news is down in the Keys there is an 80% chance. It's such a shame with all the marine life that is so active there.

The sand is a little darker in Venice from all the fossils that are found here.

After the beach we hit the shell shops and souvenir stores. Then we went the next street over where they have some thrift shops, and antique stores. I found a vintage lime and lemon squeezer, and a bag of cookie cutters and it had some jello molds with it. I also bought a vintage egg cup, I love findinng stuff like this. Reminds me of my childhood. We'll see what I can do with them.

We had fun in this quaint little town with Italian influence. They often have art festivals and the shark's tooth festival. (This is the area you find fossilized sharks teeth). I'll do a longer post on my Aqua Sunday blog soon.

Didn't mean to get off topic but the bento was perfect for this day!

Have a great Friday!