shenanigans.

This weekend I...

- mastered the art of making my hair "big" and non-boring! Okay, "mastering" may be slightly overstating it. But I did it!

 An amazing car phone-pic (not to be confused with carphone pic...hahaha) for proof. I have decided I need an awesome new 'do (and have accordingly been pinning a million pictures of Zooey Deschanel and Alexis Bledel, my long-but-not-boring-brown-hair-and-bangs Hair Idols) and plan to make an appointment soon...but in the meantime, I was pretty pumped to re-discover how to curl my hair like this!


-"visited" lots of new friends' living rooms via Kelly's blog carnival! That was lots of fun and I got a bunch of inspiration and new ideas for my own house. Also...*ahem* not to brag or anything, but I was FIRST to link up with her! What are the odds?! I just happened to have my Reader open on the screen and noticed when she posted/opened up the linky thing...so I jumped over and linked up and was shocked to find myself being number ONE! I felt like I deserved a prize or something! I guess my prize was the 2000 or so people that have come over here via that link since then! Whew!

-made homemade laundry detergent for the first time! I used this recipe (upon the recommendation of several friends) and it was easy as pie (because I had Matt do all the grating, probably)! I've done 3 loads with it so far and I'm a big fan! The ingredients cost me about $16 and it should last a year, so...yeah. Winning.


-visited my town's first Farmers' Market of the season. It was fun and low-key, just the way I like it. There weren't many veggies yet (too early in the season? or was I too late in the day?), but I got a few soaps and some strawberry jam. And ate some cake.
 

And I listened to this bluegrass band.

-made the executive decision to refuse to spend the rest of the summer looking through teary eyes at my graveyard of a squash/zucchini garden. I dug them all up (and upon autopsy, discovered that they were being co-murdered by vine-boring worms. YECH!!) and bid them adieu. Then I engaged in a little retail therapy at Lowe's...

 ...and have since replanted that garden with okra and sweet potatoes. I've never grown either of those before, but why not? Can't let a whole summer and garden to go waste. I also rescued approximately one million plants from the clearance section. Did you know that Lowe's has a plant clearance section? It's amazing. I dream of it. Wanna know which plants they move back there? Ummm...the ones that have a few dying blooms that simply need to be pinched off? The ones that just need to be cleared away to make space for new displays of plants? The 'seasonal' ones (for instance, right after the 4th of July all of the red, white, and blue/purple pansies will be placed back there). Basically they are mostly perfectly fine, living, full-of-potential plants that they mark down to at LEAST 50% off (often as cheap as a QUARTER for a six-flat!!!)...and people like me come and gobble them up and do a happy little dance right there in the back. They also had lots of TREES at 50% off this weekend, which is why we now have an apricot tree planted in the backyard. Impulse shopping at its finest!

 But seriously-- are these petunias incredible or what??! And to think they'd been called not good enough and sent to the back...psh. I am happy to give them a home.

On a related note, we (and by 'we,' I mean 'Matt') dug a new bed along the length of the back of our house today. Because we are straight up OUT of plant real estate on the other 3 sides...and 5 free-standing beds...and I think I have a problem. But at least now I get to go back to the clearance rack and buy enough plants to fill this new bed (which is probably 20 feet by 3 feet...aka LOTS OF FLOWERS!!!)

-enjoyed Sunday brunch on the porch of a delicious French restaurant downtown. The weather was fantastic and extremely non-Georgia-in-June-like this weekend and best-yet, NO STUPID HOPPY BIRDS CAME TO ACT OBNOXIOUS ON THE PORCH (sorry, pet peeve)...so it was a delightful brunch.

 And after this ridiculous deliciousness, I had creme brulee. AKA I died and went to heaven...no picture, obviously, because that would have meant I had to stop stuffing my face long enough to pick up the phone. Not happening.

 -didn't actually do a whole lot of relaxing, but I'm not going to be too sad about that. In lieu of relaxation, there was productivity, a successful first Sunday in my church's new digs, lots of plant loving and time outside, time with my Mattie, and creme brulee. I'd be stupid to complain.


(Note: all pictures are courtesy of my phone. No time for the Big Girl Camera this weekend...plus my hands were usually covered in dirt. Or creme brulee. (Aren't I diverse?))