oh happy day

As it turns out, the grass is often greener on the other side. Now that I've been on the other side of Mother's Day- the participating, tear-free side- I can conclusively report that it is just as great as I'd always hoped it would be. I think I'm still a little hesitant (jaded? bitter?) to get too SUPER enthused about the holiday...old habits die hard, I guess...but each passing day with my girl finds my heart healing just a little bit more, and I spent Mother's Day mainly just feeling incredibly thankful for the gift of her life, while praying and holding fast to hope for my friends who are still waiting in the trenches.

Anyway, enough musing- on with the pictures!

My parents came up for the weekend. We spent the majority of our time working in the yard (bless them, bless them), enjoying the sun, and introducing them to the wild world of Whole30 eating. Ha. They were actually pretty impressed by how good we ate!

We got a TON of stuff done in the yard (like two truck loads of mulch spread- I FINALLY HAVE REAL MULCH LIKE A GROWN UP!!!!!), but after quite a few hours in the hot sun, Little Bit needed a change of scenery. My dad decided to go out for Best Poppie of the Year and drove up to the corner market to purchase Millie her very first swimming pool! And needless to say...it was a big hit.

Hello, Mom's thumb!

 The water was freezing, but this girl couldn't have cared less. After she got over her initial confusion about what was going on, she fully embraced this outdoor bath party.

And I sat around for an hour squealing over how unbelievably adorable she is in her bathing suit and sun hat. Like, cuteness through the stratosphere.

And I also spent a lot of time playing paparazzi. Because cuteness like that demands to be documented...

...and immediately shared with the world. Don't worry, Matt was watching her while I mooned over her pictures.

At any rate, her first kiddie pool adventure was a smashing success and I anticipate many more afternoons and evenings by the pool with this one. Also, she has six more bathing suits, so...those things aren't just gonna wear themselves. Gotta get busy!

The sun wore her out and she woke up on Mother's Day in the happiest mood- ready to play in bed with her mama and indulge me with some selfies!

We made time for some photos before we went to church, because you only celebrate your first Mother's Day once. 

You wouldn't be remiss to oooh and ahhh over that lovely mulch under the camellia...

 I made my mom take some pictures with us because I've wanted a 'three generations' picture for a really long time, and this seemed like a good day to do it.

After a lovely morning at church and an abundance of lovely Mother's Day wishes, texts, and hugs, we headed to eat some Mexican on the porch. This is how Matt and Millie felt about it:

THIS IS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE PICTURE IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

 It works out well that Matt and I can't eat the rice and beans that come alongside our meals, because those just so happen to be some of Millie's favorite foods. This time, she invented a new way to eat rice. BLW for the win, yo. She's inventing new ways to get food in her mouth!

And in case you were wondering what she looks like after a delicious feast of rice, beans, and a banana...well, now you know.

And now you also know why we eat on the porch. And buy stock in Oxyclean. And tip well. 

It was a relaxing, productive, perfect weekend. My yard looks amazing now. My house is kind of a wreck. I cleaned rice out of Millie's ear in the bath tonight. I finished my most recent book and it was amaaazing and now maybe I'll be on a Tudor England kick instead of a WWII kick, who knows. My mom and I got pedicures and then I got ant bites on my toes to really class things up. I need to get ready for bed and work tomorrow, but I'm just soaking in the happy bliss of a weekend well spent.

I hope your weekend was also full of happiness and sunshine. For those of you who find Mother's Day to be a day of pain and loss, know that my heart and prayers are with you. I remember that pain well, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I hope that your redemption comes quickly.

yay, friends! and predictably, flowers.

We had an awesome weekend with friends. And not just any old friends- super exotic international friends!!! Dave and Natasha (and Sam and Rachel) came all the way from CANADA just to see us!! Okay, maybe not- maybe they are actually doing a two-week Southern U.S. road trip and we were merely one stop of many...but the fact remains that they came from Canada and stayed with us for two whole days!

Even though this is the first time we've ever met in 'real life,' it certainly didn't feel that way. I guess we're both pretty much the same way in real life that we are on our blogs and emails, so there weren't any surprises (like surprise, I'm actually a  60-year-old man!!! or surprise, I'm a serial killer!!...you know, like everyone warned you would happen if you met someone "from the internet"...) I had a great time introducing her (and her family!) to Athens, which mainly involved a lot of eating.

Sunday was rainy but not terribly cold, so we braved the elements and took a lovely stroll through the Botanical Gardens. If this discourages you from wanting to visit me now...it's understandable. But looking at flowers is seriously my favorite thing to do, especially with fellow flower-lovers, so bad weather be damned...we were going to the garden!!

Millie even seemed to enjoy it! Between the Ergo, Matt's rain jacket, and the umbrella...I don't think she even realized it was less-than-optimal weather conditions.

We had a lot of fun...who wants to come visit next? Maybe you'll get lucky and I won't drag you through a garden in the rain, but no promises.

Speaking of friends...

Last week, Millie's teachers reported that she and another little girl in her class have been spotted holding hands and babbling together lately!! This totally warmed my heart and made my day (just ask my coworkers, I couldn't stop talking about it)- so far Millie only really shows interest in me, Matt, and animals...I've been so excited for her to start making friends with other babies! I begged Millie's teachers to please text me pictures if she did anything adorable like hold hands with other babies, and I was only sliiiiightly excited to receive a long string of picture texts later that morning showing just that!! (Again, my deepest apologies to my coworkers who probably got really tired of hearing me squeal over these pictures...all day long...)

LOOK AT THAT HAND HOLDING!!!!!!!!

 Sorry for the obnoxious cropping of Millie's friend, but I don't know S's parents' policy on plastering their baby all over the internet, so I'll err on the side of not. Hopefully cute hand-holding is fair game, though.

We're both super cute! We should be friends!

Oh wait, excuse me? Did you just take my rattle? I'm not so sure about this friendship thing.

I really like Millie's girl, please face in that last picture. Hopefully she also shares smiles (and toys! and germs!) with her friends, too.

Do you remember last year when I talked about the tulips that popped up in my gardens and surprised me (because I'd forgotten I planted them)? (Yes, flowers again...sorry.) Well, they've done it again. Obviously I am the dumbest person alive when it comes to bulbs (or at least tulips)...I 100% thought that they were a one-and-done thing...that they wouldn't come back this year (unless I planted new ones, of course). But guess what!? I was wrong!!

Hey, where did these come from??

 Last year those tulips gave me such hope when they came up. They symbolized beauty rising from the ashes of the previous fall. And now here they are again. There were no ashes this fall. Just happiness. And now a little extra beauty piled on top of the happiness.

My little hope fulfilled sitting beside last year's symbols of hope. I don't even know what to make of it, but I sure am thankful.

a fabulous ordinary

Oh wow- apparently I'm a Sunday blogger now? Sunday only? Sheesh. Pull it together, Erika!

Last week was a really busy, fairly unremarkable week. I took shockingly few pictures to document it. And yet it was a good week. Work was crazy busy, but I come home to a sweet little nugget (who spent most of the week battling a stomach bug) and an incredibly awesome husband-daddy, and it makes it all worth it.

Milie still doesn't sleep in her crib much (not at all at night, occasionally for a nap), but it's our favorite place to set up her toys and plop her down for some independent playtime. She does a great job entertaining herself (well, with the help of her favorite toys) and I just love listening to her babble and giggle and play...and I love that I don't have to worry about Lola licking her incessantly the whole time. Most of the time I'm just doing other things there in her room, and over the weekend Millie discovered that she can keep better track of me (and/or Lola) if she pulls down the bumpers to peek out!

She thinks she's pretty smart stuff! And I like to hide down there so that when she pulls it down, she has something awesome to discover. This is probably the cutest game ever and makes me feel a lot better about the 2,000ish hours it took to sew those bumpers, ha. At least she's getting some entertainment from them!

Today the weather warmed up to the mid-70s and is sunny and perfect. Naturally, Matt and I wanted to spend the afternoon outside getting the yard and gardens ready for spring. It's hard to know what to do with Millie when we're outside- wearing her doesn't work because I can't bend over to pull weeds or dig or do whatever if she's on me (front or back)...she gets furious if she's sitting in her stroller but not going anywhere (no clue why)...she does pretty great sitting on a blanket in the grass, but our fire ant situation is NOT under control yet, so that makes me nervous to leave her there without sitting right next to her. Anyway, today I decided to turn our soft-sided wagon into the Millie Zone...it was perfect!

I could keep her in the shade and next to me, she was out of fire ant reach, she had all her stuff and didn't get grassy...it was great. Obviously this would not be great if she were mobile or could pull up, but for today...perfect.

Happy mama, happy baby. Sad weeds.

 We've been doing a lot of extra laundry this week, thanks to Millie's stomach bug. Luckily, she's a great helper when it comes time to fold. And having 'conversations' like this with her is pretty much the greatest thing ever. Her adorable babbling makes my heart explode.



I assure you that we actually do play sometimes (and not just plop her in the crib, or a wagon, or on a bed while I do chores)...those just weren't the things I happened to capture on camera this weekend, ha. 

I'm excited about the upcoming week. I should be significantly less overwhelmed at work, which means that hopefully I'll have more energy and excitement in the hours after work (and maybe I'll even blog or respond to my emails or something). The weather should be beautiful, which means a) MILLIE'S SPRING WARDROBE (like the little navy dress she wore today- RIDICULOUSLY CUTE) and b) we can enjoy the longer days by taking walks in the evening after dinner. We're having dinner with friends one night before small group, and our small group is just awesome this semester- it fills my heart with joy to meet and share and worship and pray with these friends. Oh, and a book I've been wanting to read finally came in at the library, so I'll have a new book to dive into.

It'll be a good week. An ordinary week, but that's what life is, right? It's mostly ordinary. I love my ordinary now. I love that I'm not just living for our next vacation or our next adventure or our next big thing- I love where we are right now, in the middle of March, in a normal work-week. My ordinary is pretty darn fabulous right now. I'll never stop being grateful for that.

dreaming big

A few unrelated thoughts for your Wednesday afternoon...

1. The other night I had this awesome dream (and here's where everyone stops reading because other people's dreams are never as exciting as they seem to think they are...) that I was a bridesmaid in a wedding. But that wasn't the awesome part. The awesome part was that our flower bouquets were MADE OUT OF COTTON CANDY. The cotton candy was all artsy and swirled to look like huge, beautiful hydrangeas. It was really stunning. And I spent the whole ceremony debating whether anyone would notice if I started eating my bouquet. I'm a classy 'maid like that!! Anyway, obviously this is a vision for the new business I should start, combining my love of flowers with my passion for cotton candy. But then I Googled it and someone is already doing this, so wah. I hate it when other people beat me to my greatest ideas.

2. This girl:                                      

                                   

I don't really have anything to add to this picture, other than omgiwanttoeatherup. Oh, and you know how last week I said I was looking forward to her learning to lift her arms up when she wanted to be picked up? She's starting to do it already!! And it's just as precious as I'd imagined.

3. We're trying to buy a new (to us) car. We finally know what we want (a Mazda5, preferably a 2010 or 2012) and are working on finding one and getting there to buy it before someone else does...which is what's been happening each time we find one so far. We're not in an actual rush or crisis, thankfully, so it's not that big a deal...but I'd like to be done already. Car shopping is NOT my favorite. Anyway, so last night Matt found the perfect one at the perfect price with the perfect mileage and the perfect color and had me all gung-ho about it...until he mentioned that the car is at a dealership in Connecticut. Ummm...yeah, no? We happen to live in, oh, Georgia. Approximately five billion miles away from Connecticut, a place that is probably buried under 25 feet of snow as we speak. But Matt has it in his head that he can just fly to CT on Sunday, catch a train to the town where the dealership is (like an hour from the airport), get the car, and drive it back on Monday (President's Day, a work holiday for him). He found cheap plane tickets and since the car is a few thousand less than similar cars are here...he thinks it's the best plan ever. I vote NO. So what I need is for some of you New Englandy people to speak up and tell me how much snow there is right now and how this is an insane plan that would never pan out. Plus, by the time he gets there, the car will probably be sold. 

I guess it must be a slow day/week/month...I have basically NOTHING worth talking about (that doesn't involve a certain tiny Nuglet...but surely folks get tired of hearing about her eventually). I guess this means that I should start working on my cotton candy flower business...that would definitely give me something to talk about!! Hope you're having a great week! 

weekend of the hibiscus

We kicked off the weekend by sharing some pretty exciting news. That was fun (slash terrifying)...and the rest of the weekend didn't disappoint, either.

In the space of a few days, all three of my hibiscus (hibiscuses? hibisci?) have BURST into bloom. I'm telling you, people. If you want a lot of gorgeous bang for your buck (and your climate supports them), get yourself a hibiscus or 10. 

I've forgotten the name of the variety of these two, but I love them. This is our third year with them. The blooms are HUGE and prolific. They only last about a day each (you can see the wilted ones that I haven't pinched off yet), but since there are so many, the net effect is that it is always beautiful once it starts blooming! And I'm serious, those blooms are roughly the size of a dinner plate.

This one is a Texas Star hibiscus- we planted it late last season, so this is the first time we've seen it bloom. The foliage is MUCH more sparse (and also got eaten UP by something...look at those poor leaves!!), but that doesn't seem to have bothered the blooms much! This morning was the first time we've seen the flowers- they're bright red and just lovely!!

On Saturday we embarked on a new adventure: stand up paddle boarding (apparently known as SUP to the cool kids who know what's up...wassup...HAHAHA I AM HILARIOUS). I'd been under the impression that this was a sport that only took place in oceans, and since Athens is short on oceans, I'd never considered giving it a try. A few weeks ago, though, some coworkers informed me that you can rent SUPs at a local lake/park (and by lake I mean "lake"...aka a glorified pond). I'm a big fan of any activity that can combine fun, exercise, the water, and getting tan.

We got to the park and signed up for our SUPs, but our reservation wouldn't be for another hour and a half. We decided to kill the time by taking a hike. This park has miles of shaded lakeside trails, so it was relatively comfortable conditions. I mean, we still sweated through our clothes in 4 minutes flat, but at least there wasn't direct sunlight blazing on us.

Three and a half miles of walking later, it was time to hit the lake. We had a quick tutorial on how to SUP and then we were on our way! It was surprisingly windy on the "lake," so we got quite the arm and back and core workout. It was really fun, but harder than I'd anticipated. I really don't know how you can do that in an ocean with waves!! The tiny "waves" created by canoes and fishing boats and wind were challenging enough! 

Despite the wind and water lapping on our feet, we still got super hot and sweaty. We stopped for a break to jump in the lake (RHYME!!!) and prove how brave we are. A lesser person would not risk their health in that water, I tell you...but I've already had giardia once (the best souvenir I got in Guatemala!! not...) and lived to tell the tale, so I think I'm pretty much invincible. And if you click on that link, I pity you. And I hope you're not eating right now.

Anyway, after jumping in, we decided to take our SUPing to the next level and do some yoga on our boards. We saw a class doing it...why not us? Sure, they had anchors for their SUPs and we didn't, but...I mean, we're really awesome at yoga because we've taken like 3 classes. Ha. We basically both 'mastered' a plank and a downward-facing dog and then cracked up at how dumb we looked and went back to just chilling. But it was pretty funny.

We paddled back and called our first SUP adventure a success. Then we hit the pool for the rest of the day, because after all that exercise...we really needed it.

It was a pretty great weekend and this week looks to be INSANE work-wise, so...I'm already ready for it to be next weekend. Yay.

another weekend of reading, sunning, and flowers.

Seriously. Monday again?

I brought myself a bouquet of flowers to work today. I'm hoping this will somehow bring me zen and peace all week long...??? And/or trick me into thinking I'm actually at home in my garden and not stuck in an office...???

Zinnias and lavender make a very fast and pretty bouquet!

It was a lovely weekend. There were lots of soccer games to be watched by the folks that care about such things, which meant I had plenty of time left to my own devices. Any guesses as to how I spend my free time in the summer?

Not shocking.

So I'm almost done with Book 3, and I am looooovvvviiiinnnnggggg the series. I never really doubted that I'd like them, but it's still nice to find myself enjoying every minute of reading instead of grudgingly getting through it just to please my friends. :) Plus, pool time? Books + pool = Erika's personal nirvana.

Based on Saturday morning (okay, early afternoon) attendance, it appears that everyone at the gym has given up on their fitness goals for the summer. I say that as thought I'm any different. The fact is, if and when I drag myself to the gym on a Saturday, I typically 'reward' myself for my awesome life choice by totally phoning it in (as Jillian would call it). I time it so that I get there right on the hour (any hour) so that a show will be starting on HGTV and then I just zone out on the elliptical until the show ends. No circuits. No weights. Mindless cardio and someone else's home renovation is what a Saturday workout is all about. And I would feel guilty except for it's gotta be better than no workout, right? Right. So.

Since there was not a single soul besides me in the ladies' fitness area, I finally had my long-awaited chance to take loads of (blurry) pictures and selfies. Since guys aren't allowed in the ladies' area, Matt has never seen it! He's had to imagine it based on my verbal description alone!! (There are lots of...umm...weight things...and like...ellipticals...and a line of these other thingies??) So now we've remedied that situation. Whew.

Due to the extremely unbearable heat and humidity all weekend, we only got in a few good hours in the yard. It was long enough, however, to plant a new raspberry plant. We've been loving our raspberries so much (we planted one in April), it seemed like the smart thing to do. Hopefully our raspberry yield will catch up with our blueberries and blackberries and then we will be the most antioxidantated (real word, promise) people on earth. 

And now it's back to work. And tearing through HP! Have a great Monday!

a particularly perfect weekend.

The weekend was summery perfection. It makes returning to work this morning particularly unappealing. But I have new lipstick, so that helps a little.

Not shockingly, I spent as much time as possible piddling around in my yard and flower beds.

Saturday morning's harvest that went directly into our bellies at breakfast. Aren't the golden tomatoes fun? I've never grown them before, but I was wooed by the fact that they're ready for harvest like two weeks earlier than my usual red varieties...and so they are! They taste yummy, too, and also their plants grow totally differently than what I'm used to, so it's been fun getting to watch them grow! And eat them, of course. Duh.

Dahlias DO NOT PLAY when it comes to being fabulous. I can't believe this is my first year planting them. Next year I'm going to plant like...a dozen.

We finally have enough variety in what's blooming to make some fun mixed bouquets!! Now the inside of my house looks happy, too!

On Sunday we dug up and replaced all of the pansies in the front bed with summer annuals (vinca). That meant Matt dug 72 holes and I filled them with 72 little plants. It wasn't really the afternoon of my lower back's dreams, but it needed to be done. And now our front bed looks way less depressing. Dozens of rotting pansies weren't really doing much for my front yard feng shui. I'll take pictures once the plants look a little less HI, I'M NEW HERE!!! 

Back to Saturday. After a morning in the yard, we did the Good Grownup Thing and went to the gym. Now that the college kids are (mostly) gone for the summer, the gym is gloriously empty and devoid of people doing annoying things. Also I can take pictures in the mirrors in the Ab Room without people seeing me and judging me.

Don't worry. Matt isn't napping. We'd just finished doing a lot of really painful planks. Promise.

After the gym, we spent a few hours recovering in and by the pool. That is perfection. If only every workout could be followed with a sunny and lazy afternoon at the pool.

Saturday night was Book Club!! In the last four months, Book Club has quickly become one of my favorite things to look forward to each month. This week we discussed The Rosie Project, which was universally loved. This month we're heading back to our young adult roots and reading The Program, which I'm really excited about!

I spent the wee hours of Saturday night/Sunday morning and late Sunday afternoon starting and finishing The Fault in our Stars. I know. It's embarrassing that I'm only now reading it, but better late than never, right? (says the girl who still hasn't attempted Harry Potter....) It was fabulous and heartbreaking. And now I am prepared to go see the movie with all of the other adults-who-love-YA-books.

That's pretty much it. Oh, I also spent a lot of time oooooohing and awwwwwing over pictures of my newest baby niece! She was born on Thursday and obviously is the cutest thing ever (I mean, equal to my other niece and nephew, of course). Now I just need a free weekend so that I can go meet her in person.

Yall watching The Bachelorette this season? I know I haven't talked about it much, but I'm faithfully watching! To be honest, I followed Reality Steve all through the 'off-season' (while they were actually filming), so I've been spoiled from the beginning. So all of my thoughts about things are tainted with knowing what happens, hence the radio silence. But I'm still enjoying the season and am SUPER GLAD that Bradley the Super Obnoxious Attention-Seeking Opera Singer is gone. Also I discovered that Sharleen, my favorite contestant from JP's season (and possibly favorite person on earth ever) has a new blog!! She does episode recaps (in addition to other stuff) and as you would suspect, they're thoughtful, insightful, and grammatically correct. In conclusion, I love Sharleen. So if you're a Bachelor(ette) fan, you should check that out.

Have a happy Monday!

pretty flowers, questionable outfits

I was going to have extra time to blog today. But then I spent my extra time roaming around my yard and admiring all the pretty flowers, so...now I have less time to blog than normal. Funny how that works. Flowers before bloggers. Or something?

But at least I have pictures of flowers! 

I planted four varieties of zinnias this year. Only ONE of them appear to be actually growing and blooming. I'm blaming the stupid late frost on this situation. But at least the zinnias that toughed it out are super pretty!

My pincushion flower(s?) (the purple ones in the background) gets bigger every year-- I love it! I just have to remember each spring to not toss it in the compost. When it starts growing it looks exactly like a weed. It has almost been weeded and killed by me for several years running. But once it starts blooming, it's beautiful and I remember that it isn't a weed.

We have several varieties of knockout roses, but this bush is my faaaaaavorite. I love how the blooms come out in perfect little bouquets. They look pink in this picture, but in real life they're much closer to red. The only sad thing is that they don't smell good (well, they don't smell bad, either...they just don't smell). My other knockouts smell amaaazing, but I don't think they're quite as pretty.

Then I took some selfies with the roses. Because of course.

I'm not entirely sure about my outfit today. I actually brought a change of clothes to work in case I decide I don't like it halfway through the day. I got these shorts a few weeks ago because I loved them in the dressing room. Since then, I've ironed them THREE TIMES, tried them on in my room a few times, and worn them zero times (oh, but of course I ripped the tags off). Until today. I just can't figure out what kind of top to wear with them? And I can't decide if I think they're flattering or if they make me look super huge. And also they get SUPER WRINKLY just by existing...please see: worn zero times, ironed THREE TIMES. Note: one of those times was with my flat iron, because I am crafty like that. If I hadn't taken the tags off, I'd probably return them, buttttt....since I'm stuck with them now, I'm finally trying to wear them. Also, they are insanely comfortable, so I've gotta give them credit there. We'll see how long they last. And also if my boss thinks they're work-appropriate, ha. Just taking all kinds of chances today.

And that's all I have time for. Flowers and outfits that are maybe a no. Have a happy weekend!

PS. I noticed after publishing that today is Show us Your Garden at Kelly's Korner! What a great linkup! If I'd known in advance, I would have taken some less crappy pictures with a better camera, but...oh well. If you're visiting from KK, hi! For more (mostly bad, but enthusiastic!) pictures and musings about my veggies, flowers, and gardening in general, go here!

the gardening tip that will change your life

 It's time for the new edition of Semi-Useful Gardening Advice from Erika. YAAAAAAY! I can hear the enthusiastic cheering all the way over here. Thanks for being so excited.

No, but really. This one is going to be the most useful, practical, no-fail bit of information that you didn't know you needed to know...just wait. Your mind is about to be blown. 

For starters, all you need is a glass. Or cup. Or anything cylindrical that can hold water. An old spaghetti jar. Whatever. You will also need some water. Tap water is fine. And lastly, you need a windowsill. Preferably one that isn't the same height as your kid or your dog or anything else that might be inclined to knock water-filled glasses onto the floor.

Got it? Now we're ready.

Green onions.

I know. Not very exciting. I'm not really a huge fan, but they're the kind of thing that show up in loads of recipes. I don't hate them or anything, I just feel very...neutral. I don't think they're particularly nutrient-packed, nor are they unhealthy. They're not gross. But they're not really great, either. They're just there. But sometimes they do add a particular bite to a recipe, and so they're the kind of thing I find myself buying at the store a few times a month. They're not expensive, so like...why not. I just like to follow recipes. The less thinking, the better. So if it calls for green onions, I buy green onions.

But one day, my friend Cat showed me something that blew my mind. And I'm about to show you. And then you can drastically reduce your green onion purchasing at the store. I mean, this could save you like...I dunno, five dollars a year? Eight, if you're a heavy onion eater? THAT'S A CUP OF COFFEE (or two!), YO. 

Next time you use green onions, don't throw the bottoms (the white parts) away. Get your glass, your water, and your windowsill, and do this:

This was Sunday afternoon.

And then, sit back. Do nothing. And keep an eye on them. Because SOON, it will look like THIS!

This is Thursday evening.

Did you see it?? New growth!! At the top!! Fresh green onions growing out of the old green onions!! It's like magic! And also, the water has become cloudy. That's kinda gross, so don't think about it. Just look at the new onions!!!

That's like an inch or two of new, edible growth on each onion! So if I had a recipe today that needed a few tablespoons of chopped green onions...well then, there they are. No trip to the store required. No dollar spent. Heck yeah.

And even though I don't really care for the onions, I must say-- I think it's really fun to watch them grow. They grow FAST! Oftentimes I have to give them a 'haircut' because they're just too out of control on the windowsill and they're crashing into the blinds and causing all kinds of chaos. This green-onion-in-water thing is probably the most instantly gratifying 'gardening' I've ever done...I mean, they grow so quickly you can practically WATCH it. You'll see noticeable growth from morning to night. It's really quite entertaining (if you're as easily entertained as me). I bet if you have a kid, they'd be really amused too. So...fun for the whole family! Who needs Disney World?? 

I've been growing our onions like this off and on for a few years now. You can get probably 4-6 weeks of re-growing out of them before they just peter out and quit trying. And then you can toss them and get new ones. The fun never stops. And as a bonus, when people come to your house, they'll be like are those...onions? Growing in water? And then you can feel really smart and earthy when you explain how it goes.

So there ya go. The one gardening thing I'm confident everyone can master. Just don't forget to refill the water. It does evaporate, and that leads to a swift onion death. So keep it topped off. And you can change it when it gets murky so that you don't look like a gross person with gross onion water in her kitchen. And...that's about it. I hope this changes your life like it changed mine. 

Have a great weekend!

flowers and books. again!

It was a great weekend, but somehow I managed to take exactly ZERO pictures of it. Oops. I guess nothing was particularly photo-worthy. Or I'm really lazy. Or something.

I spent most of the weekend daylight hours working in the yard. SHOCKING, yes? As a reward for my efforts, I have really bizarre tank top tan lines, insanely itchy eyes (and arms...my arms don't appreciate me touching azaleas or being in close proximity to poison ivy), and my yard looks super fabulous. Which will last approximately 14 seconds before the dandelions are 11 feet tall again and you can't tell I did a thing. Oh well. Garden-wise, things are moving along nicely. Our strawberries are ripe for the picking. The asparagus is doing well. The kale continues to be out of control (in a good way, if you like eating kale, which I do). The tomatoes (that didn't die in the late frost) are growing big and bushy and starting to flower and show the first little tomatoes! Herbs are growing. In all, things are moving right along and I look forward to harvesting lots of tomatoes and peppers in the next month or so!

Flower-wise, things are also looking good!! Nothing makes me happier than seeing the first blooms appear and seeing the dormant perennials spring back to life. I showed this little collage on Instagram last week, but it bears repeating. Right now most of the blooming flowers are purple and they make me really happy!!

Saturday night was Book Club! We have yet to come up with a better, cuter, and catchier name for ourselves, but that's okay. We still have awesome food and conversation, so I think that's more important. This is our third meeting (second book discussion) and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite things to look forward to each month!! We read and discussed This is Where I Leave You this month.

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We all found the book to be extremely hilarious and also extremely offensive. Luckily, we still had plenty to discuss. Much laughter was had by all. Despite its R-rated-ness, the book had some interesting themes, characters, and situations, so I can see why so many book clubs enjoy discussing it. But if your book club (or you) is opposed to being scandalized and reading things you can never un-see, so to speak...you should probably skip this one. At any rate, we had a great time hanging out, AND we picked a sure-fire home run for our next book!

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I read The Rosie Project a few weeks ago and loooooove love love loved it. I loved it. Do you get that? Love. It was one of the most fun and engaging books I've read in a long time, but not just complete fluff. There were also things deep enough to warrant discussing and dissecting. I've been dying to have friends read it so that we can chat and laugh about it together, so I was glad it didn't take much arm-twisting to get the girls to agree to read it for next month!! It's taking a lot of self-control for me to not just immediately re-read it now. I'm trying to wait a few weeks so it'll be fresher for our meeting. At any rate, it's only $1.99 on Kindle, so if you're looking for a delightful read, this is my recommendation for you. It's definitely 'light' enough to be a great beach read, there is pretty much nothing offensive about it, and you will seriously laugh out loud about fifty times and see the world a different way when you're done. 

I was lurking (the online equivalent of eavesdropping, I think?) in a conversation about quitting books the other day. Do you ever just stop reading a book? Or are you the type that totally commits and finishes even if you're hating it? I think I used to be more of the second type...but now I'm more firmly in the first category. There are too many books to be read to waste time on one I hate (or am bored with). I try to give them a solid chance...50 or 100 pages, maybe? But if you can't capture my attention in that amount of time, I just don't feel the need to stay committed. Sometimes, if I hear from enough people (or someone that knows me well and I trust their book judgment) I'll give it longer...last month Colleen specifically said that Red Rising really started getting good around page 125 so I should stick with at least til then. I appreciated that and she was right-- I probably would have quit if I didn't know I needed to hang in there til 125, but after that point I started loving it. (PS. When I just looked up Red Rising to get that link, I noticed that IT is only $1.99 on Kindle today also!! That is definitely a deal- it's usually in the $10 range. So just FYI, if you're in the mood for dystopia...hit that up!)

The book that first comes to mind when I think about quitting books is Anna Karenina. I have probably read 100 pages of that book three different times. I really want to read it. I want to care enough to keep going. And I just....don't. It's torture. And I'm not anti-Russian-books. I've made it through plenty of other hefty Russian novels that would make a high schooler weep. But I just can't get into AK. Matt read it earlier this year (it took him like 3 months) and I'm pretty sure he did it just to make me mad. Or something. But he finished. But I just can't bring myself to start it again. So long. So boring. So can't keep up with their names. 

Anyway, that said...just curious about how long other people give a book before quitting it (if you quit books at all). Also, do you judge books by their covers? I'll be the first to admit that I definitely do and it rarely leads me astray. So take that, stupid metaphor. You can learn a LOT about a book by its cover.

For instance, I bet that if I'd chosen this alternate cover image to show when I talked about The Rosie Project, you'd be much less interested in actually reading it:

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Or maybe not. Maybe you're more openminded than me. But I probably never would have read it if I'd only seen this cover. And I would have missed out. So...good call on the cover redesign, whoever made that call!
Hope your week is off to a great start!! And if it isn't...just read a book or something.

playing games & being irrationally angry at the wind

I used to have a life. And like...hobbies. Interests. 

And now there's only this:

Game still in progress...obviously.

Good grief. It's a good thing I never tried drugs. I'm sure I would have been hopelessly addicted after the first hit. Luckily, my drug is a phone game that I make myself feel better by calling it a 'math game.' I mean, I do feel like there are some kind of life skills or lessons embedded inside this ridiculously addictive game. Umm...finding patterns and formulas? Can we make some kind of good self-help metaphor out of the way that it took me days to even get up to 10,000, but once I did, now I can get to 10,000 basically on auto-pilot and now my new goal (besides getting to 2048, of course) is 15,000 (oops, just got there!) 20,000?

Actually my best accomplishment so far has been convincing Matt to download and start playing the game with me. And by 'with me,' obviously I just mean 'near me,' since it's only a one-person game. But now I feel way less guilty for zoning out on my phone screen for hours on end because now he understands why! So...a big win for 2048 evangelism! 

Anyways. In between sliding numbered tiles around, I've managed to accomplish a few other things in the past few days.

For one, I made this pizza last night. And it was awesome.

 Yeah. That'd be about a pizza completely covered in asparagus and tomatoes. And it was delightful. And now it's all gone. Oops.

I had a visitor hop by the (interior) window in front of my office and scare me half to death yesterday afternoon.

Yeah. You have a huge creepy bunny hop pop up out of nowhere in front of your face and tell me you don't have a heart attack. But it was pretty hilarious. And then we spent a good while plotting tricks on other coworkers and spreading the joy of being scared to death. It was great.

I'm trying to focus on these fun experiences to detract from the abject tragedy that's occurred over the last two nights. The dreaded late season frost. I'mma punch a meteorologist, I tell ya.

Tuesday night found us gathering up every last sheet in the house and trying to tuck in all of our cold-sensitive veggies and flowers. I told them to be strong. To picture warm beaches and the bright sunshine. Just ignore the frigid air!! It'll be gone before you know it!

I should have warned them about the STUPID FREAKING WIND.

I mean, we weighted down the sides of the sheets with rocks, flower pots, and other random heavy things, but apparently we were no match for the Arctic winds. The wind laughed at our weak attempt to cover up the kale and tomato garden and then hatefully tossed the sheet to the side and MURDERED MY TOMATOES. Stupid hateful wind. Obviously the wind isn't trying to eat healthy this summer.

So this is what 6 of our tomato plants look like. One of them in that garden survived (because the sheet ended up landing on top of it). We had a few more in pots that we'd moved to the garage, so they're fine. But most of them are a loss. Boooooo. Oh well. We'll replant. 

The beautiful new dahlias we planted SATURDAY look a little scary...I'm hoping maybe it'll just be a loss of the current blooms but that maybe they'll rebloom? Same with lots of the other flowering plants-- even though they stayed covered and didn't actually get frost on them, the temperature was still low enough to shock them and make them look really sad. Ugh. We covered again last night, even though it didn't get quite as cold...I didn't have a chance to look at everything too closely this morning to see how they fared.

Even though I'm sad, I'm trying to keep a little perspective. I'm a hobby gardener at best. If my tomatoes don't grow this summer...well, oh well. I'll buy them at the store. There are tons of real farmers in our area and state that stand to lose their livelihood and income this year over a late frost like this. So...perspective.

Also, I finally got to 15,000 on 2048. So life isn't all bad. Perspective!