Weekend Recap

Hello, everyone.  Back at Monday, we are.  I can't complain too much, though.  The weekend didn't feel as though it flew by quite as fast as normal.  How that happened, I don't know!  Some highlights of the weekend include ::

• Friday night was strange but ended well - early to bed after a late dinner and good-hearted TV watching
• Saturday morning brought on raspberry dutch babies (above). They were heavenly, to say the least. We ate these, fought off an impending stomach ache and even managed to hand-wash our truck in the 100 degree heat (what were we thinking?)
• We're slowly working on a living room revamp - we've saved up for grown-up furniture and hope to buy some soon.  Meanwhile we've been making small changes to help us get there.  One of those small changes was hanging a mirror above our fireplace.  The other not-so-small change was buying a rug at 75% off!  That's right.  75%!
• Stevie finally finished obedience school! She passed with flying colors and I do believe we'll start to utilize our weekends for summer trips now that it's over and done with. Hoorah!
• Saturday night was spent hanging out with friends and heading to Zazoo's for our favorite bass player's new band's first show.  That's a mouthful.
• Sunday errands = tons of two buck Chuck and our Trader Joe's staples.  
• We were feeling in the organized kind of mood so we went through our old files and important things - of which I laughed, cried and questioned my priorities once upon a time :)
• Blueberry muffins, fresh-from-the-garden vegetables for dinner and...wait for it....wait for it.........a storm!  We haven't had rain in awhile, plus our yard dirt needed the rain SO bad in order to "settle".  Ahh...sweet relief.

As you can see, we have picked a lot of vegetables and fruit from the garden and it seems to be treating us well.  I'm looking forward to this week actually, 2 days to go and I'm celebrating the 4th and headed to Kentucky Lake!  Woo!  Hope you have great plans ahead for the holiday week/weekend and that the work week flies right on by! 

Thursday Leaves Me Feeling Random

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I imagine whoever's office this is, gets a lot done on any given day.  I'm getting inspired just looking at it.

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We have 5 VERY special guests coming to stay with us this weekend.  3 of those 5 guests include my favorite children! I can't wait to have them here in our house.  I think we'll even be making delicious pancakes.  So exciting!

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The mister and I have been talking all things gardening this past week.  Wouldn't it be cool to create a teepee out of bean stalks?  It's probably not going to turn out that way for us, but I like the option.

Even though this dress appears to be sold out, it doesn't mean I can't lust over it all the day long.  It's so pretty and perfect for life lately.  Speaking of life, lately...spring is in full effect around these parts.  My tulips have almost bloomed (hooray, successful planting! *pats self on back*), our magnolia tree has beautiful fuchsia blooms opening up, daffodils are everywhere on our road, a pear tree came to life overnight and since our windows are open, all we can hear are the birds chirping like crazy.  I love it.  

Speaking of spring, wouldn't this salad make for the perfect spring meal?  Not only is it healthy and satisfies a lot of food groups, it just looks so fresh and vibrant.  I think I need to eat it, ASAP!

What's inspiring you this week?  And how are your weeks going?  Today is shaping up to be a nice day.  I'm not at work, March Madness begins and I've got a golden opportunity to get the house ready for our visitors!  Happy Thursday, everyone!

Thursday's Randoms

How does your garden grow? Now that spring is inching closer, we're talking more and more about our soon-to-be vegetable garden.  Husband has it all planned out, to my delight, but I keep finding so many awesome ways to grow everything.  Our biggest problem will be keeping deer out of our stuff, not to mention the cat, dog and other animals wandering through.  But it's almost time to start! Via

Ever since I spotted these on pinterest last week, I've had an undeniable craving for them.  They look so perfect in every single bite.  How can one resist??  Via

Speaking of spring, this skirt would make a great addition to anyone's closet for the upcoming warm months!  I'm in love already.  Via

And wouldn't this necklace match perfectly with the warehouse skirt above? I do declare it would.  It would indeed.

I'm obviously in the bright-colored mood today, and when I spotted Essie's spring collection via Matchbook Magazine, my nails were all like, "hey, paint me that beautiful orange color at once!".  

The weather is warm today (70 and sunny!) and it's got me itching for sunshiny days ahead.  I hope you are getting a glimpse of spring this week as well!

Thursday's Randoms

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I've totally got Halloween spirit this year, thanks to the ability to really decorate.  I've already hung decorations  on the mantle and I can't wait to start scouring my options for the front porch.  I just need an endless supply of pumpkins so I can make these fanged guys.  They're too funny to not!

My goodness, I love this.

This coat rack is nothing short of awesome.  Isn't it amazing how something so abundant (or maybe not so these days) and natural could be transformed into something so extraordinary?  

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Sigh.  I want to go to there.  And stay.  For like, ever.  How do I make this happen?  It's so beautiful.

Well, it's official.  I've found a new coat to lust after this year.

Nan Lawson's mountain man has me in stitches.  I love every last bit of it - including that patch of chest hair peeking through!  So detailed!  I love her stuff, and every time I lay in bed I look over and see our portrait and smile.  She is too good, that Nan.

What's got you inspired today?

Enlightened!

It's another day with summery temps...so today's post is focused another thing that I love about summer - outdoor party lights!  I love going to garden areas that have twinkly lights strewn about...and I can't wait to string up tons of festive lights in our own yard/garden.

Hope the weather is nice where you are!

Images via here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here  

* This is the post that Blogger deleted during the bloggercompletebreakdown.  Just thought it might brighten up your Monday afternoon/evening - get it? Har har.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Since we're in the market for a house, the term "garden" has been used over and over and over.  One of our must-haves is a yard big enough to plant a vegetable garden in.  We're both overly excited of the prospects of being able to go out back to pick some herbs and veggies for dinner (which we realize will be far off, but it's still fun for us to envision) that we've taken the time to grow and care for.  But not only would I love to have a vegetable garden - I would love to have an abundance of plants and flowers growing everywhere!  The climate down there certainly is friendly enough for it.

Landscape artist Joseph Marek and his partner John Bernatz worked together to create this dreamy, small-scale garden in California ::

Roger Griffith's home a few hours outside of New York City offers an abundance of fruits, vegetables and flowers on his gorgeous property with a mountain view.  I'm totally saving both of these spaces as inspiration for us.  We've got a lot to learn but we are both 100% willing.

How many of you have gardens?  I know a lot of you do, which inspires me and gives me tons to look forward to.  I can't wait!

Gardens 1 & 2 via Martha Stewart

Mobile Garden

Imagine:

You're waiting for the train to arrive and you see this beautiful garden acting as a caboose?  Yes, please!  I can only imagine how much better my daily commute would be if I saw this every morning and evening. 

Sponsored and created by Noisivelvet, a Chicago-area non-profit that supports art and artists, the group has been given the green light from the CTA to add gardens to trains for at least 4 weeks.  They have the letter up on their Facebook page to prove it!  Go ahead, take a look on their website, join their Facebook group and get ready to see some awesomeness on the CTA!