garden update

thanks to my best ma ma pal, i was just reminded that i haven't updated you guys on the garden in quite some time.

"ma ma weeks" just threw in the towel

after some crazy bug took over her squash.

oh "ma ma weeks", i am right there with you! i don't know how organic tomatoes are not $100 each. it is impossible to keep all the crazy tropical insects off them! i broke down early and bough some eco-chic spray, that didn't do anything! then i was over taken with assassin bugs. i was so scared of the little f'ers. they moved so fast and were aggressive and loved my tomato plant. after doing a bit of research turns out that they were actually helping me keep other bugs away, so i thank them for that, but i was so scared of them. mostly i was afraid the boy was going to get bit in the face, because that's how assassin bugs like to attack, and his face was always right up in my tomato plant. finally, one day i got brave and gangster. what i did to one of these guys looked like that scene from american history x. it was a great way to release some tension, but i might have gone a little over board to prove a point to the other assassin bugs that were watching. you know i was showing dominance over the garden.

none the less the tomato plant reached the end of it's harvest and died. over all it was a huge success. we ate about 20 tomatoes off the plant, so the $5 investment really paid off in the end. i learned some valuable gardening lessons and had some of the most delicious tomatoes ever.

it also gave me the confidence to try out some more gardening. i got into some peppers, pineapple, and strawberries as well. most recently i added some rosemary to my kitchen window sill.

growing what you eat has become something that will be apart of our family forever now. i realized how important it was to me that the boy know that strawberries come off a plant, and not out of a plastic container. i learned that i would rather use a little pesticide in my garden than deal with the preservatives that are covering the produce section at the store. most importantly i've learned a few things about myself:

i feel at peace when i am gardening.

i don't like wearing gloves

because i like to feel the dirt on my hands.

picking up worms with my bare hands

is worth it to see the excitement on the boys face.

20 days of praise: the hubs

i recently read about a woman who is doing a 365 day project on gratitude, here's her story:

365grateful.com from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.

i fell in love with her entire project and knew immediately that i had to do something like it. what better subject matter than the hubs. when it comes to mom blogs, the "hubs" are generally a side note, but in honor i father's day i will be featuring the "20 days of praise: a photo project on gratitude".

i invite and encourage you all to try a small gratitude project of your own. it has really opened my eyes to the small wonders. these are the 20 that i am most thankful for.

dearest hubs,

i love all the little

things you do.

love,

me

happy memorial day!

this morning i ....

...skipped exercising.

...got to go the memorial day brunch & browse garage sale all by myself.

...found the shirt of my dreams.

...ran into two of my favorite lake worth ladies, and also met some new friends (who you can find here and here).

i sure am one lucky lady. and hot damn i love lake worth. with an emphasis on hot...it's really hot today.

100th post!

yeah for my 100th post, well not this one, this is 101, but today's "10 things list" was number 100. i feel kind of accomplished.

oh and speaking of feeling accomplished, i finally made a page just for my photography. check it out!

i am going to go eat an entire bag of starburst with the hubs to celebrate.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. a visit from my best friend mary, she travels down here for work quite often and we are always lucky to have her stop by for dinner and a visit. not to mention that she has always been my inspiration to be a better cook, so i was super pumped that she was here to taste test my mango experiment.

2. mango turnovers! check out this recipe for and easy and delicious mango treat.

3. a play date with the burton ladies. i just love these girls! and we had delicious egg salad sandwiches and spicy pickles.

4. getting the dino print in the mail for the boy. thanks to jessica sutton for the great print.

5. surprises in the mail box from my dear agnes.

6. finishing the boys birthday party invites.

7. street dreams. this movie has been on the "need to watch" list for quite some time. after so much anticipation waiting for it to become available, the hubs finally gave in a bought it on amazon.

8. watching the joy in the boys eye during his first bounce house experience.

9. luchador's and air blocks.

10. three day weekends. birthday parties, bbq's, beach trips, and porch parties. ahhhh.

fort kit

went to a fun little ladies 2nd birthday party today. i got the idea for this fort kit here.

made the entire gift for under $15 out of vintage sheets, clips, suction cups, flash lights, and a sweet stuffed bunny. i sure hope she likes it, and invites us over to play in the fort.

mango turnovers...mmm

i have had these mangos for a while now and they were ripe and ready to go. i wasn't sure what i was going to do with them and then it hit me.... mango turnovers. they were delicious! here's how i did it:

ingredients:

2 ripe mangos

1 sheet of puff pastry

1 tbs. sugar

1/2 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 egg

1. in a small bowl mix shredded coconut and cream cheese together, set aside.

2. in a separate bowl mix diced mangos and sugar. roughly stir together and let sit refrigerated for atleast an hour.

3. cut pastry into 4 squares and fill with equal parts cream cheese mixture and mangos. fold and press edges with a fork. cover the turnover with an egg wash and garnish with more coconuts and sugar.

4. follow the baking instructions for the puff pastry. enjoy.

RAWRRRR!

my little boy is growing up so quickly. how about these amazing postcard invites? created by my favorite lady from birdlime, with a little help from my photography. i think that we should start doing more invite collaborations!

sea shell memories

i just received the most awesome surprise gift from my most favorite mom friends. when i saw the package in the mail box i got super excited but automatically assumed that it was something for the boy. but boy oh boy was i excited to get a little happy in the mail. all the kids (and all the hubs) collected sea shells during our recent trip to long boat key. i have been staring at the boys shell collection wondering what to do with it. (last night we used most of the shells to "beirut" a coiled up object in the tree to determine if it was a snake....it was.)

anyway....i am getting side tracked.

"mama weeks" made these adorable candles out of the shells her cuties collected. i just love them, and there is no way that i can bring myself to burn them. thank you so much, you are so clever.

hip hip horray....

(source)

happy birthday to my beautiful and talented sister haley! i love you and am so proud of the woman that you are becoming. you are a wonderful sister, an amazing friend, and a beautiful soul.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. getting my new mk watch sized so i can finally wear it.

2. a long over due water park play date.

3. the boy stealing mangos from the neighbors tree...i will continue to send him on covert missions for the rest of the summer.

4. some fantastic thrifty finds from vita nova, and an amazing $2 yard sale find.

5. my amazing new double whammy dress. i have been doing some research on fabric, trying to price out the best quality jersey so that i can make some of these for you guys! the first run is going to be all black.

6. a ton of fantastic homemade alfredo sauce. the hubs had a hankering for some yummy alfredo, so i combine a couple of recipes and oh boy was it amazing! and there was a ton of it so we have been eating it all week.

7. friday evening swimming with the ladies. there may have been spiked crystal light.

8. a long night of laughing till we cried with the hubs.

9. all my freshly repotted plants. finally separated my violets, repotted the plumeria, and made a beautiful arrangement of succulent clippings.

10. my super duper clean car. the hubs got freaky on the cars today, and boy do they look and smell amazing.

the hills are alive...

this is what i wish i was working on right now! i want to start a sfl flash mob club. who's in?

but really....the sound of music reference was to this project instead.

taking a pile of old un-loved sheets and making them into something magical.....you have to keep reading to find out!

thrifty finds.

this weeks thrifty finds come from that same amazing thrift store that the hubs found. if you are into old lady fashions like i am this is the place to be. here's what i got:

$3 for a set of two of the cutest and squishiest pillows. i just love this shade of mustard yellow, and our couches could use a little makeover. $0.50 for this vintage elastic belt, couldn't turn that down. and i have been wanting a pair of moccasins for as long as i can remember. found these for just $3 and by the looks of the soles they have never been worn. too bad i will probably have to wait a few months before i can wear them...it's too hot now.

for sale: the double whammy dress

ok, so it seems like a lot of you love this dress as much as i do. so i am thinking about making a few to sell. here's the question:

how much would you pay for

the double whammy dress?

double whammy

just finished this adorable little number....it's a skirt and a dress. i have been wearing it all day and have received so many compliments! it's my new favorite comfy and cute go to! hope you like it, let me know what you think!

i want that art.

(source)

RAWR JSGD! (that means "i love you jsgd" in dinosaur)

JSGD is a creative collaboration that focuses on branding, web design, and overall awesomeness. in their spare time they make these adorable prints which are available in all different colors and dinos (here). i am just in love with this print for the boys room - he just loves steggy.

you should check out jessica and her team. they are nice. and funny.

oh and did i mention daucus carota? this blog is as esthetically addictive as the rest of their work! check out their blog for a 20% off code for their etsy store! gotta love that!

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. while i know love bugs are a giant pain in the bumper.... the hubs and i couldn't help but laugh about them the entire drive to the west coast. we had to stop 3 times each way to remove the splattered on lovers from the windshield just so we could see.

2. an extra day at LBK. the hubs boss invited all the supervisors and families out a day early this year. what a great treat it was to have an extra day to relax at the beach.

3. watching the boy chase his best girlie friend around the beach for 4 days. he sure is smitten with that little lady.

4. one of the nights that we were gone the boy only slept for 4 hours - he woke up at 3 am and was ready to go for the day. now i am not saying that i couldn't live without that night, trust me...it was a tough one. that night made a few things very clear to the hubs and i: we are very lucky to have a child that rarely has sleeping issues, stick to the plan, and that in any time of trouble its always easier if we work as a team.

5. early morning kite flying will always be one of my favorite family activities.

6. all the great response from the mardi gras masks that we made for our friends. they were a huge hit at the party. what a huge pat on the back for me and the hubs.

7. getting dressed up for the awards dinner. we don't dress up much. we are a t-shirt family. but this annual event is our time to shine. haha i just love seeing the hubs all polished and this year he looked really good! and i got to wear a fancy new dress. did i mention that we didn't take any pictures while on vacation.

8. flip cup?

9. grind for life. i can't believe that we didn't know about this annual lake worth event sooner, but thanks to my friend "the mayor" we found out the day of and we were able to catch a few hours of it before the sky opened up for a much needed rain.

10. today's planned f.f.d. (family fun day) at the lake lytal water park. we love this place.

what happened to that "week without words"?

well for those of you who read frequently you know that when i do a "week with out words" i normally post a picture from every day that i am on hiatus. well, i'm sorry that this one was a bust. we are home now from the hubs annual work conference. most of the day has been spent cleaning and digging my way out from under a mountain of laundry.

we had an amazing time at the Long Boat Key Club, and can't wait to go back. i guess you could say that we had too much fun, so much that i didn't take a single picture. not even one. i think that there are some floating around out there from friends camera's that i am going to snag, but i was a very bad photographer/blogger for the past 4 days.

it was amazing seeing old friends, some of which these 4 days of the year are the only that i see them anymore, but it's always like we just picked up right were we left off. one of our best friends won the big time operator of the year / "cerebral assassin" award. we are so very proud of him. i also received an amazing michael khors watch as a "thank you from letting us work the shit out of your husband" gift from the hubs boss. it's to die for.

most of all it was just amazing to see the pride on the hubs face all week. pride for his team of managers, pride for his close friends winning highest honors, but mostly for the sheer pride of fatherhood. i tell him all the time what a great dad he is, but i think that when you are told for 4 days straight by all of your closest friends and co-workers and complete strangers it really hits you. and there is nothing better for this little lady that seeing a smile on her hubs face.

the last night there we had a little two much fun celebrating and we had to drive 4 hours home bright and early the next day with a car covered in love bugs and full of hangover.

{did i mention that super hubs came to my rescue}

{and packed the entire 5 bags of luggage}

{while i tried to not die. he's a keeper.}

this should sum it all up....

week without words

we are going to be at the hubs big work conference for the next 4 days, so there will not be a whole lot of words posted, but i promise there will be pictures. hope you enjoy this week without words.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

this weeks "10 things" list is going to be a little different in honor of mother's day.

today we are going to focus on

"10 mothers i couldn't live without this year"

1. well of corse i have to start with my mom. my mom has gone through a lot of changes this past year and she has done it with so much composure and grace. thank you for teaching me so much about independence and the importance and inner happiness.

2. my step mom has always been one of my best friends and she is always there for me in my times of melt down. she always knows exactly what to say and when to call. just wish she was closer so i could see her every day.

3. when the hubs and i were dating, he told me he always wanted to marry someone just like his mom. i can't lie, this scared me a little at first. 6 years have passed since he first mentioned that and now that i have the relationship with my mother in law that i do, i get it. i totally understand why he would want to marry someone just like his mother. she is a saint, a matriarch, an environmentalist, and an amazing friend and mother. what a compliment that the hubs choose me, that he thinks i am just like his mother.

4. my dear friend mary has always been the mother on the other end of the phone when i don't know what to do. she is a superior mother to two beautiful children. she is also full of information on everything from how to use breast milk storage bags to how to get the boy to eat his veggies. but my favorite this about this mama is that she constantly reminds me how important it is to take a few minutes for me.

5. brenda is a constant motivator. she is so driven to be a great mother, and she is doing one hell of a job. she is also an extremely talented crafter, designer, and seamstress. she's basically wonder woman. i am very lucky to have her as a friend.

6. a huge congrats to the newest mommy i know, kelly h. and it's such an honor to be the mom on the other end of her line. keep those calls coming, i will always be here for you when you need advice on a blow out diaper or just a mom friend. haha

7. kelly w. is not technically a mom, but as all stay at home mom's know, there is a lot of work that goes into it and this lady knows how to work it. kelly is the boys best friends nanny. that's confusing. haha. anyway, kelly is always more prepared and better planned that i could ever be. she keeps emergency toys in her car and another box of toys at her house. she is fun, cool, and crafty. most importantly when i need an outside perspective on how to deal with a 2 year old boy, she always has an innovative answer. thank you for constantly making my think outside the box.

8. carey is a west coast of fl friend. we met doing hair and make up for fashion shows and photo shoots. we had kids and never got to hang out as much as we wanted. but it has taken me moving across the state to really realize how much i wish that we were a bigger part of each others lives. we stay connected and share emails about our beautiful children. i just hope she knows how much i have always looked up to her.

9. for some blog lovin'... i have to give a huge shout out and thank you to dana over at made. she dedicates a month every year to all boy crafts. it's hard to find fresh ideas for boy crafts, and she constantly provides a forum for all of us.

10. last i would just like to give all the moms i know a big thank you. we are sisterhood that can't be broken. and at the drop of a cheerio i would be there for any one of you. everyone of you deserves to have a very special mother's day.

happy mother's day

today i am celebrating mother's day, i know it's a day early but the hubs has to work tomorrow. here's to flowers in the window, ballet class, laundry clean and folded (thanks to my boys) and an over due massage. happy mother's day.

the low anthem - love and alter

The Low Anthem - Love And Altar from HearYa.com on Vimeo.

this song has won my heart forever.

how wealthy are you?

"wealth consists

not in having great

possessions

but in having few wants."

-esther de waal

someone stole my strawberry.

surprisingly enough, it wasn't the boy. he loves the garden and listens very well about not picking things until they are ready. but i am missing a strawberry...must have been a little birdie. i keep a close count on the fruits of our labor, and it is great to see the strawberries growing and ripening, but it has become increasingly obvious that i need more than one strawberry plant to feed this family. this one a day production isn't cutting it. we currently all take a small bite of our homegrown fruit and pass to the next watering mouth. they are the most delicious berries. on a side note i think that the tomato plant has reached the end of it's life cycle. tomato productions has come to a screeching halt and the plant seems to be self destructing.

DIY: bath salts

alright guys! you ask for it, and here it is. the first of many "how to's" from turquoise violets.

remember the spontaneous 200+ giveaway that i did the other day? well this is the homemade gift that i made for the winner. bath salts are one of my favorite gifts to give. they say "i was thinking about you" in one of the best forms...relaxation. i decided on these for little ms humble bumble b, because there is no one i know that deserves a little relaxation more than this lady! she is one hard working momma!

so here it is.....

coffee & cinnamon bath salts

you will need:

epson salt

olive oil

ground coffee

cinnamon

double boiler (or crock pot)

coffee filter (optional)

jar for your finished salts

step 1:

measure how much salt you will need to fill your jar, i always use this same jar from michael's and i know it holds 2 cups of salt. next you will figure out the amount of oil that you will need. the way i do my measurements is always a 2:1 ratio (2 cups of salt:1 cup of oil). in a separate mason jar mix 1 cup oil, 1 tbsp of cround coffee and 1 tsp cinnamon.

step2:

time to set up your double boiler. i use a pot of boiling water and a mason jar. you could also use a small crock pot. bring enough water to cover your oil mixture to a low boil. place your mason jar into the boiling water. let the oil simmer for a few hours. stirring occasionally.

step 3:

once you are satisfied with the strength of the aroma remove jar from oil. be careful, it will be extremely hot. let the oil cool completely. i recommend letting it cool for at least a few hours, if it is still warm at all it will dissolve the salts. once the oil is completely cool pour over the salts.

note: this is the step where your optional coffee

filter will come in. i don't use the filtering method

because i like the added texture of the coffee

grinds. but if you would rather them gone you can

run the oil through a coffee filter, and then into

the salts.

step 4:

fold the oil and salt together gently and that's it, you are done. package however you please. i like to wrap mine with twine and attach a handmade tag. i usually use some recycled bit of the boys art. hope you enjoy these salts that can either be used for soaking in the tub, or in the shower as a scrub. (oh, i like that little poetic slogan....hahaha)

erin trumble photography: the burton's