Gardening!!!

Thyme, parsley and chives!

Cilantro (which it turns out is not a
great one for a pot), rosemary, and sage.

I've already enjoyed several of these artichokes! They were here when I moved in.

Strawberries, which are not doing terrific, but we've had a few tasty ones.

My gigantic tomatoes! Can't wait for these to get red and ready.

Squash and peppers.

My first cucumber is looking amazing.

Surprise cherry tree!

I love roses.

Working on the lawn, but I promise,
this is 10x better than it started. The
green (in 2 ways) bin you can see on
the left is the compost.

Lawn, part 2.

I love working outside in the yard. Raking, trimming, gardening, even weeding isn't too bad! Sure, sure, harvesting is my favorite just like anyone, but it's all a pretty good time. I love the instant gratification after a few hours work when you can see how much better everything looks as well as the feeling of accomplishment after working hard. LOVE IT. So, here's a little tour of my backyard at this point. Enjoy.

Art Attempt

I found this art book at the thrift store near my work.
I love impressionism, so...I got it!

It's full of prints so I thought I could use some of
them on the wall. Especially since some of the pages are loose.

John gave me these that he got from a guy he works with,
since he's an "artist." So, he gave them to me!

The plain white looked not so good on the light walls,
so I used some art chalks and did this. 

So, I got home from work a couple days ago and for some reason had lots of energy and I wanted to paint my bedroom. However, I don't have all the stuff I need, I didn't have time really, and I would have to move all the stuff out of my room or into the center. Instead, I racked my brain for some other way to make things look better. My first idea was shot down, for some reason my roommate didn't want me to spray paint the lamp shade from his childhood. Lame. Ha! So finally I decided to use the free mat board that he gave me and hang up a print in the living room. It's not the most amazing thing ever, but it definitely cheered the place up!

Kitchen helpers!

Before pictures!!!

Don't you love the yellow chairs?

I finally got to the kitchen cabinets this weekend! Yeah, and I even had my roommates Francis and Sal helping me out with the primer. John was nice enough to take pictures and Bryan contributed by going on a wine run to bring us a couple bottles of Cab! I was in the kitchen for about 12 hours on Saturday and almost that many on Monday (Sunday was a nice Girl's Day Out break). The cabinets are now painted, but I'm waiting for them to dry completely and paint the handles still. They didn't turn out as anticipated...Oops. The color on the swatch must have been too small to give a real idea of how it would look, but it's done and I'm not changing it. Stay tuned for "after" pictures later on!!

Help!!!!

Ok, so I found these on the side of the road yesterday across the street from my house with some other junk. So, I couldn't resist snatching them up! I assume that they were meant to be taken (I certainly hope so, anyway)... Anyway, I really want to hang them on the wall, but I can't decide exactly what to do with them.

Any ideas anyone??? I was thinking I could paint the glass, put a mirror behind them, or something else behind them (but what?). So, put your thinking caps on and help a girl out?

Progress-My New (ish) Bathroom!

So, I had the idea to paint my kitchen cabinets. I looked it up online for ideas...and that was my downfall. I totally went upgrade crazy! We now have new couches, a coffee table, I have a new bed, decor on the dining table and in the living room and, featured below, a freshly painted bathroom! And I still haven't gotten to those kitchen cabinets. Haha! Also, I have a new obsession with this blog. Enjoy.

It's a little brighter orange-y than I meant.

But SO MUCH nicer!

A view without my flash, ugh, back-lit

This is the picture on the wall I was trying to match for color.

Food Stuff

Making my potatoes

The Spread

Close-Up

Mini Cheese-cake Tarts!

Ok, so, the roommates and I decided last minute to have a BBQ a few weeks back. We made a strange assortment of stuff based on what we had laying around, such as this fried potato recipe. Mmm. Mostly a Mexican theme of Carne Asada, rice, beans, salsa, and guacamole. But my roommate made up a delicious recipe of sweet and spicy green beans that was A-MAZING (using maple syrup) that she came up with thanks to a Chinese restaurant that we went to in SF. The last picture is of some cheesecake citrus tarts that my little bro, Peter, and I made up for my sister's baby's blessing. The far left: dark chocolate orange, then strawberry lemon and lastly, cherry lime. They were delicious if I do say so myself. And obviously, I do. Any questions are welcome. Hahaha, yeah right!

Just some art

So, when I do art projects with the kids at work, I just take pictures of it so I can remember the project, but I don't have to keep a bunch of watercolor warped, glitter spreading, bulky creations forever. Here are some that I've done in the past.