Greenery

It's funny that I enjoy plants now.  As a child I couldn't stand them.  My mother had and still has a ton of them and they were always blocking the windows.  However, things have changed and I grew to appreciate them.   This is one of the "mini-gardens" in her place.

I love this space and look to it for inspiration.  One of the things I didn't inherit was my mother's green thumb.   It's crazy but I even manage to kill succulents, which is supposed to be one of the easiest type of plants to maintain.  I have about 7 plants and they have been the lucky bunch that have survived living with me.   They are mostly tropical plants and I have found that putting them outside until the temperature dips helps to rejuvenate them.  One plus for our yucky east coast heat and humidity!  I water them every few days or so, weather depending.  

I wish I had taken before shots, so you could see how they looked before.  I will probably be adding two more plants soon, a snake plant and something else that's hard to kill! 

Do you guys have any tips to share?

Making time for my girl

So the baby is finally here and.....It's a boy!!!!  Its been about a month since my last post as I have been quite busy with the  kids.  Anyway, I have learned a few tricks along these last few weeks which I will discuss in another post.  One of them has been learning how to squeeze in some much needed one on one time with my 21-month old daughter.  She is definitely in toddlerhood and although she loves her brother and is learning how to be patient, she needs her Mommy time.  So whenever I can, I try to give her my undivided attention.

Some days its impossible, and she makes do.  Today it was playing out in the backyard and a few days ago, we managed to make cookies.  The fun thing about toddlers is they enjoy doing pretty much anything.  So I do manage to get some chores done, although they take forever with my "Little Helper!"  And she loves, loves, loves going for walks.  Today, we played with her toys and then attempted to re-pot some plants.  She was scared of the earth, so I ended up repotting by myself. The gloves were a hit though!

It has definitely been more difficult to get acclimated to life with a new baby this time, but slowly, make that very slowly, we are getting there.

Do you have any tips to share?

Home again

We have finally returned from our trip and like always, its bittersweet.  I love California!  Its beautiful, its laid back and the light there is unlike anywhere else I've been, not to mention, I will thoroughly miss my family.  However, its so nice to be back in my own home and easing back into our routine.

I didn't have a good internet connection while there, so I decided to forgo adding looking for a wifi spot to my daily activities and skipped blogging while there.
This trip was quite a different one for me, which I will go into further detail in another post.  I don't like to be on a schedule per say, but I do make a list of things I'd like to do when I vacation.  That way I can usually get to most of them, as I please but also have chill days.  What I noticed to be a recurring theme on my list was choosing outings which allowed us to take advantage of California's greatest resource....the outdoors.

One of the places we visited was Muir Woods National Monument.

Oh my, it was majestic!.  The forest is located in Mill Valley (right outside of San Francisco) and is full of beautiful, huge redwoods.  They have several hikes you can take, which vary in intensity and length and can show you such locales as the coast.  We decided to take a short one hour hike through the forest.

I took photos, which as hard as I try, can't grasp the true beauty there.  Maybe its because while hiking you are inhaling the fresh, crisp air, and enjoying the forest sounds, which without sounding too crazy are intoxicating.  While walking we came across a sign that had this written on it:

In every walk with nature,

   one receives far more

      than one seeks.

                    -John Muir

This said it all for me!  If you are in the area, definitely check it out....

I'm going, going, back, back to Cali, Cali

After a 3 hour delay, a wonderful flight on Virgin America,  and some scary turbulence, I am so thrilled to be back out in California!  I have been coming out here annually since I was 6 years old and even lived out here for most of high school.  Last year, since I was pregnant I didn't want to travel quite so far, so we skipped the trip and I missed it.  I usually go straight to the Bay Area, but this year I decided to hang out in the LA area.
First off, let me say, there is nothing like the beautiful light from the sun in California.  The weather is gorgeous, its been about 80 degrees and sunny, most of the time.  I have been here countless times so I don't have any major plans I just kind of wanted to go with the flow and experience SoCal as a grown up.
Our first outing was to Venice Beach.  I remember going as a child and enjoyed swimming and buying little trinkets along the walking path.  It was nice to take my son to see the local artisans,  the skate park and allow him to pick out some trinkets..he's loves tchotchkes!
It was nice experiencing Venice as an adult.  I love the aesthetic there.  The colorful homes, the murals and all of the succulents, they literally are everywhere.  I know that LA is truly in a valley and that there are deserts surrounding the area, but it wasn't until this trip and seeing all of the native cacti and succulents  that it became official in my mind.  We checked out the canal, which I had never seen in person and accidentally interrupted a scene they were filming for Californication.
We ended the day with my favorite fast food burger joint in Cali...In and Out burger!

Spring is in the air

Spring has officially sprung!  I am so happy, I only enjoy the cold months for a short time.  Every year its like I am rejuvenated by May.  The older I get, the more apparent that feeling is.  I definitely get that Spring cleaning jones.
So far, I have redecorated my living room and cleared my son's closet of outgrown clothes/shoes.  I still need to sort through the attic and clean out my filing cabinet.  Those projects are daunting, so I moved on to something fun, repotting my plants!
I ran out and grabbed some clay pots, plastic trays and some organic potting soil.  We had beautiful weather last week, so I put my Lana Del Rey playlist on Pandora, threw Mena in her walker (which she loved) and got to work outside on the back deck.
I repotted my house plants and bought some parsley, jalapeno peppers and strawberries and potted those also.  A friend mentioned the strawberries would do better in a different planter, so I've got a project planned for next weekend.

Has Spring brought about any changes for you guys?  Are you growing any herbs/veggies/fruit?