I'm currently loving this magazine.
In some fantasy of mine, we bail on urban living and move to New England (or some other rural spot) to farm. Of course a good number of urbanites have the same fantasy these days, so I suppose I'm not so unique.
Anyhow...I've enjoyed every issue of the magazine so far. Hopefully it survives and thrives.
Another super cool thing from our trip to Longwood Gardens - a living wall. I continue to be fascinated by these.
This little tree was at Longwood Gardens right before Christmas. It might still be there, but I'm sure everything has been eaten off of it! I love this idea and think it would be a great activity for your own yard or for a school activity. Longwood has a guide to making your own decorations for a tree.
Take a peak at the chubbiest squirrel ever, although he looks much slimmer in this picture than he did up close and personal.
Once again, I'm such a sucker for packaging, but I thought these were the coolest seed packages I'd seen in awhile. Not to mention that their mission is impressive as well. I bought these at the New York Botanical Garden store.
I even checked out their site to see if you could order them in poster-size. They're gorgeous and I'm hoping the plants they produce are too!
Good news about my Magnolia Tree - it survived all the snow! It's still pretty small, but I'm fine with that.
Note my very attractive cat/squirrel proofing chicken wire around the base of the tree. Very classy. I actually removed that today and transplanted some Sweet Woodruff from the back garden to grow under the tree. We had a hard rain today, so I'm hoping it will take well to its new home.
We spent a fair amount of time up in Vermont over the winter skiing, once again. Yay! This was really the first year since having kids that we've been able to ski. Chloe went to ski school, starting as a beginner, but by the last day of our ski season she was riding the chair lift like somewhat of a pro.
It's amazing to to watch your kids quickly master a skill, particularly the physical/athetic ones. She still has lots to learn, but the best part was that she really enjoyed it. Next up: she's ready to ditch the training wheels on her bike. We'll see how long that one takes
A few of the weekends in Vermont, we spent in Stowe at the Stowe Mountain Lodge (HUGE treat.) Slopeside lodge, close to the ski school and daycare, best of all was the outdoor heated pool and hot tub. Not exactly a picture of energy efficiency, but lots of fun for us and the kids.
One weekend we skied at Sugarbush, which is probably the closest mountain to my Mom and Stepfather's. That was great too, although in retrospect we thought the Stowe ski school was much better for Chloe.
Although there's still snow in Vermont, it's long gone in Jersey City and I've started dreaming of spring as I look out in the garden.
This little guy probably should have come in for the winter, but didnt...
The Mazus is springing back to life!
It doesn't look like much at the moment, but I'm hoping this new little tree in front of our house will grow into a beauty and give us many reasons to smile in the spring. We finally dug up the Hydrangea in the front, which found a new home with a neighbor a few blocks away.
I'd been pining away for a Magnolia for a few years and finally took the leap with a Black Tulip, from Rare Finds. What really attracted me to this one, was in the description it says 'superior urban front yard tree.'
Of course now that I've planted it and cleared aways the Hydrangea, those pesky feral cats have returned and deposited a few gifts around the tree. Not sure how I've going to drive them away, but I did start with some coffee grounds. I'm just worried about the acidity in the soil. Hopefully the ground freezes soon and this problem goes away.
I think this will be the summer of way too much sun for our whole family. So far, and it's only the second week of July, we've spent more time on the beach and out in the sun then we have for awhile. Which means, tons of sunscreen and the endless search for bathing suits, rash guards and the perfect summer bucket.
On the topic of sunscreen, am I the only one confused about what sunscreen to buy and which one does build up some type of chemical in your system? From what I've read, it really comes down to the physical blocks (Parsol, Zinc Oxide, etc.) vs. chemical ones (a la Oxybenzone). And the more I read, the more I only want to use the physical blocks. I found some good articles over at vivawoman.net, although a bit outdated. Also, the Skin Deep Cosmetics database has good information as well.
Our favorite rash guard this month...from Billabong. Also, Land's End is having a sale on all suits and rashguards.
Chloe and I managed to spend some Phoebe-free time in the water using her boogie board to surf the waves out in the deep water. She did great, I was so surprised. Jim took her out and my method of surfing with her didn't work for him, so he just sent her on her own riding the waves in.
Well, that's about it. My knitting is sitting in a bag, my sewing machine is collecting dust, I still have fleece blankets to make for Carrie, my garden is wilted and all I really feel like doing is grabbing some time with no kids around to watch Work of Art on Bravo. Sigh.
One last shot - we're going through a goofy stage now, every time I want to take her picture I get this kind of face.
How did that happen? Boy did this year fly. She has two weeks off before summer camp starts. She's going to her school for a half day of frolicking at the water park, swim lessons, soccer and arts and crafts. At least for the first part of the summer. After that ends our plans are up in the air. We may head to the beach for a few on and off weeks, but we're looking forward to lazy, hot afternoons.
I'm still hobbling around. Although last Friday I ditched my crutches, making everything more tolerable and I've been able to enjoy our fabulous, newly renovated park with the kids. I even managed to take Sadie for a good little walk this morning. I head back to the Dr. on Monday and I'm hoping that I get to ditch the brace. Which, kind of looks like some medieval torture device (at least in my mind!)
My Hydrangea is in bloom, which makes me smile every time I look out outside.
Big mistake here, allowing your 20 month old to sample the chocolate dessert when bedtime is just around the corner. Lesson learned.
Will I ever learn?! Almost finished and I'm outta yarn. Duh. And this sweater is the one that I ordered about 4 different skeins and the colors never matched until my final try.
My Mother's Day present arrived and I couldn't be happier. These seem to be very trendy right now and I've hopped on the band wagon. This one is from The Vintage Pearl.
And then, hop on over to Apartment Therapy - last year I submitted our back garden for the 'My Great Outdoors 2009.' I never heard anything from them and kind of forgot about it until yesterday. I was catching up and noticed that they had actually posted it last June. Fun little surprise on a steamy Sunday afternoon.
Today I finally planted my little vertical garden! My fabulous FIL built the frame along with the netting, etc. Basically it looks exactly like this one over at Sunset Magazine. I followed their directions as well. There are still some spots to fill in and I wish I had more variety of succulents in it, but it's good as a starter. I have another much larger frame waiting for me at my in-laws (about 2x4') this one is about the size of a small shoebox.
Every year I search and search for the perfect hat. I have been blessed with that freckly skin that's cute as a kid, but as you age all it reveals is sun damage. So, in my attempt to slow the aging process I'm always in search of the perfect hat. Usually I end up with the cheap $10 hat that lasts the season, but this year I thought I would upgrade. It arrived today and it's great. Fits well, appears sturdy and will hopefully last for a few years, fingers crossed. You can get one for yourself over at Athleta, although it looks like the natural color is sold out.