How I Love Weekends.

These days I live for the weekend.  Monday through Friday is great and all, but the weekends are when I get to spend more time with my hubby and I get to spend some quality time at the house.  Cleaning is high on the list, but it doesn’t always happen.  Sporatic cleaning is my new tactic, that way cleaning doesn’t end up taking over a whole day where my hair gets pulled on the top of my head and I’m covered in dirt from head to toe at the end of five hours.  (Although, sometimes it’s necessary).  This weekend did not involve much cleaning, but it was a busy one!

The back door has needed some love for awhile.  It was off-white when we moved in, peeling paint on the outside, and it didn’t seal at all.  Levi put some weather stripping on it a few months ago, which helped in a huge way during our heat wave.  The dirty look of the door has been driving me crazy.  So this weekend, it got a face-lift!

It’s so happy now.  I just love it. 

The trim still needs some work, but that’s for another weekend.

Another new addition to the backyard is the shed that my husband, so graciously, put together.  We debated for awhile on building our own or buying a pre-fabricated shed.  After pricing everything, we decided to buy one and put it together.  One million pieces later . . . the shed is finally finished and organized!  Levi put everything in the shed yesterday.  The yard looks so much better (minus the dirt that is now our grass).  That man is a blessing.

Hagen is still growing, of course.  We think she’s around 90 lbs now.  It hurts when she steps on your feet.  But she’s a huge ball of love.

Weekends also bring time for gardening.  I’m starting out small this fall … and in containers. 

Weekend before last I planted herbs :: basil, cilantro, sage, parsley, and lavender.  Currently this pot is no longer stacked on blocks on the deck, because Hager beans still found a way to get to the plants.  We are down one parsley now.  I got two chains and hung the container from two existing hooks outside our office window.  The herbs like it there so far.  And it’s out of Hagen’s reach .. for now.

The front beds have two tomato plants, four red cabbage plants, and four cauliflower plants. I also planted lettuce, because I love it.  Bibb, Romaine, Arugula & Swiss Chard.  It sits on our stop sign table on the front porch.  The swiss chard has it’s own pot, because it’s large and in charge. The lettuce really took off this week with our spurts of rain. 

Last night we had our first salad.  It was delicious.

Some sort of baking or cooking frenzy normally happens during the weekend as well.  This weekend, the baking was for a coworker-turned-friend ..  Happy Birthday Matt!  He likes cookies.  He likes icing.  Hopefully the cookie cake will suffice! 

With that, I will leave you with my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe … for one of your upcoming weekends.
 

Lately

Most of my life lately has been consumed here :

This is my cube.  My tax accounting cube.  I have recently converted from sitting on that bright red ball to standing.  I know, I know … why would one do this?  Because this one’s back/neck/general posture has gone to pot since taking on the profession that is accounting.  Although my back hurts some days, I can deal with it.  The soreness will go away.  I feel like a curving spine may take a little more work to undo.

My mom works all day on her feet as a hairdresser.  So surely I can do the same.  I’ll just pretend like I’m giving my laptop a new do.  If worse comes to worst, my handy red ball is within close reach.

I need some serious decorating to happen in my workspace in the upcoming holiday months.  Too. much. gray.

On the subject of work, the peeps up in the FW EY office are pretty awesome.  Awesome enough to the point of making me want to organize a Thanksgiving dinner so we can all come as indians and pilgrims.  Also awesome enough to make me want to bake for every birthday in the office.  Check out these Oreo Stuffed Brownies.  Wicked.  These are next on the lineup and I’m super-excited about it. 

In other news, Phoebe loves the sink.

So much that I have to fight for room to brush my teeth in the morning.  She loves to drink out of the faucet.  Hagen loves to drink out of the toilet.  This may be proof that cats are smarter than dogs.  Or that Phoebe is smarter than Hagen.  Although Phoebe has been known to smack Hagen on the nose for no apparent reason, other than Hagen’s up in her space.  All Hagen wants is to play!

Once the weather gets cooler, we have some outdoor projects on the horizon.  One of these is to add a retaining wall of sorts to the front yard.  Levi’s not crazy about the slanted mowing situation that would have to occur if the yard stays as is.  Plus, it will dress up the front.  We keep debating on the style, but we drove by this house the other day and both loved the look of this.  Definitely planting more yuccas.

Lastly, I’m loving my new wallet.  The trifold that I’ve carried since graduation is not cutting it lately.  Apparently I’m a receipt hoarder and I find the need to keep bits of paper in my wallet until the writing is completely worn off.  I’m convinced I inherited this from my mother.  Regardless, I’m excited about this new addition to my purse.

I hope to share a recipe and another crafty project this week!  For now, Happy Tuesday to all.

Ryan :: Growing

Hold the phone.  I have something that is growing for me.  Actually growing.  Look at these cuties!!!  Contrary to what you might think, with my mother’s outrageous gardening abilities, thus far in my life I have killed more plants than I have kept alive.  I am bound and determined to reverse this streak …. and this is the first step.

 This little seedlings are much more lively and beautiful in person.  It seems I only remember to snap photos at night lately, producing less than adequate pictures … but hey, it’s something.  These seeds were given to me by a family friend from her own hyacinth vine.  Hopefully in a few more weeks we will have something that looks a bit more like this.

We’ve had some help clearing the front beds and they now smell of wonderful pine mulsch.  We now have two knockout roses, two variegated privets, a plumbago, a hibiscus, some echinacea, and a hydrangea that is fighting for her life in this heat.  I know, July is not prime planting season — but seriously, that bed needed some color.  Everything besides the hydrangea is loving our weather.  Hopefully this continues….

I also have to share Hagen’s new necklace.  Yeah, it’s a vintage belt.  How great is that? Check out this super cute etsy shop for your doggy needs.

I’m kind of obsessed.

One of my closest friends is getting married on Friday!!!!  So excited to report back about their. amazing. day.