Happy Friday!

 I took this photograph last week, when I was in a really bad mood and bought myself flowers to help me push the "cloud" away.  I sometimes think I may have Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, because I can become really sad when spring approaches, for no apparent reason.  Flowers typically help, and this bright bouquet I put together with flowers from Whole Foods instantly lifted my spirits.  I may never be able to predict when my serotonin levels will drop, but at least I know there are a few things that will help bring me out of the slump. 

 Hope everyone has a happy weekend, as I'm sure I will, because my husband has Saturday night off and we will be spending it together! 

A green(ish) thumb.

I've always been intrigued by gardening.  Ever since reading The Secret Garden when I was in the second grade, I've always wanted my own "bit of earth," as Mary called it.  When I was nine years old, my parents gave my sister and me our own bits of earth.  We went to the local farm stand down the street and picked out the plants we wanted, and went home to plant them.  I chose a beautiful purple dwarf iris, some snap dragons, and catnip for our cat.  After that summer had passed, my garden quickly became the responsibility of my father.  I grew tired of watering it every night in the summer, wanting instead to enjoy every last minute of daylight playing with the neighborhood kids.  I still enjoyed seeing it bloom each year, watching how the plants grew heartier with each growing season, but I abandoned thoughts of adding new plants or weeding the existing ones. 

Currently, the garden has fallen by the wayside and nobody really cares for it.  My catnip is long gone (as is my cat, God rest his little soul), and the petite, purple dwarf iris that I had planted over a century ago has now taken over the whole garden, mutating into something that I never would have expected.  (Incidentally, my parents tried to uproot it one year and broke their shovel on the root structure; it's like Little Shop of Horrors.)  The other day, I was excited to see that between the stalky leaves of the iris were growing sweet lily of the valley.  I don't know where they came from, since I've never seen it growing naturally in my yard, but I was thrilled to discover it, and I hope they will survive and return next year.  Even though I abandoned the garden of my youth, I still love having plants around. 

Since moving to the city, I've started a very modest container garden that consists of a gardenia that I've coaxed blooms out of once and a hibiscus that has seen better days after I left it out one night during an early frost.  I've always wanted to grow my own herbs and vegetables, and although it's a bit late in the season, I think I may give it a whirl this year.  I've been inspired by these zinc window box planters from Crate & Barrel, and I think that I'll go after work and pick some up and start growing something in them this weekend. 

photos from here

I have no idea what I'll plant in them, but hopefully I won't lose interest before the weekend is over...

Home, home on the range...

Not really...

I went to my parents' house this weekend (where I grew up), and took some photos of a few of my favorite things...

I love this glass buoy that my mom got from Maine... I don't remember where she got it. Maybe my grandparents? I love the color of it, though... especially against the rain-soaked fence.

The clematis around the lamppost is taking on a life of its own! It has almost completely covered the actual lamp... It's so pretty though!

My parents' 29th anniversary was this weekend, and even though we all forgot about it until the day before (oops), we had a good day. :o) I had another adventure this weekend that I will post about later... It definitely needs its own post!!

How was everyone else's weekend?

Success!

Gardenias are among my favorite flowers (probably my most favorite). I've been obsessed with them ever since I visited relatives in California and they had bushes of them growing in their yard. I liked them so much, that my step-grandmother picked a few blooms and floated them in a bowl of water next to my bed for me. *sigh*

I have been *unsuccessfully* trying to cultivate gardenia plants since my sophomore year of college, when James sent one to me as a gift. It died, as did many of my trials shortly thereafter. I gave up for a while because I was completely discouraged by my lack of a green thumb. Then, one day a few years ago, I saw some at the grocery store. I bought one for me and one for my mom, and decided to give it another go. I had serious doubts, since the plant had come from a grocery store and would probably die in a week anyway, but kept at it diligently and the other day, I noticed a bud that had gotten to the point where it looked like it would bloom (they usually turn yellow and fall off or turn into more foliage). I brushed it off, naturally, so as not to jinx myself, but quietly (alright, maybe it was a high-pitched squeal) pointed it out to James. Honestly, I forgot about it completely until he pointed this out to me yesterday:

And this is what it looked like during Real Housewives of NJ that evening....
(btw.... ummm wow? did anyone else watch it? Greatest table flip everrrrrr!)

And this is what it looked like this morning before I left for work (and without proper focus, apparently)...



And you're probably getting sick of all of these pictures, so I'll stop here...

I'm so excited!!! I have been trying to encourage blooms for two years on this plant alone!! I had one other successful attempt my senior year of college, when the flower actually bloomed for me during graduation week... I was writing my thesis, at odds with one of my best friends :o( and was stressed to the max, so I feel like the plant actually sensed that I would probably drop kick it into the Stillwater River if it didn't bloom at that point... Anyway. I'm really excited about this, and although it may sound really cheese-ball and corny, I feel like it's a sign to start fresh... Lately, things in my personal life have been pretty craptastic. I hope this is a sign of good things to come. I already feel like I took a deep breath for the first time in months this morning, so I guess that's a start...

I'm silly.

I foolishly signed up for email updates from The Real Flower Company, who grow the most beautiful garden roses I've ever seen, after reading this post*. For those who don't know, this is foolish of me because they're a UK based company that does not ship their flowers overseas. Booooooo me. I will occasionally receive emails stuffed to the brim with breathtaking pictures of roses, and then remember, "Oh wait... I cannot order these, even if I had the funds, because this company is across the Atlantic."

image from here.

image from here.

I think it's the hat boxes that reallllllly get me.

image from here.

Some of their offerings at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show:

images from here.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some of the silly things I do to myself on a daily basis.


* p.s. Peonies, if you're reading this, thank you for sharing this wonderful company with me! I only wish that they would open a sister store in Boston! :o)

I was perusing the weddings section of marthastewart.com and stumbled across these lovely bouquets that made me smile just a little, and reminded me that even though it's been in the 80s here in MA for the past few days, it is spring.

from here.

from here.

from here.

from here.

from here.