A Green Thumb

Following the theme of my previous post, this one is for my friend (and Rach's sister) Jess. This is mostly because I'm always amazed at how she can plant anything in the smallest space. Seriously, you could walk out of her townhouse door and onto her little pathway and eat herbs right out of her containers scattered along the walkway. I've hemmed and hawed over wanting to plant something so I finally decided to take a page from Nike and "just do it". So to Jess' amazement I'm sure: I planted my very own herb garden! It was pretty fun at first but I don't like dirt it turns out so about halfway through, I was done. But I stuck with it and even made cute little name signs. So here is my beautiful garden! Are you proud Jess?? I do have to say that cooking will be much more fun now that I don't have to run to the store everytime I decide to make a recipe with an herb I don't have!

Green is the new black

Well the world has seemed to come full circle and it is increasingly popular to "go green". I'm a conservative girl but I can't resist a chance to do something good, especially if it means you get to buy cute bags* :). I decided that this post would be a shout out to my favorite aspiring locavore: Rach. Go check her out! So the reason this post is for her is because I started up my yearly tradition of getting my goods from our local farmers' market. I have always loved going to the farmers' market for fruits and veggies and I can't believe I waited this long this year to start! Well in my defense, I did go the very first day but there were only breads and stuff because the produce wasn't ready yet. But boy did I hit the jackpot today! I couldn't resist its beauty so here's a picture I took.

My finds were: tomatoes, green peppers, red onions, radishes, cucumbers, green beans, watermelon, canteloupe, peaches, sweet cherries, living lettuce (stays fresh so long!), jalepeno cheddar bread, tomato-garlic-chive bread, fresh feta and fresh applewood smoked mozzarella. Whew! And that's just what I bought. There was much much more to offer. So, just because it's fun, and really, you do not find food like this at the grocery store, here are a few pics I took up close of the prettiest produce. :)

*bags shown in picure are long handled EcoBags.

A bit of self discovery

So it occurred me today that I'm fairly certain that I suffer from a disease that doesn't clinically exist... I think that I have Shopping Bulimia. How on earth did I acquire this, and how do you treat something that doesn't exist? Sure enough, I go through spurts of binging and purging. I'll shop because I feel like it and stock up on stuff that I don't need or even remember weeks later. I will sometimes bask in the glory of a bag full of stuff and I feel prepared for anything. Then other times, I will feel cluttered and overwhelmed by my things and I will go on a major purge, often unloading up to a dozen garbage bags of donations onto those less fortunate, or my friends who don't suffer from my affliction. I think I even love this crazy transfer of things. I get just as excited when my friends comment on how they love when I clean because they get stuff as I do from walking in the door with my arms loaded with bags. This begs the further question: If I'm not on my way to debtors' prison, is this such a problem at all? Does it really matter if I like to shop and then to minimize? Probably. I think I'll try to eliminate some of the chaos and search for a happy medium. On a supremely healthy note, I am fully aware that if I was not blessed with people in my life who make me happy and whole just by being there, my things would not have the whimsical effect that they do now. I do know that the stuff doesn't make the girl. :) Now, off to purge (just a little).

Beach Bum

Well we're back from our fabulous week in the Outer Banks. I'll post later with the details and pictures but first for those who know me I thought I'd amaze you. I was a total beach bum! I lived in my bathing suit and lounge clothes with no makeup except mascara if I went out! Below is my beach bag with my beach essentials. In it you will find: Beach towel, book (of course), Coppertone Sport spf 15 spray, Alba Botanica spf 20 facial sunscreen, big floppy hat (just say no to wrinkles!) bottle of water and flip flops. That was basically my whole trip in a bag! Back later with more tales including our trouble on the high seas!

The Job Hunt

Well not too much is new. I have been enjoying some time off while I'm working part time and have tried to catch up with what seems to be 2 years worth of sorting, cleaning, trashing and organizing! I'll post pics of the bedroom once I get it in order. Those who know me will understand what a difference it is. I was seriously thinking of applying for disaster relief for a while ;) I've been reading for fun and cooking almost every night which I think Justin has enjoyed the product as much as I've enjoyed the process. I actually made chocolate chip cookies from scratch yesterday!

The biggest thing (and PAIN) right now is my full time job search. I've been looking everywhere (or so it seems) and it is getting frustrating. My degree is in history, which is difficult to find a job in so I've broadened my net. Even still, I haven't had much luck with my searches. I'll keep at it, I'm sure something will surface. The sooner the better though because I'm trying to move by the end of summer. We're actually thinking about moving to Charles Town, WV. AACK!! I know I know. But we could save some SERIOUS money by commuting the extra 45 minutes. So that's that. I'll try to come up with some more interesting things to blog about but for now, it's off to cook dinner. Jess- I'm making the chicken, rice, mushroom, brocolli casserole you taught me! And some banana pudding with the 'Nilla wafers: yuck, but that part is for Justin.