SPRING planning

Right now we have snow on the ground, and I am SO over it. Honestly, I think I've been over it since November. It's been a LONG winter to say the least. But it's officially spring now and I think it's time to start planning a garden, a vegetable garden.

This will be the second spring and summer in my home. I'm excited to get my hands dirty again and learn from my mistakes. Last year I planted tomatoes, basil, yellow peppers (one yellow pepper!), lavender and mint. The tomatoes took over the bed with the lavender and mint, so those were pretty much lost.

 I didn't harvest these until October. I hope some of my veggies are ready before then this year.

I'm hoping to plant: zucchini, cherry/grape tomatoes, full size tomatoes, peppers, basil, lemon, garlic, string beans, mint, rosemary and I guess that's all. Bay City is in Zone 5B, limiting some of the things I can grow due to a short summer, but I don't feel like my list is lacking. I didn't plant until the first week of June last year, after we went plant shopping on Memorial Day weekend. It's a late start.

I'm looking at different websites for seeds, and I'm kind of overwhelmed. Michigan Bulb doesn't have any of the veggies I'm looking for, except garlic. The Seeds of Change website has all the things I'm looking for, but I'm intimidated by the number of seeds they send you. I could get 25 THOUSAND basil seeds for just eleven dollars! As I started shopping the site more, I found that the zone hardiness was published in the catalog but not online. I also realized/remembered that we have several fantastic nurseries around this area, and it would be best to support local businesses. Now I'm wondering if they are open and selling seeds to plant yet. I think I'll have to do some investigating.

I love the idea of this tomato trellis, one of the things I struggled with last summer/fall was harvesting my tomatoes before they rotted or having them fully ripen because the weren't getting enough sun or were too close to the ground. Maybe this trellis would solve that problem?

Another element of my yard adventure this spring and summer will be getting familiar with my new ecomposter.

It's no longer in the living room, but it's still not outside due to the (stupid) snow. We have started a little compost can in the kitchen. It's going to take a long time to fill up this guy!

I guess I just wanted to get some thoughts in place about all of my yard projects. It's going to be fun to learn how to grow my garden and my green thumb!

Oh, and I'm already making a note to plant bulbs this fall, for early spring beauty in twenty12.

I'd be.

If I were a month, I’d be July.

If I were a day of the week, I’d be Saturday.

If I were a time of day, I’d be 7 pm.

If I were a planet, I’d be Earth.

If I were a sea animal, I’d be a whale, Killer or Blue.

If I were a direction, I’d be forward.

If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a Manhattan Chair from Pottery Barn.

If I were a liquid, I’d be a cab, probably Redwood Creek.

If I were a gemstone, I’d be a ruby

If I were a tree, I’d be a birch.

If I were a flower, I’d be a sunflower.

If I were a kind of weather, I’d be 75 degrees and sunny, with a light breeze.

If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a piano.

If I were a color, I’d be orange.

If I were an emotion, I’d be happy.

If I were a fruit, I’d be a blueberry.

If I were a sound, I’d be laughter.

If I were a car, I’d be a VW bug, classic.

If I were a food, I’d be a caprese salad.

If I were a place, I'd be my backyard.

If I were a material, I’d be cotton.

If I were a taste, I’d be garlic.

If I were a scent, I’d be sunshine on skin.

If I were an animal, I’d be a sweet kitty cat.

If I were an object, I’d be your favorite coffee mug.

If I were a body part, I’d be a smile.

If I were a facial expression, I’d be the look of love.

If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be Old Navy flip flops.
If I were a song, I’d be:

barilla babies

I suppose it doesn't matter if the commercial isn't in English, it's the sweet scenes that I really want you to see.



Jasmine of An Experiment in Poverty reminded me of these sweet little babies.



The first (and only?) time Matt and I saw this commercial, I was lucky enough it was on DVR and we watched these babies over and over! I'm sure Matt enjoyed it just as much. ;)

If you are looking for who makes these outfits, click here. I'm still on the outlook for the commercial in English.

Can I have triplets?!

proposal idea

Engagement in Hay instead of hay I read day. And I had a brilliant dream, that I would be proposed to during a photo shoot, so the moment would be captured. Of course, now I would be suspicious and have in essence ruined the idea. boo me.

photos via ever ours

today, we fill in the the blanks

"Today is Friday: the day we fill blanks." love that.

1.   My most prized possession is  probably my home as whole, I've put a lot of work into it with my family. I look forward to starting new projects soon, and making a home with Matt when he moves in. It's going to be fun incorporating his style/furniture!

2.  If I could be one age for the rest of my life, I would want to be I always say seven, spending the summer on the lake with my summer bff Jill, there's just something ideal about that age. I had an incredible imagination and could play for hours, I still can but there was something incredibly innocent and fun about that age. I'm also excited to see how the next few years play out, life is full of possibilities right now. 

3.  The best way to spend a weekend is sleeping in, veg, catch up on the Soup if we didn't watch it Friday night, cook something yummy, maybe a bit of shopping, more yummy food, catching up on my google reader, a bit of cleaning, yard projects if it's warm, house projects if it's chilly (this weekend I'm tackling my ridiculous craft room), lots of snuggling, pjs, movies or tv series catch up, ugh I love weekends! And then there's the weekend when you get to go away, almost counting the days to Chicago!

4.  My outlook on life is take everything in stride and with a smile. I smile a lot, I feel lucky to have a positive attitude about life and the ability to find joy in many situations. Don't get me wrong, I get crabby, a lot but I know I'm being ridiculous. 

5.  If you want to annoy me, just be unfriendly or ignorant. If everyone had a bigger heart, I think we'd be better off as a world. 

6.  I am completely defenseless when it comes to food and laziness, an awful combination.

7.  When dressing for the day one should  put on whatever makes them feel happy and pretty (or handsome in the case of gents). Don't worry about rules, just worry about what looks most flattering on your body and what makes you feel good. I think I'm going to go with Lauren's response here, she put it really well.

now you.

TFA - Follow Up

As I spend more time posting on my blog, I like checking my stats. I notice a lot of my traffic comes from my Teach for America posts. I thought I'd write a little follow up post. I sub

I'll know more as of the ninth after they complete the phone interviews and release the details of the locations and the sample teaching session. A sample teaching session, five minutes in front of 12 other interviewees and the panel.

My interview was in March of 2009. I prepared a sample teaching session discussing how to conduct an interview. I figured since I had the background from my producion education and the topic could be applied to any interview it would work well. It was probably a pretty decent sample lecture.

Before the interview I read a fewTeach for America books, sorry I can't remember which ones and learned about the program. I also read a bit of Savage Inequalities, worth the read, if you get the chance.

The biggest thing I remember about that day was how NERVOUS I was. All I could focus on were the nerves. I thought I would forget my lecture, that I wouldn't have the right answers to the interview questions or that I would be the least qualified person in the room. Or all three things.

Maybe all of those things could have happened, but if I would have just taken a deep breath and focused on the opporunity and experience I might have walked away with a different outcome. Or not but I would have enjoyed the experience more. I was so nervous, I barely remember it.

I wasn't accepted to Teach for America. I'm not sure that I fit who they were looking for. I still wonder if I would have been open to a high need area if I would have been accepted. It worked out for the best. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me! And GOOD LUCK!

edit: My best advice, BREATHE. Don't psych yourself out. I tried chilling the night before with some meditation, but stay so wrapped up in my own head it didn't work. I've learned since then a large part of any interview is your personality, and to be true to that and yourself. Oh and maybe check out this post from Yes & Yes, chill the eff out.

Sarah Kay

Seriously, I want to be her when I grow up.

Wow. 

"no matter that i have inhibitions to fill all my pockets, i keep trying."