Lemon Favorites!

JR Watkins Lemon Creme

Pala by Patriece

Quick post about one of my current obsessions:  lotion. Add another layer to that = lemon scented lotions.

I'm not talking about scrub the floor, clean the toilets, pine scented lemons lotions. This is creamy, lemon meringue, fresh baked lemon bars scent.

I just discovered the delicious JR Watkins Lemon Creme hand and body lotion at our local PCC:

• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Free
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate Free
• Paraben Free
• Phthalate Free
• Mineral Oil, Petrolatum free
• Dye Free

I have always been a fan of this Etsy Shop by Patriece.  All of her rich ingredients are:

• Certified Organic
• Certified vegan
• No petroleum by products
• No mineral oils
• No Synthetic Fragrances

What's your favorite lotion? Are your favorite lotion scents dependent on the season?

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival



TulipFest 2011 Poster



Lots of Old Barns in the Area



Dahlia Bulbs &  Fuschias From Christiansons

Diana - Birthday Gal

Bringing Home Bunches





Tabletop Tulips

One of the great perks of living in the NW is being able to enjoy the world reknown annual Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley.  Located about an hour away, the Tulip Fest is a showcase of thousands of acres of blooming daffodils, tulips and irises set in scenic Mt. Vernon, WA.  Weather plays the biggest role in what you will see when visiting the fields, however, there area offers much more than the incredible scenery.

Last week, after a three years hiatus on the annual Tulip trek, we gathered a group and set out for the day. The day was planned with pot luck lunch items, rain boots and lots of layers. It was so much fun to leave town for the day, have a change of pace and a change of scenery.

Here are a couple of must stops in my opinion:

Roozen Gaarde - Gorgeous specialty display garden with picnic benches for lunch and relaxing
Christiansons Nursery - Rustic Nursery with wonderful plant and gift selections
Snow Goose Produce - Giant, homemade waffle cones with your choice of specialty ice cream (HUGE)

I hope you enjoy some of the photos from our outing!

BGGF

Best Garden Girl Friend

Arrange Selections, Step Back and Evaluate

Copy Nursery Display Containers

Love the Color Contrast

New Use for Tires

Smaller Pots = Better, Less $

We Mean Business!

Ah, Spring!

I usually consider myself very lucky to live in the NW. Our weather allows us the option to grow so many amazing plants and edibles. After last nights' snow in April, forget it! I would like to move now please!

That won't be happening though, instead, here's a trip down gardening lane, photos from a trip to Wells Medina Nursery last spring.  Something I hope to be doing again very shortly.

I have a BGGF: Best Gardening Girl Friend. They are good to have, I tell her to put stuff back and she tells me that my container combinations are not so hot. We make a good team, sifting through our favorite nurseries, finding our favorite plants and bringing a little spring home.

Here are some of our tips:

• Make a list the containers you need to fill, the glee of plants galore can easily lead to overbuying. If you don't make a list bring a practical/mean friend like me that will say:  "STOP".
• Call the nursery ahead of time to see when their shipments come in. You want first dibs on the newest, healthiest plants.
• Gather up the plants that catch your eye and arrange them on your cart to visualize how they would look in your container. Go for big impact, lots of contrast! If you are uninspired, just copy the nursery containers. No one will know and your containers will look genius!
• Always pick the smaller, less expensive plants. They are happier, easier to plant and will grow to the size of the bigger plants quickly. 

I always look forward to our nursery outings. The exchange of ideas, inspirations and creativity mixed with the anticipation of warmer days just makes me giddy with happiness. Thanks BGGF!

Do you have any other container gardening tips for the spring season?  Who else has a BGGF?

The Story of Stuff

Have you ever seen this video or heard of the Story of Stuff Project? It's really worthwhile to spend a few minutes watching the video in its entirety.  Pour a cup of coffee or glass of wine (depending on time of day, or not) and just watch, it will change your view on "stuff".

Now I enjoy, have and buy a bunch of "stuff".  I am not proud of some of my attachments to stuff and thus I am continually streamlining.  I hate the idea that:

Thinking of time brought me back in time, college days to be exact. Here's my story of "stuff":

College Student-Athlete meets another College Student-Athlete, fell in love.  We had no money, we had no "stuff", we were (and still are) so happy:

Love This Guy

We lived in an adorable 500 sq.ft Mother in Law house in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. It looked kind of like this:

Adorable!



Beatrice and her husband owned the front home.  They had a huge canary aviary window that we would pass on the way to our unit each day.  I think she had over 50 birds:

Hello to Yellow Every Day



For some strange reason, Beatrice also had 2 pet tortoises that lived in a dog house behind our unit:

Tortoises as Pets?

 

She also had a lovely fountain in her garden that sat right outside our front entry:

The Sound of Water

I will always remember our simple life at 3630 1/2 Seneca.  We had a lot on our plates as full time student athletes putting ourselves through college. But we also had a lot of time to enjoy: 

• Dates at the Par 3 down the street,
• Runs in Griffith park
• Afternoons in Long Beach
• Day trips down to San Clemente or up to San Luis Obispo
• Time with great friends in our teeny backyard (with the tortoises)

Married with children has added more demands to our time, but I try to remember and emulate the bliss of the simple days we had. Our lack of "stuff" did not amount to lack of quality of life.  Because we had no money we never spent time searching, shopping or accumulating stuff.  How archaic!

What's your story of "stuff"? I would really love to know!

Thanks for visiting and thank you for commenting!