Around here

How about a quick catch up session? I don't feel like I have enough to say about any of these (entirely unrelated) things to make an entire post so I'm just going to smash them all together.




- Taking advantage of the backyard superbloom and bringing as many flowers into the house as possible. I was convinced that some of the plants in our yard were dead because of disease, but it turns out it was just the drought. Several tons of rain later and our whole backyard is going nuts in the best way possible. Plants need water, who knew? Normally I'm reluctant to pick citrus blossoms because it means less fruit, but the grapefruit tree is overloaded this year and the flowers smell so good that I can't resist keeping some by my bedside.

- Getting back into running and it feels good. I'd been avoiding it for ages because I'm not a naturally talented runner which means that if I fall off the wagon getting myself back to a place where I can run steadily (without feeling like I'm going to die) is so much work that it never sounds appealing. My usual method is to allow myself to run as slowly as I need to for 30 minutes and gradually improve my speed and distance as I build up strength. This time I wasn't anywhere near being able to run for 30 minutes continuously, so I finally let go of my ego and downloaded the C210K app. I used the C25K method to learn to run the first time, but that was before smart phones and I had to write down my workout each day and then track the intervals with a timer. Having the app is a million times easier. I don't have to look ahead or think about what I'm going to do. I just commit to putting on my workout clothes and leaving the house. And I'm running! Yesterday I ran for 20 minutes without stopping. I'm not really sure why I persist in running when it's so much work, but there's something undeniably satisfying about it. Plus, it sounds more impressive than other forms of cardio. No one wants to hear you talk about how you crushed it on the elliptical at the gym the other day. To be honest, no one wants to hear about your running stats either, but most people will feign interest because running at least commands some respect.

- Not cooking much on weeknights lately and I've been relying heavily on the quinoa cowboy veggie burgers from Trader Joe's. As I was eating my 100th burger a few weeks ago I started seriously considering starting an entire blog just to share my favorite things at Trader Joe's. I mean, I know there are people already doing that, and also I already have a blog that I barely keep up anymore so it hardly makes sense to start a new one. But I keep thinking that my love for Trader Joe's deserves its own platform, even though blogs are almost entirely dead at this point.

- Still not reading anything new, and yes, it feels weird. I'm just going with it and re-reading things here and there.

Friday flowers

Ranunculus and peonies and hypericum, plus filler.







D is in a major time crunch right now and needed to block out most of Sunday for work, which meant no trip down home for Mothers' Day. But luckily our moms were willing to drive up here and I put together a simple brunch (which ended up looking a little formal once I set the table). I love, love, love our wedding china and my dad's beautiful crystal together. We're still on the hunt for a good set of vintage silver for big gatherings, because we only have eight settings of our silverware and we never remember that's an issue until we're setting the table for a big party and suddenly start scrambling for forks.

I made these biscuits, these eggs (which I overcooked to an embarrassing degree - lesson learned) and this citrus salad. Plus coffee and bacon, of course.

Abundance

It's that time of the year - Southern California is exploding with roses. I took home an entire bucket of them from my mom's garden over the weekend and stuck them in every room of the house.



When they're this close to blown, I don't do much "arranging" per se, it's more just a matter of plopping them in vases and trying not to get too scratched up by the thorns.



You only get a few days out of them, but they're pretty lovely days.

Wedding weekend!

I love it when people I love get married, partly because they frequently have awesome friends and really good parties. We were up in Oakland over the long weekend to see two of our favorite people get married and the whole weekend was packed with good stuff but I only took pictures of flowers. Sorry. Rest assured it involved multiple bars, competitive three legged racing, a mid-ceremony improv performance, catering from Mission Chinese and 3 am post-wedding karaoke (not all on the same day).

K + W asked us if we'd be up for doing their flowers and I jumped at the chance. I am in no way a professional florist but I can fake it as long as the expectations are reasonable. They gave us a color scheme and requested that the flowers be alive and that was it. Done. D and I hit up the San Francisco flower mart early Saturday morning and loaded the entire trunk of our car with flowers and then turned our (ludicrously tiny) hotel room into an assembly area. We used every surface in the room, including the bed.*  I was in heaven. D was, if not exactly in heaven, an enthusiastic accomplice.

{hotel room florist}

{flowers in the elevator! - bouquets}

{bouts!}

{table arrangements, boxed}

{table setting}

{small arrangement}

{cake!}

I couldn't have done it without the expert advice I got from dear Kristin. She is the sweetest. Thanks, lady!

I'd never made personal flowers before so I was nervous about the bouquets but I'm happy with how they turned out. I realize you can't see them very well because I took all the flower photos in the elevator on our way to the car. Whoops. I'm not sure how professional florists get them so perfectly round. I watched at least ten YouTube videos and still couldn't figure it out. Practice, I guess.

Boutonnieres are so fun to make that we had to set a timer and cut ourselves off so we'd have time to shower before the wedding. D started contemplating a small side business taking orders from high school prom-goers.

K + W - we love you! (Also, please consider moving back to LA because we miss our Top Chef nights)

P.S. If anyone knows what these crazy flowers are, please let me know. They're my new favorite. UPDATE - they're helichrysum! Thank you!

{unknown flowers}

* We laid down sheets of newspaper to protect the bed while we worked and I bagged all our floral waste and took it down to the dumpster myself. Using the room as a make shift floral shop is one thing, expecting the maid to clean up all that greenery would have made me feel like a complete asshole. 

Friday flowers

I make so much more effort with the table when I'm having a girlfriend over for dinner. Perfect excuse to buy flowers.

{set}

These freesia didn't even make it a full week, but they were lovely while they lasted.

{freesia}

Friday flowers

For the first time in forever ...

{flower trio}

{flowers}

{floral}

I haven't been buying flowers lately but I had coffee with Kristin on Saturday and she sweetly brought me some of the extras from Angel's daughter's party. (Kris is my dear friend from high school who did our wedding flowers so she knows how much I love them and Angel was our wedding planner and her taste is exquisite - thanks, ladies!)

I had the best time arranging them into a trio of vases. There's something really relaxing about putting flowers together for yourself. I zone out a little and just enjoy it. Makes me want to get back into my weekly flower tradition but it'll probably have to wait until spring is more firmly established.

Those little guys in the bottom are flower frogs and I don't know how anyone arranges flowers without them. You can usually buy them at the Japanese market or you can order them online.  I have a bunch of different sizes and shapes.

Friday flowers

{in season}

You all knew those were coming, right? Sorry to be so predictable but I couldn't resist. I don't think I saw those crazy coral ones last year.

They've actually held up pretty well all week, but they attracted some fruit flies (totally weird) and I happen to have a mild fruit fly phobia. Which is particularly mock-worthy for someone who spends all her time in labs, I know. I think I was traumatized growing up with a large backyard full of fruit trees.

Anyways, the peonies are very pretty and refreshing the water every day or two helps.

Friday flowers

I had a bit of filler left from the arrangements so I made myself a simple one.

{leftovers}

I have no idea what these flowers are called. They're purple, if that helps.

{leftovers}

We have a packed weekend coming up - May always seems to be kind of crazy. 

Flags, for lots of things (template provided)

I wanted little tags for our mother's day flower arrangements because each one was created with a particular mother in mind. Of course, I didn't think about this until 15 minutes before we had to leave and I had to scramble.

{mother's day flowers}

{flowers}

{flower flag}

Look familiar at all? I re-purposed the file that we used for our wedding dessert buffet flags. Then I printed them out on cardstock and quickly glued them around some bamboo skewers* and popped them in the vases.

I love having a file on hand that I can pull out in a pinch. I always work in Illustrator, but I know that not everyone has it, so I modified the file to make a fillable PDF template. You can use it anytime you need quick tags - weddings, flowers, cheese parties (I'm not sure why that popped into my mind as an example, but I would gladly attend a cheese party, if you happen to throw one).

You can download my template right here. You must download the file to work with it on your computer - if you open it in Google docs you won't be able to use the fillable form function. I've embedded the font that we used in all our wedding designs (Tw Cent MT) and I think it looks best in all caps, but you can play around with it. There are several different sizes, for all your flagging needs.


* My bamboo skewers weren't tall enough to stick out over the flowers so I used two, overlapped them slightly in the middle and them taped them together with packing tape. The ugly part was hidden by the flowers, so it all worked out fine.

Purchases - boring ones (+ flowers!)

Purchases are below - be prepared. They really are mind numbingly boring, but I'm trying to stick to this.

{palest pink ranunculus}

I'm not totally clear on where I draw the line here, so I'm giving you everything. I'm sure no one really wants to hear about my shower caddy, but I did purchase it.

Shower caddy ($8.99 @ Ross). I did not take a picture of it, because I don't really want you all to see how long it's been since I last scrubbed my shower.

Pillowcases - we always seem to destroy our pillowcases faster than our sheets and we need a few extra. These Oxford ones from Land's End are pretty sweet. Heavy + durable + NOT silky. I hate sateen.

Clear nail polish - Height of boring-ness, but I needed it. I've pretty much sworn off purchasing actual nail polish other than for my toes. I was accumulating nail polishes at a rate that didn't make sense given how often I paint my nails. I've finally decided that if I want painted nails, I'll suck it up and pay for a manicure or a polish change. In an attempt to extend my rare manicures, I've been using this Essie's No Chips Ahead for a couple weeks now (side benefit to being really behind on my purchases is that you also get reviews!) and I have to say I don't love it. I think it does something weird to my manicure (which is odd, because if my nails are painted, it's usually with Essie polish) and dulls it out. It does prevent chips, but it makes my nails look terrible. I'm bummed that I apparently purchased the wrong thing and now need to find something else.


Annnnnd ... Ikea stuff. Final product to be shared shortly.

In the meantime, we bought:

2 besta cabinets (one from the as-is section - score!)

3 besta doors

2 suspension rails

Non-Ikea but same project - 2 lengths of walnut from a local lumberyard

Friday flowers

{from the garden}

The very first white dahlias from my mom's garden. We had thought about planting dahlias to use for our wedding and then quickly lost steam (so much advanced planning!). But my mom sweetly ordered a plant anyway, knowing that I love them and they'll always go to good use. And apparently they grow like weeds.

{garden flowers}

The roses and the rosemary were also plucked straight from the garden. I'm going to use the rosemary for cooking, but in the meantime it has been happily pretending to be part of a flower arrangement.

By contrast, I have managed to kill off my entire little herb garden and finally admitted that I need to start over. Hope springs eternal, I guess. I can usually manage to keep it going for a season or two before I get distracted and forget to water.

Looking forward to a busy weekend and a little party to celebrate Em's upcoming wedding. I didn't want to share any of the details beforehand because I like secrets. I will tell you this - I've gone seriously overboard with the dessert and I'm completely unapologetic about it. If you can't do it for something like this, when can you? You have to take these opportunities as they come.

Flowers, of late

A gift from someone who is more optimistic about my plant raising skills than I.

{orchids}

Beautiful yellow freesias. I love seeing the flowers start to pop up in the market as spring approaches.

{freesia}

Friday flowers

Orange dahlias, from the farmer's market last weekend.

{orange dahlias}

I think the season is starting to wrap up, because one of these didn't even survive the trip home, but I still love them.

{dahlias}

Friday flowers

Orange dahlias! Fall snuck up on me somehow.

{dahlias, milk glass}

Of course, it's California fall, so, wildly unpredictable and subject to sudden heat waves. I'm sad to lose summer and excited to start the new season. Torn, as usual.

{orange dahlias}

Our dining room table is chronically messy. We have a plan for our computers that should help a little, hoping to get it executed in the next couple weeks.

Friday flowers

An all white arrangement of tulips and button mums.

{white tulips}

Our apartment had gotten out of hand chaotic, so we took a break from wedding projects this week to whip it back in shape, more or less. Flowers are the finishing touch, always. Well, flowers and a giant cheese platter, which you can just barely see in the background. They really pull a house together.

Friday flowers

{garden roses + natives}

Completely self explanatory.

Friday flowers

I couldn't resist these purple clover flowers.

{clover}

They totally make me think of Bambi, which was a movie I never liked, not because it was sad but because I found it incredibly boring. The clover scene was clearly the best part -  I always felt like I could actually touch the texture of the flowers when I watched it.

{clover}

They do have a great texture. I'm glad the animation was accurate.

Friday flowers

Finally, some flowers that are actually in my house.

{peonies}

I got these at TJs for 1/4 of the Whole Foods price (where I had seen them earlier and couldn't bring myself to spend $22.99 on 6 stems). It seems like they re-stock on Monday, and have plenty of them Monday and Tuesday but if you go at the end of the week, there are none to be had. Maybe that's just my Trader Joes.

{peonies, fading}

I love them even when they get overblown and start to droop.

Friday flowers (one week old)

These are from last week (or the week before? I'm losing track of time) - they aren't even at my house - I shot the picture at my parent's place.

{garden roses}

Simple. Lovely.

Friday flowers

The garden roses are back in full force. They really are special.

{garden roses}

Jules wrote about roses last week and I've been thinking about them ever since. It's so sad that the store bought variety seem diluted and wan compared to the homegrown ones.

{garden roses trio}

These are the real deal. They scent the entire apartment. They make me happy.