A questionable thumb.

I've never really had much confidence in my gardening abilities.  I remember when I was young, my sweet Mom would buy me sweet little plants to adorn my bedroom.  Nothing wild, nothing needy and nothing large.  It was always a sweet little African Violet, a Succulent or a Flowering Cactus.  And EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. they would wither away and end up in the trash.

Fast forward many years and if I would ever be so lucky to get a bunch of flowers from a BOY.  Because what girl doesn't love to get flowers from a boy?  Well, they'd die too.  It wasn't for lack of knowledge, because I always follow the instructions exactly as they read.  I'd use warm water, pour in the flower feed, wait until it dissolved, trim up those stems in an angle because that would surely keep them alive.  NOPE.  I'm lucky to get a few days.  Sometimes they don't even bloom.  It's really a sad series of events.

What in the world?  I was starting to think I was just born with a black thumb.  Poor me, didn't inherit my Mom's amazing green thumb.

Well, fast forward about ten more years and I was inspired.  Inspired perhaps not only by the self satisfaction of growing my own plants from seeds, but also by being able to cook with them!  I LOVE fresh herbs, but they are expensive and shame, shame, shame, they usually need to be thrown out before we can finish them.  I was excited, REALLY excited.  But also nervous that there was no way on earth I could grow anything.  So, I didn't tell anyone.  My little secret, so as not to reconfirm to the world my inability to care for another living being.  If my black thumb emerged again, it would be my little secret.  

One week ago tonight, I planted my own Herb Garden. From SEEDS people.  And you'll never believe it, but we have actual plants growing over here!  Oregano, Cilantro, Thyme, Basil and Rosemary!  Nevermind that the Mint and Parsley haven't shown signs of a single sprout. These amazing herbs are ALL growing in my kitchen.  Now, I know this may be early because these little guys still have a long way to go before I have a real live working edible herb garden, but the sprouts have appeared and for that... 

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL.

Under the weather.

Be back soon.

Hits you right in the heart.

Moral of the Story: Don't waste time with nonsense. There is plenty of it.  

Go and find what makes you happy while you can, since time slips away 

very quickly. You're here to be happy.

xoxo,

Luck 'O the Irish

Here's to wishing you a very Happy St. Patrick's Day!  May you be touched by the luck of the Irish and may you find your pot of gold at the end of each rainbow.

In my dreams, my family still lives HERE and I am welcome to visit as often as I like.  Such the dreamer am I.

xoxo,

Spring into Spring: Part One, Sunnies

A divine day like today calls for your most fashionable sunnies.  With Spring upon us and fashion galore unfolding before us, it's obvious I could have a pair of sunglasses for every outfit, a la Paris Hilton.  Alas, my budget and common sense get in the way... but here are some lustful shades that shall fancy even the most discriminate of gals.

Ray-Ban - Aviator Large Metal RB 3025 $89

Zooey Cocobolo W/ Brown $415

Tom Ford - Black Milo TF73 Sunglasses $134

Gucci GG 2965 Oversized Women's Sunglasses $135

RALPH Two Tone Oversized Sunglasses $89

Any other must have shades out there?  Spill it and Happy Spring!

Spring is in the air.

Ella Moss $168

Isla by Oliver Peoples $375

Contrast Wedge Sandal by Celine $420

Dina Mackney Briolette Necklace $268

It was an amazing 70 degrees today in Denver.  A most beautiful spring day, (nevermind that I didn't even take a moment out of my work day to enjoy it).  Just feeling the warm sunshine through my office window, watching the golfers outside, the greening grass and chirping birds was enough to get my mind geared towards springtime.  The change of seasons lends my mind towards a few pretty things... sun dresses, spring jewels, sandals, swimwear and sunglasses.  Keep this girl away from the mall because I show little restraint during the change of seasons, especially as we head into my most favorite time of the year... Spring!

In celebration of the season, I've decided to do a mini-series on some of my favorite pretties of the spring season.  

Check back tomorrow for my first installment of my Spring must-haves.  You won't want to miss this!

Oh the joy of finances!

The way I see it, the very best thing about having enough $ is not worrying about having enough $.  Even with an upcoming home purchase, we'd really like to keep it that way.  Why worry about $ if you don't really have to, right?  Over the past five years we haven't really thought much about a budget per se, but we sure need to as we look to finally buy a home.

So here's the thing, I think joining finances with another human being can be a very complicated thing.  Rationalizing a purchase for myself is one thing, but rationalizing a purchase made by someone else, for someone else, for something silly, for which was paid for out of your bank account... well, that's a lot to handle!  Not to mention, a threat to your marriage!  

Case in point.  Ryan and I have lived together for almost five years and been married for almost two.  (Where does the time go?)  We have always operated amongst a single budget and a single goal, but we each had different obligations and COMPLETELY separate bank accounts.  What works for one, may not always work for others, but for this point in our lives, this concept works incredibly well for us.

Side note:  I didn't really do a great job on updating the blogosphere on the previous in progress purchase of our "Dream Home."  Well, long story short:  Inspections were a nightmare, blessing in disguise and all I have to show for it are two lovely sconces from Pottery Barn.

If you've watched the news lately, you'll know our world with record low savings, finally got it's head on straight and decided it's good to have a nest egg before purchasing a house.  In the olden days, these were called down payments.  Well, while I was too busy buying sconces Ryan did a great job on that savings initiative and has since taught me a thing or fifty about how to do so myself.  I'm actually pretty excited about my own little nest egg.  Again, the one goal, two bank accounts works great!  

While we were sad to have to back out of contract on our "Dream Home," we certainly don't mind having the extra time to save, while also giving us more time to get a little more situated on our home buying intentions and see where this wild recession-fueled housing market is heading.  In our minds, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to take advantage of this downturn, capitalize on our patience and hopefully make a great long-term investment.  Our patience to get out of this apartment however, is wearing quite thin, despite the golf course and mountain views.  Did I mention I love Colorado?  Love.

What I was getting at is that all this savings we are doing is GREAT, a fun little challenge to see our pennies adding up.  But, we realized that this spending freeze could set us up for an insane influx of expenses.  Case in point, say we buy a house in 12 months.  While we'll be sitting pretty in the savings department, we'll need oodles of things to fill up our home.  Then, hopefully little ones aren't far behind and that's a whole separate set of expenses.  Eek!  Is it better to save cold turkey?  Or is it better to stay ahead of the curve and accumulate some amazing finds and bargains as we go?  SUCH A DILEMMA.

I bring this up because this past weekend we had a temporary moment of insanity and thought, we better get a bargain priced flat screen TV!  So off we went to the soon to close, Circuit City.  Once we got there, we realized we weren't even sure that their liquidation prices were bargains and more importantly we had no need for another TV in our current home.

The overall thought hasn't left my mind.  What do you think?  Save, save, save?  Or save, save, save while spending smart, smart, smart to better prepare us for a house to fill?

Being a grown up is hard work!  Uff-ta.

For the record. Again.

Photo Credit: ABC.com

Little Miss Shawn Johnson debuted her graces on ABCs Dancing with the Stars last night. Depending on her performance, I have a feeling this could get even more intense for me as Dancing with the Stars airs just slightly longer than the Olympics.

Fact:  We are not related.  

Just putting that out there because there seems to be some confusion.  Serious confusion.

Good Luck Shawn!!

xoxo,

 

Daydreaming...

It's been one of those Mondays and all I'm wishing is that I could click my heels and end up somewhere else...

 

Staniel Cay?

Perhaps Treasure Cay?

No?  Okay, Warderick Wells?

A winter destination?  How about the Ranch?

Too Cold?  Okay, how about San Fran?

Warmer still?  San Diego?

Paradise Island?  Why not?

Palm Springs?  Please?

My favorite house on Man O War Cay?

Los Angeles?

Key Largo?

Great Guana Cay?

Fine.  The middle of nowhere in the Exumas?

How about Compass Cay?

Black Point?

A girl can dream right?  Thanks for joining me on this refreshing little tour of vacations past.  I hope everyone's Monday was a little less hectic than mine.

xoxo,

Fortunate Fridays on Saturday (again).

It may be a day late, but it's certainly not a dollar short.  It was a good week in my world and I have so much to be thankful for.  Here we go... 

1. Church and Brunch with hubby dearest on Sunday.  I'm finding such peace in starting my week this way.
2. My Dad started Twittering!  Not to mention my Mom is also blogging.  I love these new ways to feel close to those that are too far.
3. Preparing for dear Hubs Birthday celebration got me through the week.  I love birthdays almost as much as I love my husband, which means he got slightly spoiled by yours truly.
4. Several 70 Degree days in a row in MARCH.  That Colorado sunshine just makes me happy!
5. I swear, we woke up on Wednesday and the fairway grass outside our window turned green overnight.  Spring is in the air!
6. First golf game of 2009!  AND, first Eagle of the year (yes, winter rules, but still!).  Not a bad way to start the year.  Now, I cannot wait for the season to officially begin!
7. Birthday extravaganza 2-8 was a success!  A yummy dinner at Flemmings, many wonderful and love filled gifts and RED VELVET Cake to finish it off.  My Husband is loved.  :)
8. Birthday Celebration part Deux.  What Ryan thought was a dinner out with a good friend the night after his Birthday, turned out to be dinner with ALL of his bestest friends.  SURPRISE!  It was so much fun and I was so proud that I pulled it off!
9. House Hunting.... we're on to another house.  Fingers and toes crossed.
10. Hubs and I were sitting on the couch one night this week looking at houses online.  To be perfectly honest, we were kind of moping about the looooong house hunting process and our waning patience.  He then clicks on his 'favorites' and pulls up my blog and said... "Let's see if there is anything new.  This will cheer me up."  My heart smiled.

Whew.  I could have gone on and on this week, but I'll stop there.  This week was very much centered on my Hubs and his birthday.  Rightly so, as I'm so lucky to wake up next to him each day.  It was a wonderful week and I'm so thankful for that.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.  Love to all!

I don't discriminate.

I'll eat red velvet cake for breakfast.  I will.  I'm just sayin'.

Happy Birthday Hubby!!

Today is going to be a great day!  It's my dear husbands Birthday.  The big 2-8!

Happy Birthday my love.

I can't wait to celebrate fabulous and wonderful YOU tonight!

XOXO!

Everything is amazing and nobody's happy.

Seriously, seriously.  This is ridiculously good and I think can bring us all back down to planet Earth a bit.  I reluctantly admit, I'm guilty.  Are you?