Friday, May 25, 2012

DIY Love, Peony Obsession & Punjab Choley!

Hello Friends!

It's that time again- yes..the time in which we visit a few of my favorite things! Sadly, this will not be "Oprah Style" favorite things..but just a regular girl finding "stuff" in the world.

First up: Found this blog through my best friend just today and I must say- cuteness alert!  It's called A Little Glass Box and the craftiness has colored me inspired!!  DIY and me don't necessarily always turn out..well.."good"..but even I can make a basic lampshade look cool with a sharpie, some meaningful words and 20 minutes. Go here to check this out. You'll be happy you did and MAYBE like me you will find yourself wondering "How come I never thought of that?"

http://www.alittleglassbox.com/2011/08/horsin-around.html


Second: I may sound flower- centric and I am! Seriously..I just can't get over how my peonies have suddenly grown to twice their size from last year! The first year I planted them, they did nothing. The second year. A flower on each. Third year..two flowers. This year...it looks like I gave them a roundup cocktail (I did not!) and they are huge, tall, and one has about nine flowers on it. This is exciting to me. Nerd alert! Many peony photos below!






Wow!!







Yayyy!!





We're not there yet, but I always tell Brad my husband that we eventually need to have enough flowers outdoors so we can have cut flowers all summer. "Just like Oprah does on her California estate!"





Other people take photos of loved ones..I do that as well. BUT..I take a lot of photos of my flowers, my house (mainly before and afters but I figure most designers do this.) and places where I eat. Which leads me to my newest and dare I say healthiest new food obsession.

May I present to you Trader Joe's Punjab Choley! Oh. My. Bidness! This stuff is soo good. I tried it on a lark. It sat in the pantry. Brad was working and one day I said "why not? If it sucks, I can just throw it away I guess."  Fast forward five minutes later and I am having (minus Brad's cooking, which is all good.) one of the best meals ever! EVA!! I love spicy food and curry and cumin. This is vegetarian with chickpeas, cumin, fennel and some other stuff. I put it in a bowl and add little chunks of bread to it. I like to pretend it's a spicy bowl of soup or chili. What can I say? It ROCKS. It is HOT. But my tastebuds say YES!! Brad bought the last box at Trader Joe's the other day. :-(

Try it, if you dare. Volley back the love! It's FABULOUS!!



In other news..of the thrifting sort. I was gifted with a side table by my friend Bo. He was helping a friend's parents move & they were going to throw this away. Huh?!! Needless to say, he knows of my love for all things old, aged and unwanted. I was going to paint it white..big surprise I know. Instead...I placed it in our entryway and I must say: It is perfect as is. I love it. I love the stains & imperfections and my very favorite? The crayon musings of a child or some children way back when. It gives the piece providence (to me) and makes it more quirky and special.





How darling. I did find myself wondering "Did this kid get in trouble for this way back when?" because when I used crayon to write on walls and such, it never went over very well with my mom. Let's not get started on the tar story. I will just say it ended with my mom yelling (while using a brush on my nails to try and remove tar) "WHY would you do something like this? Why?"




That's about it for now. Time to feed and walk the doggies. Brad is fishing with friends. I will be hitting flea markets, barns and anything that looks fun with my B/F/F tomorrow.

Have a beautiful extended weekend and yes..

Holla!!

xxoo~

T



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