craneum

This crane was hanging out on the waterfront in [Little] Washington, NC. Okay, I admit that I'm cheating by using a photo taken from this time last May. But I've been a little short on time and creativity this week...

memoryal day

In the intolerable heat and humidity, we took a stroll down memory lane sorting through childhood favorites including story books, artwork, trophies, costumes, girl scout paraphernalia, rubber ducky insanity, and boxes upon boxes of stuffed animals. We're having a yard sale this upcoming Saturday and although I got rid of TONS of stuff, I could not part with a few favorites, including my Popples, Cuddles, and Pound Puppy (clockwise above). Good times!

sweet treats

For the family reunion, my aunt-in-law made ALL of my favorite treats, including (but not limited to) Danish wedding cookies, peanut butter cookies drizzled in chocolate, chocolate covered Ritz peanut butter sandwiches, brownies, and iced ginger cookies. And yes, I ate at least one of all of the above. And yes, I was absolutely miserable shortly thereafter. But it sure was good!

small town charm

This Memorial Day weekend, we headed up to Mt. Airy to attend the 67th annual Smith family reunion. My father-in-law is pictured above taking in a little Mt. Airy charm in front of Floyd's Barber Shop.

a tisket, a casket

A little morbid humor for the Friday commute.

{up}chucked

Gromit has his very own pair of chucks. Actually, they're build-a-bear shoes I found at a thrift store, but don't tell him.

succulent surprise

I was walking around one of the buildings on campus and came face-to-face with a giant tray of succulents. I was so tempted to steal a few cuttings!

the best kid in the class

On our last day of photo-blitzing the daycare, the mastermind behind Sapphire Lemon Photography got out from behind her lens just long enough for me to snap a quick pic.

sweet smells of summer

About the only redeeming quality of Summer are the sweet smells floating on the heavy air. The gardenia and jasmine are both out of this world right now!

who's the fairest couple of them all?

So blessed and grateful to celebrate the wedding of two very dear friends. Oh, and I was pretty excited to see my favorite trash-to-treasure made an appearance at the reception. :)

[un]sticky situation

Three tubes of adhesive and one sheet of paneling later, we have an idea of what it's going to look like. One board up, thirteen to go...

Chris and Seth are hard at work cutting board sheet number two.

toast[y] friday

A fun afternoon of breakfast for lunch and a toasty walk in the park with Becca.

fast money, last minute

Seth and a co-worker decided to enter the pinewood derby competition at this year's Lowes celebration day. I now know how my mom felt when I started working on school or craft projects at 9:00 PM the night before they were due... Seth and I were up late putting the finishing touches on "Fast Money", the Finance Department's representation in the derby.

floral carnage

Every day, I come home to the carnage of the squirrels and birds. Yesterday, they completely knocked over the planter on the bottom right, breaking it and spilling the dirt all over the back porch. Today, they dug a four-inch deep hole and uprooted three marigolds in the front yard (left and top right).

Despite the pesky squatters on my land, I cannot resist planting. I brought home a trunk full of clearance flowers from Lowe's, including (clockwise) three flats of portulaca, a dahlia, and a flat of coleus. We'll see how long it takes for the squirrels and birds to uproot them...

toddler photo blitz

I had a great time working with CaShaun Miller of Sapphire Lemon Photography today as we photo-blitzed the infant and toddler classes of a Charlotte daycare. Tomorrow we go back for round II (the 3 & 4 year-olds).

sprouts, hold the brussel

Things are already looking green in the garden, proof I can grow something other than weeds!

when the spirit moves you

At the last minute, I decided to make some earrings to match this necklace. You have to love those spur-of-the-moment crafts, well, except for those 9:00-the-night-before-sewing-projects anyway.

conGRADulations!

Congratulations are in order for my dear friend, Alesha, who hosted an awesome graduation picnic including friends and family, homemade red velvet cupcakes (a la Chef Tan), and more cotton candy than a state fair! I am so happy for Alesha and each of my classmates who recently graduated with their MLIS degrees--much happiness to you all and best wishes in future endeavors!

[un]hostile takeover

Some of the prettiest ground-cover that I have ever had the pleasure of growing. I believe it's called sedum, a type of succulent. It surrounds my tree-stump-bird-bath in the back yard.

sir fig newton

The fig tree is starting to bear fruit!

cold words

More street art in NoDa.

a little dark humor

Dare we ask what is being given away?

Here lies a bargain hunter.

puppy love

After Gromit's buddy Fin left yesterday afternoon, he brought me a very sweet Mother's Day card. Apparently, he's at the age where it's embarrassing to love on mommy while his friends are around. :)

the lazarus vine

I think my Jasmine was strangling herself back in February. After a new Spring haircut, she perked right up and is even starting to bloom.

in the garden

Since none of my fruits and veggies fared well, I've decided to try my hand at a wildflower garden. I sowed the seeds yesterday...

...and bought some garden "bling" today.

april showers bring may flowers

Another one of my orchids is in bloom!

a shocking discovery

From day one, we have allowed Gromit to have "his" furniture. We put a sheet and a blanket on the loveseat and let that be his space. With the warmer weather, he's be inclined to sleep downstairs by himself lately (our little boy is growing up!). Unfortunately, we've noticed tiny Gromit-hairs woven into the sofa, where he knows he is not allowed. To be consistent, we've decided to ban him from all furniture.

We were struggling to find a solution since when Seth comes up with the brilliant idea to "flag" the furniture. Gromit respects these flags because they are the kind we used to train him with the underground fence. He won't get near them because he thinks he's going to get shocked. He's not happy about the situation, but I'm excited about reclaiming the furniture again.

to the letter

Hanging art on the walls really does make a house feel more like a home. I'm a little worried this wall is too busy, but after six years, I'm so excited to finally get to hang up our diplomas...

...and to finally frame and display my awesome gift (each letter of my name photographed in abstract) from my sister-in-law. I went here to find the letters for Seth's name. These photographs are licensed under Creative Commons, which means as long as I follow the creator's specifications, I can use them for free!

new beginnings

These little guys sure are cute, but I'm not too thrilled with their mommy, who seems to enjoy hunting for food in the dirt surrounding my freshly planted flowers!

journey to the center

I can't say enough about how beautiful succulent plants are. If I could just keep the squirrels from digging them up, I'd be in business.

mirror, mirror on the wall...

This is quite possibly one of my favorite trash-to-treasures. I found this 1984ish gold mirror at a yard sale for $3, slapped a few coats of spray paint on it, and created a gift for some friends of ours who have been looking for a mirror just like this to decorate their new home. The picture frame in the bottom right corner is from Hobby Lobby. It matched the mirror so perfectly that I couldn't resist. :)