12:30am Thoughts

I should have taken Woodshop instead of Home Ec in junior high. I'd be so much cooler now. :P

Things I Pin/Reblog Before I Go Paleo

 Key Lime Pie Cake

(Bakerella || via)

Peach Yellow Cake

(Mint || via)

 Chocolate Dipped Coffee Ice Cream Glazed Doughnut Sandwich

(Taste Spotting || via)

The Health Committee at my dad's office (my old job) is starting a 30 day paleo challenge. Family is invited to participate so starting this Thursday, my family and I (and even Alex) are going paleo for a whole month. That means no carbs, dairy or sugar for 30 days! I don't know if it's possible for me to go that long without eating those foods.

Maybe subconsciously my brain and tummy are freaking out... that would explain all the delicious looking junk food I've been pinning and reblogging lately!

Don't you just want to take a big ol' bite out of that chocolate dipped coffee ice cream glazed doughnut sandwich?? O.M.G.

My Future Home: Acapulco Chairs

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My future home will have one...or four Acapulco chair. All different colors. All to bring a little eye candy into the room.

Life of the Poppy

Not too long ago, on a sunny day in April, my parents and I went to a nursery in Richmond called Annie's Annuals. It is an amazing nursery with all sorts of interesting plants. You could spend hours and hours there (and you know we did!) and there would still be plenty of plant species to see.

My parents are currently on a mission to xeriscape their front yard and were looking for plants that require little water to survive. We all fell in love with different flowers, grasses and succulents but nothing compared to...

 

The Papaver Hybridum!!! AKA the Orange Chiffon Poppy (sounds classy!). Now, this isn't a xeriscape friendly plant. It requires "average water" according to the peeps at Annie's but I could not resist that bright orange flower so I bought it just for funsies.

 

I took my little poppy home, bought it it's own little pot in a color that would compliment the orange flowers (interior designers: always about complimenting colors), and hoped it would grow.

 

The little guy grew fast! This picture was taken about two months after I bought it, but it seemed to double in size ever time I blinked (that may be an exaggeration, but you get what I'm saying).

 

There's that bright orange I fell in love with! The blooms only lasted about a day each and I got six flowers off of this plant - kind of disappointing, but it was still worth it.

 

After the petals fell off, we were left with this bulb-y pod (me scientific! :P). They were huge and I kept wanting to poke at them.

 

But I left them alone and sure enough, after a couple of weeks, the sides of the bulb turned down so that it could re-seed.

  

I want to have tons and tons (at least more than six) of Orange Chiffon poppies next year so my mom and I collected the seeds. We took the dried-out pods and shook the seeds out into a plastic baggie.  I'll have to do more research on how to successfully re-plant these babies, or I maybe I'll leave it to my mom who is a wizard at gardening.

My Future Home: Velvet Couches

Some day, my future home will have a velvet couch. Don't these beauties look so comfortable? I can just see myself relaxing on one of these soft and comfortable couches. 

I love the mustard color complimented by the neutral colors in the posters above. 

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Exposed brick, green velvet couch and Bill Cosby on vinyl? Done.

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I love the electricity of the color on this couch. 
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Maybe I will choose something dark and sexy like this.
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The light hitting the velvet makes it look like it's been frosted.
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You can never go wrong with a classic blue.
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This photo reminds me of Margot Tenenbaum.
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I can't think of anything clever to say about this one. I just love the color combination and the posters. 
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Cute light pink with crazy wallpaper. Love!
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Dark navy velvet complimented with baby pink accents? So good. Now I'll just need the boyfriend to sign off on this combo!
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Can you believe that this is actually an Ikea couch with a velvet slipcover from Comfort Works? Maybe a velvet couch will be in my future sooner rather than later!
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4th of July

Delicious food to celebrate with.

Ibu enjoying some BBQ chicken and smoked ribs with her box of chilies.

My Dad enjoying the good eats!

Alex in action.

Ribs are my favorite.

Caught eating potato salad out of the bowl.

Our blueberries were finally ready to be picked!

We got a good amount this year.

Fireworks show from the river.

A small finale.

Marie's dog Bruno was scared and went to Alex for comfort.

Wants the fireworks to stop. Poor little guy...

Back at home playing with fireworks.

Lighting some sparklers.

Playing with slow shutter speeds.

   Hope everyone had an enjoyable fourth! It was nice having a day off in the middle of the week. My day was spent with food, family, friends and fireworks - a winning combination for a great Independence Day!

Tequila Soaked Watermelon

I. Love. Pinterest. I found this awesome picture of Tequila Soaked and Salted Watermelon and a recipe thanks to a commenter named bigmamma22222.
You will need:
1 small seedless watermelon, quartered and cut into 1-inch thick wedges.
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup triple sec
2 limes, halved or cut into wedges
flaked sea salt or coarse salt.


Cut your watermelon into 1 inch thick slices.


Mix the water and sugar in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.


Stir the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves and let cool slightly. Then stir in the tequila and triple sec.


Arrange the watermelon slices in a single layer in a 9"x13" baking dish.




Then, pour the syrup over the watermelon slices.


Refrigerate the slices for about 45 minutes.


When ready, remove the watermelon from the syrup and arrange on a platter. I didn't have any limes but you should squeeze limes over watermelon and then season with salt.
It was especially hot last weekend and Alex and I were packing up our apartment so these little guys were and awesome treat and welcomed break from moving!