Project Update: Gardening 2012

As I self professed, it's my first season trying to grow my own garden.  I didn't have much faith in myself actually, I planted really late and just hoped for the best.  Well, almost a month later I am happy to report that my little garden is thriving!

I'm as surprised at the next person that I haven't killed it yet. Above all, I would like to thank the Ozark region's humidity (for basically watering it by the air).   I have watered the plants daily (with the recent "extreme draught-like conditions I felt like I should).  I have also weeded weekly (this annoying grass weed that's more like a vine, likes taking over, really, anything, and it's everywhere down here.)

A wise man (or rather one with a greener thumb than I have) told me I should also cross-pollinate my fruit flowers to ensure best probability to fruit.  After a few blank stares, he explained that to fruit the pollen needs to go from one bud to another - more naturally done by an insect flying around.  For greater probability, just use a small paintbrush (I had some in my craft supplies, but those cheap Crayola ones would work nicely) and touched each flower with it on all three of the plants.  Cross-pollinate, I feel like a scientist!

My next steps are the keep watering and weeding, and apparently buy metal apparatuses for the tomato plants.  More to come! 



left: my little garden, July 24

right: flowering tomato plant

Frugal Shopping: DIY

My little "Frugal Shopping" headline has become a little series of mine....  but I think the thing that ties this series together with my little edge of the blogosphere, is my frugality and my creativity. 

The best Frugal Shopping in my mind is in fact getting your creative juices flowing and making your own clothes!  Here are just two examples that I have as part of my wardrobe.  More posts to come on more hand-made clothing :)


skirt!



cardigan!  you might recognize what's in my hand



Summer Reading: Trashy Romance Novels

Surprisingly (knowing my love of reading a good love story) I've never picked up a novel to read from the "Romance Section."  I was against it; I don't know where the prejudice came from but I just would not venture into that aisle.

That is, until a friend (that apparently knows me too well) suggested a Julia Quinn novel.  Said friend knew my favorite author is Jane Austen and each Julia Quinn book has a little quote stating she is the "Jane Austen of our generation."  I'm not quite sure of the comparison as it pertains to writing talent with one of the greatest authors to a romance novelist, however, when it comes to bringing together a love story in 19th-century England - I agree whole heartedly with the comparison.

I'm currently reading the "Bridgerton Series."  It's a series of eight books about eight siblings finding true love in the artistocracy of 1800s London.  It's probably not the most intelligent way to use my down time, but I find myself not being able to put the books down when I'm reading them.  Then I go BACK to re-read them.  I give kudos to Ms. Quinn on that one - her writing is addictive.  And I have an addictive personality so it's turning out to be a summer of reading. 

Full series review forthcoming, my pretties!  Starting the 6th book tonight.

above left:  five out of  eight books out of the series.

above right: the naked one looking annoyed i'm taking pictures, when she was the one crawling in my way.

Ode to Being a Cat Lady

The great thing about having a cat and also having to travel out of state for work, is that a cat can take care of itself overnight.  Or for multiple nights.  Just put out enough food and water for her and they'll do the same thing they always do:  lounge in the sun and only pay attention to things they want to pay attention to.  I'm not going to lie though, I do miss this wrinkly creature when I'm gone and I like to think she misses me (even if it's only to get fresh water and food).

Frugal Shopping: Gordman's

I live in a land of discount stores from TJ Maxx to Walmart to Ross, but when I learned Gordman's was only a few short miles from me I had simultaneous reactions: excitement and apprehension.  Excitement because out of all discount stores, Gordman's is by far and away my favorite.  Apprehension because with the store being just so damn close, I knew it would make my bank account just that much thinner.

It's one of those stores that doesn't allow you to shop online, but all the better for the treasure hunter in me.  I would classify Gordman's as in the same category as a TJ Maxx or Ross; it's a cleaner store with a wide selection but one has to search for a diamond in the rough.  But damn, there's many diamonds in the rough!

In the past two weeks I've bought earrings, a necklace, a watch, king bed sheets, a shower curtain, two pieces of wall art, a picture frame, cat treats, and a new dress.  It's THAT kind of store.  And this was me holding back.   The purchase I most enjoy is my new bronze watch, because I do love watches, and I do love large watches:

Happy Shopping!

Frugal Shopping 101: DSW



b.o.c. Women's Persian Sandal

 

Ann Marie Sharee Pump



As much as I dislike clothes shopping, I love shoe shopping.  And if you're like any woman, really ever, you love a great sale.  The trick is to know when is the best time to buy.

Every so often (ok, maybe multiple times a week), I eat lunch at my desk and peruse dsw.com to see their deals, and their deals are sometimes a huge steal. 

A little habit I have is if I like a pair of shoes I add it to my online basket, then continue to check back every so often to see if the price changed. With this habit, I have gotten great steals on shoes.  These two pairs are just two examples of this trick - and at $19.94 each they were surely a steal.  Thanks, DSW!

 



Frugal Shopping 101: JCP

I'm not particularly a fan of shopping for clothes. But when I do shop for them, I'm a huge fan of bargain shopping for them.  For some reason, I can blow $100 on a sushi dinner and can't spend more than $40 for a dress.

I do enjoy thrifting when I'm in the mood for it.  The feeling of going into a thrift store, or for that matter a Ross or TJ Maxx, and finding the diamond in the rough is exhilarating. I just have to be in the right mood to search down that item, and that honestly, rarely happens.

Of course, there are sometimes reasons I have to go shopping and let my inner woman out;  like my friend's demand that her bridesmaids look nice for her wedding rehearsal.  I didn't have anything I wanted to wear for it, so I dutifully trudged over to the mall in my new neck of the woods and started looking.  Not much to my surprise there wasn't many shopping options here; so I walked into a JC Penney.  Now, much to my surprise, it wasn't what I expected.  For some reason I always thought it was like a Dillards rather than a Kohls. Sorry, JCP.  I was wrong about you.  (Though, in retrospect, maybe I walked into the store because I believe in their advertising, being the marketer that I am.  Not many companies have the guts to do this, and then follow with this.)

Back to the point:  I found this amazing dress, on sale for only $22!  Honestly, I loved it when I tried it on in store but am not really impressed by the product image from the website.  But hey, I've gotten many compliments.  So thank you, JCP, I will be back!

product shot, jcp.com

a rather emo looking myspace shot, but there ya go





Project: Gardening 2012

I come from a line of gardeners.  My mother is a gardener, my grandfather was a gardener, and further back in my line there were farmers.  I'm not positive where the passion for it came from; however, I suspect that it had to do with two main things: 

1. We are frugal people.  Growing your own food is much less expensive than buying it. 
2. We are frugal people that love good food.  And let's be honest, something fresh from the garden is just that much more delicious. 

I've never held much of an interest in it, honestly.  Didn't understand where the sweat and conviction came from to bend over a garden every day and watch something grow.  While I was growing up my mother took me out to the massive garden we had on our land and I helped to plant everything from tomatoes, to raspberries, to carrots, to rhubarb, to any number of things she wished to grow that year.  Far back from my memory I remember a few things:  Plant in the spring, water the plants in the summer, and you have to weed.  I've decided to take this knowledge and forge out on my own.  After all, being in a new house in a subdivision versus an apartment in the city, there's things I should want to cultivate.  Like the garden plot on my lawn.

So I went out, bought gardening gloves, gardening tools, soil, and three baby plants to see what I could do.  I cultivated the plot, planted the basil and tomato plants, soaked them in water as I remember doing 20 years ago, and will now try to grow my own little garden.   Try being the operative word.  However, fresh tomato and basil salad sounds worth the work.  Ok, maybe I do understand why my ancestors loved to garden after all.  All your hard work reaps a delicious reward.



My Little Garden:  Sweet Basil, Lemon Boy Tomato, and Heirloom Maroon Tomato Plants