Guest Posting on Gratefully Inspired

Hey Y'all!

So excited to share that I am guest posting today over at Gratefully Inspired on what I've learned since saying 'I do!' Whether you're married, single or crushing, you will totally love reading what brides have shared about their little lessons learned.

Denise's blog is one of those blogs that as soon as you wake up, you are turning on your computer to read what she wrote because it inspires you and challenges you.  I always feel like I walk away with some amazing little nugget. Denise is not only absolutely gorgeous but she has such a bright outlook on life and her heart is on fire for the Lord! She rocks! So... go check her out. DUH!

Did I mention how gorgeous she is? 

{ps Denise.. hope you don't mind that I totally swiped this pic from your blog}

urban garden trials and tribulations

Our little babies are all grown up! We started these suckers from little baby seeds back in March/April. It's been fun to watch everything grow! But with life, comes death and unfortunately... not all of our little guys have made it. 

This is so sad but so true... I feel like these plants are my kids. No lie. Mike and I 'visit' with them every morning and at least once after work. We get so excited when something new has bloomed or is growing. And we (I especially) get so angry when anything starts messing with my kids. By anything, I mean the gigantous army of ants that just love, love, love our okra and try to completely devour the okra plants every morning. Jerks.

So, funny story. One morning, I walked out like any other morning to water the plants and  pull off dead leaves, check out the goods, etc. Lo and behold, our biggest and best producing okra plant was covered with ants. I mean COVERED. You couldn't even see the plant!

{A little back story - these ants have been all over our okra from day one. Every bud that comes, they try to devour it. Every okra, they try to eat it. They farmed aphids all over our plants. They have just been quite the unwelcomed pest.}

Anyway.. my not-so-patient-kind-calm self sucker punched the plant to stir them up (not sure this was necessary) and stormed inside to grab pesticide. Then I went backwoods crazy on the ants. I started spraying the ants, the okra, plant, the soil, the air, the next door neighbor's car. I mean I went berserk. I think my upper lip even started to sweat and my hands were shaky. The whole nine yards.

Luckily I regained consciousnesses and realized what I was doing. I felt SO bad. The ants were dying like right in front of me and then I started worrying about the rolly pollies, the bees, everything. I like slumped over and had to confess to Mike what I had just done. OK and all of this was before 8am. I mean seriously?! Talk about a rough day.

So, all of this to offer you some tidbits on getting rid of unwanted ants in a healthy {sane} way:

  -Sprinkle cornmeal around the base of the plant. The ants will take the cornmeal back to their crib and {sadly} starve.
  - If you see that you have an ant problem, check the bottom of leaves. Ants actually 'farm' aphids, which means that they spread them out to other leaves, let them reproduce and feed off of them. If you find aphids, take a paper towel and just wipe the aphids off. You can also use water to spray off the aphids. Once you get rid of their feeding grounds, they will have to search elsewhere. Check/rub down the leaves every day for awhile.
- Spray the suckers with water. As odd as it seems, just blasting them seems to stun them for awhile. They will come back later but at least you've bought yourself some time.
- Use an organic pesticide. We use Neem oil. It seems to work {especially when you go nuts on them}

Remember, bugs can be good little worker bugs in your garden.. including ants. You will want to watch their activity before getting rid of them. If you have okra though, more than likely they are sucking the nutrients out and will eat up your entire plant if you aren't careful. So, exterminate, baby, exterminate.

DIY colored bakers twine

Months ago I mentioned looking for the perfect place setting for when it was our turn to have supper club over. I wanted to incorporate colored baker's twine but was so unimpressed at the color options available that I almost put the whole idea to rest. But I couldn't put it to rest. I love the way it looks with gift tags, place settings, etc. etc. The uses for it are endless and provide such a simple yet adorable look. My only option was to make it myself. 

And, boy is it easy.

All you need:

• twine {I purchased mine at the local garden shop but Walmart sells it too}
• markers {Sharpies are a great option}
• dowel rod {or any other round, thin object}

step one:

wrap twine around dowel rod {as you can see, I used a large paint brush}

step two:
starting from one end, draw a line to the other end
tip: color the line several times to get a richer color once it is pulled off the rod. You can play around by pulling a few lines off to check for desired color/look

step three:
continue around the entire rod leaving desired space in between

step four:

pull off dowel rod and put to great use!

photo provided by @malloryhrussell

We used ours for our place settings for supper club. I have some DELISH recipes to share with you from this night. We ended up going with a five course, semi-wine pairing meal. It was SO much fun for us. We had a blast all weekend with preparations, cooking and having our friends over!

p.s. those adorable napkins are from Hallmark {for realz}.

poor man's pasta

We all have our go-to, super easy meals that we turn to on those nights where cooking is the last thing you want to do and time is the last thing you have. Last night was one of those nights.

So, we made 'poor mans pasta!' This is one of Mike's bachelor day recipes that he came up with.

All you need is:

2 medium yellow squash
2 medium zuchinni
a handful of fresh green beans
1/3 box of pasta
parm cheese

boil the pasta according to the directions
fill a large, shallow saucepan with water and bring water to a boil
cut the zucchini and squash in half and then cut into 1/2 pieces
cut off the icky end of the green bean and cut them in half
throw zucchini, squash and green beans in boiling water, add salt
boil for 10 minutes
add pasta
serve on plate - include a little bit of the water
add shaky cheese all over! go crazy!
salt and pepper to taste

easy, quick, healthy and yummy! Oh, and cheap.

miles and miles

After a few days in San Fran we jumped on Highway 1 and headed down to Monterrey.  On our way south we stopped at spots with amazing views {those pics are all in my cloud, which I can't access right now} and took a short hike to check out where all the elephant seals hung out. I looooove animals. I seriously wanted to crawl over the fence and snuggle up with those blubber lovers. Not only were they cute but they could beat anyone in a burping contest. Their mating calls/yells/talking/who knows sounded like big ol juicy burps! They are my kind of friends. 

oh, and we saw a fox up close and personal!

After miles of driving and gorgeous sites, we made it to Monterrey. Our first on the to-to list was a 17-mile ride down the coast, which was SO worth it! It was gorgeous. 

this is called bird rock because it is literately covered in bird poo -- yes that white stuff is BIRD POOP! EW!

and, we made a friend. He walked up to us... and by up to us.. I mean like almost crawling up our legs. The squirrels there were so used to humans they walk right up to you to beg for treats. I caved... I gave him a piece of a Kashi granola bar.. at least it's natural, right?

our caboose on a caboose... I obviously don't listen well. 

Monterrey was so relaxing. It was chilly, sunny, quiet, you walked/biked everywhere, farmers markets every day in different parts of the city, gorgeous beaches. It was a place where time slowed down. A place where you savored a cup of hot chocolate as you watched the waves crash and birds chirping were symphonies. It was a place where being grateful came natural.... at least as a tourist. 

SF - markets, wineries and a bar in the trees

farmer's markets, wine and treehouses...oh a few of my favorite things!

On Saturday of our San Fran trip, we ventured to The Ferry Building and surrounding market. It was bliss. There were food tents everywhere. I don't know about yalls farmers markets but ours only consists of people selling veggies/fruits/flowers and a few baked goods. This market had EVERYTHING. Cute homegoods, veggies, gorgeous flowers everywhere, fresh coffee, the most delicious food I've ever had, live music and a beautiful view of the bay. This was actually one of my favorite pieces of the trip -- just tooling around the market, tasting yummy goodies and enjoying the sound of sweet bluegrass.

After we stuffed our faces, we headed out to Muir Woods for a hike and a beer {or several} in a bar that you had to hike to. The bar was so cool - it was way up in the trees, you had to hike in and out of it, people were having picnics all over the place and they had a TON of board games!

 The whole Arrigo clan

And no better way to finish off the stay in San Fran than with a trip to the wineries.  We didn't get to visit many wineries {and I would def love to go back and do more wineries} but we did enjoy a few bottles of wine and a couple games of bocce ball.

Oh San Fran, how I love thee.