The places on our property that get the best light also happen to have the worst soil, so we settled on a raised-bed garden rather than a row garden, which is by far the most common way of operating in our neighborhood.

And so we set out to work. I don’t know about you, but I still find it nothing short of a daggum miracle that you can plant a tiny seed in some dirt (not even great dirt, at that!) and out pops a plant that will produce the most delicious vegetables your mouth ever laid… eyes(?) on.

We’ve been weeding and watering when it doesn’t rain, and checking the vegetables regularly. I’ve had my eyes on a couple of banana peppers and today one looked big enough to pick. So I brought it up and sliced it up and the kids and I had a few bites of the first bounty of our garden. I am thrilled. I can’t wait to show you what we end up with out of our humble little raised beds. And I can’t wait to cook and freeze and can some of the stuff!

Mrs Meyers Clean Day Basil Scented Cleaners

First of all, who doesn’t love Mrs Meyer’s Clean Day packaging? Because it’s fabulous. But beyond that, their products are green, work fantastically, and smell… ahhh. And basil? Yes, please.

Twist Sponge Cloths

I made a trip to our local health food store, where they have a decent selection of environmentally friendly cleaning and beauty products, as well. I grabbed a pack of these Sponge Cloths, and LOVE them. They’re about the size of a napkin, but feel more like a sponge. They clean like crazy, and according to the package, outlasts 17 ROLLS of paper towels. They come three to a pack. That’s alot of towels, folks. The best part – they work great.

Suubi Necklaces

My dear friend Brittany found out about this organization, Light Gives Heat, which – among other things – provides Ugandan women with a sustainable wage for making these awesome recycled magazine paper necklaces. What could be better than that – recycling, sustainability, fair wages, and great design. You can buy them here – or if you know Brittany Brownfield she almost always has some available or has ordered a new box. And you can wear them with everything. I probably wear one of the two versions I have about four days a week.

Springy Shirt

Because my Simply Links post wouldn’t be complete without an Anthropologie find – here’s this shirt that looks totally cool and comfy, not to mention it’s embroidered with turquoise, Pantone’s 2010 color of the year, and perhaps my color of the decade. Ahhh.

Sidenote: Am I the only person who think it is nearly miraculous that you can put a little tiny seed in some dirt, of all things, with some water and set it in a window and in a few weeks you have something edible? Yes, I realize I learned this in first grade. But the older I get, the more amazing it becomes to me.

Anyway, I lost track of which pot had which herb. Lo and behold, a couple weeks ago we got some little sprouts. And then a few days I realized one of the pots had cilantro. Look at those little leaves! I could almost make salsa with, what, those ten little buds.

And not far behind is the basil. At least, I think. It’s still a little early to tell.

Before you know it I’ll have pesto.

Are you growing anything? Am I the only one who finds it so fascinating?

Rubber Gloves… Yes, Rubber Gloves
A few years back I found some rubber gloves at Target that I loved – they were gauntlet style, and cute. Very cute. I wore out two pair, and haven’t been able to find anything else I liked as well until this month (at Home Goods, also known as: Store Where I Can Blow Tons of Money on Random Household Goods). Fortunately I had a gift card (thanks, Ginger!). Anyway, I found some super cute gauntlet gloves and thought you might want to know about them. The only place I can find them online is here, but check your local Home Goods.

Dark Chocolate W/ Sea Salt – Yes, Please
Evan got me a bar of this in my stocking at Christmas and it disappeared in about two days. I bought another to, uh, replace it, and stuck it in my cabinet where I promptly forgot about it until this past weekend. Let me tell you, this is some of the best chocolate I’ve had that you can buy in a grocery store. Or Target. Try some. You’ll thank me for the tip. It’s Lindt Dark Chocolate with a Touch of Sea Salt.

Fun Throw
Because I don’t think I have it in me to do my monthly links post without featuring something from Anthropologie (because, yes, I do like the store THAT much)… check out this throw! How cute is that? It’s like the most random assortment of crocheted goodness in one blanket.

Back then, the photo shelves I had seen were pretty traditional in style (our house is anything but) and a measly 12″ shelf would cost as much as $40. So soon after we finished the house, Evan built me this wall of photo shelves, where our photos have been organized and tidy ever since.They’re about four feet wide, so plenty of room to display any combination of photos I can come up with.

I like ‘em. I even like whatever screws those are he used to hold them in the wall. (I’m very handy, can’t you tell?)

He put a little groove in them so frames that weren’t sturdy could rest in it without sliding off.

And it’s a great place to put photos like this one below – me and my great-grandfather sharing a Strawberry Shortcake cake on one of our shared birthdays. He was obviously a good sport.

Fast forward to my bookshelf-redo and I really wanted something orange. What can I say – the color has grown on me of late, and I had bought two orange throw pillows for the couch, and I loved the orange in the painting in the living room that our friend Seth Hill painted. Then I remembered that awful bowl (surprisingly not so awful anymore) and got it down off the shelf, gave it a good wash (dust, anyone?) and placed it on the bookshelf.

Then I got it back down a week later to photograph it so I could tell you all about it.

Surely I’m not the only one whose style changes through the years – so what did you used to like that you hate now? Or hate that you like now? Do you have any orange bowls – figuratively speaking?

Look at those colors! If I had to choose a single color to decorate my house, it would be a bluish-green. Ahhhh.

Anyway, it’s January, and the Christmas tree is down, the winter is still in full effect, and I have too much stuff post-holidays. So every year I get a little restless around this time and want to redecorate my entire house. And every year I satisfy my irrational urge by de-cluttering, rearranging, and buying a few inexpensive things for a few places that could use some refreshing. This year: the bookshelves in the living room. There were too many books arranged in absolutely no logical manner, and it looked messy, cluttered, and boring.

I had seen a few really cool examples of people who had arranged their shelves by color, so I gave it a shot. One is totally done, the other is still a work in progress. So I’ll show you the finished one:

I’m actually really happy with how it turned out. And I knew I wanted some punches of color to sit atop or beside my stacks of color-coded books, which is why I went hunting for pottery.

I found this piece, which I absolutely love because of it’s wavy top and perfectly blue-green hue.

And then there’s this one, with it’s fun green swirly-ridges. It’s my favorite.

Now I just need to get on the ball and finish the other bookcase. I feel like I might need an orange bowl next. Or red. Which means another trip to the antique store… what a shame.

Steve Madden Cybul Boots

For Christmas, my mother-in-law bought me these boots. I am totally smitten with them. I may wear them with every outfit they seem appropriate with until it’s sandal weather. They are totally comfortable (like house slippers comfy), totally stylish, and flat. And trust me, when you’re lugging around two toddlers and their gear, flats are where it’s at. As a sidenote, my aunt informed me that slouchy boots were big in the 80s. I had no idea.

Woodland Critters Prints

We’ve been working on an additional bedroom on our house for the last…nine months or so. It’s for our son. It’s a really cool room (I’ll take photos when it’s finished. Honest.) and we built it and will decorate it so it has a bit of a rustic (but modern), cabin-y feel. I found these prints from John W. Golden’s etsy shop about a year ago, and fell in love. I ordered two from the series – the fox (pictured) and the bear, which Mason chose himself. I cannot wait to get them in and framed in his room. Perfection!

Journey To The Moon

My step-mom bought this book for Mason, and it is, hands-down, the most impressive pop-up book I have ever seen. In fact, I keep it on a high shelf so he can only look at it supervised (otherwise he’ll rip it to shreds). It’s really, truly well-done, and even though I’ve looked through it several times with him, I still notice things I think are cool each time we read through it. How on earth do these artists figure out these pop-ups?

Serving Bowls

This past month I’ve made two stops at a local antique store and have become enamored with little antique serving bowls. I plan to share more on this subject in the next week or so. But I was able to find this one while browsing through Anthropologie.com (no big surprise) and it reminds me of the ones I like so much from the antique store. I happen to think this would make what I was cooking taste better by helping it look better.

My current jade plant has been around for a few years. I had been giving my old ones too little sunlight and too much water. Turns out if you actually read up on the type of plant you have they tend to fare better than a trial and error method. Here it is:

A couple months ago, a bride (whose wedding I had photographed this summer), along with her mother and grandmother came to my home office to order their wedding albums. The grandmother noticed my jade plant, and asked if I liked them. I told her I did, along with my brief history with them (probably more info than she cared about. I am an over-sharer.) and she mentioned she had a jade that had gotten so large, it’s branches were splitting. She started two new plants from it to remove some weight, and didn’t need three. So she asked if I’d like to have one. I told her that was very kind, and if she really wanted rid of one, I’d be happy to take it.

A few weeks later when the mom came to pick up their albums, she came carrying the single largest jade plant I have ever seen in my life. It weighs about 20 pounds. (I know there are bigger ones than this. I just haven’t met them.)

Look at this thing! Gorgeous. Check out these plump leaves.

And for scale, I propped up an ultra fine point sharpie by the trunk so you can get an idea of what I’m talking about. (For reference, my original little jade plant’s trunk is roughly the size of an ultra fine point sharpie).

I’ve had it for about a month now, and so far, so good. It’s right by the window and I’ve only watered it once. Although I think I’m going to move my original jade into another room because I don’t want it to develop an inferiority complex.

The Lofts Hotel & Suites

So back to the hotel. Evan and I had first seen it a few years ago when planning a trip to Columbus, and really wanted to stay. But it just didn’t work out with the people we were traveling with and the part of town we needed to visit. But this trip, all came together beautifully and we made it. I only took my pitiful little point and shoot camera, so forgive the photos. But check it out!

Visit them online at: http://www.55lofts.com/

That was one comfy bed. Great for propping a sore knee up on.

And check this bathroom out. It was so clean, I took a bath without getting the willies even once. AND there’s both subway tile (swoon) with honeycomb tile (double-swoon).

Courtesy of the hotel web site – a view of the hallway. Look – exposed interior brick and duct work. (I will refrain from swooning again…but you get the idea).

The rates are mid-range and the service was good. I would definitely stay again if I needed a hotel right downtown. And bring my good camera next time.