May 2011 Archives

It's official: I have a garden.

A real life garden. One that is supposedly going to produce tomatoes, lettuce, red peppers, two different types of cucumbers, and zucchini.

Who knew so many vegetables could fit in this tiny space?

Many thanks to my mom who got down on her hands and knees and planted this baby beast of a garden with the limited tools I had on hand. (Please note: she dug the holes for plants with her hands and the top to an empty Clorox bottle I had in my recycle bin.)

She also put in some marigolds because the "bees like 'em" and they add a great little splash of orange that I don't mind at all.

I'll let you all know how this goes as the summer progresses, but I'm already saying things like, "oh, this rain is so good for our garden" and "We'll be sure to give you some tomatoes from our garden." (Please also note that for some reason these things come out of my mouth with a British accent. Strange.)

This story out of China yesterday is kind of freaking me out: Watermelons have been bursting, creating what state media call fields of "land mines," after farmers in Eastern China overdosed the watermelon crop with growth chemicals.

These chemicals combined with the serious wet weather have created exploding watermelons.

With this crappy, rainy weather outside (how depressing is it to see rainclouds every day of the week on the weather map, right?) I've been trying to make the best of my inside snuggle-under-a-blanket time by reading.

I just devoured this book: "The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain. In this factual, yet not-quite non-fiction memoir, McLain follows the first marriage of Ernest Hemingway. Once described as the only woman Hemingway ever really loved, Hadley Richardson gives readers a glimpse of what the macho, often misunderstood great American author stood for.

McLain studied the newlyweds life in Paris as Hemingway began to work his way up the literary ladder and then wrote this book from Hadley's perspective.

While I hate that it is a fictional take on what the couple must have experienced (I love, love memoirs and bibliographies. Nothing beats the real-life drama that we live with every day in my opinion) the story is well-paced and gripping, set in 1920s' Paris -- a place and time that was ripe with compelling stories.

McLain weaves fact and fiction so seamlessly that I forgot the narrative was fiction. This isn't "beach reading," though it easily could be. It's a history lesson disguised as an enjoyable read and offers a behind-the-scenes look at what made Hemingway tick.

My mother gave me these tomato plants.

Here they sit.

Hmmm ...

I know at some point they are supposed to actually go in the ground, make roots and all that stuff. Eventually red tomatoes are supposed to show up.

But that's about all I know.

I water it every other day. Give it some nice warm sunlight in the afternoon, and sing to it in the morning (I hear that helps them grow. Wait, or is that what you do to pregnant women? I'm confused here.)

Any insights into what I'm supposed to be doing would be appreciated and helpful if I'm ever going to completely sustain our household on this magical garden I have planned in my mind.

Stay tuned ...

Last weekend I had my mom, auntie and dad over for a Mother's Day BBQ (please note: there is no grilling done by me at all -- que the guy).

It was a beautiful afternoon: the porch was sunny, the coals were hot, and the fridge was full.

Too full, according to my mother.

"Geez, what do you have in here? Enough food to feed an army?"

My auntie confirmed my mother's observation: "My fridge certainly doesn't look like that. I wish I had that much food."

First let me wish a belated Happy Mother's Day to all my faithful readers out there in the blogisphere who are mothers, godmothers, step-moms, aunts or any strong woman that a child looks up to!

This weekend the guy and I braved Albany's 63rd Annual Tulip Festival in Washington Park, where more than 200,000 tulip bulbs blossom. It is simply beautiful and well worth the "dreaded" crowds that we didn't really have to fight.

It was the gasp heard around the world -- when then "commoner" (really, she wasn't) Kate Middleton stepped out of her car at the Abbey in her beautiful, one-of-a-kind Alexander McQueen dress.

And now, you too can have an exact replica of the famous dress. You and the thousands of other brides who are thinking the exact same thing, of course.

Middleton didn't break any fashion rules, by any stretch, but instead is bringing back a more classic look -- which I can't express how excited I am about this.

I've long been tired of the strapless, mermaid dress that is on every single page of the bridal magazines I buy like a crazed addict. So when the good ole' Dutchess stepped out in this Hepburn/Grace Kelly-inspired look, I almost couldn't believe it. Finally something different and timeless all at the same time.

But will I want the same exact dress? Ah, no. According to the Associated Press, knock-offs of the now iconic dress will be hitting bridal salons near you by June. Literally seconds after Kate stepped out of the car, designers were busy making sketches and cutting fabric.

David's Bridal will be featuring a "Kate" dress but reports say they will be cutting about 2 feet off the train and will tone down the lace on the skirt of dress, according to the AP. Insiders say the dress will go for about $1,000 at the mass bridal store, where every girl can have her fairy tale ending -- at a reasonable, retail price, of course.