down to the water...

you know...

you're an art student when...

you cut off the ripped hem of your jeans with an x-acto knife.

true, right?

and yes, i did just do this.

a myriad

My mom and I have had a "thing" about the words "myriad" and "plethora" since I was in middle school. Therefore, I use those words whenever I can.

When Chelsea and I went thrifting last week, I found the butter dish of my dreams. It may sounds quite silly to you, but I've been hunting for the perfect butter dish for several months now, if not a year. I was using tupperware... It wasn't good. I hadn't given in and bought something I didn't love just to have one. And I'm really glad I didn't. I love this dish. The vintage, deco-y design is perfect. I just love the little wood handle!

I also found that fantastic mug on the same trip. Isn't he awesome and grumpy?! He's also really really big, so I can drink a ton of hot cocoa without going for refills. On the bottom it says, "merry x-mas, gramp. love, beth. '81." If I was a grandpa, I would've loved to get this from my granddaughter!

I found this little guy on my lemon verbena plant. I've never seen such a bright display of color here in Michigan. Anyone know what it is? Other than gorgeous, of course...

Those cosmos I had up on my stove didn't stay beautiful forever. So, I threw them in the compost and plucked a leaf from my new coral bell plant. Isn't the purple perfect with the mint? Mint is the very best plant to use as a green/leafy detail in arrangements. It never wilts, it just starts to root!

This is little chipmunk. He was our friend. He would even come into the garden when we were out there, too, albeit quite sneakily. The other day, Eric saw one of the neighborhood cats slinking away from our house... With little chipmunk in his mouth... We are really quite sad about this.

Apple crisp!!! It smelled so amazing in the oven. However, this was my first time making it and I used a recipe I found online. There was too much butter and I didn't realize I could just pile on the apples... Eric's mom is giving me her recipe, which she made tonight. I had some and it is soo good!

Our kitchen while we were prepping for the tomato-peach-nectarine salsa we made last Friday. Colorful, no? Eric told me that it didn't look like our kitchen because it had so much color! It smelled so good when we were making it. You're supposed to let salsa "mingle" for a couple weeks for the best flavor... I can't wait that long!

Up next: Awesome cottage photos. And more water...

i heart flowers

Yes, I do. I love flowers. All of the different shapes, colors, textures, structures... It's all so fascinating. And, of course, beautiful. Cosmos have earned a top place in my heart over the past couple of years. There's one as big as I am in my backyard! I'll show you another time. I bought these two antique medicine bottles a while back from the wonderful people at Haven, in Plymouth. They're the shop that carries my jewelry. Anyway, pretty much anything looks amazing in these bottles-turned-vases. Including mint and cosmos...

I also love flowers from other people. Especially Karen. She just started bringing her beautiful flowers bouquets to the Plymouth farmer's market. She goes to Canton, too. She has a very green thumb and a great eye for floral composition. I love her flowers. Each week, I've brought home two bouquets. Well, not the first week, but that wasn't for a lack of trying. They got lost somehow.... Anyway, aren't they beautiful?

I love her use of greenery. The fern, the grass spikes...

And she put together this bunch of Queen Anne's just for me. I got oh so excited when I saw these stems of it in her bucket.

What flowers have you been enjoying?

an august dinner

Tonight, Eric and I whipped up a yummy, local dinner in about 23 minutes.

Yup. I'm very proud.

He had the brilliant idea to saute some green peppers we picked up from Suburban Harvest earlier, a red onion I got from one of my favorite local growers (organic, too!) and some local garlic. The smell of cooking is so amazing when you haven't really cooked in a while.

We used this super yummy whole wheat with flax seed pasta and that amazing jar of olive and caper marinara sauce.

It was sooooo good. The best part was getting a clove of garlic (he only halved them) in a bite. Oh, the goodness that is sauteed garlic...

And the salad was super yummy too. How's this close up action of the perfect peppers??

Don't walk, run to your local farmer's market and pick up some dinner! There's nothing better than super fresh veggies. Especially when you met the person who grew them.

To market, to market...

Here are some photos that I took of the setup we had for the Suburban Harvest/my jellies booth at the Plymouth farmer's market last Saturday. I had so much fun being there, except that it was unbearably cold. Seriously. We were in a wind tunnel. My hands were super freezing and I had my hood up the whole time. But, Gabe and I had a super awesome time and I met a lot of cool people as well as saw a lot of people I already knew. Most from work.

we put the plants all on the ground; they made a nice display there.

the whole shebang

my jellies!

michigan milled baking mixes.

peaches and nectarines!

I'm excited to go again this week!

Motherhood...

I have just bought two babies.

Unlike most moms, I will take them to school and quite probably to work when I have a lunch break.

I will have to feed them to make sure they stay awake, clothe them so that they don't get too dirty.

They will be my constant companions, keeping me up all night and begging me to play with them.

I am ready for this motherhood.

I have fallen in love.