Hello from Oklahoma

Goodness. We've been here visiting family and friends just since Saturday and there's already so much to write about. We're having an amazing time.

This is our longest trip home in awhile and it's so good to visit the people and places that we always hear so much about.

I'll be back soon with more adventures from Oklahoma (and Kansas), so stay tuned!

Love, T.

Around Here, Lately

Love, T.

Oh, hello!

I was going to write about what it's like to be gone from a blog space for so long (I mean, I basically skipped spring) and how daunting breaking that absence is...but then my sister essentially did that for me, with a quiet reminder to chill out.

There is so much to write about. But for tonight, in the name of easing back into things, I will leave you with some pictures of the spring I skipped and we'll start officially catching up tomorrow. In random order. Because somehow, that makes me feel better about my neglect over the last months.

Love, T.

Weekending

I like reminding myself of the lovely weekend in the middle of the week itself. It's just what I need to get through my Thursday and Friday. So here are pictures from last weekend...

...and what a weekend we have coming up! Tony and Jill are coming out for a visit and we are beyond excited to see them. We'll have lots of good food, go see lots of neat things, and we'll have great company. Can't wait.

Love, T.

Happiness, Part 2

The other day, I went to Whole Foods to pick up a few things on my way home from work.

I picked up some bulk walnuts and cashews, coconut oil, dried dates...

...and a hyacinth. I couldn't help it. And I can only justify it by saying they were on sale and in need of a loving home. In just a couple of days, we had blooms.

And we can't talk about hyacinths without mention of Mrs. Bucket, pronounced Bouquet.

Love, T.

Tulips

Last year I was a flower maniac. I forced paperwhites, hyacinths, and crocuses. I had fresh flowers in a vase just about all the time. I planted bulbs outdoors so we could watch spring arrive. Flowers really and truly make me happy.

This year, as part of our Moving-Back-Into-An-Apartment blues, I completely spaced out about where I would force my bulbs. We don't have a basement anymore and a basement is the only good place to force bulbs, right? Yup...except for that cold, dark attic space through the large door in our bedroom!

This realization moved me right into the Didn't-Force-Bulbs-But-Could-Have blues.

So this weekend I splurged on some tulips from the grocery store. Just once.

And man. I'm glad I did.

Love, T.

Alpenblumen (and Other Google History)

-:- Alpenblumen -:-

I'm reading Heidi again and love it more now than I did when I was a kid. It inspired me to look up some of the alpine flowers Heidi picked in the book and I stumbled on this site. These are some of my favorites:

-:- Cosmetics Saftey -:-
This is something I'm becoming pretty passionate about. We are careful about the kinds of food we eat, but apply all kinds of cosmetics, whose ingredients are absorbed through our skin, without really thinking about what's in them. Lately, I've given my products a makeover and am now using either low toxicity products or homemade products. I'll be talking more about this in coming posts and sharing some of the recipes and techniques that I've found work well for me.

-:- Skin Deep -:-
This is a database that rates cosmetic products based on their toxicity.

-:- Maru -:-
Stay with the first video...the part that makes me laugh out loud is about half way through.






Love, T.