when I'm left alone...

... I tend to live like a singleton again. Clothes tossed on the floor, dishes left on the counter. The married OCD me is gone and single sloppy me visits. The hubby is out of town. He's been gone since tuesday and comes home tomorrow. What this means is married me kicked out single me and cleaned up the mess. I also moved the herb garden to its new location ( only making room for the asparagus and garlic I'm gonna plant when the seeds I ordered come in, I know I'm obsessed) and baked strawberry bars that look more like a pie. We had strawberries that I didn't want to waste.

Does your other half ditch you for work trips and how do live when they aren't around?

Not really in hiding...

It's come to my attention all I talk about is dirt lately. While I do still have a life, or something that resembles one, I seem to not be talking about it as much as I talk about all things dirt.

Well, there's a few reasons for that:

A. I love gardening and rather be outside watching my little seedlings grown than doing anything else
B.I've been working on a few things that I haven't been ready to talk about yet
C. Life is rather boring at the moment

As for B. I'll finally share what it is I'm talking about in a month or so. Now, don't jump to conclusions now, it isn't about my personal life, it's more about my business life. Kinda.

I'll try to be a better blogger... maybe little miss planner needs to plan a blog schedule so she can write more. :)

Admission...

I'm Little Miss Planner and I'm addicted to all things dirt. I can officially say that I've truly lost it. On Saturday morning, the hubby took me to the garden center so i could get the rake I've been jabbering on about all week long. Unfortunately we left with a trunk full of plants, dirt and other random things that I apparently "needed." Once I got home I changed and proceeded to spent 4 hours weeding and planting and watering and just plain old getting dirty. After I was all dusty and dirty, I walked into the house and gave the hubby a great big hug and told him what I wanted for my birthday (let me remind you it is over 6 months away). This:


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You see, I put all my fun tools on the side of the house but as much as I put stuff in some order, it just doesn't sit well with me. I feel uneasy when things aren't in their "place" and my tools need a home. (read: little miss planner has OCD tendencies) I just need a little outdoor closet/shed to keep things tidy.

So there you have it. Today's admission of insanity. Oh, and yes I tried to skim over the fact I planted more... I found this area that looked very unkept on the hill. So I cleaned it out and planted more... 2 types of peppers, more tomatoes and squash. Funny (or sad) part is I DON'T eat peppers or regular tomatoes. My justification... well, i know a lot of people do so we'll give them away! :)

Things to do before Apr 09 -- Update #3

1. Walk/Run 60 miles (20 miles)
2. Cook 15 meals a week (12)
3. Save 60% on our grocery bills (58%)
4. Do one craft project (does gardening count?)
5. Clean my bike and go riding (never took frank out for a ride... maybe this week after work sometime.)
6. Go to the gym 4 times during a work day (3 down)
7. Go for a picnic and a hike (didn't have time)
8. Go swimming twice at the gym (this week... at night)
9. Do boot camp ONCE (going tmw)
10. Work out 5 times a week ALL month (didn't happen)
11. Read a book (started a book)
12. Take a trip to the flower district (going to go this weekend. close enough)

Garden Envy!

I'm SOOOO adding onto our garden next year. If you love gardening, you HAVE to take a look at The Dervaes Family. I first saw this post over at Oh Happy Day! Go here to watch the 1 minute clip on Oprah.




You can Follow their journal here! I just added them to my Google reader!

Oh, here's another clip!

Little Miss Planner's Farm Update # 5

Beware: image heavy post.

Update...

So you know that hard work I griped about last Monday? This is what the garden looked liked before:


The garden's grown alot:


and now we added onto the wall:


Last night we planted more artichokes on the top as well as spaghetti squash. On the bottom, we have spinach, more lettuce, more carrots, cauliflower, and an area for the pumpkins. The pumpkin vine will be moved outward and up the hill once that grows, much like the cucumber vine.

So updates on everything:


Peas


lettuce


carrots


herbs


cucumbers


cherry tomato bush


corn

Inspirations Part 29

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Happy Earth Day!

If this doesn't make you want to be nicer to the earth, I don't know what will!

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PHEW...

Boy am I tired. This weekend has felt like a non stop race. It is okay though because it was fantastic. We did more work on the garden (will post soon on that). Had a BBQ with the in-laws. We also helped out our friends, Mark Ayoub Photography at the Great Bridal Expo today. We had soo much fun there! We even ran into our wedding photograhers Toby Tucker! It was great to see them! We met a lot of great brides who are just getting all their vendors lined up and made me reminisce how it was for us. Boy that was a great time.

Oh, did I mention how amazing the weather was? Mid-eighties yesterday and today. Tomorrow should hit around 100! How I wish it was a three day weekend and I could just spend it playing in the dirt! Hope y'all had a great weekend too! Back to the grind tomorrow!

Out with the old...

I'm getting burnt out on liquid foundation. I'm a die hard Lancome person but I think with the spring, it's time to try something new. Since I'm going to switch it up, I am thinking of finding another brand.



Benefit

Bare Minerals

Philosophy

or do I stick with Lancome?

I know my friends love Bare Minerals and I like the fact both Bare Minerals and Philosophy are green. I think this calls for a trip to Sephora! HOORAY!

Thoughts?

Random fact

Currently my favorite... and i mean FAVORITE character on tv is:



i seriously laugh out loud like the biggest dork on the block when i watch this show. it could be the same episode i've seen a bizillion times, still something about this show makes me feel normal and not that geeky.

what's yours?

(for those of you hiding under a rock, this is Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory)

Emmy Lu Design Studio

I love finding new (to me) vendors for all my party planning needs. Recently I had the pleasure of "meeting" the Laura of Emmy Lu. What a nice gal! Below are some of their designs:



What I love about them is that they are two women living two different lives. Each brings something amazing to the table. Their work is just awesome! Oh, they also have a blog too!

So if you are in need of invites, you should seriously consider using them. I know if I have it my way, the next big party I throw, I'll definitely be using them!

Things to do before May 09 -- Update #2

1. Walk/Run 60 miles (10 miles)
2. Cook 15 meals a week (7)
3. Save 60% on our grocery bills (52%)
4. Do one craft project (does gardening count?)
5. Clean my bike and go riding (taking frank (my bike) out on Saturday! YEA!!!)
6. Go to the gym 4 times during a work day (1 down)
7. Go for a picnic and a hike (...)
8. Go swimming twice at the gym (maybe this Friday)
9. Do boot camp ONCE (going to go at the end of the month)
10. Work out 5 times a week ALL month (UMMM...)
11. Read a book (started a book)
12. Take a trip to the flower district (going later this month)

Lazy Saturday Morning

The past few weeks Bakerella has been making some amazing Cake Pops. I finally found the right occasion (Easter) to make some for my family.

She made some really cool ones but when it came time for us to decorate, the first one didn't turn out neat so we scratched the idea and decided that how we wrap them up would be suffice.

May I present to you our easter box gifts:




Aren't they cute? Oh, the hubby helped me! He did taste test the end result and his response: Tasty!!!

Fashion Meme

I totally stole this from Silly Little Mischief! Go ahead call me a thief!

Name an item of clothing that has been with you the longest:
Lots of concert shirts but my oldest thing I still wear is my Burro's Soccer shirt from high school. (I only wear this around the house) Yes, my mascot was a burro. I know you are jealous of that!

What’s an article of clothing that you can’t live without (BESIDES jeans, people)?
My running shoes.

Describe your perfect winter & summer footwear:
Uggs (usually under my jeans unless they are skinny jeans) and flip flops

What’s a good, ethical clothing brand you’d recommend?
Ditto SLM's response: American Apparel. Though some people think the owner of the brand is a sex maniac and the campaigns look like 1970's rip off of porno's, I think it's funny.

And what’s a brand you wouldn’t recommend?
I don't give that advice out. To each their own.

What’s the ugliest trend of all time?
Anything neon. So I have to tell you about this skirt I had in seventh grade. It was a three tier skirt, each tier was a different neon color. It was sooo not me but I still wanted it. I feel bad now because I don't think I ever wore it. That is a good thing!

And the prettiest?
This is a hard one, I'd have to go with traditional: pearls and lace.

What colors predominate in your wardrobe?
Black, Brown, Blue, Purple. I do have a fuchsia top on though. :)

What are your vintage shopping strategies (if you have them)?
I have none.

What’s the most insane piece of clothing that you have ever owned?
that neon skirt.

If you could describe the majority of the clothes you own in one word, what would it be?
relaxed.

Inspirations Part 28

In honor of the Macy's Flower Show, today's inspirations come from past shows.






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Becoming More Green

So I had a few goals that didn't make the to-do list for the year. One of them was to become more green with our lifestyle. Sure we recycled, but not everything. Now, we look at everything we throw out and make an effort to recycle it. We have our own water bottles. We've cut down our use of paper towels and using regular towels to clean up messes. There isn't a single light in this house that isn't energy effeient. We use our own grocery bags and when we don't have them with us, we'll say "no bag please."

I still thought there is more we could do. We planted a garden and am going to keep it organic. But I think I want to take it one step further and start a compost pile. This will help our garden and also reduce our waste. At first I thought it would smell bad but reading more and more about it, I realized it shouldn't if done right. So, I think this will be my next thing I want to build. Perhaps this time I'll just try to do it myself.

What ways do you try "greenify" your life?

Inspirations Part 27

I'm resurrecting the inspirations weekly posts because well, I love flowers and the sweet inspirations posts before made me nostalgic for these posts.

Onto the show...







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Things to do before May09 --Update #1

1. Walk/Run 60 miles (5 miles)
2. Cook 15 meals a week (4)
3. Save 60% on our grocery bills (37% would have been higher if it wasn't for nutella!)
4. Do one craft project (does gardening count?)
5. Clean my bike and go riding (maybe this weekend)
6. Go to the gym 4 times during a work day (...)
7. Go for a picnic and a hike (...)
8. Go swimming twice at the gym (...)
9. Do boot camp ONCE (going to go at the end of the month)
10. Work out 5 times a week ALL month (UMMM...)
11. Read a book (started a book)
12. Take a trip to the flower district (going later this month)

An adult looking room...

We finally added the last few touches to our master bedroom. Nothing fancy but just spruced it up to make it look like we live there. We loved how it turned out when you clean things off and add a few decorative pieces.

First off, the hubby's night stand...


He loves having a little plate to put his keys and wallet when he gets home.

My side, not too dirty, just blah.


Yes that frame doesn't have any photos in it but we ordered a really neat one of us from our honeymoon in Bali we're going to put in it. I thought about putting some flowers there but it just didn't fit so I made a little arrangement with some wheat, straw and coffee beans. It smells soo good in the morning!

Now, the long dresser... it ended up always being a place we toss stuff on and it just ends up getting piled up. So, here it is cleaned off...


I LOVE how this turned out. It was just a few things we added from our trip to Home Goods.

and what did I end up doing for artwork?

After going back and forth on what we wanted, artwork, photos blown up, we ended up getting some iron art work. It really tied in a lot of the room.


and ringo... hamming it up like he always does when he sees the camera! I think he must have been a model in a former life!



Our end thoughts on how it turned out? Simply divine!

Sweet Inspirations Part #3

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Little Miss Planner's Banana Nutella Ice Cream

After about a 30 minute conversation on Nutella over the weekend, I couldn't shake my craving. What did I do? Researched the web and made some ice cream!

I took this recipe and added my twist to it:

Little Miss Planner's Banana Nutella Ice Cream

2/3 can of evaporated milk (i used FF)
1/3 jar of Nutella or 3 heaping spoonfuls
2 banana's pureed

Throw everything in the mixer and mix on medium for about 5-10 minutes and place in fridge to cool down.

Once cold, toss mix into the ice cream mixer and churn for about 8 minutes.

End result:


What did the hubby think? MM MM Good! :)
(the cookie is a Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookie)


OH, go here to win a case of Nutella!