Chloe's First Birthday-morning of party

Today after running to iparty and the grocery store, picking up mom from the airport and then cake from the bakery, I will rush home, throw up streamers and balloons, and let the party begin. Maybe not in that exact order, but you get the idea. My sweetie turns 1 on the 9th, but we are celebrating a little early to include all of our fabulous guests. Since it is only 7:17am, I am off to workout. Hopefully Chloe will be content with that idea until 8am.

What in the world does my blog name mean?

What in the world does my blog name mean?
It sounds whimsical and I will be the first to admit, wishful. I wish that my thumb was green, and that all of my beautiful plants didn't die half way through the summer. It just so happens that there is a scientific reason for my apparent lack of green thumbness. The heat in Florida has been unusually intense, and until recently, we had no rain to speak of. Combine that with sandy soils, regardless of how many trips I made to hardware stores to balance that component with peat and other absorbent matter...and well, there you have it. There were a few over achievers in my garden who managed to flourish in spite of such conditions. I have to give it to my serranno chili plant that produced well over 50 peppers. If only I needed that many. The basil did quite well in the only partly shady corner of my lawn. And the cactus endures, for obvious reasons. But the gold medal goes to the bamboo, even after we dumped various chemicals on it to kill it off, (which will go unnamed), it keeps coming back for more...ugh. Bamboo is meant for floors and sheets, not small flower gardens.

Back to the blog name, pink giraffe symbolizes my creative nature. If you haven't noticed, wild giraffes aren't pink. However, take something natural and combine it with a little imagination, and there you go. When it comes to the imagination, there are no rules. Why pink? It puts me back in touch with my inner girl power. Believe me, after I get home day after day and peel off my scrubs, I need a slap with a pink giraffe to pull me out of dulldrom. Sounds like a mixed drink...any recipe suggestions?

Paris 2006 New Years

To celebrate the new year, we ventured to Paris. It was our first trip to Europe together. We will return to Paris this summer, 2010, to re-explore with two of our very best friends. We fly into Amsterdam, where we will tour for a few days. Then we will take a train to Paris for a few days. Our journey will end in Amsterdam. We are keeping an open schedule, but would love to hear recommendations if you have any to lend.

New Leaf

Some of my fondest and earliest childhood memories were of gardening with my mom, which she may or may not realize. I am happy to say that during her most recent visit, she jump started my own garden-adventure with an important lesson: if you want your garden to grow in sunny sandy hot florida, you have to buy dirt. I never thought I would have to pay for dirt, but if your garden isn't blessed in that area, it is worth the investment. A large bag of organic garden soil is around six dollars. I think I have purchased about 20 bags in all. Once I saw how drastically soil mattered to my dying plants, I realized the more dirt I had, the more happy plants I could adopt. As I said, my childhood was filled with days spent digging and planting, picking and eating. Somehow I overlooked the fact that in NC, we were blessed with dark black soil, perfectly enticing to all sorts of flowers, herbs, and veggies. I look forward to watching squash and green beans germinate and produce fruit. Hope to post pictures soon....