Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

February 14, 2017

Free Lunch on Valentine’s Day

Filed under: Food,Holidays,Life — gardener @ 11:19 am

FullSizeRender (6)A few days ago I joined in on a ‘Give Away’ that one of my Instagram followers was doing for a free lunch on Valentine’s Day. I thought it sounded like fun especially since I love trying new places, plus we had no plans to celebrate today.

To my surprise, I actually won the give away and spent the afternoon with my favorite guy at this cafe I’d never been to. Since I was craving salad, plus I’m trying to slim down- I opted for the warm goat cheese and spinach salad and I am SO glad I did. It was delicious. I skipped the bread since I’m trying to keep carbs somewhat at a minimum, but the salad- out of this world. Marcel had a club sandwich and french fries, which also were a win.

The food was good, the vibe good- and the coffee also a winner. Can’t beat that combination. Oh and did I mention the people were also super friendly?

What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

February 3, 2017

Happy February

Filed under: Holidays,Home,Life — gardener @ 12:34 pm

Day three of the second month of the year and I heard through the grapevine that we’ll be getting six more weeks of winter as Mister Phil saw his shadow.     Quite truthfully-  aside from the grey days and a few days of really cold weather, we haven’t seen ‘that’ much winter, so I wouldn’t mind a bit of snow.

I know-   my summer-loving friends are cursing me under their breath about right now, wondering how I could dare wish for such a thing when there are sunnier skies and warmer weather to be had.    I am a love-all-seasons kind of girl, and I do love the coziness or hygge of the winter months.   I’ve been getting some writing projects done, working on various organizing projects, plus work has been keeping me busy as well.  Add the social activities and life has a good buzz happening.

What about you?  Do you prefer the hustle and bustle of Summer or the coziness of Winter?

 

 

December 10, 2016

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Filed under: Gratitude,Holidays,Home,Life,Memories — gardener @ 12:31 pm

Marcel and I spent a few days away earlier in the week and on the first day we were gone, we arrived at our hotel to find that the ground was covered in white.  It wasn’t snow, but a heavy frost that stayed all day (with the exception of where the sun shined directly on it), and it was absolutely breathtaking.

I was able to grab a few photos before the sun went down, and my intention was to get up early the next morning and to visit some of the hiking trails and take a few more shots of the beautiful area and frost.    Unfortunately the blue skies were replaced with grey and during the night the frost had melted, leaving behind the magic of the frost.

Since I grew up in the Deep South and a white Christmas is almost unheard of,  I dream every year of having a White Christmas.   Since moving I’ve had one twice in the last fourteen years, plus I had one once when I lived in Williamsburg, but that’s all.    It’s beautiful, peaceful and filled with magic and I’d love one this year.    I know I’m not the only one, and I also know with snow comes road hazards, but Let it snow! Let it Snow!   If only for a day!

November 29, 2016

Grateful for Friends

Filed under: Gratitude,Holidays,Life,Things I Love,Women — gardener @ 12:30 pm

Sunday we celebrated “Friendsgiving” with a few friends.  One couple and their adorable children, plus the husband of a friend of ours.  She’s visiting her family and he was ‘home alone’, so we thought he would enjoy spending the day with us eating good food, laughing and playing games.   He felt that he would also, and said YES to joining us.  Roses

Even though I wasn’t feeling my optimum self, we still had a wonderful time and the food was delicious.   I brought several dishes and the hostess also made several dishes and it was more than enough to feed our very small crowd.   Plus we all had leftovers, which is always a huge plus in my book when it comes to Thanksgiving.    I’m grateful for these friends, plus my other friends both here and back ‘home’.   Life is better when shared with friends.

Martijn surprised Bobbi and I both with a huge bouquet of flowers each.  The photo is a shot of my flowers-   and is one of my favorite bouquets to receive of all time.  I love the white roses with the red ornamental peppers-   There’s something about the pop of color that makes me happy every single time I look at them.

How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

A New Month Cometh

Filed under: Holidays,Inspiration,Life,Life's Little Hiccups — gardener @ 12:17 pm

Can you believe tomorrow is the last day of November? Don’t worry- I can’t either but I admit I’m ready for the holiday month! After a really big day of sadness on Saturday (which I have attributed to missing being home for the holidays, plus hormones), I came out the other side feeling pretty awesome and festive. After all- tis the season and all that jazz.

The reality is- despite the fact that some people think that my life is always perfect and I’m always happy- that isn’t the case. I would be lying to you and myself to pretend that was the case. I have bad days- sometimes (as in Saturday), I have really bad ones. In this case there was no rhyme or reason other than the aforementioned ones. I usually try to figure out what’s going on and when I can’t, I try to focus on all the blessings in my life (and there are many) and my mood shifts on its own. This time that didn’t happen, but rather than make it harder on myself, I gave myself the time to feel what I was feeling, went to bed that evening and the following day woke up feeling somewhat better. I felt a little like I was coming down with a bug- but I attributed that to all the toxic that was running through my veins the day before and it needed to come out in one way or the other. Sunday night I slept really well and by yesterday I felt like an entirely new person. Like “ME” again.

The lesson in this? For me- I knew that being honest with myself and my feelings was essential. I couldn’t find a specific reason behind how I was feeling, but I gave myself the time to work through whatever ‘it’ was that I couldn’t fully define and it worked itself out. I was true to what I needed and went with it. No negative attachments, it was what it was. I didn’t live there- but I went there for a little while. We all do.

You know what? It isn’t a bad thing. It’s in the darkness and coming out into the light- that we really find ourselves appreciating it even more. That was the case with me- and I continue to feel that today.

I am grateful for the life I have- and for the people in it.

What about you? What are you grateful for today?

A Few of My Favorite Things

Filed under: Gratitude,Holidays,Home — gardener @ 11:59 am

Do you ever have certain things about seasons that bring you a great deal of joy? I have a few things with Fall and Winter weather. One of my favorite things about being ‘home’ for the holidays (outside of the obvious time with family and friends), is that I love the days when it’s really cold and we have clear blue skies. I love to take that time to sit outside with a huge cup of coffee and enjoy! It’s perfect.

Here, the weather is often very cold and dreary- which doesn’t give way to the same type of euphoric feeling that the blue skies give. I don’t know what it is- but the sunshine and blue skies combined with cold- is perfect!

I’ve been EXTREMELY grateful for the fact that despite missing being ‘home’ for the holidays, the weather has been absolutely perfect- embodying all the things I love and miss about being ‘home’ in the South this time of the year.

My question to you, dear reader- What things about the season bring you joy? Not the obvious things- but the little things. The things that often are taken for granted or go unnoticed?

June 21, 2016

Celebrations

Filed under: Holidays,Life,Travel — gardener @ 11:43 am

One week ago today we headed home after a great vacation spent with family and friends. It wasn’t our usual vacation, instead we were there for two weddings- one of which I planned and ‘made happen’ in a week and a half time- along with help from mom- and the other I did a little help and directed it, making sure that everything went according to the vision of the gorgeous bride.

Since then, I’ve had a couple people ask me if I would consider adding wedding planner/ director to my ‘job title’ and right now the response is no. I loved doing it for the people I love, but it’s clearly a labor of love. To be paid to do it- I’m not sure if there is enough money. I love planning and making things come together, but it’s something that takes a lot of time, research and thought. Maybe I’ll change my mind once I’m past the jet lag, but right now- nah.

In the meantime- I did come back to a lot of work- I’ve been prepping all week and now I’ll be getting everything ready for delivery on Friday and Saturday. I’m looking forward to seeing it all come together and hopefully will bring a smile to a lot of faces and happiness to everyone’s taste buds.

Home Again

Filed under: Holidays,Home,Travel — gardener @ 10:54 am

We are back home and recovering from jet lag. It was an amazing vacation filled with a lot of love and celebration. I didn’t have a lot of ‘rest’ time, plus came home to jump back into the swing of things, but the great thing is- I’ve blocked next week for some ‘me’ time to do exactly what “I” want to do. I am looking forward to having that break to re-acclimate myself to daily life, plus to also work on a list of things that need to be accomplished ‘in house’, along with creating a new work out plan and the list goes on.

SO much to look forward to- plus July is my birthday month, so that means celebrating all month long! Who wants to come celebrate with me?

March 27, 2016

Happy Easter

Filed under: Holidays,Home,Life — gardener @ 12:00 pm

Happy Easter everyone!

It has been an Easter of a different sort for me. Marcel needed to work and I also needed to take care of a few things for work- so that meant I spent most of the day home alone. I don’t mind- It has afforded for much quiet time, but at the same time- it makes Easter not really seem like Easter.

My parents had their get together with my brother yesterday. They had the traditional feast and spent time together. Living away always has me aching to be ‘home’ on days like today- when everyone is gathered together, enjoying the time together as a family. I spent a little time today thinking about when my brother and I were children- and how we would hunt Easter eggs again and again. It brings back so many fond memories of not only with my brother, but also the Easter egg hunts we would have at my grandmothers house. It made me smile.

Family, there’s nothing like it.

February 8, 2016

February- the Month of Love

Filed under: Gratitude,Holidays,Home,Life — gardener @ 11:47 am

Febuary is a special month in our home.  Outside of the traditional Valentine’s Day celebrations mid-month-  it’s also our anniversary month (the 2nd to be exact), so it’s a great reason to celebrate all month long.   I am a firm believer that we should celebrate the love in our life-  be it family, friends or partners- each and every day but doing something extra special, always adds a little joy to someone else’s life.   If I can do that any day- my joy rises.

Our home improvements continue this month, and I have been creating some beautiful Valentine’s Day packages for people to order and spread the love with someone that means something special to them.    It brings me so much joy to be able to play a small part in bringing joy to the lives of someone else.

This past weekend, I spent the day- together with friends exploring the sweet world of a chocolate festival.    It was a great learning experience with the bean to bar process and I’m curious about possibly getting my own beans and a small machine to turn them into something special.   It”s an investment, so something I’ll have to do more research on, plus weigh the pros and cons, but I love the idea.   I also love seeing people so passionate sharing products they love.     Since I do the same with my own business, I can relate to their passion, plus it also is a source of inspiration for me.

Next week-   My mother in law will celebrate her 80th birthday.   It will be a special day for her and we’re all surprising her with a dinner out-  It should be a wonderful time together.

It’s definitely a busy month, but one filled with so much celebration, love and joy!

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress