This weekend consisted of a lot of cleaning up. The weeds out front were the first to go. Did you think I was kidding about the 4 foot weed?

Those stems sticking out of the top? Follow them with your eyes and see how tall they are. I was considering waiting until it bloomed and seeing how it looked, but instead I plucked it. It was very rewarding.

I also (finally) cleaned and organized my side of the closet. I seriously had things that were not unpacked from our move over a year ago. I donated 3 bags of clothes and got rid of a bag of clothes/crap. I still need to finish up a little, so I’ll share pictures of that later this week 🙂

Yesterday while I was cleaning myself, Mike told me to grab a a towel and come see something. I listened and went running down the hall like a looney. Funny thing was, Macky was so excited by the running that he started running up and down the hall. The interrupted shower was totally worth seeing 3 awkward baby deer running around our property.

That’s an iPhone picture taken through our window, but trust me, they were jump-out-of-the-shower adorable.

Today, I left work a little early to pick up our veggies at the local farm we belong to. It’s an organic CSA (that’s a wikipedia link) where we pick up our veggies every Tuesday. When I got in the car to head there, the temperature was 102. Ouch.

So being the genius that I am, I decide that after I grab my veggies from their respective bins I want to grab some of the pick your own flowers. We were allowed to pick 10 stems this week and I couldn’t help but want to put some in my Kate Spade rose bowl on the island. I figure after all of the cleaning and organizing, we could use a fresh little arrangment, right?

First problem, I couldn’t find the flowers. I walked over to the green beans (yuck not a fan) then all the way back to the herbs (already have 2 weeks worth of catnip). This sounds easy, but the farm is big and it was hot. My paleness felt like it was scorching since I was without a hat and sunblock. I walked back into the barn to glance at the hand drawn map to find the flowers. I think the map was backwards? I’m still very confused by that map.

I finally spotted a man in the distance and figured those must be the pick your own flowers! So I began to walk in his direction, but the farm was muddy. I slowed down and began to walk gingerly, in my flip flops and dress, only on the dry areas. But the dry areas weren’t so dry and within a minute, my one flip flop was inhaled by the mud.

I panicked for a minute but then gave it a good tug, which firmly planted my other flip flop in the mud. So now I’m standing in the middle of a field, in work clothes, sweaty and fearful that I am in some sort of South Jersey quicksand that my wannabe hippie self was unaware of. Because I am not a hippie. Which was pretty obvious at this point.

In an attempt to blend in, I left my iPhone in the car and have pictures/videos of this. Not that I would have taken any, considering I was terrified and completely unable to move. By some sort of miracle, I pulled and pulled my feet until I got one free. After that I was able to free the other one and move along. I am still amazed that I didn’t end up actually sitting in the mud like that time in 7th grade gym class…

I finally got to the flowers and they were so…. dead and droopy. There was no way in hell that I was leaving empty handed, so I cut my 10 stems. I wasn’t going to cut a full 10, but anything less would have been a kick in the face.

When I got home, I had to hose my feet. This is the pleasant view, after the mud had dried in the heat and I had wiped my feet in the grass during the walk back to my car.

Yes I know my legs are pale. Yes I go outdoors, I was sitting by the pool all day yesterday. And yes I have heard of sunless tanners, that natural glow above is courtesy of Jergens 🙂 (I am serious).

When I whipped out my rose bowl, I noticed that car ride home had…. further killed my flowers. But I stuck them in anyway…

The best flower I picked still isn’t the greatest looking thing.

I thought maybe those ones that haven’t bloomed yet would do something for me in the next few days?

I was so covered in mud and sweat that I had to shower the minute I walked in the door. So much for leaving work early and getting extra things done around here. I blame Kate Spade and her pretty crystal rose bowl.

The first cat to eat these flowers is going without treats for 1 week*!

*Unless it’s Darwin, he needs to put on weight and can have all of the cookies he wants….

Okay so remember this shot of our family room after we hung our roman shades?

Well it’s a little blah, missing something. My original plan was to keep the family room fun since it’s a room that can be fun.  I didn’t feel the need to make it classy or formal and I wanted to get away from my blue/brown color scheme. So I thought I’d add pops of green in.  I’ve known since we went to Hawaii that I wanted to add some of our amazing pictures above the mantel, so I decided to go for a Hawaii inspired color scheme.  I figured we could incorporate some green from these pictures…

So for a few months, I had some striped throw pillows with various blues and greens on the couch and some green plants around.  But the plants died and I couldn’t think of how else I would like to incorporate green to give it enough of an impact in the room. Then I found this gem in Crate and Barrel…

And my plan switched. That pretty gemstone of a blue? That is my new accent color.

We have no shortage of Hawaii pictures to work with…

Seriously, are those not the most inspiring pictures you have ever seen?? That dolphin is not photoshopped… AT ALL.  And this is just a small sample I pulled out of the over 3,000 pictures I have sitting on my laptop. I couldn’t even find some of my favorites at this very moment. I love that place.

So I had my vase and my pictures for a few months now, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it in elsewhere, when we decided that our white roman shades weren’t enough and we needed panels.  Cue the Merete pretty blue panels from Ikea…

Then I got sick and didn’t get a chance to hang them.  But while we were at Bed, Bath & Beyond last weekend getting some hardware to hang them, I had a throw pillow revelation.  I knew I wanted some texture, but I didn’t want anything too solid against the curtains. Then I found this beauty…

I cautiously walked it over to Mike, half hiding it, because I could have sworn he was going to say “TOO GIRLY! NO WAY!” but he loved it.

I love the texture, shades of blue and how it almost mimics water. We picked up 2 of them to add to my collection of pretty blue accessories…

That picture in the frame is one of my Hawaii favorites that I didn’t stumble upon tonight. It’s in one of the millions of folders!

After finding those pillows, I am so excited to finally accessorize this room. We’re planning on getting a sectional one of these days and If I could only refrain from getting sick and having mass amounts of homework for long enough to hang some curtains, I’d be a happy camper. Almost as happy as I was here…

Not another soul in sight. This is the first time I’ve seen this picture because we have just so many.

I received an email today about using my frequent flier miles and within an hour of that, I received a promotional email from one of the resorts we stayed in for part of our trip. I take it as a sign from god that it’s time to go back. Until then, I’ll be snuggling with my Hawaii blue curtains and pillows…