If A June Night Could Talk..

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast about inventing romance."- Bern Williams

Ah summer. It is officially here by dates, but in Halifax, we have been boasting beautiful weather interspersed with torrential down pours for well over a month. I even have tan lines! Shocking right? With warm weather has come gardening, lawn maintenance, reading on the deck and many barbecues. All of those are things I have not been able to enjoy since leaving my parents home for the independence and lack of outdoor living my string of apartments afforded me. Sitting with the window open, in a low rise, in the heart of the city doesn't quite cut it. Neither does sunning in the varies public parks with creepy strangers on-looking. And even though I spent many a summer tenting as an adolescent, I refused to sit in a lawn chair in the concrete car park that was our "back yard" at my last apartment. I have to have a little bit of class right? So this summer I am taking advantage of every little bit of summer that comes my way and I would suggest you all do the same! Happy outdoor living!
-m

An Easy Twist on Strawberry Shortcake...

Take a pint of raspberries and a pint of strawberries...mash em up with a pastry cutter, potato masher or in your mixer. Throw in a good sprinkle of sugar and a dash of vanilla and mash a little more. Make your favorite biscuit recipe and sprinkle with sugar before you bake. Slice in half, layer whip cream and berry mix for a fresh take on a summer classic!

If Someone Throws A Rock At You...

"If someone throws a rock at you, throw a flower back...just remember to throw the flower pot with it!
-unknown.

Being the thrifty person that I am I am always looking for fun and cheap ways to up cycle old things into beautiful new things. I truly believe most pieces of furniture have at least a few lives in them, you just have to get a little creative. Not to mention the fact that I seem to have champagne taste on a beer budget, and I am talking the home brewed, maybe even in the bathtub quality of beer budget my friends. With a budget like that, you have to get a little bit creative. I was at the dollar store last week (which can truly be a wonderful place if you look past the cans of cocktail wieners and mouse traps) and I noticed an abundance of terracotta pots. Lets face it, planters are pricey. It always surprises me that big box stores expect people to pay upwards of thirty bucks for a clay pot that has been glazes within an inch of it's life. As a child my mom was always very creative and worked best on as she says "a shoe string budget". We painted clay pots and we used them for plants, as pencil/pen holders, as little vessels to hold bobby pins and as candle holders. We used acrylic paint. We brushed it on, sponged it on and stenciled it on there, ending up with beautiful and unique mini pieces of art. It was a wonderful project for kids to take part in. So I did an online hunt and here are some ideas I found that I rather loved to turn a one dollar clay pot into something great!
-m

Fabric!

When Red-Haired People....

"When red-haired people are above a certain social grade, their hair is auburn."- Mark Twain.

I have been growing my hair for months...like seventeen months to be specific. I had a sweet pixie when I moved to Halifax and maintained short locks for a couple of years. I decided to grow it out for my best friends wedding and for the first time in my life, I am having trouble parting with it. It never phased me to grow and chop, grow and chop, that was pretty much my hair cycle. That and just chop-chop-chop. Scissors do not scare me, but this time around I am just not ready to part with my seventeen month endeavor. That is commitment. That is more time and commitment than many of my relationships and it's really not hurting anyone is it? My sister would argue that it is hurting me and my degree of "edgy-ness". Ha. She tells me I used to be edgy and that I am getting dull in my old age. So this time I left it long, dyed it red and got him to cut me weird little short bangs. I am also rocking a nose hoop for the first time in years! Edgy enough? Who knows but I always do like a change and I am told red heads have more fun. I will keep you posted on that, lets consider it a social experiment! For now I will leave you with some red-headed love/ inspiration. You can't deny it, these people/ characters are nothing short of a ball of fun!
-m