I've Been Trying To Have A Green Thumb, For All The Wrong Reasons

Let me just start by saying, typically I have a black thumb. Plants don't like me. I've even managed to kill a cactus! Several, in fact.

And the plant my parents so kindly sent me as a birthday/moving gift in April? It's like, half alive. (sorry Mom!)

I totally don't know what's going on with it, maybe I over watered it? But the right side is looking alright, so who knows. My SIL is coming over this weekend, and she's like a plant goddess, so maybe she can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Or, maybe she can confirm my suspicions that most plants just hate me.

But lately, I've been making an effort to have a green thumb. For all the wrong reasons though.

See, when we first moved here, one of our neighbors told us that there's deer in the area. We have a small amount of woods behind our house, maybe a couple acres, with more houses on the other side, and according to our neighbor, the deer hang out in there, and come out sometimes to eat their flowers.

Well, the animal lover in me was inspired!

I decided I was going to get some flowers from the hardware store, to entice the deer to our yard! So that's exactly what I did. I also got a salt lick block, that's supposed to attract deer too. However, my husband didn't want to piss off our neighbors (What? Doesn't everyone want deer to eat their flowers?), so he made me put it in a planter box, so it wasn't so obvious I was just begging deer to come visit us. Supposedly the deer like to eat the dirt that is salt flavored too, so I didn't object too much.

(Do deer like potting soil? At least these handy planters were left on our back patio by the last people who lived here though!)

(Making sure there was a space for the salt block, before removing the plastic wrapping. I also planted the flowers in just this planter in the plastic containers they came in, so they'd be less exposed to the salt that might kill them.)

After planting the plants and salt block, I placed the planters out where our grass and the woods meet. Inviting for the deer, and still in a position that I could see the deer from any window at the back of our house.

(Rascal wishes he could see the deer too)

And sure enough, about a week later, someone had munched one of the plants down almost to it's roots!

But the salt lick wasn't even touched. WTH, deer?

And maybe a week after that, something struck again, and another one of the planter flowers was missing some buds. The looked like they were just nipped off.

But I still hadn't seen any deer, and the salt lick was still not licked. And I planted these flowers like 1 1/2 months ago! On the plus side though, the ones that haven't been eaten are still alive. Except I think that's mainly due to the occasional rain and the fact that my husband has been watering them after his weekly lawn mowing. Definitely not thanks to me, but maybe that's the key to me having a green thumb. Don't actually come into contact with the plants!

Finally though, this week there was some action with the salt lick. I'd looked out our bathroom window at around 5:30am, and nothing was amiss (I've been obsessively checking the flowers every day when I wake up to use the bathroom). But when I actually got up for the day several hours later, look what I saw!

The salt lick has been licked!

If only I'd actually gotten to see it happen though. :(

I think the next step is going to have to be convincing my husband to make me a motion sensor that I can hook up to my camera, then I can finally see the elusive deer! And probably also cats, bunnies, turtles and whatever else walks through our yard at night. But I'm determined, I want to see these dang deer already!

The good news is though my efforts at having a green thumb haven't produced a deer sighting yet, I've also been trying in other areas of our yard. These are big steps here, people. I've been way too spoiled by having a gardening service included in our rent for the past 4 years at our old house.

One thing we've done is we sprinkled some really thin grass right next to our patio with this blue colored Perfect Patch seed stuff (yes, it's an As Seen On TV product).

And about three weeks later, it really worked! Here is a side by side before and after:

And I also made, like, the biggest sacrifice ever. Well, not ever, but I did give up about 4 hours of my time (and about 2 hours of my husband's time) and suffered an aching back, to weed our front stone walkway. This was a seriously big step for me, because I hate, hate, HATE weeding. I still remember my parents paying me a penny for every weed I pulled when I was a little kid, and I detested it, even with the cash bribes.

But now I'm a responsible grown up, who has to take care of things. So I begrudgingly weeded for hours and hours, only stopping to complain and rest in the shade about every 10 minutes. It really wasn't that bad, but I think holding a Mike's Hard Cherry Lemonade in my other hand helped a lot. That's what I must have been missing as a kid! ;)

Here's another before and after comparison. I'm dang proud of this accomplishment, cause it really did look like crap before!

You better believe I poured 2 bottles worth of weed killer in the cracks between the rocks though! No way am I subjecting myself to the torture of weeding again if I don't have to, drink in hand or not!

So there you have it, proof of my green thumb in the making. Or proof that I am trying way too hard to get deer into our yard! Don't most people have the opposite problem, with trying to get deer to stay out?

Do you ever spot deer in your own yard? If so, got any suggestions about what is attracting them? My dad suggested this C'Mere Deer stuff he saw on a hunting show, but I don't know if I want to spend $25 for a gallon of the stuff. Especially when everyone else seems to get deer for free!

The Best Shoe Rack I've Ever Owned, and Outfit Planning

Guys, I just got this new shoe rack, and I wanted to share it with you all, because it's seriously the best rack I've ever owned!

If you remember, in my old walk in closet bedroom, I never had enough space for shoes, so ended up just lining the perimeter of the room with several rows of shoes on the floor under my garment racks, like this:

I still have a lot of shoes on the floor in my new closet bedroom, but now that I bought this new Whitmor shoe rack (for $35 from Amazon), I got 50 shoes up off the floor, saving me a ton of room.

And not only does it hold 50 pairs (or there's also a 30 pair version), plus a few flats can sit on the floor under it, it is the most sturdy rack I've ever owned! It's due to the thick plastic sides, it really resists shaking when you're loading and unloading shoes.

{Side view from the Amazon listing}

It completely blows this other shoe rack I have out of the water, because this other one is flimsy and was a pain to put together, holds less shoes, and overall was just a lot less well built than the above rack--for about the same price.

 {Photo from the Amazon listing}

Here is my awesome Whitmor shoe rack in action:

(I know it's cuter to have the toes of the shoes face out, but it's so much easier to store high heels with the heel facing out--easier to pull them out and put them away)

And the flimsy rack. I really wish I'd just gotten the 30 pair Whitmor rack instead of this one, but that's part of why I'm writing this, to warn you all to look at the construction when buying shoe racks; the side rails are the most important part when it comes to sturdiness.

Luckily, for the next few weeks, I only have to worry about shaking and knocking shoes off my flimsy rack when putting them away, because for now, I've piled up the next 6 weeks of weekday shoes in a corner of my closet bedroom.

Why? Well, I'm all about planning ahead and saving time! And on my mission to wear more than just PJs everyday to work from home AND try to go as long as possible without wearing the same clothing item more than once, I spent my lunch break yesterday laying out my next 6 weeks of weekday outfits, and the corresponding shoes (heels don't stack very well, but in the above picture the shoes are lined up three weeks high and two weeks deep, in order with the outfits hanging above them that they go with).

Now I don't have to stare at my clothes for 10 minutes every morning and try to figure out what to wear! It took me about an hour and a half to put together 30 outfits (including hanging things up, finding the jewelry and shoes, and reorganizing the outfits so I'm not, say, wearing 4 pink tops in a week). But that's saving me about 50 minutes each week in time spent trying to put together outfits daily. And this way I also know for sure there will be no repeats, since it's all laid out! (Well, I'm repeating some accessories and a pair or two of shoes, but no clothes.)

Some might think this is too much work, but really, it is pretty fun to put together outfits all at once. And when an hour and a half of planning saves me 5 hours over a 6 week period (10 mins each day of trying to find outfits), it's a no brainer in my book! But then, I like planning out our meals in a similar manner too!

{Sidebar: when I posted about planning out our meals and grocery shopping only once a month, I got a few comments from you guys saying you were amazed our produce and stuff lasted so long. So I thought I'd clarify and say that they don't! But I plan our meals so that the first two weeks of the month include a lot of fresh veggies and fruit, and the last two weeks of the month are usually casseroles that call for things like frozen broccoli and spinach. That way, we always go through the perishables before they spoil, and still have the frozen items to fall back on later in the month. It's all about planning ahead!}

Do you ever plan out your outfits in advance to save time later? And why are most shoe racks so dang flimsy?

Working From Home Style, Week 5

Wait, hasn't it been 6 weeks since I started doing this work from home outfit series?

Yeah, well, I considered last week a wash, since we didn't get back into town until mid-day Wednesday morning from our anniversary trip to the mountains, so I took the week off. Half of it was spent in tank tops and shorts on our vacation, so it wouldn't have made for a very interesting week anyway!

So I'm considering this week 5, since it's the 5th week I'll be posting about I'm wearing to work (from home, obviously)!

Monday:

Do you ever have days where you really feel like wearing a certain pair of shoes, so you plan your whole outfit around them? That's what happened this day, I felt like wearing these white and purple cork heels, so I threw together a white and purple outfit to match.

Tank top: H&M, Skirt: Old Navy, Jewelry: Target and NY&CO, Pearl Hair Flowers: esty (that I wore on my wedding day)

 

White and Purple Cork Heels: Not Rated 

Tuesday:

Top: Gap, Ruffle Skirt: No idea, I've had it at least 8-9 years, Necklace and Earrings: JCPenny's, Headband: Target

Black Heels: Paprika 

Thursday:

OMG, pants! Yep, this is the first time I've worn pants in forever. What can I say, I love wearing skirts, even year round. But now that it's officially summer, I felt like breaking out these white slacks for a bit of a change.

Top: Bass, White Pants: Victoria's Secret (Christie Fit), Necklace and Earrings: Target

Blue and White Heels: Nine West (and yes, they are the same as the coral and white heels I wore in Week 3. If I find a pair of shoes I really like, sometimes I'll buy them in a couple of colors!) 

Friday:

Yay for Fridays, which instead of "casual Friday," I've decided is my "dress up Friday," since we've been going out to dinner every week to try new restaurants around the area.

I really love the bright colors of this dress (although I forgot to adjust my white balance in these photos, sorry!). However, it is a little, uh, boobalicious. Which I would have totally rocked in college, but now that I'm in my {very} late 20's, not so much. So even in 90+ degree heat, I took a cardigan with me to dinner to cover up if I started to feel uncomfortable. But that's a great thing about this dress, I can wear it with a short sleeve sweater or cardi over it, and still show off the bold fabric that I love so much (variations shown in the second photos below).

Sundress: Victoria's Secret, Necklace and Earrings: Forever 21

Short Sleeve Sweater: Victoria's Secret, Cardigan: Bass (Note that these don't count in my goal to go as long as possible not repeating a clothing item, since these pics are just for demonstration purposes as to other options for wearing this low cut dress)

Patent Heels with Floral Cut-Outs: Michael Antonio

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, my favorite outtake from this week's photos. I think I was fixing my hair....

Do you ever feel the need to find creative ways to cover up too revealing of outfits as you get older?

Floating An Idea: Blog/Twitter Friends Online Happy Hour?

Hey y'all, I've been thinking about something, and I want to get your opinions (I know, I'm super needy with the opinion requests this week, aren't I?).

Obviously I love all my blog and Twitter friends a whole lot. I read your blogs, you read mine, I laugh at your vlogs, we chat on Twitter--we're like a big happy family that never gets to see each other in real life, except on rare meet up occasions. But I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun if we could actually interact with each other in live-time, face to face?

I'm a new Skype user (my company just set it up on my computer), and in poking around the features, I came across their Group Video Calling feature. Basically, if at least one person has a premium account (which I do), you can video chat with up to 10 people at once!

So I was thinking, wouldn't it be super fun to grab your favorite drink and have an online happy hour together?

My husband and I've done it a few times now with some friends who live in Washington State, and it was a blast, so I'd love to try it with some of you if anyone is interested? Maybe something mid-week, around 6pm PST/9pm EST, since everyone is so spread out across the country?

Let me know what you think, does this sound like fun to anyone?

We can figure out the details like date and time later, but I just wanted to first put this idea out there, to see if there's any interest!

Help Me Pick a Fabric Dye Color!

Now that our one year wedding anniversary has come and gone, I've started thinking again about what to do with some of our leftover wedding items. 

I still haven't gotten around to selling or giving away a few extra decor items and still haven't cleaned any of my wedding event dresses yet. Partly because of laziness, partly because I hate getting rid of stuff, and partly because I ran out of time to take care of these things before our move and they're still packed away.

But this past weekend I did dig out my rehearsal dinner dress from BCBG, because I think I want to try to dye it so I can re-wear it, instead of selling it to someone. If it was a color other than white, I would have a lot more use for it, and I really like the silk floral applique detailing, so I figure it's worth a shot.

Here's a look at my rehearsal dress, so you get an idea of what I'm talking about (the purple sash is not attached):

{From our wedding ceremony rehearsal}

{From our rehearsal dinner}

And a close up view of the fabric:

{From this post about making my Weddingbee Moniker-Inspired Rehearsal Bouquet}

The problem is, the top floral layer of the dress is 100% silk and the under layer is 100% polyester. Googling high and low, time and time again I read that there is no fabric dye that will work on both silk and polyester.

I briefly considered taking apart the seams to separate the layers of the dress, dying them separately , then sewing them back together, but that seems like too much work.

So I kept Googling, reading fabric dying forums, until I found a mention of what is called iDye (for natural fabrics like silk) and iDye Poly (for synthetic fabrics like polyester), which can be mixed together to dye poly-blend fabrics). So I'm guessing (and hoping!) it will work on my two layer dress too.

But now is where I need your help, because I can't decide which color to dye my dress!

I always love bright colors, but then again, they aren't quite as versatile. But I do want something that will go with the floral-ness of the dress. Here's a look at my color choices in red:

{Source}

And with a little Photoshop fun, here's what the dress could look like once it's dyed:

The yellow is fun, but could be a little too neon, although I really liked Cat Deeley's yellow dress last night on SYTYCD--the lace top might look a bit like my dress would if dyed yellow.

The pink is a bit bright, the purple is a little too "Barney," and the red could be ok, but I just got this other red dress (in fact, I have several red dresses already).

Looking at darker options:

The blue is not too bad, but I'm not sure it totally goes with the flowers, and the green is nice, but again, I couldn't wear it to as many things, just like with the yellow, because it's such a stand out color. The gold is very interesting....it has a lot of potential to be nice and classy but subtle, as long as it doesn't end up being too orange or yellow or dingy looking. I really like the silver grey, however I do already have a silver scoop neck dress with a belt, so I'm not sure I need another one. And of course I already own several LDBs as well, plus I think the black might be a little much for the floral theme of the dress.

This is the sliver dress I already own, what do you think, too close to what my rehearsal dress could become once it's dyed?

{From this hair curling tutorial blog post}

Although my silver dress is a bit shiny, as shown better in this photo with a flash:

{From this lovely lady's wedding recaps}

Basically, I don't think I like the pink or purple, but I'm still debating the other colors. So please weigh in with your opinion, which color would you pick for this dress dying experiment?

Our Mountain Getaway Anniversary Trip: The Animals!

Ok, ready for the highlight of our anniversary trip, besides the wonderful views and time with my husband?

The animals! Specifically, the little baby deer we saw right off the deck of our cabin!

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you already know I'm obsessed with pretty much all animals. And plan our trips around trying to see as many as possible. Also, I've been trying to spot deer in our backyard for the past two months, ever since our neighbor said they're around, but with no luck.

So when my husband came inside while I was doing my makeup the second morning of our trip, whispering "deer, deer!" I had to run outside with my camera! We saw a large buck in the bushes below the deck, but as soon as I tried to snap a photo, he ran off into the trees.

But!

I kept looking into the trees, and swore I saw something still moving. My husband couldn't see anything, but when I moved to the other end of the deck, I saw a little baby flicking his tail, right near where the buck had been a minute ago. I have no idea what a buck was doing messing with a baby, or where the mama was, but I'm pretty sure we helped the little guy out by scaring away the male deer, because who knows what trouble he was up to. And we got a few (ok, 99 to be exact) photos of the precious little guy, which I wish were better, but with only a kit lens, there's only so much zoom I have to work with when trying to focus on animals and not the trees in the way. But here are some of the better ones:

So many spots still on his back!

If only he would come hang out in our backyard, I would be so happy!

In other animal sightings, we saw a few at Grandfather Mountain, just before we walked the mile high swinging bridge. The enclosures had more of a natural feel to them than some zoos, which I'm sure makes for happier animals, but not quite as good of viewing.

These bratty otters were hiding in their log house, and we really couldn't see them at all.

More deer, but these were pretty boring. I'd already had my fill of baby deer for the day!

Go Cougs!

One of the nights in the cabin, a huge moth got in as we were coming in from using the hot tub. Even on zoom, I couldn't get a very good angle on it though, since it was high up on the second level of windows in the living room.

Here you can see just how big it was, it's in the corner where the windows meet, about half way up the top row of windows.

I'm pretty sure that was the biggest moth I'd ever seen in my life. Until we saw an even bigger one!

As we were sitting on the couch, something banged on the window from outside. A flurry of flapping brown wings made us at first think it might be a bat (we'd seen some earlier off the deck). But then it landed on the window, and we got a closer look.

And OMG, I'm not even kidding when I say this thing had wings about as big as my hand!

Here's a picture with the first giant moth on the right and the crazy-super-gianter moth outside on the left. The one I'd thought was so big at first was only about 1/4th the size of the second one!

Ok, moths are kinda gross, but I was fascinated by ones so freakishly big. After some Google searches, I think the biggest one is a Polyphemus moth, the largest moth native to the US. Definitely not something I ever saw growing up in Washington State, or in California!

To round out our three days of animal sightings, I'll leave you with a couple photos of this adorable little salamander. He came for a quick visit on our deck, and since I'm a fan of lizards, of course I grabbed the camera.

You can just see his little red head peeking up from the side of the deck.

And then he was gone in a blur, this guy was fast!

Do you go out of your way to spot or photograph animals during your vacation travels?

And for the DSLR experts, does anyone have any advice on how I could have gotten better pics of the baby deer through the trees? Or was it just because of the limitations of the zoom on my kit lens that was the issue with it focusing on the trees instead of on the baby deer?