My Thumb is Turning Green

We have two more cherry tomatoes!

We now have a grand total of five cherry tomatoes - all of which are still green.  I am such a naive gardener, but I didn't realize that this process would take so long!  It's fun though - the cherry tomato plants seem to be doing well and the heirloom tomato plant ... 

... well, the heirloom tomato plant is getting so tall that I fear one day I will find a giant living at the top of it.  No tomatoes yet, but Bruce thinks it will happen soon.  

If anything, it's nice to have all of the greenery on our deck!

The weather was really nice this morning so I decided to take a late morning walk with my camera.  The sun was SO bright so I put a circular polarizer filter on my lens to block out any glare from the light.  The resulting colors were incredible!

I used to think orange was a tacky color, but it's kind of growing on me.  It's bold.  I like that.  Everybody should be a little bit bold every now and then.

Who doesn't like pink?  It looks like the color of those raspberry popsicles.  Yummmmm.

Speaking of gorgeous photography (okay, no one said my photography was gorgeous, but the flowers I was shooting certainly were), my friend Katie sent me a picture of her daughter Spencer wearing her Wear a Dress Tuesday dress yesterday.

I don't know what's more beautiful in this picture.  The photo itself, Spencer, her smile, her free spirit or the dress itself.  You know what?  I love it all.

I hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday!  Bruce went out with friends after work and just got home so we are going to snuggle up and watch the end of the Braves game.  They are playing the Marlins and Fox Sports keeps showing downtown Miami and the beaches so I am currently dreaming of a tropical and relaxing vacation.  Ahhhhh ... 

***

Is anyone else trying their thumb at gardening this year?  Should my tomatoes be taking this long?  Are there any other good and easy vegetables for rookie gardeners (like me) to plant?

Wear a Dress Tuesday

It's Wear a Dress Tuesday!


My WADT started off by making breakfast in front of the Today Show.  I poured myself a very large glass of iced tea, put it on one of the ottomans in the living room and walked back into the kitchen to get an english muffin.

Then I heard a knock and a splash.

Iced tea.  A very large glass of it.

All over my couch.

All over my WHITE couch.

Sigh ...

I didn't see it happen, so I'm not sure how the (very large) glass got knocked over - but I looked into my bedroom and Lilly was staring back at me.  Looking very, very guilty.

Needless to say, I spent the day pulling off slipcovers and cushion covers and running bleach through my washing machine.  I can't wait for my water bill.

Although I have to admit it was kind of fun to be a little bit dressed up while I was doing load after load of laundry.  I felt a little less frumpy and little more cute as I did mundane housework.

My mom and her friend Gloria (who is also the secretary at the church) sent me a picture they took at work this morning with a smiley face in the subject line of the e-mail.

Don't they look awesome?!

Gloria is currently one of my favorite people EVER because she e-mailed me the other day and asked me if she could post my southwestern pasta salad recipe in this month's church newsletter.  I felt like such a success in the kitchen when she asked me that.  Someone actually deemed one of my recipes good enough to be passed along!  Ya-hooooooo!

Anyway, I stayed inside for most of the day, so when Bruce got home, I asked him if he would take a picture of me for WADT.  He was so sweet - the whole process took forever because I wanted the lighting to be perfect and then I wanted to go back inside for lipgloss, etc. etc.  But here's what I wore today (I cheated a little and wore a skirt!) ...

I hope you all had a great day!

Beating the Summer Heat, One Fruit Smoothie at a Time

One of my favorite parts of the summer is all of the delicious fresh fruit that fills our fruit bowl every week. We are lucky enough to live near a farmer's market and are able to get inexpensive fresh produce year round, but in the summer everything gets even cheaper.  I love it!

Smoothie's are wonderful because they are so versatile.  They can be used as a full breakfast, a snack, a side dish or just a way to cool off on a hot day.  You can make them as big or as small as you would like and they are ridiculously healthy.  Here is how I make mine.

Fruit Smoothies

1 cup Ice

1 cup Fruit

1/4 cup Oats

1/2 cup Juice

1/4 cup Yogurt

Ignore my pile of drying dishes on the right.

And ignore the poor quality of these photos - I took them before my precious baby camera was returned to me.

Measure and add ice to blender.

Wash and chop your fruit (strawberries for me today!), add to blender.

Add your oats.

Trust me on the oats - the resulting texture is incredible.

Measure yogurt - I used strawberry, but you can use any flavor you'd like, depending on the fruit you're using and the flavors you want in your smoothie.

(I eat Yoplait Original yogurt - I used to eat the light and fit stuff, but I really really hate artificial sweeteners and try to avoid them at all costs)

See that?

Deliciousness at work.

Add your juice.

(Again, you don't have to use orange juice, although it gives a fantastic tang to smoothies)

Blend.

Enjoy.

And then thank whoever bought you your blender.

Thank you, Maura!