spring among us.

Spring has definitely arrived here on the Cape Fear coast. We've had gorgeous blue skies, temperatures in the 80's, and lots of pollen covering our cars this week. Here's a couple fun photos of our adventures in Wilmington last week:

Some lovely ferns uncurling themselves in the wildflower preserve on the UNCW campus.

 Venus flytraps - in the wild. This area is the only place where they grow out in the wild.

Pollen feet after our hike.

Searching for buried treasure on the beach. (Actually looking for a shark's tooth. No luck yet.)

Enjoying a day at the beach - all sun & fun.

I hope everyone else is enjoying spring. It's finally here!!

august showers

August is one of the rainiest months here in North Carolina and my flowers are loving it. I picked up some new flowers when I moved to town because I couldn't stand to have a bare deck even if it already was August. Luckily, Wilmington's long growing season meant there was still a bit of variety to choose from before the winter pansies had arrived. And now they are soaking up the rain and when the sun comes out it makes them sparkle.

the colors of summer.

These are a few of my favorites taken at the Dallas Arboretum. In full bloom & in full color. The colors and scents of summer. The Arboretum is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon with bright sun & blooms alongside shady, cool hideaways. It isn't hard to find a favorite spot (or two, or three) to spend a few moments to just enjoy yourself. The only thing that would make it more perfect is a glass filled to the brim with iced, fresh lemonade.

memorial day.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope every one is having a great Memorial Day & and a great three day weekend!

Andy and I used the three day break as an excuse to head down to Houston and catch a baseball game. Andy's a big baseball fan and thus I've become one. Our team is the Texas Rangers - whose home field we've seen plenty of games at. And since we are so close to Houston, we thought we'd check out a new ball park.

We watched our Rangers take on the Houston Astros at Minute Maid park in downtown Houston. It's always an adventure driving around the big city, but we found our way (thanks to GPS; I don't know how I survived without it).

There were lots of Rangers fans at the game since to two cities aren't two far apart. And luckily for us, the Rangers won! It's always a fun time to see your team win.

The rest of our weekend has been taken slow and easy. We took in a movie on Sunday and most of today has been spent doing some chores like laundry.

And of course I've snuck in some crafting. I've got some new slippers and headbands on the way for this week, so keep an eye out for those goodies coming soon.

And don't forget to enter the Broken Hallelujah summer giveaway for a chance to win your very own custom pair of mary jane slippers. Click here for more info.

little rascal.

I came home from work this afternoon & headed out to my porch to check if the plants needed some watering. What do I find? This mess of bird seeds spread out on the porch & that's not the end of the bag the seeds are supposed to be coming out of...

Who made this mess? The little birdies, starved for seeds? No! This little rascal! As soon as I stepped over the mess he scurried around the porch and on to my stairs & proceeded to attempt to stare me down. 

"Whatever did I do wrong? You're the one who left the delicious seeds out on the porch for all to partake of." 

He had chewed a hole in the bottom of the bag and proceeded to pick out his favorites, little chubby trickster! I'm not even sure how he'd figured out there was bird seed to be had up here! My porch is no where near any trees so he would have had to scurry up the stairs to find these goodies & gnaw through the bag. I'm sure he was having a blast till I came along and ruined all the fun. 

It did give me a pretty good laugh. And I'm glad he held still long enough for me to snap a quick mug shot. So if you see this little thief, let me know! He owes me some bird seed!

ups & downs.

The last few days have been just plain hectic! 

Andy's been having to go do grad interviews out of state, and being in the small town that we are, we of course do not have a large enough airport nearby so I have been having to drive him 2 hours to nearby airports and picking him up a few days later. So we've been dealing with all the stress that comes with flying - especially on his last trip. A delayed flight got him into Houston at midnight meaning we would not have gotten home till around 2 am. Needless to say, I found the cheapest hotel I could and we spent the night in Houston and drove home in the morning. 

On top of the travel calamity, I found out yesterday that I had been denied admission (aka rejected) from Scripps Institute of Oceanography at U.C. San Diego. Scripps had been my top choice of schools, but I think the terrible economy has played a large impact on their admission decisions this year. My first graduate school admissions decision - rejection. Even if I was slightly expecting it, being rejected is never a good feeling. 

One good thing that has come out of the past few days and all this driving is seeing all the beautiful wildflowers in bloom. I stopped to get this shot of a hill covered in blue bonnets on the way home from one of the airport excursions a couple days ago. It was breath-taking in real life. It's my favorite time of the year here. 

spring has come.

I woke up one morning and realized spring had finally come! The days are marked by warm humidity, the nurseries are full of colorful flowers, and even wildflowers have started to peak up from the side of the highway.  If there's anything I'll miss about Texas when I move in August, it'll be the wildflowers that mark the coming of spring.

The pictures above are from the flowers I planted this past weekend including some strawberries and blueberry bush. 

zoo & aquarium - San Diego

These are just some of my favorite shots from my visit to the San Diego Zoo and Birch Aquarium. It was such a great visit, and I can't wait to go back someday soon!

californian dreamin'

While skipping through rocks in La Jolla, CA, one can find some furry friends or ones with gooey tentacles. Either way, it's a great way to spend they day until the sun begins to set and the chill comes in. Then it's time to head to a cozy cafe and enjoy great food, great friends, and great times.