Mary Mary Quite Contrary...

After a quick fun filled 1/2 a weekend in Tucson for my mom's birthday, I've decided to try to plant a garden. We used some fresh herbs from my mom's container veg garden for our great dinner on Saturday. It was super tasty (esp the steaks - thanks Dad!) and great company. We got to hang out with (left to right) Connor's girlfriend Abby, Sean's Brother Connor, my mom Kim, my dad Cleve, my brother Keenan, Keenan's roommate Mike, Sean, Patrick and Me (not pictured). After dinner Sean and I went to go see Hellboy 2 at the Park Mall. Boy, I was not used to being out so late - we got home at 12:30! But, I did it and it was pretty good. Think Pan's Labyrinth-style characters in the movie. Fun :)

My mom said that she transplanted seedlings. Well, lucky for me, my local home store didn't have anything right now (so I must be crazy) but we got seeds and we've made 2 mini greenhouses with upside-down Sterilite clear storage boxes.

Here are the filled extra party cups.

Here are the seeds.

Here are the cups before filling - I cut a hole in them with a knife (for drainage.)

Just like this.

When (I hope) the seedlings sprout, I hope to use this stuff. It's called Terracycle and it's made from worm poop and packaged in recycled soda bottles. So genius.

I hope to keep you all updated as to what is growing and how they're doing.

If you are in the desert and intersted in knowing what to plant and when, here's a great resource: http://www.urbanfarm.org/Planting_Calendar.pdf

And if you are interested in sourcing some unique seeds (I haven't done this yet), you can find some great stuff on the internet.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/home.aspx?ct=HG

http://rareseeds.com/

http://www.seedsavers.org/

This is where Farmer Frank gets his seeds. Farmer Jen, here we come!

____

PS. Fun fact I learned today (unassociated to anything in this post but related to great Summer songs): Holiday Road, the theme some from National Lampoon's Vacation was written and sung by Lindsey Buckingham. Can't believe I didn't figure it out after all these years...Lindsay's the greatest. Here's a You Tube clip from a live performance. And for all of you embarking on a road trip this summer, get excited with this original theatrical trailer for National Lampoon's Vacation.

Farmers and Chefs and More Swimming!

Thanks Mom for coming to visit earlier this week so that I could make it to the Farmer Chef Connection Event for Edible Phoenix (see picture below - that's Bob McClendon, Mike from Bon Appetit, Greg from Quiessence, the Litchfield Park Food and Bev Manager and the guy from the Queen Creek Olive Mill). It was fun and I got to see some old buddies I hadn't seen since Patrick was still in my tummy. It's gotten me motivated to want to join a CSA again. I am going to see if Desert Roots Farm has any room. I miss my CSA veggies.

We've been swimming every day this week since it's soooooooo hot. The pool itself is pretty hot which is kind of yuck but it's nice to take a dip anyway!

Parties Parties Parties

We're having a great summer so far doing a lot of swimming in the pool and hanging out with friends and family. I've drifted a bit from my usual blog schedule but we've needed time to clean up and get ready for the next fun event. Below is a picture from the weekend after the big birthday party.

I had forgotten to break out the pinata at the birthday party so when we had some friends and family over for the 4th, we had to use it then. I think the final blow came after cousin Ryan and our little friend Preston had taken so many turns whacking that thing that it just couldn't hold all the Laffy Taffy and Nerds that had been in there for a week!

I think we were at Pick up Stix when I took this picture. Patrick was really into sticking his tongue out. Nowadays it's sticking his finger up his nose, and sometimes one finger in each nostril at the same time. Nice!

This is at the Children's Museum of Phoenix. This just opened and so far it's a blast. We're glad that our friends also got annual passes because we might just move in. These are giant bean bags that Patrick is trying to climb over. He really enjoyed it!

This was in the car after from being at the Children's Museum for a few hours, he was laughing all the way home!

Yesterday we had a great time with Sean's whole family over here to celebrate his Mom's husband's daughter's graduation. We ate great food, played in the pool and had a super fabulous time. Thanks for everyone's help making it a great day. Congratulations Sheryl!!

The Birthday Boy

Swimming lessons came to an end on Friday. They gave us a certificate of completion and a popscicle.

Here's a picture of the pool that we've been at for the last 2 weeks. If you can see in the shadow, Patrick is leaning in for another lick.

Then Saturday was all about the big luau Patrick 1st/Jennifer 30th Birthday Party!
I think we had about 30 - 35 people in total at the party. The house was full of food and fun and shave ice.

The fishy take home boxes filled with aloha buttermints, shells and a beach monkey beach ball.

My mom's pinapple pupu platter from back in the day, good thing she's kept it! :)

I finally put up these cute curtains that I'd been hanging on to. I hemmed them any everything. Like our very own cabana!

Sean's surprise for me was to fly my friend Jenny in to town. When she arrived Friday night I was totally confused at first but so happy! Patrick was happy too!

Here's a picture of one of the cupcakes that Jenny and I decorated for the party. You might be able to see but we attempted to make a wave design with frosting and a toothpick at the bottom. Here's a link to the recipe.


We had a great day and I'm still washing dishes and doing laundry from the busy weekend. Boy was it worth it!