A Morning Stroll in the Boston Public Garden.

We spent the weekend in Boston two weeks ago for Stevie's 5-year class reunion at HBS, and man, was it wonderful being back in Beantown. Living in Cambridge was a really special session in our chapter book, with memories that we often re-visit when we are telling stories, and I honestly can't believe that it's been 5 years since we moved. Until I remember that there are two children in my life now that weren't around back in our cold-weather Boston days. #wakeupcall

It was a whirlwind weekend being back on that immaculate campus seeing friends, and we both kept remarking to each other how normal it felt to be back, and how it felt like absolutely no time had passed. We were back to our old stomping grounds, having dinner with classmates, attending lectures and talking about dreams for the future. Truthfully, it felt like NO TIME HAD PASSED. Isn't that so strange?! A few pics below of our weekend.

This view of the Charles River never gets old.

The dogwoods were in full bloom and were more perfect than I've ever seen before anywhere!

We were frolicking around without kids and it was WILD. Like, I wasn't holding 5 sippy cups and snacks in my bag. I was holding lipstick. What is this life.

The rhododendrons were in full bloom, too! Mental note - I need to plant some of these in my yard.

I used Rent the Runway for a few of the reunion events and was pleasantly surprised! Will definitely be using that service again soon!

Our view from up high. It was 55 degrees one morning when we woke up! with it being 90+ back in Atlanta, I wasn't mad about wearing a few layers.

The block made me think for a mere moment that we were in London ;)

Had to.

Some of our BFFs from our time in Boston! It was the best to catch up.

On the final morning, Stevie and I had a bit of time before our flight so we trekked from our Copley Square hotel to THE cutest little coffee shop Thinking Cup, where we grabbed some to-go breakfast sandwiches and coffee and headed to the loveliest of Boston's parks, The Boston Common.

America's oldest park featuring trees planted from all over the world (an homage to the immigrant nation that we are), this park is very dear to my heart and always the perfect place to stroll, especially in good weather. The manicuring, the flowers, and the swans - its truly the perfect romantic setting for a movie. Mental note - pitch this location for a movie.

Anyway, we strolled. Whilst chomping down some breakfast sandwiches and taking photos of ducks for the boys (because, Make Way for Ducklings). And we took way too much time doing all this slow wandering and ended up having to haul it to make our flight on time. Which we did! But it was a little close.

Since we actually had time to talk without being interrupted on this particular morning, we spent our time in the Garden dreaming about the future. I don't know if anyone else does this, but when I travel I often find myself dreaming about what life would be like to live in that particular location. I wonder about where the good schools are, what people do with their kids for fun on the weekends, where the local cool places are to eat. In cities like this I wonder how people get around (train everywhere? Walk everywhere? Or still need a car?), how they function with 8 months of winter (yikes, bowl a lot??), and how different the life must be from my Atlanta suburb. Since we actually lived here years ago, the dreaming this time around got really specific, and Stevie and I couldn't help but talk about what it would be like to move back to Boston for a few years. There is just something so characteristic about New England, it will always take up some special space in our hearts.

But before we knew it, we were buckling our seat belts while we listened to the Delta safety information, and we were SO glad to be reunited with our boys just a few short hours after this morning in the Garden.

p.s. - that time I was gigantically pregnant in the Boston Public Garden.

Planting geraniums.

We scouted them out a month ago. When Daddy was out of town for days and days and I was about to lose my mind a little bit. I loaded up my little men in the car, along with our giant stroller that could double as a minivan on three wheels, and we went to the happiest place I could think of - Pike's Nursery. Everett is truly my son when it comes to plants and greenery and florals and whatnot. He and I are usually the only people at Pike's under the age of 60 but we lovvvve it. (Daxton has not quite caught on to the family adoration for this place, that child better learrrrrrn). We do this frequently, we walk all the aisles and sniff only the beautiful things and discuss landscape color schemes and Everett puts his hands in all the water fountains and I have to keep him from knocking over the $800 stone statues of frogs and it just makes me feel so close to him because it's like, he gets me.

Like, yesterday, he looked at me and said, "Mom, I love those hydrangeas you picked out." What a freaking blessing this blessed little angel from Heaven is. Also, he says hydrangeas like, "high-dangerous" which I love so much so I don't think I will ever correct him.

Anyway, the purpose of our little field trip last month was to scout out the wonders of my favorite deer resistant, all-summer-long-blooming flower - geraniums. We decided that we liked all the colors instead of just picking one type and that we would come back after the 15th of April, when the chance of frost in our area was finally minimal.

We had a good bit of landscaping done this past month - some diseased trees needed to be removed from our property so we decided to get them taken down and add some new flowers, shrubs and trees to freshen the place up. What a difference it has made! With the newborn situation (AKA the not sleeping situation), we opted to have someone help us out with all the work this time around, which I thought would be hard since I love doing all the planting myself but - who am I kidding - it was extremely wonderful to have someone else do it. But me and Everett decided we wanted to plant the geraniums ourselves, because it's kind of become our thing, so we did our thing. Everett used his new gardening gear, courtesy of the Easter Bunny.

I am not winning at life right now. I am not super mom or super wife or super friend or super rested, but I am winning in love, my friends. These little boys fill me with so much joy and I am the luckiest to call them my own. My little Everett has been so good the past few months. adjusting beautifully to having a new baby bro around. He is definitely aware of the attention being shifted from him to Daxton, so Stevie and I are doing our best to be intentional with both of them with our energy and time. It's so good for his heart and mine, finding these little pockets of time where we can do "our things" together and keep our laughter and love at the center of everything.

Things have changed. It's a brand new season. Which calls for new flowers pots. I fear its just a matter of time before I start collecting lawn gnomes, friends.

The 6 Vegetables in Our Autumn Garden.

On my 29th birthday, I lounged in the back yard with my feet propped up on a chair and sipped my lemon water. 

And watched.

Watched Stevie work in our garden.

Watched Everett pound some snacks.

Watched my flowers and vegetables and herbs come together in a green-thumbs-up autumnal harmony.

My sister thought this was a very strange way to willingly spend a birthday, but it was actually really very perfect to me.

I'll admit, it was difficult just to sit there, watching him do the work, because I have grown to love the therapeutic activity of gardening. I feel like God speaks so clearly to me while my hands are deep in the soil and I'm planting seeds, watering flowers, and troubleshooting with the dratted caterpillars that try to infest. It all feels like a metaphor for life, and there is something about the quiet of the garden that makes me feel very, very close to my creator.

That being said, I didn't have that same euphoric experience for our fall garden installation this season. Because I am trying to take is extra easy until this baby makes his arrival, I had to let Stevie do everything for our fall garden overhaul. And my friends, it was an overhaul! Since we had been gone for the previous 5 weeks traveling, our garden had become a jungle-y mess of weeds, overgrown zinnias, and sun-scorched herbs. He pulled out every single weed from the root, freshened up the beds with soil and fertilizer, and planted my carefully-chosen fall plants.

Oh, and we decided to go ahead and plant some blueberry bushes, too. And some knockout roses. And move some hostas to a shadier location.

He's my knight in shining armor.

Or my farm boy. Actually yeah, that's more accurate. "Farm boy, fetch me that pitcher?" (what movie?!)

So as I sipped my water (I'm trying to reach a daily quota of 100 oz. and it's hard) and took endless videos of Everett jumping and playing in the yard, Stevie bucketed sweat while he slaved in my beloved patch of Earth. That man is such, such a keeper :)

Even though the installation was a ton of work for him, we decided to go easy on ourselves this year by only planting a few things that would hopefully do well and not require much maintenance (thanks to Pike's Nursery, who answer my endless supply of questions every time I'm in there, they are just the nicest):

Plants:
8 Purple Cabbage
8 Brussels Sprouts
8 Red Lettuce
8 Swiss Chard

Seeds: (because I already had them and it's fun to intersperse veggies for heartier soil)
Carrots
Kale (okay, I planted two types of kale... I had the seeds already and couldn't resist)
Cilantro

We lined the front of the beds with a variety of colorful pansies, which should keep things colorful until the weather truly turns to frost. I've actually never planted pansies before, so I am curious to see if the rumors are true about how weather-resistant they are.

I also couldn't help but plant a few violas and mums in some pots on my porch, along with a transfer of chives from the garden to some pots. They (supposedly) should keep doing their thing for a while longer, and chives are just soooo tasty in mashed potatoes. I wish I could lend all of you my herbs. It's so much fun to garden and cook with your own goods.

Oh, and did you see those pumpkins? I got some dreamy pumpkins for the porch this year.

Thankfully, we got our watering system to work over the summer, so I don't have to hand-water all these plants this fall! I can just sit on my back porch and enjoy the beauty of my fall garden, and friends, even though all this sitting gets a little infuriating (I have so many things I want to do!), it's actually making me realize that I need the rest. Although I wish I could deposit the rest into a sleep bank and make a withdrawal later, when I have a newborn. Wouldn't that be a treat?

There you have it, friends! Our fall garden situation. I absolutely love it and I can already tell that the purple cabbage is going to be gorgeous as it grows. Do you garden? What did you plant for the fall?

The 3 Plants That Are Killing it in My Summer Garden.

And by killing it, I mean rocking. And by rocking, I mean growing like crazy and producing all over the place. All this Georgia heat has caused a lot of my herbs to bolt and go to flower too quickly (sad day, I know), but there are a few things that are absolutely on fire, in terms of production and growth.

1. Cherry Tomatoes.
These bad boys are so stinkin' cute. Their process of turning from green to red is really striking, and for some reason they have just gone to town, producing so so much. Next year I know to add a few more of these plants (and buy taller stakes for them, because holy cow.)

2. Zinnias.
I added these to the back border of my garden, in hopes of adding a pop of color to the vegetable garden. I wasn't sure how well they would do, since I was planting them from seeds, and I've had very mixed success rates with growing flowers from seeds. But these are popping up in reds, golds, oranges, pinks and yellows! They are so gorgeous and big that I feel like a regular grocery store flower department. I've been cutting these and putting them in tall vases around the house and I feel so farm girl. Sigh. If you come over, I'll send you home with one :)

3. Celebrity Tomatoes.
These are the fattest, juiciest tomatoes ever. I can't believe how satisfying it is to look out my window and see these gigantic tomatoes growing in my own little garden box. It's a strangely wonderful feeling, knowing my soil and water grew such healthy, vigorous tomatoes. And you guys - they taste so good. Stevie has been making these sliced skillet-fried tomatoes coated in a bread crumb/flour situation and they are seriously savory.

In case you're wondering what my child does while I tend to the garden. I'll be honest, it's turned into a weedy jungle out there, because I've been pregnant and it's been hot. etc., but I am finally feeling energetic and able to get back at it! Everett throws the frisbee at my head every time. It's scary how accurate this kid has gotten with a disk.

My basil should get an honorable mention, because this particular batch is actually doing quite well. I had one purple batch that grew like crazy and then went bitter really early in the season.

And the you have it! Any suggestions for what I should try in my fall garden? Because I am already making lists of new vegetables and flowers I want to plant...

DIY Outdoor Flowering Pot (for under $40!)

I have this thing with flowers. And shrubs. And trees.

Landscape hasn't always been a passion. It's a new thing. I want everything in my back yard flowering and fruiting and color booming. Last fall, I tried my first attempt at planting a round of autumn vegetables, and it went pretty well. But I learned so much (mostly - not to be scared of the foods you grow because you see the bugs on them. That struggle is real.) I've been preparing the grounds for my spring installment, which we are working on next weekend, woop woop. But in the meantime, I wanted to have something beautiful to stare at like NOW. Because when you plant seeds, it takes months before you can really enjoy the blooms. They take foreverrrrrr to grow. I'm a bit impatient to see the fruits of my labor (who isn't, really?), so in the midst of sprinkling different seeds around my yard, I decided to create my own outdoor container. You know the pretty ones you see in the store for like $150+? I didn't want to spend that. But I wanted to HAVE that.

This container is great for people who don't have tons of full sun in their back yard. If your back porch gets full sun, then you can enjoy the bodacious full-sun blooms really close up. The showy, wonderstruck, magical romantic flowers. In case you didn't know, all the best flowers are the sunny ones. So here you have it. My outdoor flower container, for under $40. P.S. - this would make the most amazingly thoughtful Mother's Day gift, like EVER. So keep that in mind :)

Tools Needed:
- Large container pot (I used a 30-gallon pot from my mom's garage - thanks Mom!)
- Potting soil
- Trowel
- Plant Food - My friend at Pike's said I could use this. I LOVE this stuff.

Flowers:
- 1 Sunflower
- 3 Dahlia bulbs (dinnerplate variety)
- 3 Moss Roses
- 2 Vinca
- 1 Dianthus

Cost Breakdown:
$17.98 for the flowers (Home Depot)
$21.18 for the bulbs + soil (Pikes Nursery - I used this soil for 3-4 other small garden pots, too)
FREE - container

How To:
1. Fill the container about 3/4 full with potting soil. If you're fancy, you can mix in some sand or gravel to assist with with drainage. But only if you're fancy.

2. Sprinkle the flower food on top of the soil.

3. Place your dahlia bulbs in the soil, with the eyes facing up. If you're unfamiliar with bulbs (like I was!), check out this video on how to determine an eye from a foot. Just kidding. A little gardening humor for you. I sense that no one is laughing.

4. Make sure the dahlias are planted toward the back of the pot, because you will want these to tower above the rest once they bloom. FYI dinnerplate dahlias can grow up to five feet tall and have blooms the size of a child's face. Bam. Need that in my life.

5. Now layer in the rest of the flowers. I put the sunflowers in the middle of the pot, then the dianthus and vincas on either side, then filled in the front of the pot with the moss roses.

6. Fill in the rest of the space with soil.

7. Water really good. Soak those babies.

For Maintenance:
To keep this container healthy and gorgeous for as long as possible, I will water daily (sunflowers need a ton of agua), and probably shake some good high-phosphorus fertilizer (again, for the sunflowers) as needed. As the moss roses shrivel, I will pinch of the spent blooms to encourage re-blooming. They should hang out with me for a while. I might have to replace some of the flowers if they get past their flowering season, but the dahlias will bloom in mid-summer and keep doing their thing late into the fall.

Enjoy immediately! That's what I love most about this flowering container. I can sit outside on my porch and drink the coffee and enjoy this beauty now while I await my seeds and vegetables. I am so looking forward to seeing these flowers continue to bloom throughout the season. This container gives me a lot of bang for my buck! Let me know if you give this DIY a try!