Balcony Update

One day my husband and I would love to have an amazing garden, but right now we are just working with a very small outdoor space. I decided to take our sad outdoor space and spruce it up over Memorial Day Weekend.

This is what it looked like before, a very overgrown succulent garden in one corner, and 2 chairs, and a small table in the other. I don't think it was terrible, but it could use some sprucing up. The azalea was added during the redesign, so it didn't even have that yet.

We started with adding an herb garden:

The photo on the right is from the first day we planted the herbs: cilantro, Italian flat leaf parsley, dill, mint, and basil. The second photo is from this week, so a little over a month later. The basil fried pretty quickly so we had to get rid of it. The cilantro is flowering and seeding right now, after a few brushes with death. The other three are growing great! We get morning sun so it's a good amount for all these plants.

Since they were overgrowing and their roots were coming out all over the place, I replanted the succulents, which was actually really easy, and fun because I could do my own design. All you do is cut a few inches of root with the plant and place in to new soil. These are doing really well too! Also, how cute is this planter that can hang over the balcony?

Last was sprucing up the seating area. We now enjoy coming out here in the evenings to sit after I water the plants.

This Week's Floral Arrangement: Pink Gerbera Daisies and Queen Anne's Lace

Pink, white, and green always looks great together. When I saw these amazing light pink gerbera daisies at the flower shop this week I had to have them. I'm also a fan of big, full mums, they are cheap and last a long time usually. Football mums are my favorite, but these are great too and last longer. I added some queen anne's lace and some spray carnations for the green and put together this arrangement worthy of a fancy event, or you know, just beautifying the apartment for our enjoyment. The best part? The cost of flowers were less than $25.

Quaint Travel: St. Augustine, FL

Although this blog is primarily focused on homemaking hobbies - floral design, entertaining, cooking, etc. I also wanted to add a series on Quaint Vacations. My husband and I love going to places where we can just walk around, browse cute shops, stay in old Bed and Breakfasts, and eat good food - so much that we even planned our honeymoon in same fashion. It all started 2 years ago when we visited St. Augustine, FL for a wedding. We haven't gone back yet, but we can't wait.

The Cedar House Inn is the best Bed and Breakfast I have ever stayed in. I know St. Augustine is full of other Bed and Breakfasts, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to try another one in town since we loved the Cedar House Inn so much!

The breakfast was incredible, and they accommodated my dietary needs.

Beyond the breakfast, they also have wine, port, and cookies out every night. The cookies are to die for and oftentimes they were still warm!!!

There are so many things to do in town, we only scratched the surface during our short weekend there (with a wedding to attend too!) but we mostly enjoyed just walking around. We visited the winery in town, but Florida wine is very sweet for our tastes. We did like the port and enjoy a bottle at home here and there when we come across a bottle.The fort is a must see too, I thought it would be boring but we actually had a great time there!

Spring/Summer Brunch

I am late in posting this, but I hosted a mother's day brunch. I still think it's a fun inspiration for a spring or summer brunch. I like hosting brunches for large groups since it is a bit most cost effective than lunch or dinner, also my guests tend to not miss the meat (I'm pescaterian) as much, so I can get away with only preparing a vegetarian meal. We kept things simple, we made a veggie egg bake and a french toast bake which are easy to throw together and feed a crowd. I also set up a yogurt bar, a bloody mar bar, and a mimosa bar. I have to say the bloody mary bar was a huge hit, my husband is hooked on them and begs me to make them every weekend (we love to bring a pitcher down to the pool and share with our neighbors).

Here are some pics of the party. I can't believe everyone fit in our small apartment, but we did the best we could with the space and it worked out well. Since it was a crowd we opted for paper plates (Target has the cutest stuff!) and found reusable plastic forks in a funky and fun green at Publix.

Left out some extra hot sauce and tons of "toppings"

Served this mango-organge juice for the mimosas as well as regular orange juice, we ran out of the mango fast!

The flowers doubled as a centerpiece and a gift, each of the moms took home one of the vases

How great are these green mason jars? I'm jealous I didn't get to keep any for myself. I had an extra but my sister took it her boyfriend's mom.

Simple Arrangements

I love to make elaborate and creative flower arrangements, but sometimes simple is best. Here are some of my arrangements that are simple but still make a elegant statement. These are easy enough for anyone to put together, plus they are quick.

This vase just calls for roses, I love to fill it up with at least 2 dozen

This photo is from before we had any decor up in our apartment, but I love the simplicity of a vase full of hydrangea

I know a lot of people hate carnations, but I love them. They come in so many different colors, they are super cheap, and I can usually get 2 weeks at least of them. I think all bunched up together they look quite nice.

Peonies are my favorite. My wedding bouquet was full of them. These small round vases are great to hold a few big blooms, next I want to try it out with some football mums!