Attempting a Tabletop Garden

[I love the colorful cacti! I hope to have a lot of them in my little tabletop garden.]

I'm domestically challenged. I can barely cook, don't know how to sew, and kill plants. 

Enter this bare patio table in front of our apartment:

[Our mini front patio]

We don't really sit at this table, it's wobbly and the chair is uncomfortable, and I've only used it for projects that involve paint and other toxic substances. But the other night when we had my friend over for dinner, she brought a housewarming gift: an herb garden. Hmmmm...Maybe that table has a purpose after all? Maybe...I can be ambitious and have a tabletop garden so people visiting will see what a domestic superstar *cough* I am. Yes? Yes!

I'm scared, so I might start with succulents because they seem easier to take care of than fragile flowers. Normally anything green makes me panic, but I'm kinda excited. It might even mean I can proliferate that table with ceramic woodland creatures:

["Owlivia" by Etsy seller 2chicksandafancyowl]

 

[Create Your Own Terrarium by Etsy seller blithegardens]

And we all know I just do things so I have a chance to buy cute woodland figurines. 

Do you garden? Does anyone garden from the confines of an apartment? Any tips for me?

My Absence + Wall Decals

[Gerbera wall decal by Ilan Dei]

I have no Internet connection at home since we moved, which is making my abysmal amount of posting even more pathetic for the month of April. The ironic thing is that since I have no Internet at home and cannot spend hours on end at my computer, the apartment is actually coming together quite well! Things are getting put away, dishes have been washed, laundry has been done. It's amazing the things you can do without cable and no Internet. Not that I won't cry with happiness once they are both set up, but still! The productivity one can benefit from without Netflix streaming and online shopping! Amazing I tell you. 

My next task after putting everything away is to make the apartment less graduate student chic and more like a "home". I haven't taken photos because not everything is put away, but visualize in your head a brown couch against a large white wall. What could you do to spruce that space up? 

(Keep in mind that you live with a boy who is paranoid of things falling on his head, so scratch off picture frames, mirrors, and other objects that hang as decorating possibilities.) 

My first solution is a large wall decal. I like that gerbera wall decal above--it's graphic, bold, bright, and will add a pop of color. But beyond the wall decal, I can't think of any solutions that don't involve hanging objects. Can you think of anything else we could do?

  Some of my other favorites:

[The Choir of Antarctica by Threadless]

[The Ugly Duckling by Vo Maria and Threadless]

[Invaders by BLIK]

Back to procrastinating from my homework--hope everyone is having a lovely Easter! 

Moving Up In Life

[Really blurry photos from my iPhone of the before (run while you have a chance!) and after (thank god all that we have left to move is the cat) of our apartment]

We have a new apartment (above is the old one) and it seems to have done the trick to kick me out of my rut. I love having this new project to make our apartment livable (I see weeks of unpacking and moving furniture around) and homey. The doldrums of getting up, going to work, coming home exhausted and doing homework half asleep, and then going to bed way too late and doing it all over again, has been gnawing at my happiness. Who knew buying a new shower curtain and reorganizing my books by genre would provide so much satisfaction?

There's also something about moving until 2 in the morning on an empty stomach, and then having the boy cheer me on and buying me the most gigantic plate of nachos at 3, that elicits this warm fuzzy feeling about our marriage.

 

Have you moved much? Do you have an amazing mass of stuff that you're unaware of like me? 

It Has Been 10 Years for Elizabeth and Jessica, Too

[Book cover of Sweet Valley Confidential]

Speaking of high school reunions, has anyone read Sweet Valley Confidential, the latest from Francine Pascal and her beloved "perfect size 6" (now perfect size 4!) Wakefield twins? Apparently the twins are now 27 and dun dun DUN not speaking to one another and living on opposite coasts.  I haven't read it, but I read some SVH in my upper elementary days and even had...the board game.

Yes my friends. There was a board game. I always wanted to be Elizabeth. (There was no way I was a Jessica.)

[From Board Game Geek]

I also had a Babysitter's Club phase and devoured most of those. I was a Mary Anne longing to be a Claudia. Or maybe I just wanted Claudia's wardrobe. And I never could figure out which Sex and the City character I am--maybe a hybrid of Miranda and Charlotte? I feel like Miranda would barf at the site of my blog, but Charlotte would already be wearing an outfit that color-coordinated with it. 

Were you reading Sweet Valley High or The Babysitter's Club under the covers? Any other Elizabeths, Mary Annes, or Miranda-Charlottes? 

Has It Really Been 10 Years?

 

[15-year-old me]

I received an invite to my 10 year high school reunion. Things that are running through my head at this statement: 

1. I would need to watch Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion to prep. 

2. It would be fun to make a mix of songs I loved in high school, which consisted of lots of Moby, Ani DiFranco, and Beastie Boys. I also listened to an inordinate amount of Tori Amos, Radiohead, and Fiona Apple, which I think ultimately pulled me further into dramatic shenanigans. I'm pretty sure the summer of 2000 was spent listening to OK Computer and When the Pawn... over and over and over again. I wish I could go back to that year and switch out that CD with...oh, I don't know...Walking On Sunshine on repeat?

3. Not quite sure I want to go back to high school to see people I haven't seen in, well, 10 years. When I left high school, I really left high school. 

I wish I had loved high school more. I feel like such a cliche to say that high school was emotionally distressing and fraught with really stupid drama--but it totally was! I wasn't Josie Grossie, but I definitely fit into the oh-so-awkward and just plain weird category with identity issues. This girl you see in the white lace dress holding the pink peony bouquet in the left sidebar? She knows most of the words to all the songs for South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, will tell you everything wrong with Jar Jar Binks, and has seen too many horror movies. Have you watched that scene in Donnie Darko when Donnie (aka Jake Gyllenhaal) is annoyed by his friends' inane Smurfette discussion? That was us, plus some trees and a river for scenery, and Frank Zappa in the background.

In 10 years, I have definitely changed and am SO glad I am no longer in high school. I'm actually glad I didn't meet the boy in high school, because I don't think 15-year-old Mo and 15-year-old boy would actually get along. It was good we met when we did.

So, how about you--would you attend your high school reunion? Did you have a good high school experience? Don't you think Jar Jar Binks is just so amazingly annoying?

The Infinite Garage and Raina Lee

I love this documentary of writer Raina Lee, who inherited her parents' house of hoarding horrors. This reminds me of my pack rat family. My parents and grandparents collect everything, and can't handle throwing anything out, including used jars (you never know when you might need to can something,) old stuffed animals (for their undeniable cuteness,) test scores from the 6th grade (I might never get an A++ ever again,) and makeup that expired long, long, long ago (it's still good!).

The boy and I have grown up with this same mentality, and as we're in the process of purging our apartment (I found my diploma people!) I thought sharing Raina's plight was a timely blog post. I also found some old photos that I was supposed to scan and upload long ago, and finally managed to today. This is one of my favorites.

[My mother, San Francisco, before Mo]

Follow Raina at her blog, The Infinite Garage, and wish me luck while I take an hour to reminisce over every item in my apartment.