fat tuesday.

"let pleasure be the rule day & night!" -rex the king

{via}

happy fat tuesday!  i think rex said it best.  but i will say- enjoy today!  tomorrow lent begins & i love using lent as a personal challenge to give something up for a month and a half.  over the years i've done soda (which i no longer drink), sweets & treats (i have to do this one a lot since i am addicted!) and this year, i'm giving up all fried food.  yep.  no chips or fries or fried fish or fried green tomatoes.  nada. 

if you'd like to join me, let me know- after all, misery loves company!

weekend wrap-up.

this past weekend was amazing.  lately, i feel like i'm saying this every monday (tuesday in this case), so i guess i'm pretty lucky that my weekends are frequently awesome! this weekend however, was especially wonderful- guests were coming to stay!


earlier in the week i received an email from a childhood friend who was going to be in the area on sunday. this is a big deal!  first- no one from home- other than our immediate family has made the trek to see us (no hard feelings- i promise) and two- this was such a surprise (and boy do i love surprises).  we have known one another since kindergarten!
saturday started off pretty crazy since i was racing in a shamrock run.  luckily the race didn't start until 11am- so i was able to sleep in- but since i always get anxious before a race, sleeping in really wasn't an option.  it was a gray and rainy day in cny and almost all the snow had melted.  for the race, the rain let up (as did the wind) and we had some very comfortable weather.  it was a hilly route- and i'm happy to say, there was no walking on my end...not once for 4 whole miles! 

after the race, i had some friends over for lunch and to give our homemade beer a try.  talk about nerve racking!  beer-making is a process and it takes quite a bit of patience.  if this didn't work out, there was going to be hell to pay.  we popped the tops of the beer and gave it a go.  lo and behold- it was good!  really good.  happily we declared, our beer making a success!

later that night, my good friend & her boyfriend arrived & we stayed up until the wee hours chatting and catching up- followed by a lazy, snowy morning of more chatting and catching up!  i tried my hand at a breakfast cobbler that was a huge hit (and may i please say- i am now obsessed with slow cooker breakfast recipes) and we spent the afternoon exploring syracuse. 

it was a short visit- but it was perfect.  it's so easy to get wrapped up in the everyday- and every once in a while it's a nice reminder to take a step back, reminisce with old friends and remind yourself where you came from.

letters from a.

make my day week.  and i love everything about them.  thanks to him, this week just ended on a high note.  love you babe!

flower arrangements.

we celebrated green beer sunday this past weekend.  this is an annual townie event that celebrates the arrival of green beer to the local bars (any reason is a good reason to celebrate).  around noon there is a parade that follows a tanker of beer down the street.

told ya.  an entire semi of green beer!  i think the mayor even walks behind the beer- it's kinda a big deal.    

my friend sara, a huge fan of green beer and all the festivities, hosted brunch before the parade.  we had a huge spread of eggs and french toast and yogurt and fruit.  we even had a chocolate & baileys cake.  i opted to help with the decorations and decided to try my hand at a flower arrangement.  

growing up, my mom often had my sisters and i make any and all floral arrangements for the holidays.  i loved taking the flowers and making something pretty for everyone to enjoy.  i don't play with flowers as much as i would like, so i think this little experiment, while it turned out okay, helped convince me that a floral arranging class would be very beneficial.

i went to a wholesale market in the morning and spent at least an hour rummaging through their entire selection of flowers.  i was on a quest for anything green & white and stumbled upon some awesome choices.  then, using some floral frogs, a glass pie pan and some green tissue paper, i went to work.

i modified this method by martha stewart and with a bit of trial and error, ended up with a shamrock centerpiece.  it's not as defined as i had hoped- but i'm sure in a larger bowl or on a grander scale- the shamrock shape would be more obvious.

regardless of how it turned out, i had a lot of fun making it- and i have visions of floral arrangements dancing in my head.  the possibilities are endless.

green with envy.

well, at my other plants are.

this little plant stole the spotlight- and has one of the best views in the house.  over the long weekend, i went on a hanging frenzy.  i purchaced this wall-mounted vase* in rochester last year and have been deciding where to put it ever since.  at first, i thought the bathroom would be a great place for it- but with zero light, it didn't make the cut.

so i hemmed and hawed and finally, decided the kitchen needed a plant.  so, i busted out our handy hammer and went to work.

doesn't it look so much better?  i was amazed by the character this little guy brought to the space.  it's a show-stopper, seriously.  and i'm completely obsessed.

one of the best parts?  this plant was free.  true 'dat.  it started as a couple stems/leaves from a larger plant and has taken on a life of it's own.  i'm so proud of this little fellow.

*i can't remember exactly where i got this- so i apologize for not referencing.