We did a surprise visit to an apartment complex – the college grad and I – on a whim today.  It was nice, but pricey, so we didn’t go beyond the leasing office.

But inside the leasing office, they had an “Earth Day” promotion going on.  No, I’m not going to go getting all “waste not want not” on you – but it did make me think.  They were giving away nice cloth totes (all the rage in the grocery stores these days) with the apartment logo, and a teeny tomato plant, ready to be nurtured, plus some pretty good tips on doing your part to save the environment.

So I’ll share some myself, because we all can use a little reminder now and again.  Here are some easy tips for creating your own, personal earth day celebration EVERYDAY compliments of DivineCaroline.com - check out Fifty Tips!  Easy – and earthly-thought-provoking.

Please remember to celebrate something everyday – and this week – give some thought to celebrating Mama Earth

PS – Earth Day 2011 is Friday, April 22nd, btw.  Think eco!

Less than a week until the first Peachtree Road Farmers Market for 2011 – less than a week!  I’m so-so excited (and seriously thinking about renting a big ‘ole van to take everyone down there with me…)

It may sound corny (oh what the heck, it is corny), but this market is fun for the entire family!  The kids taste the treats, the family buys the excellent produce, and the local growers have an amazing showcase.

Head to the website and get the details – then go!  You can come back here and thank me later…

Celebrating a wonderful, wonderful Farmers Market Opening Day Event today!  Please remember to celebrate something everyday!

Who’dve ever thought I was going to spend quality time apartment hunting in Atlanta?  Do you have any idea how many different types of apartment homes are available in this, oh, let’s call it “teeming metropolis?”

Yes, my newly minted college grad needs a place near her newly minted job.  And her mother (that would be me), is ALL OVER the place looking at safety and security and costs and floor plans and “amenities” and service and recommendations, reviews, neighborhoods, leases, drive times – you name it!

Whew!  Takes me back to my post-grad days – but this time with a huge difference!  We’re apartment hunting in Atlanta, Georgia.  Really, do you know how many different apartment communities are located around Atlanta (and Roswell and Alpharetta and and Sandy Springs – to infinity and beyond-land!)

Make an appointment, do a drive-by at all hours of the day and night, investigate the surrounding neighborhood, check the drive to and from work during rush hour, look for the nearest grocery store, Starbucks, mall, so many things to consider!

Anyway, consider yourself warned.  I will probably be mentioning apartments here in the next couple of months – because once we find “The One,” we have to decorate the darned thing – buy some furniture, snatch up the linens and get this show on the road!

I’ll also probably get into apartment decorating with you, too.  It’s going to be fun – almost like starting over myself!   New furniture, shiny new pots and pans, rugs, towels, color schemes, good values, and of course, budget ideas for getting it all done without breaking the bank.  Suggestions anyone?

We’ve already run across one apartment community I’d love to tell you about, mostly because of the super-friendly staff we met during our little apartment-hunting detective work.  It’s called Manchester at Mansell Apartment Homes.  This little jewel of an apartment community was my find – since I drive by it on the way to work every day.

Here’s my thinking – Manchester at Mansell is located off a major thoroughfare right on the line between Roswell and Alpharetta, Georgia.  BUT, it’s set far enough back from the road as to almost seem secluded from the hustle and bustle surrounding these vibrant, upscale Atlanta neighborhoods filled with restaurants, shopping, nightlife – all those things a young professional likes (in my mind at least). And it’s right off Georgia 400 (for the uninitiated, that’s the Atlanta Autobahn – multi-laned, well-maintained, and it’ll take you to the heart of downtown fast – or straight up into the Georgia mountains on a weekend getaway – the best of both worlds!)  Also, it’s a good commute for the daughter (the new job is in mid-town ATL).

And the staff!  They greet you at the door and you already feel like you’re at home, visiting with the neighbors.  This place has a great clubhouse (yes, imagine me – checking out the clubhouse), two (count ‘em – two) beautiful pools.  There’s even a gym (I know – I’m supposed to be thinking floor plans but what fun!)

My daughter re-focused me away from the spring-blooming shrubs and flowers (make note to plant some of my own soon – the landscaping here is lovely) to the model apartment.  Floor plan time!

I was mentally prepared to feel a little claustrophobic in an apartment – but what a nice surprise – the apartments at Manchester at Mansell are spacious!  Homey, comfortable, but open enough to feel like there’s plenty of room to move, to entertain, or snuggle up with a good book and relax after a long day at work (reminder to self – stop the “me” thing – lol!).  Manchester at Mansell gets a big check mark and a smiley face in my new list of potential apartment homes in Atlanta.  I’ll keep you posted as we keep moving along on the hunt.  This is going to be apartment-fun!

I’m putting Manchester at Mansell’s website in my favorites in case you’re looking, too.  For the short-term, it’ll make it a little easier for you to find if you want to see more.  I’m all about sharing good news!

Celebrating apartment hunting in Atlanta, Georgia today.  Please remember to celebrate something everyday!

I’ve explained just how rancidly Southern I am before.  If you missed it – here’s the Reader’s Digest Version:

• One of my earliest ancestors disembarked from the first slave ship into the Colonies in early 16-somethings.
• Her husband beat her here by a generation, and they both live on in infamy on a wall in Jamestown, not for being an interracial couple, but for having a child out of wedlock.  Pick your battles, I guess.
• The rest of my family tree blew over with the wind shortly thereafter, landing in Virginia and South Carolina – nesting near the harbors, then migrating south. Never north, always south.
• Here’s the kicker – the closer I get to the Mason-Dixon line, the more nosebleeds I get.  Living in North Carolina for a few years almost killed me.

Yep, I’m Southern through and through – and there ain’t nuthin I can do about it except accept the genes (graciously, of course) and move on.

So the genes release unbridled glee when  Garden & Gun arrives.  Don’t know Garden & Gun? Honey, you are missing a treat! The editorial content is always mesmerizing – no matter where you live.  Beautifully illustrated and scrumptuously written, there’s deep, dedicated love and understanding for all things Southern on every gorgeous page.

The latest edition boasts a feature that  makes me want drop right down and roll in pig slop – The Made in the South Awards 20 Craftsmen, Entrepreneurs and Artists who are making things right.  Amen, sistah!

Sharecroppers, Circuit Preachers, and Moonshiners – Oh My!

Yep, that’s my family line – so call me an expert on mastery of “makin sumpthin outta nuthin.”   A handmade quilt at Christmas, a lovely centerpiece crafted from dried grasses and the dried seed pods of a money plant found wild in the woods (yes, there is a money plant).

So thank you Garden and Gun, for unearthing the exquisite, natural craftsmanship of Low Country Originals, out of Bluffton, South Carolina.  OMG! Please don’t tell me you thought empty mussel shells were compost!  Low Country Originals crafts the lowly (and plentiful) bivalvia mollusca into awesome lighting accents for your home – just look!

Really – mussel shells step out of the shadows.  And when combined with rustic iron – artsy meets eco!  And if you’re thinking “yard art” here, try this on for size…

Celebrating genius from Low Country Originals today – so Southern, so unique, so personally perfect!

Please remember to celebrate something everyday (or in this case, celebrate when everyday steps it up a notch!)

Oh – and Garden & Gun - c’mon!  Subscribe. 

The production company is casting now for the next season of My Big Redneck Wedding - so follow the links at the end and contact the production company NOW! Casting Call awaits you soon-to-be newlyweds - they’ll follow you through the planning stages, through the wedding festivities and then on to the reception!  What a wedding memory perk!

Here’s the flyer:

Good luck - and let us know if you get picked to have your wedding featured on Season 4 of My Big Redneck Wedding.  We just LOVE happy wedding news!

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

The Peachtree Road Farmers Market (at the Cathedral of St. Phillips)

Dragon Con was the reason we were downtown.  No, we’re not fans – but the eldest, fresh out of college and home for the job search, had never seen the spectacle that is the annual Dracon Con parade.  So after viewing the parade (and trust me, it’s something to see), we began the meander up Peachtree (which extends across the entire state of Georgia, I believe).  Along about Buckhead, the daughter sees a sign. “Hey!  Market Open!”  U-turn generated with amazing speed (in Buckhead traffic, no less), we land in the parking lot of  The Peachtree Road Farmers Market.

Yes, I know.  Middle of Atlanta, eons of time and miles from anything remotely agricultural – you’d expect goofies, odd stuff and weirdos.  This market is as far from that as the difference between a delicate piece of Belgian chocolate enjoyed on a St. Martin beach and a Hershey Bar from the machine in the warehouse at work (sorry ’bout that Hershey – but you understand).

My highlights (frustrating, because it’s a challenge for me to narrow things down to simple highlights here):

Fresh goat cheese – the sampler pack – from Coles Lake Dairy. No words would work here.  You’ve just got to try it.

Canned HEIRLOOM tomatoes and a completely nothing-other-than-organic-muscadine-and-grape-blueberry- juice that I can’t quite describe either.  Wait!  Joy.  Yep, the taste of joy – pure, natural, smooth joy.  Learn more about the fine peeps who produce it here.

Soap. Fresh, healthy, homemade soap of mind-altering fragrance.  Indigo Bath & Body.

And then there is “Our Lady of the Homemade Pasta and Italian Dinners.” I named her that because, for a little under 20 bucks, I don’t have to cook two dinners for 3 people next week.  I should have offered to wash her feet.  Costa’s Pasta.

I would be totally remiss, rude and personally unacceptable if I did not mention the gentleman, who could sell sand to the Saudis btw, from Sweet Auburn Bakery.  He talked me into paying $5.00 for a cheesecake the size of my palm.  This is not an easy thing to do – but he did it with a smile and I now will offer to wash his feet, too.  Sweet Potato Cheesecake from Sweet Auburn Bakery.  Put that on your shopping list.  Enjoy the guilt – eat the cheesecake – and thank me later.

Now mind you, in my haste to soak it all in, I didn’t get a card from the bakery people – but their incredible pastries (picture croissant – perfectly toasty and delicately flaky ALL THE WAY THROUGH) and the fresh loaf of multi-grain bread I brought home (the pastries mysteriously disappeared in the car.  hmm…) will live on as a happy spot in my mind forever.  I also didn’t get to taste the slow roast coffee, the fresh, organic salsas, and so much more.  But no worries – the market opens at 9 every Saturday until December.  And I’ll be there with bells on (and jeans, of course – clean t-shirt, the birkies, as usual).

The website (with pictures, videos, and a BLOG!  Wahoo!) Click the pic

Celebrating the geniuses who thought this up today (and eating goat cheese while I think).  Remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Bookmark her and watch her grow!  http://farsch.wordpress.com/

Celebrating a new blog with food for thought!  Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Please tell me if you know one person on the face of this earth who doesn’t go into absolute happy-fits when they see a ladybug – seriously – do you know of just one?

If you do, then you’re a rare bird because these little bright red orbs of delight never cease to pop a happy into my day.  And did you know that these little boogers pack a boat load of symbolism underneath those shiny red wings?

Here’s your history lesson for the day:

Throughout the centuries, ladybugs have always made farmers happy, as their arrival announces a huge decrease in the aphid population.  Keeping it simple here, no aphids = no crop damage = more crop yield = more produce = more income and fuller bellies.  Good start, no?

The whole world seems to have a happy connection with ladybugs!

* The Irish view ladybugs as a symbol of protection (although they’re not big enough to hoist a shotgun on an intruder or anything).

* Asian lore says that if you catch a ladybug and release it, this crafty little critter will fly off to find the love of your life, whisper your name in said life-love’s ear, and hence inspire them to find you and proceed to commence establishing a love connection that will last forever (or something along those lines)

* There seems to be a Swedish belief that if a ladybug lands on a girl’s hands and begins to crawl, it is measuring her hand for wedding gloves and she will marry soon.

* In the Burgundy region of France, it is believed that if a ladybug lands on a woman and she counts the number of spots on its back, this will fortell the number of children she will have.

Protection, good luck, good weather, good marriage – this little bug inspires wonderful thoughts around the world.  So why not greet your out of town wedding guests with a Love Bug Welcome Bag! (Oh my we’re going to have fun with this one!).

Let’s center this bag around one special take-away favor – Love Bug Magnets!  They come packaged in the cutest little picket fence box and their spots are hearts!  How perfect! And you can find them for under $3.00.   Practical, cute, useful, colorful and filled with love and luck!

If you’ve got tons of money to throw around, you can find a million seven different lady bug-themed products to buy.  But if you’re like most of us, you want to do something cute and special and full of lasting memories without breaking what’s left of the bank.  Let’s make a stop at the local arts and crafts store to get started…

You’re going to need to pick up a few small, white craft shopping bags.  They’re pretty cheap, and if you’re buying in bulk – say, 50-100, find the manager and ask for a discount.  Shoot, worst he can say is no, right?

And we’ll need to decorate the outside of that bag.  Here are a few suggestions:

Buy a ladybug craft punch (you can order one from HSN).    Punch a ladybug border around the top, then fill the bag with  red tissue for that peek-a-boo ladybug effect.  OR, you can punch bugs out of red craft paper and glue them around and about the bag.

Buy some black and white polka dotted craft ribbon.  It’s pretty cheap, too.  Glue it in a border around the top of the bag, or use doublestick tape.  Here’s a hint – cut the ribbon just a bit longer that the diameter of the bag, then fold each end under at the point where the ribbon meets.  Too much troube?  Then tie a loopy bow around one of the handles – that works well, too! 

Purchase some craft foam in red and black, and make yourself some easy Ladybug critters to adorn your gift bag.  Or cut out a ladybug tag, poke a hole at the top, and write a little welcome note for your guests using a white pain pen – perfect touch!

Now for the contents!

Get some green shred from the craft store – or use green tissue to cushion your contents.  Green complements red – and makes the whole presentation POP!

• Candy’s always nice for a quick pick me up – chocolate ladybugs anyone? These are available from The Chocolate Store.



• Want to add that straight-from-the-heart homemade touch?  Ladybug cookies!  Here’s a cute idea (plus recipe) from Taste of Home.



Finishing up…

Add a couple of bottles of water, a free map of the city from your local Chamber of Commerce,  and you’re wedding welcome bag is ready to go.

How fun!  And see – you don’t have to load it up with stuff – just a few, thoughtfully creative goodies and you’ve said your “Thank You” in a truely heartfelt way!

Celebrating Ladybugs and Good Luck for your wedding today!

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Ho-Ho-Ho!  I just read Reality Steve.  This caused me to want to talk about Christmas because Reality Steve just informed me that Bachelor Jake might only be 5’8″ tall.  Being 5’11″ and, now quite suddenly, a former Jake devotee (yes, the husband knows), I’m crushed.

Which brings me to Christmas.  I really did do an eco-Christmas thing this year.  One teeny tiny live tree (or formerly live tree-before it was chopped off at the knees).  Home made ornaments (they’ve been around for a while), nature’s bounty provided the greenery (along with some old, non-homemade ornaments from the Dollar Store and some recycled ribbons from Christmas Gifts Past).  Here are the pics (and no, I’m still not a professional photographer so, well, sorry).

There’s actually all kind of memories and trips and gifts and Things from Gardens Past in those ornaments.  Maybe one day we’ll talk about them.  But not today.  I’m still crushed about Jake.

Who knew he was short?

Celebrating Christmas Memories today, as they briefly distracted me from my irrational heartbreak.

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday.

One would THINK that, with a few shivering minutes of car-warming that number would improve.  Oh no.  Down to 16 once the wheels began to roll.

Then there was the gas station.  Lucky in the draw this morning, I needed gas.  Local Citgo.  Plug in card, remove v e r y  s l o w l y (my little act of rebellion at the gas pump – makes me happy).  Punch in billing zip code.  Stupid screen says “flip lever, see cashier”.  One quick check reassures me that there is no lever.  60 yard walk to the cashier in his little cage (he was inside, I was outside).  Mildly apologetic and blamed gas pump issue on weather (o-yeh-shure).  Click, click inside the heated cage – look, cock head – click click he goes again while I try to graciously remove the icicle from my nose.

“Now – we should be good!” he says proudly – completely ignoring the fact that he’s inside and I’m outside so there’s really no “we” to “good” at the moment.

They tell me the wind chill is ten.  I think it’s more like one,  heading south.

60 yards back to the car.  Pump no workie.  60 yards back to the cage.  More clicks, more head cocks – “Try it now”.

60 yards back to the car.  Pump no workie.  60 yards back to the cage (I notice that he’s mysteriously disappeared from view).  Walk up to window, look down, he’s on the floor adjusting the heater.  This is so not funny.  I knock on window.

“Hey!  This is not a fun game and I don’t want to play anymore!”

The head cock this time was combined with a scowl, not from empathy but from the dawning knowledge that he’s going to have to come outside with me.  Karma sucks, doesn’t it?  But sometimes it sucks for other people, and that makes it periodically fun.

He dashed the 60 yards to the car, fiddled with the pump and the buttons at lightening speed, dashed back to the cage (I’m catching on by now – I haven’t moved) – passes me without saying anything – goes back inside to his heater and says through the little speaker – “Try it now”.

I did.  It worked.  I’m here and with that we end our temporary blog hiatus with renewed vigor for an interesting 2010.  Here are my New Years blog resolutions:

1.  I will blog at least once a week (probably more – but I don’t want to set the bar too high.  Might be other interesting things I need to do “out there”.)

2.  I will remain positive about everything no matter what the cost.

3.  I will try my darndest to provide you with interesting content.  (Unfortunately, that actually means what’s interesting for me – but maybe you’ll like it?)

So Joyeux 2010 to all and remember – we’ll be trying to Celebrate Something (interesting, not interesting, benign, totally kool – you name it) Everyday!