Funny Picture of the Week

I never hesitate to poke fun of Aaron's plant friends. This is a very successful VP in a plant society that shall remain unnamed (as will the person even though is name is actually pretty funny, too). Don't want to have this pulled up when googled! I have never seen him in public without Dickies and a tee-shirt washed to the point of disintegration (this one had a cactus on it!). The Dickies tucked into gray socks and women's LPGA hat were a new addition! I was unable to make it to this field trip but Aaron and I enjoyed reviewing this pic.

Flea Market Finds - Atlanta, GA

As promised, a look at our flea market experience in Atlanta. I HIGHLY recommend a trip to the Scott Antique Market/Flea Market. The prices are great and there is no junk, just antiques and imported goods. We didn't even make it to the 2nd building! Probably a good thing! Take a look if you are interested. Aaron has a meeting back in Atlanta in August so I think we'll find ourselves back here!


Mom haggling for a handpainted lamp.



















We barely set foot in the market when I found this framed peacock painting w/ Chinese clasp and it was a STEAL!! I love peacocks for some reason. We had one growing up for a little while and I remember being both terrified and fascinated by it.

I also love foo dogs since we have 2 Asian pups of our own now. I have the concrete set on porch as well as turquoise and cream porcelain ones but this is my first pair of gold ones. They are very heavy and were an amazing price to start out with and the guy knocked off 1/2 the price just for asking!







We bought these 2 Asian Calligraphy brushes from a man who looked like Johnny Cash. He was trying to make Aaron a deal on a deadly looking machete but luckily we just settled on these. They are made of jade. Almost as pretty as Nate Berkus' photo underneath!







We FINALLY found an inexpensive but attractive mirror for our powder room. I love the Greek key pattern. We were told it was a federal mirror. It weighs a ton despite its smallish size.










One of Aaron's purchases. We have this in our bathroom by the tub. He also bought an old wooden bucket to make a fountain in our backyard as well as an antique porcelain wash tub w/ stand to hold iced beers for get togethers under pergola.

Hotlanta, GA

Last weekend Aaron and I met my mom in Atlanta to show her the city and do some home shopping, botanical garden admiring and Southern food eating - our favorite things to do. It was a HOT weekend for sure and we kept a very busy schedule as you can see from the pics below. The above shot is from The Glenn Hotel, our favorite hotel in downtown Atlanta. It is close to everything and makes you feel cooler and hipper than you really are. As you can see, the downstairs bar is gorgeous and makes for a very swanky late night hangout.

An interesting shot of me in front of the skyline on the rooftop bar. This is a great perk of the hotel as well. There are big sectional couches and tables with a bar to hang out around and listen to fun 80's music like Duran Duran and the Police. When the sun went down it was actually breezy and nice - a great summer night.


(Below) A trip to the Atlanta Botanical Garden is always a must for us. They have a great orchid selection and do a phenomenal job with their beds and container gardens. The crepe myrtles and hydrangeas were in full bloom.

(Below) the formal gardens outside the conservatory

(Below) Me admiring a hydrangea

(Below) Mom and I couldn't resist!

(Below) Dekalb Farmer's Market - aka Aaron's Paradise. This was probably the highlight of the trip for Aaron. This is an awesome indoor market that has food literally from all parts of the world. It was so interesting to watch people from different cultures shop and examine their shopping carts! Aaron clearly enjoyed all of the tropical fruits and unusual vegetables (see him below with the world's largest okra!) . We purchased some interesting wines and spices as well as 3 different kinds of coconuts and machete-like spears of Aloe Vera. Aaron plans to make beverages out of them!

Pretties in pink... Mom and Aaron admiring a very large spiky fruit called a durian (?). According to Aaron they smell like dead flesh. Yum. I see why they did not take off in this country. We did not manage to get a picture of me getting busted by the Farmer's Market Police eating a sesame candy I had not yet paid for. He was undercover and nailed me! I wonder how they determine who gets the Farmer's Market beat. Is that a promotion or demotion?

Stay tuned for pics of our finds from the Scott Antique Market. What a blast!

Aaron's First Post

Aaron's first post... As you can see, the Jeep is getting seriously ready for some summer fun... no doors, no top, no worries. BUT wait, did you see something fly out?? Oops.. better buckle up, double check those cargo pockets, and safely stow your belongings. Stacey doesn't seem to appreciate sudden scavenger hunts involving her credit cards.

It is early peak season at our semi-tropical oasis. Fresh fragrance from our jasmine, nicotiana, and sweetbay magnolia are finding smiles on our faces while we hideaway from the summer's sun. Considering our options for vining vegetation to compliment the nearly finished pergola. Tangerine trumpets with chocolate throats and mocha fragrance are tops the list for the time being.. Possibly some carnivorous climbing beauties with hefty heartshaped foliage.

Ferocious foo dogs to guard the front. We happened upon these impressive little Fitzi's while at the last Palm Society meeting in Beaufort SC.

Will do my best to keep you posted between tending my tropicals and hanging out in my new hammock. -Aaron

Home Improvement

Many of you have requested pics of some of the interior improvements we have made so here they are. We have been able to make some great purchases through our neighbor Carson who has been kind enough to pass on her designer discount, our friend Richard who was also kind enough to pass on his discount at Pottery Barn (the drapes!) as well as take advantage of the perks of living in the furniture capital of the U.S. (I swear I didn't know that when we moved here!) There are great discount houses for all of the major brands in all of these small towns around here. I love a bargain!!



Most of the accessories we have picked up in Charleston and Savannah like the mirrors over the mantel and the drum table next to the chair. You can see Aaron looking at the yard - he gets to decorate that part! Just kidding. I love that he has an opinion about the inside of the house (unless he disagrees with me!) The couch pillows are from Target!!

This is MY chair (don't worry - Aaron has HIS chair,too). I had picked it out in a store in Atlanta but found it at one of the discount stores in NC for hundreds less!!
Aaron had the fun job of hanging these mirrors and he did a great job! You can't see the nail holes where I tried to hang them without him!










This was pure luck. Our friend Carson could have bought this for us with her discount but we found it at a store in Raleigh and it was less than her wholesale price for some reason. I think it was a mistake!

Working Girl

Here is a picture of Fitzi hard at work with her daddy. Everyone at the college knows her by name and loves to see her coming now. Unfortunately our dog-daughter doesn't want to work anymore. When she sees we are ready for work she puts herself in her crate! I guess we'll have to find another way for her to earn her keep. We were comparing pics now with baby pics and can't believe how big she's gotten!

Memorial Weekend

These are pics from our industrious Memorial weekend. We have been wanting to build a pergola over our back patio for some time but Aaron has been very busy with improvements at Meredith College so we got started this past weekend. Again, these pics are a testament to having good neighbors. We had lots of help and between all of our friends - lots of tools! You can see Todd, Richard, and Dwayne pitching in and Aaron posing next to his prized banana tree. My job was to keep the lemonade, beer, and snacks coming and to prepare dinner. Small price to pay! The frame is completely built so we just need to add the rafters to the top. So far it looks great! We will probably finish it this week so we'll post finished pics along with other home improvements soon.

Random Pic To Make You Laugh (Or Not!)

Okay, I feel a little validated about affectionately calling Aaron's Palm Society friends "Plant Nerds". This is a picture of the vehicle of one of the members. At the beginning of the meeting people bring plants to trade and sell. This person decided to display his plants on his sweet ride. He has somehow made his car more aerodynamic (?) by adding heavy duty plastic to the back and what looks like taping styrofoam or board of some sort over the wheel area which you cannot see well in this picture. I'm sure that cuts waaaay down on wind resistance. I don't think I need to say anything else.

Soggy Cinco de Mayo

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo last weekend and unfortunately the weather did not cooperate so we were forced to fiesta inside but as you can tell it didn't dampen our spirits. Aaron andI grilled chicken quesadillas and made pina coladas and margaritas for everyone. We also made everyone Spanish name tags in case you were wondering why everyone is wearing starbursts. Todd (Dogberto) and Kevin (Roberto) are in top pic (Todd is the one in sombrero - he wears this all the time!) Harrison (Javier) was patient as usual while we posed him just to crack ourselves up. He also looks cute wearing a baby toupee of Julie's (Shakira's) hair and breakdancing. Not sure what Richard (Ricard0) was doing in above pic but it cracked me up so it goes in (sorry, Ricardo!). We absolutely love having friends so close who are so much fun to hang out with. It is also important that our friends like Mexican food since we get together for Mexican food every Wednesday night! What awesome neighbors! If anyone else wants to be our neighbor the houses on either side of us are for sale! I hope it wasn't something we said!

Weekend Trip to Beautfort, SC

The Southeastern Palm Society reunited in Beaufort, SC a couple of weekends ago and we had a great time! Beaufort is a great little town - a miniature version of Charleston or Savannah which are both about 45 minutes away. Great little shops and restaurants and a spectacular state park called Hunting Island where we secured an amazing camping spot. It is uncommon for me to say the words "camping" and "spectacular" in the same sentence but you might be able to get a very small idea in the above pictures. The top pic is approximately where our campsite was - about 25 yards from the ocean. We were able to hear waves crashing all night. This came in handy the first night when our air mattress sprung a slow leak. So at least I was able to alternate thoughts of "I'm so uncomfortable" with "the waves sound amazing". The best thing about not sleeping at all is that you are awake to enjoy amazing sunrises. We walked on the beach to wear out the dogs morning and night. You can see they enjoyed it very much.

The meeting was nice as well. We saw some great formal backyards that we wouldn't have been able to see without trespassing and some very coastal, casual gardens right on the water. Some garden owners had dogs which I enjoyed. I am a huge fan of the Akita since I used to have one. One gardener had 2 - Cajun and Ronan (Japanese for Rogue!) and they were a lot of fun to play with.

We plan to visit Beaufort again this summer when we take a belated anniversary trip to Charleston. It was a great town to tour in Aaron's jeep and the people were very friendly. We would go again for the meal we had at Panini's. Aaron had iron skillet mac and cheese with prosciutto and shrimp! Wow! Unfortunately we were also there at the time of the air show that took place where the Blue Angel tragically went down. We did not see it happen but saw the planes flying over the historic streets all day.

Working Dogs!

I had to include these pics of the dogs. In the top shot, Aaron had taken them (remember they are shih tzus not labs!) into the creek behind my parent's house in Kentucky. Judging from the gleeful barks and massive amounts of mud on them, they had a great time! Needless to say they were hosed down ASAP which wasn't as much fun as the water in the creek for some reason. Theh bottom shot shows them at work with mom in the car. This is pretty much what they contribute work-wise to my day. Fitzi was very sneaky trying to get into the bed with JoJo so he wouldn't move. She managed to squeeze herself in very quietly. She really likes to snuggle. He'll do it when he thinks no one is watching.

Now Its a Party!

This past weekend Aaron and I went to Kentucky to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday! We had a great visit. The highlight was his suprise present - Sharon, my sister-in-law, was cool enough to fly in with Jacob, their only granchild even though my brother couldn't come! Dad had no idea and we are TERRIBLE at keeping secrets so it was a miracle that we pulled it off. The look on his face when he walked into the living room where we had Jake was worth it all! Mom and Dad hadn't seen him since he was around 8 wks or so and now he's 7 months! He was so much fun! He's crawling like a champ and standing/pulling up. He endured the Antique Show at the Tobacco Barns and he went out for Dad's birthday dinner without complaint! What a trooper!