currently coveting

these bergeres on ebay. i have wanted a pair so badly and for so long, i can't even tell you. and these are awesome - i love the square lines and simple backs.

and you know me - i would have to stain the wood a pickled white or even a very dark ebony - and then do white denim or white cotton velvet or a beautiful ticking stripe or an awesomely groovy 70's print.

photo booth

sugarplum paperie has a great free download that lets you make your own photo strips. thanks nicole and hubby - so cute!

carb happy

dinner last night - green bell pepper and potatoes sauteed with tomatoes and garam masala and some jasmine rice.

cool dresser

dressers are so useful in places other than the bedroom. they are perfect places to store things like CD's/ movies/ dining linens/ papers/ etc without adding to visual clutter. and the tops provide a great spot to showcase art or even a sleek ipod dock.

this 3 drawer changing table has become a popular choice for modern baby rooms - b/c it looks great, is a very good 36" high, and is well priced at $249. but i can think of lots of other uses for it - it would make a great bar or entryway console b/c the tray at the top is perfect for keeping things corralled and can probably withstand rougher use. and if you love that you might really love the matching 5 drawer high dresser - almost double the storage space - for only $25 more.

pretty

went out to water my garden and saw a beautiful rainbow.

farmers market

steph took the pic of the radishes, and there was a man who created living sculptures using old tree trunks and a variety of plants. they were awesome.

sometimes love just aint enough

i use my hershey kiss love stamps pretty judiciously - and as i was mailing out an anniversary card to my baby sis (it's their first one - so cute!) i realized i was going to have to add 1 cent stamps to make up the postage. kinda kills the effect don't ya think?

house plants

every summer i buy an umbrella plant with the variegated yellow and green leaves in hopes that it will just flourish in my house. it never does, but it's summer again, and hope springs eternal.

i also bought a small modern succulent arrangement which is supposed to be easy to take care of. i just love how it looks like a lotus.

do you know why the lotus is mentioned so much in eastern philosophy? because it's so beautiful and it grows in mud or murky waters.

so the idea is to always be like the lotus - to blossom and grow no matter what your surroundings are - it represents the principles of detachment (to earthly desires), beauty and peace.

but you knew that :)

lunch

yesterday's lunch was yummy and really easy - pan seared salmon, baby zucchini, and brown rice with a mint and basil vinaigrette.

i sound like a foodie. i hate that.

my garden so far

genovese basil doing ok but i started it late and i think the hot weather stunted its initial growth -



the purple basil is awesome - grew this especially for thai recipes



1 of 2 tomato plants - it has 3 little blooms! - fingers crossed! - i've never grown tomatoes by myself -



spearmint -



peppermint-



my chilis are giving me trouble -



but i see 6 little chili blooms - so fingers crossed again :)



my first harvest of basil and mint - i'm thinking summer rolls for dinner.

clouds

5pm in my backyard -

bandannas

i was just checking out martha stewart and i came across this tip about using bandannas as napkins. she was talking about folding them into fun pinwheel shapes -



and i thought that was kinda neat, b/c i've been using them ever since i've been on my own - they come in so many different colors and patterns, they're inexpensive (.84 at walmart), and they're cotton so they wash up really easy.




this works for me b/c almost all my dishes are plain white - so something like a bright bandanna really pops.

more t's please

i made some more t's for my 10 year old neice and 8 yr old nephew out in cali. kids can be tough, so i'm really really hoping they like them.

her name is nazdeep, they call her naz -



and we love her -



and she's a little jatti which means she's from an agriculturalist family - something we punjabi's are very proud of -



and she's indian :)



this is my nephew's initial -



and he's brave like a lion -



and there's the farmer thing again - he's a lil jatt :)

sadsack

so i see this little pic of a pillow on the country home website and i immediately fall in love with its simple vintage font-abulousness. its made from an old feedsack - a big cotton bag that grain/ corn/ flour used to come in -



so i jump on ebay and in 5 minutes i find one even better than i could have ever imagined - just perfect! a simple clean print in vibrant blue with a touch of red on white ground -

AND it says CARE - INDIA at the bottom of it!!!

how perfectly cool is that???!! by this point i'm thinking it's destiny. obviously it was meant for me. i'm the indian.



but that wasn't the end of its perfectness. on the back there were about 12 different language translations for whats in the bag!

how GLOBAL ECO CHIC is that?!



so imagine my horror as the bid goes to $46!!

i am so bummed - i had such beautiful serious plans for that feedsack...and i'll probably never find another one that perfect...

waiting on the amazon fairy

dreamy

is there anything better than a romantic summer porch?

makeover

yesterday i renewed my subscription to style at home. this is the one magazine i would take to that proverbial deserted island and then i'd try to figure out who i needed to pay off to bring living.

anyways, while in toronto, i picked up the june issue and it had this cute front-of-house makeover. it caught my eye b/c these days i am in negotiations with my neighborhood lawn boy (young, eager, cute, in a blonde all american sort of way, not my usual type, but you get the idea) to redo my backyard.

i know this is a front yard, but i just love a makeover, and it's still a yard, and just look at that modern square flower bed!

bugged

so i'm trying to keep my reasonably ok karma in check while trying to take care of my ant problem. i hate killing them - it makes me feel really bad, but they are all over the place in my kitchen, the patio, and my mini veggie garden.

so b/c of the veggies, i was thinking i needed to go the nontoxic route, and i found out that the 2 preferred green methods are grits or boric acid:





but i don't think i have the patience for that, and my plants are suffering, and it doesn't say it's a guaranteed solution.

so i guess i'm back to hardcore methods like ant baits or spray that are supposedly safe for all living things -- except ants.

and speaking of green - did u know that discovery home is now planet green? there were so many shows i loved on discovery home and i am so gonna miss them.

this whole green thing is tough.

6 !

happy birthday, darshan!