Onto New Things - Please Join Me!

Hello, dear friends!

If you're still reading or subscribed, thank you for your support and friendship! I've dropped off the face of the earth, and miss you all dearly. It was a combination of lots of work travel to North Carolina, volunteer work obligations, fun travels, road trips, lazy summer attitude and of course....shenanigans. Then time went on...and it was harder to break the silence. Until now!

I was also feeling quiet since I wanted to focus more on interior design and illustration, but found it hard to do on my knitting / crafty blog. Pigeon holed and not knowing where to go.

So it's time for a fresh start. Please join me on my new blog at http://marissahuber.com

I'll still be drawing a lot, and talking about food and travels, showing off my knitting and crafty things, and knowing me, and to my mom's chagrin, sharing some slightly embarrassing stories occasionally because I cannot HELP myself, and you KNOW this! But I think this is why you like me anyhow (wink wink).

I've loved having this space over the past 5 years. It has given me the chance to write again, draw again, try new things, find the confidence to be braver, a place to talk about and document life changes, grieve and discuss my beloved brother, connect with my beloved Philly knitting pals, share parts of my life with my loved ones far away, and gain access to this wonderful online community.

It's only right that I leave you with my latest knitting project that I'm wrapping up, the Most Favorite Scarf Ever by Lisa Bruce in my Colinette Jitterbug.

And a "professional" type picture of how I'm looking these days.

And one last picture of how you all know me to be on the inside.

Thank you for sharing this space with me!

Lots of love,

Marissa

Saying Goodbye to 2010

Surely it's a sign of getting older, but this year seemed to go by more quickly than ever. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the things that happened in 2010 before it passes tonight.

I got married to a person who loves me exactly as I am, silliness and quirkiness and sometimes crabbiness (when tired). And vice versa.

I worked out pretty consistently for about 3/4 entire year, and feel much more healthy and energized. Started running with "The Wolfpack" on Saturday mornings.

Read my first 2 Jane Austen books and really enjoyed them!

Baked a little under my goal of one loaf of bread per month (unless you count the individual small loaves, which I will!).

Went to Art Baselin Miami with my Mom, Aunt and Cousin.

Was showered with love and generosity from so many members of my family and faux-family this year.

Started oil painting! Love it.

Did a bunch of color studies which got me to start noticing my surroundings in new ways.

Helped my Tita and Tito design out the layout for their kitchen renovation! Loved doing this too. I want to do more stuff like this.

Lost my knitting mojo for the summer, and found it again in the fall.

Went on my first cruise, and did not get seasick (knock on wood).

Enjoyed 3 road trips!

Attended my little cousin's hockey game. Attended my first IU basketball game.

Played water polo in one last practice / scrimmage and realized that I didn't want to invest the time, but truly enjoyed the experience.

Treated ourselves to a new MacBook Pro!

Found some new music to pique my interest again. Ryan Bingham, the Crazy Heart Soundtrack, The National, and Jens Lekman.

Got to watch friends' babies be born, get bigger and give me my baby fix.

Experienced 5 years of my brother being gone but not forgotten.

Met one of our financial goals to save money.

Bought a pair of knee high brown boots I love.

And worked towards my own personal happiness.

Happy New Year, friends!

xoxo, Mariss

Yeah yeah yeah...I know....

The longer I waited to write, the lazier I got. So I took some time off and just enjoyed my summer...and then some more summer, and a bit of fall (wink).

I've missed you all! Without further ado, some excuses and photos in a semi-coherent package:

Lots of rollercoasters at Hershey Park with my best friend, godson (cutest boy alive), Mike and about 20 of their closest relatives.

An end in sight to hundreds of fabric flowers. I have this down to a 2o step art that takes 1.5 minute per flower. Ghetto of course, but they'll hold up and have their volume.

Enjoying the oil paints that I received for my super sweet Bridal Shower from one of my best friends, Heather. She was certainly listening when I said I wanted to start oil painting. It is so much fun!

Starting small, with color studies. But more to come!

A bit of tie-dying and fabric dying to create some more fabric for those billions of fabric flowers I made. I don't regret it actually, and I saved them all to make some big fabric filled pillows when my callouses heal. Just kidding.

Packed and partied and packed and planned and packed and left town for our wedding in July! Road trip from Philly to Ft. Lauderdale to get hitched in my hometown.

I decided to just keep going with the fabric flowers. It was 20 hour drive, so why not finish up the stash of fabric I had? As you may guess, these flowers will be a recurring theme in this post...

Shoeboxes and my organizational and resourceful nerd skills came in handy. It reminded me of roadtrips with my family when Andrew and I would create our own little spaces for all of our belongings, lest we get bored! And if we crossed that invisible line, madness and hitting would ensue.

I made a ringbearer pillow from scratch from Philly to Baltimore. I was quite impressed with myself. It even had a little fabric handle on the back side.

We arrived in Florida, and had a few days to enjoy with family and friends in town to finish up some last minute stuff. Excluding the fabric flowers, we really didn't go crazy with the DIY stuff. We only made the chuppah (Mike built it, and I'm not sure what the term for it is if you're not Jewish, but that's what I've been calling it since I'm a South Floridian), fabric flowers for the chuppah and the faux-to booth backdrop, programs, some paper goods, etc...

We had a wonderful day, and we didn't expect or want everything to be perfect. I slid down a floating ramp while taking photos (before the ceremony, so that we could have more time to party), skinned my elbow and nearly fell into the intercoastal. And you know what?! It was hil-arious (mostly since nobody got hurt). Thankfully, I stuck in that position from the boning in the dress and lack of abdominal muscles from laughing so hard, so I had time to yell out, "Take a picture!!!!"

I cried and laughed repeatedly at the same time for two days straight. I'm such a girl....

My dad and I danced to "Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog. And I cried some more. Then him and my BFF Brooke both made speeches that had more than just me crying.

How cute are my mom and dad below?! I had them both walk me down the aisle, since they're both equally important to me. Plus, my dad wouldn't have had it any other way!

I threw my bouquet at the girls, it hit the ceiling and with my water polo goalie reflexes, I caught it myself.

Yes, I caught my own bouquet. I backhanded it a second time, because I am not doing this again!

All of the colors worked out beautifully, and our wedding party looked gorgeous. We had told them to just buy any dress that fit into a palette of poppy reds to oranges and yellows. They enjoyed having the choice, and it was better than if we had even tried to plan it.

You can see a short blog post of our photos from our brilliant photographers, Ashley and Philip Colhouer here. I can't say enough great things about them. If I move back to Florida ever, we are so hanging out! You'll also see my crazy self and friends making insane faces for the faux-to booth, including a couple who ended up knocking the thing over, cracking up and kissing. I love my family and extended fake family.

We had people from Sweden, France, Indiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Philippines, Canada, Missouri, DC, California, etc. We were overwhelmed with love.

I talked to everyone that I could, tried to stay in the present and focus on all of our loved ones, and just enjoy the ride.

We watched a storm roll in off the ocean, and swam with friends. Found out about new babies and engagements! Went on a short cruise in the Carribean since a road trip with the whole set of Fiesta Ware that my mom scored for $30 at a yard sale (!!!) and other super-generous gifts and my 100K mile car just didn't seem feasible at the time.

It was perfect, and we had time to get back to Philly in time to hang out with my mom and her twin that was visiting from the Philippines for our big day. So I ditched the new hubbie after a few days and took a road trip to NYC with the twins. We had a blast and saw Mamma Mia and ate lobster for lunch at Bergdorf Goodman, and tons of Filipino food. Mmmm!

We wrote millions of thank you cards and didn't mind it one bit. We were so grateful for all the love and generosity.

We've been cooking and baking A LOT. Having knives that aren't broken off at the tip make such a difference. Bliss....

A glimpse of the Fiesta Ware. My mom is the best. That and an Audobon bird clock are just about our favorite gifts.

Bread has been baked.

Dutch babies and muffins have been baked.

Farmer markets have been visited. Books have been read from the library. And someone you know has gotten hooked to True Blood and Arrested Development (on Netflix).

Oh, and an iPod cake was made for one of my favorite Apple obsessed uncles!

Thanks for visiting me again! I'm glad to be back.

Love,

Marissa

Stamps, Purging + Best Trail Mix Ever

We finally mailed our invitations out. Being the artsy people that we are, we really liked the Abstract Expressionist stamps. I didn't realize until I brought them home how large they were. The Pollock and Motherwell stamps are about a whopping 2" x 3" stamp! I found it hilarious, and made sure to give some of our sillier friends both huge stamps on the front of their invite. It was also fun to pair up some of the stamps with our artist friends, since we have so many of them!



Every time the season changes, I feel the need to purge and donate many of the belongings that I no longer need or want. I like to take advantage of these moods, so I can finally rip my emotions away from a 15 year old tee-shirt with my name in plastic letters back.

My friend Kari used to say that she wanted to own a uniform of 7 outfits, and I thought she was nuts. Some days, that starts to make more sense. I definitely need a bit of a makeover in the clothing department, but that's for another day.

When I was going through clothes and belongings, I finally tackled a box full of projects and research from my Interior Design program in college. I trashed most of it, but it was fun to look at the old projects and sketches. I always loved the beginning of a project, where we could sketch and dream big. I'd sketch quickly and just let a roll of trash paper (or tracing paper) keep going and going so that the ideas would not stop. If it was 2am or time for a chocolate milkshake break after 2 days of not sleeping, we'd use my 11 foot long drawing as a faux wedding veil to tease one of our wedding obsessed pals.

Needless to say, this 11 foot drawing was one of the things I kept. And my final project boards with the original illustrations, I just can't trash those! Plus, it's fun to see how your work and style has evolved over the years.



On the flip side, it's funny to see how some things do not change. I'm looking at this latest recipe card I made, and my handwriting and line quality are about the same. I've gotten a little looser with my line work, but other than that, it's pretty close!

Moving on. Behold, the Best Trail Mix Ever. It's the Pumpkin Seed Dried Cherry Trail Mix by Claire Robinson. My Martha Stewart-like friend in the office gave me a taste of hers, and I asked for the recipe mid-bite. I finally made it on Tuesday, and I am in heaven. Just thinking about it makes me want more.



I followed the instructions, but had to go out and purchase Grade A Maple Syrup on hand (you shouldn't use Aunt Jemima, which I'll admit, I love on pancakes sometimes!), and added pomegranate to the mix.

It is so good. And the colors are lovely too, with a green for the pepitas and a maple brittle that makes everything stick together. It satisfies the sweet, salty and crunchy categories (which is my favorite, probably since I was a biter as a kid).



Why aren't you making this yet?! Go on, and git!!!

Enjoy your weekends, everyone. I'm looking forward to a weekend in D.C. to celebrate my cousin's graduation part deux for her Masters from George Washington University!

The Universe Doesn't Want Me to Drown

I grew up in the water. Being from Florida, it's important to learn to swim early, since there are so many canals and pools that kids can fall into. My godmother taught me when I was a toddler, even though I fought her every bit of the way at first. Once I learned, I felt at home in the water. After all, Marissa does mean "of the sea".



In third grade, I joined the diving team, and was a competitive springboard and platform diver for the following ten years. However, in ninth grade, I fell in love with water polo, and especially the group of friends I made playing. I was a goalie all through highschool, and a year in college at Indiana University. After I stopped, I figured it was a part of my life that was over.

Recently, some of my friends started playing in California and Florida. MB mentioned playing volleyball again, and ended up sending me a link for a water polo league in the area. Two days later, I was at my first practice in eleven years.



I switched back and forth from feeling completely excited, to so nervous I thought I'd retch. I've found that most times you put yourself into situations that scare the bejesus out of you, things turn out okay. And if they don't, you can always just move on, learn from it and try something else.

Of course, the people were incredibly welcoming and nice, and though I feel like I got hit by a mack truck, I'm looking forward to going back. I'll be easing into this, after all, it has been eleven years, people! Plus, my gym membership is up, and the treadmill was getting really boring.

There was one part of the practice when I felt so out of an element that used to be second nature, and simply exhausted. I switched out with the other goalie.

He asked, "What's your name, anyway?"

"Marissa."

Kiddlingly he replied, "Ugh, like I need another Marissa in my life! That's my sister's name."

Guess what his name is? Andrew. Just like my guardian angel out in the universe who used to be a goalie himself, for ice hockey. So if that's not a sign that things will be okay, I don't know what is. And even though it may be kind of silly, it's more fun to believe that it's a special wink from someone out there saying, "Suck it up, Oldilocks!"



Ah, and while we're on the topic of floating and not drowing, I want to show you my newest addition to our art collection. Isn't this a beautiful print, from Lisa Golightly? She runs a shop called Kiki and Polly, where she sells her original pieces and affordable prints. I loved it immediately, but it makes complete sense just why I like it now that I'm writing all this to you lovely friends.

My mom did ask that I call her after the practice so that she'd know I did not drown. She laughed when I told her how beat up I felt. But she laughed even harder when she heard about the teenagers in the truck next to me driving home who invited me to a party! After feeling so old and out of shape, that was just what I needed to boost my poor ego!

Thank you, Universe. You sure know how to crack me up.

Bliss List

Jessica Gonacha Swift started a sweet creative mission (I'm not sure what to call it...) over at Treasuring today, and I felt compelled to participate. So I made a quick "bliss list. I'm thinking of good and positive things that I have to look forward to today. Okay, I read it wrong, it's from the past week, so I can add extras. I think I'll cap it off at 8 for today.

1. I'm attending a lecture tonight entitled "Trends in Sustainable Design and Construction". The people over at Onion Flats are speaking, and I'm really looking forward to it.

2. The slowly building rat's nest atop my head got a much needed haircut this Saturday. It was only a trim, but I feel like a new gal.



3. I bought a new lipstick, mascara and painted my nails. I feel like Operation Dress Like an Adult in the Workplace is working for me. Don't google it, I made this one up.

4. Gorgeous weather and getting out of the office at lunch. Where I scored a Phillies Phanatic foam hand at the rally at City Hall. I'm not even that into baseball, but am proud of Philly!

5. The show 30 Rock. Wow. I'm actually glad I waited so long to get hooked, since I just finished watching all episodes this past weekend and have a total girl crush on Tina Fey. She's phenomenal!

6. The amazing entertainment at the Laundromat yesterday. Instead of dreading laundry, I took advantage of the crisp / sunny weather to sit on the stoop and read a book. (#5 of the Sookie Stackhouse series...I'm hooked). Two teenage boys came in (approximately 12 and 14). They were ribbing on each other over a girl one of them liked, and making fun of each other's mamas...but all in good fun. The one boy was so silly, that he was cracking himself up. At one point, he pretended that he was receiving text messages and phone calls from the practically obsolete pay phone. When he said the words, "Hey! I just got a text from this pay phone! Your mama wants to go on a date with me!" I was the one who lost it. I was trying to be normal while folding clothes, but started laughing so hard I could not stop. I walked over to the dryer to get a hold of myself, but to no avail. This lasted for 3 straight minutes. It made me miss my brother (in a good way), since he would have thought this was just as silly as me.

7. I just saw the photo (that everyone on the internet has probably already seen), of graffiti that someone wrote on an electric hand dryer. Someone changed the directions to read: 1. Push button. 2. Receive bacon.

8. Knowing I have a great guy in my life makes the list. He's pretty special, and I really appreciate him.

How about you guys? What's good with you?

Finnegan's Wake of Excuses

Yeah, yeah, yeah...took a "quick" 25 day break here. I missed you guys, if you're still around (wink). Me, quiet?! I know. But it happens each August, what can I do?

Without further ado, here are my excuses for not writing. Oh, and it's going to be long.

1. I've been attending green design events and tours in Philly after work and on weekends. I've been seeing such amazing things, and may (fingers crossed) be able to do some rooftop gardening. We shall see. The place that I originally wanted to help out with does not really need my type of expertise right now, but I'm still meeting some great people and enjoying myself. I'll just keep trying, persevering and keep learning.



2. I blocked my huge Pi Shawl and got to wear it to a wedding in Indianpolis! The groom is the little brother of one of my best friends. I adore her family, and it was so good to see them. We laughed and talked and had a wonderful time. To my delight, my favorite type of cake was served at the reception. It's Carvel ice cream cake with the wonderful chocolate crunchies, I know you were wondering.



There was an instance my friend's aunt and I raced to the dance floor and started an enthusiastic rendition of the Chicken Dance, only to realize that it was a traditional Polka song. We stared at each other sadly, half attempted to try the Polka dance, and walked away to our table full of folks laughing. It was one of the best moments!



3. I found myself visiting KJ in Brooklyn when she told me one Friday morning that due to some fluke, she had a free weekend from her busy restaurant schedule! This rarely happens, so I hopped in my truck to hang out. What a relaxing weekend of having nothing to do but walk around, talk and eat with one of my favorite people.

We watched the roller skaters in Central Park balancing water bottles on their heads and pirouette in hot pink spandex (jealously from the sides), saw turtles, witnessed the good deed of a fighting couple help a stranded canoer whose paddle had fallen into the lake, and ate like kings at the Shake Shack where KJ's friend is the manager. I mean do you see these ice cream sundaes that were brought out for us? It pays off being a hanger on to the foodies.

Coincidentally, we were sharing our table with a man visiting his daughter in NYC so that he could cross things off of his Bucket List. The new Yankee Stadium was on the agenda that day. Isn't that cool? In addition to being awesome, he works for our health insurance provider. His daughter works for Fitness magazine. So they were there on hand in case we had a heart attack due to ice cream overload. What are the odds? Although they were the lucky ones, since we shared our table and desserts with them!



4. I went to a super sweet baby shower for my friend Alice. I had an excuse to buy teeny clothes with little footie pajamas in the shape of dinosaur paws or featuring an adorable monkey that was incognito as a bandit. A bandit of bananas I guess. What else do monkeys steal? I won a blue ribbon for pinning the "baby" on the "bump" which I proudly attached to my new dress. We also enjoyed delicious cupcakes from Flying Monkey bakery. Mmm!



5. I took my cousin Cara to Key West for a few days. This means I can cross something off of my own Bucket List if you will. It makes up for the cruise that I promised I'd take her on when she was 16 and I was 24. In my 24 year old mind, that by the time she was 21 and I 30, I'd have enough money saved to take her on a little special trip. Ha! It's been the family joke for six years, but it was really fun to hang out and have this time together. Cue some cheesy music and a video montage of our trip...

I didn't have my camera, but the entire drive from the tip of Florida to Key West is breathtaking. It's a one way highway which has you travelling over miles of various bridges, including the famous Seven Mile Bridge, or small pieces of land that have water on either side. They had a heat index of about 105 degrees. It was brutal. So we alternated between the pools and the ocean, rode on scooters, attended a drag show, drank icy beverages, went on a sunset reggae snorkeling outing with people so hilarious that I wrote down things that they said so I wouldn't forget, and conducted our own Key Lime Pie tour complete with a 50 point scale. Our final winner was the Blond Giraffe's delectable pie featuring a cookie crust, tart filling and a lovely meringue. We even saw an endangered Key Deer on our drive home, and made sure to alert other drivers so they would not hit the cute little guy.

6. After the hullabaloo of the Key West trip, I headed home to Plantation, Florida for a week with my parents and to get down on some serious wedding planning. Thanks again Mom for letting me borrow your car. I know you don't think it's a big deal, but I really appreciated it!



7. On August 1st I got to wear a pretty party dress (not this one, but something similarly cute) because I was asked to be my nephew's Godmother! What an honor! I love that little guy so incredibly much. And although I'm slightly biased, he is the brightest, cutest, funniest, most mischevious, charming and flirty little bilingual boy that I know. No. Seriously.

Are you really still reading?! I adore you guys.

8. I haven't really talked about my wedding yet, but that's because I didn't want to do anything until I went down to Florida, picked a place and set a date. We knew we wanted it to be June or July of next year, to make it easier for many of our family members (and the groom) who are either in school or teach and work for schools. Also, this would allow enough time for my mom's sisters to possibly come all the way from the Philippines! So, we found a place that we are all really excited and happy about. And set a date (07.17.10). This was the second place that we visited, and all because of a chance conversation with one of my mom's incredible friends. Who is owed a thank you note immediately!



9. On Thursday of last week, my Mom, Aunt Marty and best friend, Brooke went dress shopping. At the second store, I wasn't going to try anything on, but Brooke insisted I try on a fun mini-dress made of crinoline that I was eyeing. While I was changing, she brought out a fun 1980s style dress that didn't make the cut, and then just one more. "Just try it on!" exclaimed Little Miss Bossy. She laced up this dress (I thought I hated a bit of lacing) which took about 10 minutes. After she was done, we knew! And the four of us were just discussing (over a huge lunch and more dessert!) how maybe we weren't the type of people to get that gut feeling over the dress, since we also weren't in the mood to cry... But then I came out and we all got excited. There was a bit of crinoline to kick around, but not huge, and I felt like myself! It was on sale, in my budget, and may be crossed off the list. Oh, and it's so pretty! Hee hee!

10. I am 99.87% sure that I've found the soldier in the Gulf War who was my pen pal for two years thanks to Facebook. We were asked to write to a soldiers in Mrs. Gelman's sixth grade class. Well, mine was a writer, the nicest guy, and wordier than yours truly (if that's possible). He wrote and typed these amazing letters that my mom and I would read. He'd send postcards from all over Europe, and actually made a big impact on what I would end up reading for fun in high school. Mainly long novels based in Russia and a love of anything Camelot related. Anyway, he was a really nice person who had an impact, and it will be nice to see where his life ended up, and which of those girls he ended up with. Ha!



So there you have it, my Finnegan's Wake length post of excuses. I'll leave you with a small photo of my journal which shows the edge of the Earth, and me falling off of it. It is also documenting a strange man that we saw advertising a new Laundromat, in the most outrageous three-dimensional get up, that we thought he was a Pro-Life person wearing a shirt showing the insides of a pregnant belly. But no, it's a washing machine. Bless his heart. It makes you love your job, doesn't it?

Glad to be back, Mariss

P.S. I have not resorted to writing emoticons on my blog, I just don't want to. However, please insert winks, smiley faces and big squealing noises in the appropriate places.

P.P.S. This post is dedicated to my friend Nicole. You happy now?! Ha ha ha.

Coffee + Tea

I keep typing and deleting sentences that will explain my obsessive inclinations regarding the two following products, but I give up. You know me by now.



I ride my bike to work. I like to bring my coffee in the morning because I'm realizing that I will never be one of those people who gets up early enough to sit at my kitchen table eating breakfast while drinking said coffee and reading the paper (which we don't even get)... Who are these people, and why do I admire you so much? Speak up, now!

I love practicality, common sense and good design, and hate clutter and things that don't work. I've been looking for a few months for that one coffee mug that would not spill in my bike pannier, would keep the contents hot, and have all parts able to remove so that they wouldn't get moldy and gunky. I thought it did not exist. It does. It is called the Timolino Vacuum iBottle with Infuser. I searched online for specs on this mug but couldn't really find a suitable description. Thankfully, I visited Steap, where I was able to examine it in person, and purchase it on the spot. It's for coffee or tea. There is a removable strainer that is exellent for loose tea, if you prefer. Here's how it works.



When I get home, I like to have a little snack and a cup of organic coconut black tea with vanilla soy milk. In this instance, a travel receptacle does not fit the bill, and I was having a hard time with the tea infuser I did have. I went back to Steap and treated myself to the red mug. It's called the FORLIFE Curve Teacup.



I think I'm set for the next 10 years, and am so glad that I don't have to buy any more mugs! On to the next thing to research extensively...

Hierarchy of Precipitation

Oh, Illustration Friday, how I have abandoned you. Well, you're getting some attention this week. I won't make any empty promises to you, but enjoyed making a quick sketch for the week's topic in my new notebook.

The topic was hierarcy. I'm blaming it on the state of Alaska sized rainstorm drifting over the Northeast. Being the melodramatic person that I am, I'm acting like I've forgotten what the feel of sunshine on my face is like. (wink)

This is what we get for saying that it was too hot last weekend!

Leaping

"Always do what you are afraid to do." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tomorrow I am doing something that scares me.  I'm leaping out of my comfort zone to make the first steps in joining a volunteer design collaborative where I don't know a soul.  Although I technically work in the design field, I do space planning and facilities type work, more than actual design.  I've been out of school for 6 years, and feel slightly rusty.  Dare I say I even feel small.  I want to do something that I enjoy donating my time and energy to, and something that can help me grow as a designer as well.

And I want to give back to the community of Philadelphia that has given me so much ice cream and water ice, even though it's broken into my car twice...

I was a platform diver, have jumped out of airplane, went on a Habitat for Humanity spring break trip without knowing anyone, was selected as the foreman for my jury duty, have had my heart broken, and made the security guard who made me cry become my friend.  But I'm scared of looking a little rusty?!  I know.  Below is a reminder to myself of an intimidating situation that ended up being completely empowering.  

I know it's kind of silly, but if I can admit it here, I can realize it's ridiculous.  Tell me, what are your tips for pushing yourself to do things that intimidate you?

Catalog of Our Houseplants

I was finding myself having acute garden envy. After melodramatically sighing to Mike about our lack of an outdoor living space for five minutes, we laughed and figured we should help our indoor plants thrive before worrying about things that we don't have or need right now. I realize I'm quite fortunate, I promise. Especially when my sweet guy suggested we buy ourselves an orchid while at the hardware store to boost our spirits.

Armed with my huge library book on Indoor Plants, we tried to figure out which plants we had, and learn how to take care of them properly. I wanted a quick way to keep track of what we had and how to take care of them, so you can guess what followed...

Mike + Marissa's Illustrated Catalog of Some Thriving and Some Trying Not to Die Houseplants



The fun part about doing this was realizing how many of our plants were gifts from friends (like my ponytail plant from Mindy), or grown from cuttings of their plants, or rescued from the dying plant section of our Ikea.

For example, the aloe plant below was started from a part of a plant that fell onto our street when we helped move Olivia to her new house. The plant was given to Olivia from Monica, and now to me. Monica also gave me a bulb of some type of pretty red flower that I don't know the name of. That's growing now too!



The plant below was 4 inches tall and purchased from Ikea a few years ago for only 25 cents because it was almost dead. Somehow we revived it, and it's now nearly 3 feet tall.



There's a ficus plant that is growing pretty well in a pretty blue pot. The red and pink capped cacti were from the Philadelphia Flower Show last year. That's when I fell for succulents and cacti. Did you know that the pink and red caps cannot grown on their own, and have to be grown on top of a green cacti? They can't get the chlorophyll. I did not know that until last week and was quite surprised that it was not the same plant.



Here is the motley crew of plants we have that could either not be catologued, or I ran out of room on my paper. We have a prickly pear cactus, a bonsai tree I bought for Mike last year, and a plant that obviously needed a new pot and split itself into two sections like a misshapen heart. I came home from the flower show this year with more succulents. My Uncle Denny insisted on buying one for me (and for my 12 year old cousin, see I sure am lucky...sheesh!) My cousin and I named our succulents Geoffrey, Pierre and Krang. Man, I love that kid.



The highlight of this year was finding Chicken + Hen succulents! I've been a fan of them since I started helping my favorite boss in Bloomington garden in front of the art store where I worked (and actually met Mike).

This last important plant was given to me by one of my best friends KJ. She bought it when I moved into my first apartment by myself in 2002. Wasn't that sweet? Although this plant has been in my possession for 7 years now, it has not been thriving. Thanks to my cataloging assignment, I realized that it's a climbing plant and I'm not the reason for it's seeming demise each month. It just needs room to grow vertically. I'm on it!



If I write things down, I tend to remember them, even if I don't re-read it again. This is how I learn. If you try to read directions to me, forget it. I can barely process it. How about you guys? Since we're all so creative and crafty, I'm curious if most of us are visual learners as well.