The first stop is Bongard's Treescape Nursery. It was our first time visiting this nursery so I was pretty excited. They had numerous blooming camellia trees.
This past Sunday we went back to Half Moon Bay to try our luck. Happily everything was open this time around! It was so nice to dwell in nature and be surrounded by beautiful flora. The first stop is Bongard's Treescape Nursery. It was our first time visiting this nursery so I was pretty excited. They had numerous blooming camellia trees. Camellia buds and blossoms are so pretty but they turn brown even when they're just starting to fade. So it can look a little "dirty". We noticed that all the shaded areas had this amazing ground cover! It felt like stepping on very plush carpet. So soothing. We both immediately wanted some for our backyard, except our garden is paved with bricks already. Darn. They also had nice-sized boxwood topiaries. Just two of these on either side of a door can define the entry. Two of these on either side of a garden bench would also be lovely. We also saw some maple trees and were shocked that they were $500+ each! I really liked this nice trellised passageway. But I don't think I've been to a trellised passageway that I did not like! All in all, it was a nice stop although I don't think the plants look like they were thriving and very healthy. Our second stop is Sun Studios, which is more of a outdoor decor place than a nursery. There are lots and lots of fountains. Which made both of us want to use the restroom really badly. Thank goodness their bathroom is clean. There are lots of pots. Lots. A bit overwhelming for someone like me who cannot digest selections this size. Although there were many fountains, I think this may have been the only one I semi-liked. Although it does feel a bit too modern for our garden but I liked how it feels clean and orderly. The third stop is the best nursery on the way to HMB -- aptly named Half Moon Bay Nursery. It's HUGE and the selection is amazing. And all the plants look so happy and healthy here. I wonder how they do it! Here is a display of hydrangeas. I mourned that our hydrangea is still putting on leaves with no buds in sight. But we've since learned that any blooming hydrangea this time of year must've come from a greenhouse, because they're not supposed to bloom until May or so! They also had an impressive variety of tomatoes. Each one of those plaques represent one variety of tomato and this is just one side. There're more varieties to my right. They also had an impressive selection of mini succulents! We got three of these things. I think I really need to go back to Home Goods to get that glass bowl after all! Here's to hoping it's still there! This just looks so cute. It's like a perfect mound of grass with sprigs of flowers that a rabbit would happily sit on. It reminds me of my drawing as a kid. You know the one where you draw a hill, a house on top of the hill, then a windy road leading up to the door of the house. And of course there's the sun and a few puffy clouds. And then there are the flowers, always oversized, that grow on either side of the house. So this little pot reminds me of that. Although I must admit, my drawing skills have not improved since then. The nursery also had a dedicated greenhouse for maples. We love maples. I had to take a picture of this tray of daffodils. Oh they just cheer me right up. In retrospect I wish we got one (they're $5 each). I have plans to plant our tulip bulbs under the honeysuckle and having a few daffodils would be lovely. Here's another display of hydrangeas. I love the color of these. So soft and delicate. And finally we saw the maidenhair ferns as we exited. We got our maidenhair from here last year. They are so healthy and just gorgeous. And our final stop of the day is Carlmont Nursery. The nursery specializes in maples and it's also where we got our 2 bamboos last year. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous nursery. People have gotten married here. There are so many varieties of maple here and they all look healthy and happy. We are seriously considering replacing two trees in the garden with red maples (either Emperor I or Bloodgood). Here's David nestled in the maples. Wouldn't it be lovely to sit on a bench right here? The prices here are really reasonable, too. I wouldn't say they're as cheap as Lowe's or Home Depot, but they're reasonable. Especially for the quality. After going to all these nurseries and walking around, we got really hungry. So we went to Bistro Maxine in Palo Alto and had some yummy crepes. :) It was such a relaxing and happy way to spend a day. :)
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It's been quite mellow around the house lately. Mainly because work has been surprisingly busy so when I'm home I just want to veg. Also I haven't really been in the mood to do anything major even though I do have a few projects in my mind. And the one project that I'm "in the middle" of -- the bench reupholstery -- is not going that well. So all in all, it's been quiet around the house. On Monday we went to Trader Joe's and Sprouts to get groceries. While at TJs I noticed the daffodils are back! They're $1.29 for a bunch of 10 stems so we got one. They're just so beautiful. I love them. Last year I bought a bunch every week until they were out of season. We also got a pot of basil at TJs. I really should've taken a side view instead of a top view to show off its height and bushiness. It's currently living on the cafe table and it was part of a lovely artichoke dip in tonight's dinner! Yum! Last night we finally hung up the towel holders I got at Home Goods like 3 weeks ago. I got 2 of them because they were $4 each! I think the first week I took them out of the packaging. The second week I read the instructions on how to install them. And two nights ago I measured and determined where the nail holes should be. And last night they finally went up. Haha. Who knew hanging a towel rack is an activity to be spread over 3 weeks. I am still amazed that I found these at the incredible price! I was eyeing these from Home Depot for a while now because I love how it's not the conventional towel rings. And it just seems prettier without the "O" shape. So to get something somewhat similar for 1/6th of the price makes me happy. And doesn't it look like it belongs in the same set as our faucet? Yea, total happy coincidence! Tonight when we got home from work we visited our garden. It's been raining every day this week so far. In fact it rained this morning but stopped briefly in the afternoon when we got home so it was nice to finally step out. Every time it rains we would get a mixture of leaves, dirt, pollen on the brick so we did some sweeping to clean up. We also pruned back some of the trees and honeysuckle branches. And we pulled out a bunch of pine seedlings (see below). David calls me a plant killer for this and tries daily to market to me how "cute" the pine trees would be when they grow bigger. We would be driving to work and he would point to the pine-lined median and say, "Aren't they so cute?" The pine trees are like 2-3 stories tall, mind you. I try (with no avail) to persuade him that they would not be happy in our home because our garden is way too small for them. Anyway, tonight he finally agreed to pull out like 15 out of the bajilion pine seedlings in our backyard. I'll probably have to fight tooth and nail to finally put the rest of them out of their misery. And oh! Guess who's new in this picture!!! Can you spot it? Yea!!!! I finally caved and bought the birdhouse. Oh my it is so cute and perfect. :) I can't wait until a bird calls it home! Hopefully the hummingbird but I wouldn't mind if a wren lives there either. They have beautiful voices. And I would not mind waking up to their songs in the morning. Anyway, that was my scatterbrain report of what happened this week so far around the house. :)
So work has slowed a bit so I got to meander around for lunch again! Today I went to Home Goods. This mirror is really nice. I can see it working in our bedroom, leaning against a wall. The mirror will be next to some hooks that I will use to hang my jacket and purse when I come home. And the hooks will be above a small bench. Yes, I regularly see imaginary things in our house. Speaking of hooks! These remind me of these from Pottery Barn. I love those hooks! I don't care for the color of the wood but a few coats of paint can take care of that. Not bad for $20! A cute "shelf" with some hooks. It seems like something that you can hang next to the garage door so you can store your keys and maybe use the mesh to post reminders to yourself on your way out! I really like these industrial baskets. They've been offering these for a long time and they're rather inexpensive, too! They would be great holding throws/blankets in the living room. Or corralling toys. Or storing fabric! Ooh! I may have finally found a legitimate reason to buy one of these! ;) I've been on a lookout for squat apothecary jars like this! They go for $25 at Target, which is the cheapest I've seen these go for. But this one is $16! I really want to get one and put a mini maidenhair fern in it. In fact I already know where I'll get the said mini maidenhair fern! Home Depot! $4! "What to do with a very short column?" you may ask. Well, months ago David and I went to Restoration Hardware and saw these. Besides being very architectural and beautiful, they were used to give height to certain objects like books, frames, etc. So I like the idea of having a squat column ever since. :) This final one literally almost came home with. I got lucky that the checkout line was a mile long! It basically reminded me of the terrarium we saw at Half Moon Bay and I love the "feet". :) And its' $10 and has a small chip on it which I was hoping would give me a discount! Alas, I really didn't have time to wait in line. Oh well. :)
*Just a disclaimer: I just woke up from a 4-hour nap so I'm not completely coherent right now.* We were originally planning to drive down to LA last night but at the last minute realized the timing of the trip just wasn't right so we stayed home instead. This morning we got up and the weather was gorgeous. We were contemplating what to do with the day. It's the first weekend of the month, so we could take advantage of the Bank of America's "Museum On Us" thing. So we could go to the Legion of Honor and do the Sutro Bath hike. Or we could go to Golden Gate Park and do the deYoung Museum and botanical gardens. After tossing around ideas and not committing to any of them, we decided to just walk to the farmer's market first to get some groceries and decide later. Several stands were not at the market today. I'm guessing it was because it's Easter? Not sure. Our prized purchase today was a gallon of the yummiest apple cider. It's made by a farm that grows apples and it's just apples with no other additives. I can't describe how good it is with words. It's really fresh, light, sweet and yet not saccharine. We can drink 2 cups of this thing a day. In fact I already had 2 cups and I can have another one now. As we were walking home, I suddenly had an urge to visit nurseries. So right then and there we decided to go to Half Moon Bay. I love the nurseries on the way to Half Moon Bay. It's always a pleasure to walk the grounds. So we grabbed some snacks and set out at around 2pm. We're so blessed to live where we are. Half Moon Bay is only 45 minutes away. We decided to go all the way to HMB downtown first to get some food and catch all the nurseries on the way back. David did a bit of research and found this store called Alena Jean Flower Shop & Nursery. I can't believe we never knew about it after having gone to HMB so many times! It's such a cute place...except it was closed because of Easter. Which will turn out to be the motif for the day as you will see. *Sigh #1. Interestingly, even though the store was closed, the grounds was completely open. I suppose theft is not common in HMB? We saw trays of pretty flowers. And a porch swing with a garden shed as a back drop. What is more bucolic than this, I ask you. Love it. We walked into the shed and saw this succulent garden. It's so cute and so easy to replicate at home. I've seen tons of similar glass vessels at Home Goods. They also had a cute variety of succulents. :) We then came back outside and enjoyed the fresh air and the sound of trickling water. Tiger lilies were blooming. All the plants look so happy here. Lush and vibrant. I wish our garden can be as healthy as this one someday. Gardening is definitely not intuitive for me. I suppose that puts me in the black thumb category. We then had lunch at Casey's Cafe. It was okay but we were sort of in a hurry to leave because it was 3:30 by then and the nurseries close at 5pm. We made a stop to look at some outdoor teak furniture (wish I remembered to take a picture) and since it was next to the orchid place, we stopped in. It's always breathtaking when you walk in. Rows and rows and rows of blooming orchids. We were contemplating getting this mini-orchid (it's tiny) and putting it in a apothecary jar. It's only $5! But I think the leaves wouldn't fit comfortably in the jar so we passed. Then we stopped by Sun Studios. It's a pretty cool nursery that also sells sculptures and fountains. Unfortunately, it closed at 1PM today because of Easter. :( *Sigh #2. Then we stopped by Half Moon Bay Nursery and guess what? It was closed because of Easter. :( Boo. So sad. We were surprised that Easter is such a big deal here. *Sigh #3. On our way home I remembered that Carlmont Nursery is on the way! Maybe we could catch a nursery after all! Carlmont is where we got our bamboos two years ago and is a gorgeous nursery that specializes in Japanese maples. So we headed over. I accidentally took a wrong exit and ended up on Highway 280 so we had to make a u-turn. It just so happens that the exit was also a vista point so we went to take a look. David was excited about the spontaneous "adventure" while I was annoyed that I took the wrong exit. Here is David's "Yay! Adventure!" face. After walking around, we were confused by what the vista actually was but I took this picture in case any of you can point it out to us. Looks like regular Highway 280 views to me. We got back in the car and make our way to Carlmont only to find that it was, you guessed it, closed. *Sigh #4. Well, here's a picture of it from the window that looks down on it. After this we decided to go to Home Goods since it was on the way home. And guess what? Yup, it was closed. *Sigh #5. I think it's time to go home. At least that's open for sure.
So we got home at around 5pm and David took a nap. I decided to join him and that's how I lost 4 hours. :) I really don't know how to nap because mine is always at least 3 hours. Well, that was our Sunday. It was a bit sad because so many places were closed but it was still nice to get out there and walk around. Don't know about you but my body is not built for 3 meals-a-day. I'm more of a 5 snacks-a-day type person -- hungry every 2-3 hours but can't eat too much in one sitting. And since we ate dinner at around 6pm or so (I was really hungry so we had Costco Pizza), I'm feeling hungry again. So I made a really, really simple and healthy snack for myself. Here are the ingredients: oatmeal, steel cut oats, brown sugar and milk (not pictured). It's basically like making oatmeal. Add spoonfuls of oatmeal and steel cut oats to milk in a bowl. Microwave for 1:30 minutes or so. Take the bowl out and add brown sugar to your liking. I would've used bananas and reduced the brown sugar if I had some. :) And that's it! I really like the combination of oatmeal and steel cut oats because the textures are so different. Oatmeal absorbs milk more readily so it can feel soggy by itself. Steel cut oats are basically pieces of oak kernel so it can feel too chewy by itself. Together they are perfect. :)
We had a good weekend in general. And thank God, I actually had a rather pleasant workday today for a change. Really thank God for the turn of events. Anyhow, we ended up going to Ikea yesterday. Yes, on a Sunday again. It was because I had to return something at Nordstrom Rack and Ikea is across the street so of course we have to stop in. And since we have the Ikea Family card, we get a free cup of tea/coffee. :) I knew that I wanted to get this to store some random knick knacks we have in our kitchen drawers. Namely, these. Yup! Our rubber bands, bag clips and toothpicks finally have a home! It's so nice to finally house them somewhere so they're not strewn in the back of the drawer somewhere. And the whole thing sits nicely in a drawer. It instantly looks much more organized. :) Yay! Another small victory for me.
Okay I have so much stuffed in my little head about garden configuration, decoration and color scheme that I need to offload it all before I forget it. Haven't I told you? I have really, really bad memory. And I'm not just saying that. So what better way to offload than a mood board. :) 1. Target Birdhouse 2. Overstock Dial Thermometer 3. Target String Light 4. Ikea Block Candle 5. World Market Ribbed Candle Holder 6. Overstock Outdoor Pillows 7. Overstock Outdoor Pillows 8. Target Patio Set 9. Overstock Fountain 10. Ikea Bistro Set 11. Ikea Side Table 12. Our Brick Floors 13. Overstock Tiered Plant Stand Of course this is just a mood board and things will change. But I like the neutral base with pops of yellow and green. And I love all that wood! It feels comfortable and soothing to me. :)
Tonight was a very good dinner night. You know how some nights you just struggle with dinner? You stare into your fridge and nothing seems to come together? And you end up doing the same thing? Well tonight we did go grocery shopping with no particular recipe in mind (at least not for me) but we managed to have gotten good enough of ingredients to make an easy and tasty dinner. :) We had a really hefty salad composing of redleaf lettuce, red bell pepper, crumbled egg, onion sprouts, purple onion and sunflower seeds. I made a very simple and light salad dressing which is basically lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of deli mustard. We got a loaf of fresh french bread which we made into garlic bread. Simply mince one garlic clove per slice of bread and heat in some butter with some garlic salt. Mix and spread on the bread and pop it in the oven for a few minutes. I also put a little bit of parmesan cheese on these and finished with parsley garnish. David seared these jumbo scallops and they are the star of tonight's dinner. It's so good. So, so good. I ate all 3 of them because my poor husband is allergic to seafood. :( Can you believe dinner only costed us $8.50 total? The three scallops were a splurge and they were $6 alone. But totally worth it in my opinion when paired well with less expensive items. This makes me so happy because one plate of chicken strips + fries at Ikea costs $5.99+tax! And this was healthy, easy to make and delicious.
Another stop I made during my little excursion on Sunday was Target. I can go to target 3 times a week. :D The first thing I saw was this cute milk bottle. I knew that it came in white but now it also comes in blue and red. I think I still like the white one better though. :) And wow, Target has some beautiful beverage dispensers at very reasonable prices. I like the middle one the best. And my favorite Thomas O'brien towels are on clearance! I would've gotten them but only the blue+brown ones were on clearance and they didn't fit in our color scheme. :( And how pretty are these pillows? They seriously look like something that can come from Pottery Barn except they would be at least twice the price. Love the geometric pattern in this one. Would've been nicer in a different color though. And here's the birdhouse I'm swooning over. It's so pretty. The wood is smooth and so beautiful. *sigh. It's definitely taking self control to prevent me for just buying it. Pedestal planters on sale! Also took a lot of self control to not buy these. *Sigh. Can't wait until I can buy things again (currently saving up for the patio set, which is going to cost a fortune--at least compared to my furnishings budget).
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