Spring on the Horizon

Believe it or not, planting season is almost here! I've been perusing websites, magazines, and of course, Pinterest for inspiration. This year, at my work garden, I'm hoping to build:

2 additional hoop houses

A potato bin

A compost pile

I'm also planning on expanding my compost program and expanding the garden to include a not for profit farmer's market. Spring being so close is freaking me out. A lot of work is piling up and my team is dwindling. I've had several team members leave for other opportunities. Lame, lame, lame, but understandable. It puts me in the lurch, though, and I'm trying like hell to re-build a team as great as last year's. It's hard when you realize how much work it's going to be. I'm scared I won't be able to get the job done with such a small team. Hopefully I'm just being cynical.

In the mean time, I'm trying just to get inspired for the upcoming growing season. Here are some things I'd like to do as side projects:

Build a pallet garden

Make a dibber

Purchase a paper pot maker

Have you started thinking about gardening yet? What projects are you eyeballing this year?

(Photo credits linked above)

Worming Around

Peeps...I've been working hard on my list for 2012. I may not be winning with everything, but having more measurable goals for myself has made a difference. Number 26 on the list was to "Compost, compost, compost." I haven't been as great about this as I would have wished, but lately I've been getting into the swing of it.

I initially thought I was going to just collect my food scraps and take them to my job, since I run a composting initiative there. But taking nasty garbage to work isn't as fun as it sounds. A couple of weeks ago, though, things really turned around for me. I attended a workshop at the Garfield Park Conservatory (the same place we went on our 1st anniversary!) on worm composting. Besides learning about the ins and outs of worm composting (pun intended), you also got to build your own worm bin and they gave you a handful of worms to get your bin started.

Here's the thing: I actually have a worm bin at work. A colleague started a worm bin for our composting initiative. A while back, though, her job responsibilities changed and she no longer was working with me. I was stuck with the worm compost and I had no idea what to do with it.

Flash forward a few months to me in that workshop and, well, the entire time all I could think was I am a worm murderer. Seriously. I was not taking care of those worms AT ALL. I'm pretty sure I killed them all. Well, I know I didn't, because the day after the workshop I looked through the bin and found some, but I know for a fact that there used to be a ton of worms in there. Now there are a few. I'm going to harvest the remaining worms this week and start over and hopefully, they will breed and we'll get the bin going again the right way. Live and learn, I guess. (Well, kind of, because I was supposed to feed the new worms a couple of days after I got them and I freaking waited a whole week and a half because I kept forgetting. Don't worry. These worms didn't die. They had the initial stuff we loaded into the bin to munch on before I started adding food scraps.)

The new bin, I've kept at home. Technically, I was supposed to take it to my work and use it there, but honestly, it's better off at my home. I can take the compost to work instead. I'm getting better about putting scraps in as I get them and the worms are munching slowly but surely and turning my food scraps into "black gold." There are some limitations to worm composting that have made it so that I can't put all my scraps in there or all my paper, but for the most part this is a great way for us to be a little greener and for me to "work" from home. Here are some pictures from the workshop and some recent pictures of the worms working their asses off (again, pun intended) to give me a beautiful garden come spring. Enjoy the grossness!

Ollie is fascinated by the worm bin. He likes to sniff the air holes on the outside. He takes these deep snorty breaths right outside. It's kind of funny. He just can't figure out what is going on in there!

(Photos by me!)

Dancing with Tears in My Eyes

This has been a stressful, but super exciting week! A.P. and I have taken on a new endeavor, which I will report on more fully next week. And it's tiring, but so much fun. It's lifted our hearts in a way we really needed. I can't wait to share more next week. : ) Other than that, I'm having a heard time believing that November is almost over. Where is time flying to these days?

This week's wedding is from the other side of the pond. Steve and Vicky's wedding is a gorgeous affair photographed by The Barbers. Once again, it features such emotion (and goofiness) that I couldn't help but feature it this week. I love that in one moment they were crying and in the next, they were having such joyous fun. It's really how all wedding photographs should look. Enjoy!

Is that not an elegant affair? Usually I'm not a big fan of traditional weddings...I like a little oddball stuff thrown in here and there. But every once in a while, I come across a lovely wedding like that and I can't help it. Plus, I'm not gonna lie...the wedding had me at the pants down shot. Hilarious!

This weekend, A.P. and I are planning on working on our new endeavor. We're also prepping for Turkey Day and I have to go in to work on Saturday. Yuck. Other than that, we're relaxing before the holiday madness kicks off. What are you planning on doing? Something rad, I hope! Enjoy the weekend, party people!

In the mean time, here are your dance moves for the week!

Thanksgiving "cupcakes"

Succulent Pallet Table

When Parents Text

Breathtaking Japanese garden

Turn a men's shirt into a halter top and so much more! Best of all? No sewing required!

Use buttons as earring organizers and so many other nifty uses for household items

Scrabble Tile Coasters

One day, A.P. will teach our child to do this same thing

Plus...check back next week for the rest of the Thanksgiving recipe series, our newest endeavor, and a Marriage Monday post on whether you need that little piece of paper or not. : )

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(Friday dance photo via here; Steve and Vicky's Wye Valley Wedding photographed by The Barbers via Rock My Wedding)

Circle Dance

I kind of can't believe how incredibly fast the end of this year is going. I feel like we are all being plummeted to our demise, aka the end of civilization as we know it: the 2012 apocalypse. Ha! I'm just kidding. Seriously, though, October was a flash and now we're already halfway through November! What the what??!!?? Soon, it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then The Half-breed Swede is coming to visit!! Yay!

I'm not complaining about how fast time is going, though. It means we'll get through winter faster, hopefully. Frankly, this is the year I'm officially over the cold, cold weather. Yesterday, it snowed for something like ten minutes and I was actually sad. That's very unlike me. Usually, I relish in the first snow of the season. It's just that we've had such nasty weather lately. It's constantly rainy and cold and gray out. Ick. That is why, I fell in love with this Bali wedding. It's not only a beautiful affair, but it's also an excuse for me to fantasize about jetting off to Bali and getting away from the cold Chicago weather.

Grace and Michael's beautiful wedding was shot by Kelvin Koh of Lightedpixels Photography. They were married at Alila Villas Soori, a gorgeous resort in Bali. The focus of the wedding was firstly on the beautiful, exotic black sand beaches and breathtaking backdrop of Bali and secondly on the culture itself. The couple served Balinese BBQ and featured Kacek dancers, a tradition of Balinese culture. But more than anything, it's the couple's clear love for each other that made me want to feature this wedding. After all, I love when I see a wedding where everybody's crying...it shows how emotionally invested everyone is in the couple and their love for each other. Enjoy!

Isn't that whole thing just...amazing? Makes me want a do over. This time in Bali. It's on like Donkey Kong, people!

This weekend, I'm helping my dad out by taking him to the doctor. We're also working on a top secret project I'll share more details about next week. Lately, we've been doing so much of nothing, that I'm hoping the weather will be nice this weekend and we can get out and do something. Though, I have no idea what yet. What are you up to this weekend?? Hopefully something more fabulous than us!

In the mean time, here are your dance moves for the week:

Love this mustard custom made jumper...and only for $100! What a deal!

Sick of your swimming pool? Turn it into a sustainable food farm!

Thinking about working my way through the 50 Greatest Cult Movies. Luckily, I've already seen a bunch, so I've got a good leg up.

Polaroid Guestbook How To

How to Curl Your Hair with a Sock

If this doesn't make you cry, you're a robot: A Dog's Seeing Eye Dog

Dream Big

These trump my flying photos by, like, a million

Don't you want a slide in your house?? The real question is, why wouldn't you?

And of course, the Thanksgiving recipe series

Plus, some great posts from October you may have missed:

Three Weekend Looks for Fall

Breaking Up Again and Again and Again

Reader Q&A, Part 1 (and Part 2)

How old is the right age to get married?

(Friday dance photo via here; Grace and Michael's Bali wedding photographed by Lightedpixels Photography via The Wedding Bureau