Just Lauren

What an awesome weekend this has been thus far. Yesterday morning started out going to a friend, Kayla’s, apartment for brunch. I was so excited because I’ve been wanting to hang out with her and get to know her better so when she invited me and Elisabeth over I was thrilled. As soon as we entered her apartment I knew I had liked her for a reason – she has two cats and loves plants too! She also made a really lovely oatmeal bake with blueberries and bananas. We spent THREE hours over there, just eating and visiting. I had such a lovely time, I felt so relaxed and enjoyed myself immensely. We’ll have to have her over to our place in the near future.

Because Kayla likes plants too, she recommended a nearby garden center, O’Toole’s, and Elisabeth was kind enough to let us check it out before heading back home. They had a really decent selection of house plants (among many other plants) and I wanted to get many of the plants but held back. I’ll have to go back again sometime so I can wander longer and pick up a plant or two. I love going to garden centers and plant stores and looking at the lovely plants. In fact, I’ll probably be heading to Nick’s Garden Center later today.

After getting back home we tried putting up shelves I purchased so I could put up plants above my desk and in the kitchen but neither set ended up working. The wall above my desk leads to concrete, which I had forgotten, so couldn’t put in a screw anchor. And the screw anchor for the shelves in the kitchen ended up getting pushed deep into the wall and being lost. oops, guess I drilled that hole too big. So we went to Lowe’s later that evening so I could buy more screws and anchors as I think I can still make the kitchen shelves work. I’ll see if we can get those up tonight. And for the wall above my desk, well it just means I’m looking for some botanical prints to frame and hang up instead and I’m hoping I can put up the shelf in my bedroom instead. I did feel frustrated because I’m not always the best “go with the flow” kind of person, but in the end I felt okay and I’ve been enjoying scrolling through the internet looking for art.

Today I put up chicken wire on the balcony off my bedroom and kitchen so Pippin could have a catio again. This past week our balconies were being painted so everything had been taken down and piled inside. It made me feel a bit depressed and cluttered so as soon as we got the word yesterday that the painting was done, Elisabeth and I quickly put everything back outside and the apartment is so much nicer.

We also went to the Botanic Gardens today and it was LOVELY. There are still loads of gorgeous flowers showing off their colors and petals. We sat on a bench near the lily pond and vegetable garden and ate our lunch in the dappled shade. There were some gorgeous eggplants growing nearby but alas, my photos did not do the whites and purples justice so you’ll have to go in person to see them yourselves. Elisabeth and I wandered the gardens for almost two hours and then stopped at the gift shop on the way out as I wanted to look for marimo moss balls that I had recently read about and seen at Kayla’s place! I found them and they were just as adorable as I thought they would be but they were also $20 and I didn’t want to spend that much money on a half inch ball of cuteness. Another time for sure, though.

So it’s been a really fantastic weekend overall and I’m feeling positive. Any time I can go outside and oggle at house plants, I know I’m doing well.