Sayonara for the Summer

It's not officially summer, but it IS officially hot around here. And that means that my little studio apartment becomes like a sauna during the day while I am away at work and the A/C is off.

That said, I'm noticing that the bouquets from my One-Bouquet-a-Week Challenge are wilting quickly from the heat--and although I love having them around, it's costing a pretty penny to keep them in the house. So, as of this week, I've decided to put my challenge on hiatus until cooler weather returns to the N-Y-C.

These pics are some of my favorites from the challenge, which I started back in January of this year. It's been a blast, but I'm definitely going to enjoy spending more time outside and finding the blooms around me in the neighborhood.

So happy weekend, ya'll! Hope it's filled with flowers and greenery and lots of time spent outdoors in the sunshine. See you on Monday...

Curses & Carnations

I'll say it: I am a total snob when it comes to carnations. To me, they're the poor-man's roses. The floral world's red-headed stepchild. The only bloom appropriate enough to serve as the boutonniere on your uncle's powder-blue tuxedo from 1976. The one flower you'd secretly groan about to your girlfriends if you received it from your boyfriend (although I'd argue that mums would fall a close second).

I don't like them--and I think they know it. And I believe they're trying to get back at me.

I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but this week, I selected them for my One-Bouquet-a-Week Challenge (hey--I'm a carnation snob, but I am still open-minded). I bunched them together into smaller vases (I felt like that was the only way I could stomach them) and placed them around my studio. Fine. But I still don't love them; the red stems I bought seems so food-coloring-ish and artificial and uch.

Nevertheless, I took a few photos of them with my big camera, and they turned out okay. Until I went to sync the camera with my computer.

Now, I don't know what the carnations secretly whispered into my camera's ear, but my five-year-old iMac is suddenly not recognizing any device--my camera, my iPhone, my iPod, my etc.--and after several hours of consultations with the Apple helpline, the guys at the Apple Genius Bar on Fifth Avenue, the tech team at work, and my dear old dad, I think I have come to the realization that it's time to buy a new computer.

So I'm looking this week at a MacBook Pro. And my savings account is looking at me and shaking its head.

(P.S. I was at least able to take the above pic of the carnation photos I took on my camera using the email function on my iPhone. But don't think it was that easy.)

It's a hefty price to pay for a little bias. But, at just $3.99, at least the carnations themselves were cheap (and by cheap I also mean "shoddy" and "of little account" and all those other negative Dictionary.com descriptions for "cheap.") (Yeah, I said it, carnations! C-H-E-A-P! So suck it!) (Okay, sorry. Please don't hurt my stuff again.)

A Conversation with Sweet William

Well, hey back at you.

What was that? What--this old thing? Well, how flattering!

No, actually. No one's ever told me that before. But I DO like to think that I treat all the flowers in my One-Bouquet-a-Week Challenge with "kind, gentle hands." Thank you!

I know. I love this cobalt-blue vase, too. It's made by Tiffany, so it's a fancy-pants one. Well, you're welcome! I like placing bolder flowers in it because of the contrast. Yeah. Totally. I think it makes your color pop nicely, too.

What? Did what hurt? Ooooooh--you! I'd certainly never know how much it would hurt to "fall from heaven." But I did grow up Methodist.

Yes. That's my real eye color.

No, I've never been a model.

Pardon me? You hope I know CPR because I "take your breath away"? My goodness! I didn't even realize you could breathe.

Awww, Sweet William. You're so sweet you're giving me a toothache.

How do you pronounce “peonies”?

OKay, so spill it: pee-OWN-nees or PEE-un-nees?

Personally, I am a PEE-un-nees girl. But I'd consider switching to pee-OWN-nees if it meant I could have peonies in my home every day.

I was so excited to find them for this week's One-Bouquet-a-Week Challenge--it's the first time I've seen them all year. To me, peonies are a combination of everything that's amazing about the flower world: the fullness of hydrangea, the sweet scent of roses, the quick-opening-up-just-after-you-place-them-in-water entertainment value of daffodils, the spring/summer happiness of hyacinth, and the showiness of poppies.

(And after all that, I guess I'm saying that they might just be the perfect flower.) (So is that why the shop down the street charges about $4 a pop?)

P.S. Oh, hey! My little challenge got a little attention on RealSimple.com this week. Pop over and take a look here. (Thanks, Kristen!)