Planty Projects

  If you’ve walked into a Lowes or Home Depot within the last month you’ve probably noticed their huge selection of plants, flowers and herbs they’ve stocked for spring. As soon as spied the racks of succulents I immediately did a happy dance and piled them into my basket, completely forgetting my original purpose for being in Home Depot. Then I grabbed a few other planty things and headed home to decorate the house.   

Since keeping the house stocked with fresh flowers is an expensive habit, plants are a great alternative for brightening up areas of your home. They are inexpensive, require little maintenance, last forever {if you take care of them} and breathe life into a room.

If you are nervous about committing to a houseplant, start with a succulent. You can’t kill it. In fact, succulents thrive off of neglect. And don't you dare purchase a pre-made succulent garden from a hardware store. You can make them for so much cheaper! The ones I saw at Home Depot were $25+ and I made mine for around $12.

I purchased my succulents for $3 each from Home Depot.

 Since succulents require well-drained soil, make sure you splurge on a small bag of cactus soil (less than $5).

  I also picked up river pebbles from Michael's for less than $2 (with a weekly 40% off coupon).

    I love how good this trio looks on my coffee table.

 I also couldn't resist bringing this little curly guy home with me too.

 Doesn't this fern make you so happy? I put it in my kitchen.   I also created a little inspiration board for the rest of my indoor planty projects to come... 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

As for the outside, I have lots and lots of upcoming spring plants and herb projects! Over St. Patty's Day, I picked up two Boston Ferns for $10 each at Home Depot. Since the day we found this house, I have dreamed of hanging these pretty plants from the porch. I am obsessed with them!   More spring updates to come... 

Detox H20 and Weight Loss Plan

I officially have to be in a bikini in less than 2 weeks for a bachelorette party. Maybe I should have thought about that all weekend as I stuffed my face with wine and Cadbury eggs. Dang you, Easter Bunny.

At any given time, if you ask me if I am on a diet, my answer is always yes. In reality, I am really only on a diet Monday through Wednesday. During the first half of the week I will hit the gym every day, eat healthy, drink lots of water, etc. Then Thursday rolls around and I turn into a complete idiot until Sunday night.

So without further ado, my plan for the next two weeks…

Diet Strategy #1: Jillian Michael's Detox Drink. Apparently this detox drink helps you shed 5-7 pounds in 1 week. I remain skeptical but am trying it anyway since I drink that much water anyway. Anyone ever tried this detox?

Ingredients

64 oz purified water

1 bag Dandelion Root Tea

1 tablespoon pure Cranberry Juice

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice

Directions:

Make the tea as directed on the box. Cool to room temperature and add it to your container. Mix in the lemon juice, cranberry juice, and fill with filtered water up to 64 ounces. Drink one full 64 oz container every day for seven days.

Note: Finding the Dandelion Root Tea took me several stops at different places to find. I recommend going straight to a Healthy Home Market or GNC first to save yourself the headache.   Another Note: I flew through my Monday container before 11:45 am and still do not feel any skinnier. Cheers to the next 6 jugs...

Diet Strategy #2: Actually LOG IN to My Fitness Pal and not lie about what I actually ate (ie: Do those gummy snacks really count? YES.)
Diet Strategy #3: Go to all of the Cardio Funk Dance Classes (1 hour, 4x week) at my Y.

Note: I do not look this cool when I dance.    Diet Strategy #4: Avoid Krispy Kreme. Can't even drive by it.  

Diet Strategy #5: Just to be ambitious - The Skinny Rules

Hopefully my bikini hanging in my closet will motivate me these next two weeks. I am open to any recommendations/suggestions for healthy (and quick) weight loss!

2013 Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We spent Easter weekend in Winston-Salem with Matt's family. 

This year I decided to make a Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake for Easter dessert. Not only have I pinned this cake dozens of times, I knew I had to make it after Darci touted it as "the best Pinterest recipe" she's ever made {here}!    I must say, this cake lived up to its hype. Everyone went back for seconds and thirds all weekend. I will definitely be keeping this recipe handy for the future!    On to the good stuff - Easter Baskets..! Easter Basket #1 arrived Friday from my parents. Mom always stuffs our baskets full of candy, the hygiene products you hate to buy (razors, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.), gift cards, makeup, cooking accessories and more. She gets more and more clever with her packages each year.  Easter Basket #2 came from Matt. In typical fashion, he couldn't wait until Sunday to surprise me so he gave it to me Friday after work. I have to say, this guy pays attention! He must've been secretly making a list of things he's heard me and my girlfriends chatting about lately because he nailed it this year. 

 Also, for those of you wondering, I am halfway through The Paris Wife and it is really good so far. Matt stole this idea from the comments in my {Currently Reading} post after several girls recommended it.

Easter Basket #3 from Matt's parents was filled with candy, wildflower seeds, fun Easter decorations an appetizer mix and more!

Saturday we did a little sofa shopping. There is really nothing fun about shopping for a couch. It goes a little like this: I fall head over heels in love with a sofa, flip the tag over {Matt gives me the NO WAY look) and we tearfully walk away.

Saturday night Matt and I cooked dinner for his parents. We made one of our favorite meals - Grilled Tilapia with Avocado Salsa {recipe here}. Everyone loved it!

Sunday we enjoyed a delicious brunch and visited with grandparents.

How cute is this Easter setup? Love the pastel napkins!

You're never too old to take a picture with the Easter bunny!   We finished Easter Sunday with the intense finale of The Bible on the History Channel {series information here}.

Hope you all had a happy Easter!