Garden Update

So I realized I haven't posted an update on the garden since we planted it back in April. Remember that it looked like this?

Well, what a difference a few weeks can make. Now it looks something like this:

(I'm not sure which is growing faster, the plants or the dog.) Anyway, as you can see, the tomato plants are totally taking over. What you can't see though, in the back, is the squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers that are all thriving. We also had a ton of cilantro. It was great while it lasted but doesn't really like the warm weather. We made some amazing cilantro dip and black bean salad while it was around though. We've also got a TON of basil. I just made a big batch of pesto tonight that we ate with pasta. YUM.

Anddd, we had salad with cucumbers and grape tomatoes fresh out of our garden. We're about to have more grape tomatoes than we could ever know what to do with. And that's not even taking the regular sized tomatoes into account, which will start getting red and ripe any day now.

Yummy grape tomatoes, in various stages of ripeness:

Bell pepper just about ready to be picked (don't you like how I took these pics right after we watered the garden, so everything looks all fresh and dewey?):

And jalapenos:

Squash (some of our squash unfortunately had root rot, but there's still plenty):

Still-green regular tomatoes:

Something that shouldn't be in our garden though? This thing:

We found out that it's a tomato hornworm (see its little red horn?). We found three of these on our tomato plants when we got home from the beach last weekend. Evidently, they can pretty much pulverize tomato plants in a short span of time. Luckily though, all you have to do is keep an eye out for them (they're kind of hard to miss with those white dots) and just kill them or remove them from your plants. Crisis averted.

P.S. Those white things on its back? I thought maybe they were babies. Nope. They're parasites. Little parasites that will turn into moths and eventually eat away at the hornworm. Ewwwwww. GROSS.

Tightwad Tuesday

Before you buy anything online, don't forget to check out RetailMeNot.com. It's a site that compiles coupon codes and promo codes for almost every retail site out there. When you get to a checkout page online that says "Have a coupon code? Enter it here" and you think "Man, I wish I had a coupon", Retail Me Not can usually help. It might just be 10% off or free shipping, but it makes you feel good about your purchase because you saved a little bit of money.

Using Retail Me Not, I've saved money on everything from bridal shower invitations to picture prints to custom postage stamps. If you can't find what you're looking for on Retail Me Not, you can sometimes find coupon codes on other sites through a regular Google search.

One bummer about Retail Me Not -- it seems that more and more companies are catching on and requesting that codes for their site be taken down, i.e. Target and J Crew. But even then, Target for example provides their widely advertised "featured discounts" so you might still find something useful.

Happy online shopping!

Summer '09 Mixed CD

1. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
2. Big Green Tractor - Jason Aldean
3. Waking Up in Vegas - Katy Perry
4. Thinking of You - Katy Perry
5. Out Last Night - Kenny Chesney
6. I Run to You - Lady Antebellum
7. Winter Song - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson (from So You Think You Can Dance auditions)
8. Crazier - Taylor Swift
9. Best Days of Your Life - Kellie Pickler
10. Don't Think I Can't Love You - Jake Owen
11. Then - Brad Paisley
12. Falling Slowly - The Frames

P.S. - #1 is the best for dancing to, #2 is the best for singing to

Taylor Swift

This past Friday, my sister and I took our cousin Katie to the Taylor Swift concert in Greensboro. It was her very first concert and to say that she was excited is an understatement. I have to admit though, taking Katie was just an excuse for Erin and I because we really wanted to go ourselves. 

One of the best parts of the night was seeing it through the eyes of a child. Katie's excitement was contagious and she said the cutest things like "Are we going in there?!" (as we pulled up to the coliseum) and "I've never seen this many people in my life!!" Here's a shot of Katie in the car, sporting the Taylor shirt I gave her for Christmas:

And her in front of Taylor's tour bus:

The opening act of the show was Kellie Pickler. Since she's from NC, this was the hometown leg of the tour for her. She told the audience that the last time she was in the coliseum was when she was auditioning for American Idol, so it was really special for her to be back. I've always loved her song I Wonder, written about her relationship with her mother. She got emotional at the end and said "I don't usually do that, I think it's because I'm back home with my people!" It was very sweet. Here's a clip:

I've loved Taylor Swift (or Tay Tay as we like to refer to her) from the get-go. I think she's cute and spunky and a good role model for young girls and I respect her for the fact that she plays multiple instruments and writes most of her own music. And now she's headlining her own tour, all at the age of 19.

I was skeptical about the concert, thinking 'are we going to be the only people there above the age of 14?' Well, I have to say, she puts on one heck of a show. I've been to a lot of concerts in my lifetime, and I truly think this might have been the best one I've ever been to. Every second of the show was entertaining. Even during her many wardrobe changes, she showed funny video clips and interviews setting up the next song. She talked to the audience a lot, had incredible energy and sang for well over two hours. We definitely left there feeling like we got our money's worth. Here are some pics.

Her opening marching band act -- You Belong with Me:

Sparkly guitar:

After a wardrobe change, she randomly showed up in the crowd and sang a few songs at the back of the coliseum:

Playing the piano:

My favorite part of the concert? When she came out in a Tyler Hansbrough jersey:

And she definitely went out with a bang. Here's a video of the finale -- Should've Said No:

Here's one last shot of Katie with the souvenir she bought -- a CD signed by Taylor:

Super Sweet Wedding Invite

If you know me, you know I love everything wedding. So of course I was in love when I saw this ultra-unique wedding invitation, designed by the groom, Matt Dorfman. (I'm having trouble posting the image so you'll just have to click on the link.) It's getting a lot of buzz, so I thought it was worth sharing myself.

Isn't it fun? I think I love the last line the most.

Tightwad Tuesday

I'm starting a new series today called Tightwad Tuesdays. It will give a little insight each week into the ways we're tightening our belt around here in an effort to A.) pay off some of our debt and B.) save for some of the things we're lusting for.

This week: Lowe's coupons.

Back in the early Spring when we were doing lots of work to our yard and porch and building a patio, we were going to Lowe's or Home Depot what seemed like every other day. I knew we had a lot of big ticket items to buy and I hate paying full price for anything, so I started researching how I could get my hands on some Lowe's or HD coupons. I saw a suggestion online to buy them on eBay. There were TONS of listings for the coupons, and after losing a few bidding wars, I snagged a set of ten Lowe's 10% off coupons for $9.

When Lee found out, he flipped. You paid money for COUPONS?!! My response: yes I did, we'll save a lot of money and if we don't it won't be the first $9 we've ever wasted. 

The good thing about the coupons? Both Lowe's and Home Depot accept competitor's coupons so we could use our Lowe's coupons at HD with no problems. 

After buying patio stones and materials, patio furniture, a grill, porch furniture, front porch rockers, a pen for Sugar, an invisible fence for Sugar, and miscellaneous garden supplies, grass seed, etc, here's the money we saved with 9 out of 10 of the 10% off coupons (I can't seem to find that damn 10th receipt):

$24

$32

$25

$9

$51

$61

$34 

$41 

$25 

For an approximate savings total of $302. Not bad for $9 worth of coupons right? 

What this really tells me though is that we need to stay away from Lowe's and Home Depot for a while. Or buy stock in them.

Wild America in Our Backyard

We live on a cul-de-sac. 

In a neighborhood. 

In the suburbs. 

But the wildlife in our backyard don't know it. Seriously, it's like a jungle out there.

Lee didn't want to live in a neighborhood. If he could have his way he'd be as far out in the boonies as possible on 10 acres of land with nothing but trees and critters to keep him company. Needless to say, 10 acres of land in the Triangle area was not in our price range, so  we ended up in neighborhood. One of the reasons we picked our house though was the large (for this area) and private backyard that backs up to a wooded area. 

One day we came to visit the house while it was still being finished and a deer came wandering through the backyard. I think that finally sold Lee on the house, because it made him feel right at home.

Soon after we moved in, we discovered the fox. He hung out in the woods behind our house and was Lee's little pet - he was pretty obsessed with him. Here's what he looked like when we first moved in:

We hadn't seen him in a while but he has turned up again recently. Now that we have Sugar though Lee has turned all protective Papa Bear and was NOT happy when the fox came into the yard late one night and started barking at Sugar. He's probably doubled in size since this pic and is definitely NOT welcome in our yard anymore. 

You'd think that Sugar would scare animals away from our yard, but she seems to attract them. Or maybe it's just the fact that she goes nuts when she sees something in the yard so we take notice of it more than we used to. In the past two weeks, in addition to the fox, we've encountered this turtle (you would've thought it was a grizzly bear from the way Sugar was freaking out):

And multiple rabbits. And this deer:

Notice Sugar in the right corner and the deer towards the left, paying the dog absolutely no mind. Sugar didn't bark at the deer though, she was just very interested in it - I think she's smart enough not to bark at things bigger than her. That's probably a good rule of thumb in life.

So there you have it, our very own version of Marty Stouffer's Wild America.