Garden Days & Summer camps

If you've read my blog for a while, you know I'm one those cursed people with the dreaded

BLACK THUMB (daaan daaaan daaan!!!)

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Yup, the opposite of those people with the GREEN THUMB - I 'Kill' plants. Not on purpose mind you, they just 'don't like me'! ;-)

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So luckily, I married a man who has better thumbs that I have! And so he's been busy planting up and pretty-fying our back patio with pots and plants.

You already saw what we did with our pergola...

But we also added these to the opposite deck...

Don't mind the weeds, just look at the planters ;-)

We chose boxwoods and got the planters from Sam's Club ($12.99 each which I think is a bargain).

I don't know why we only added these recently, I love them here.

He also repotted this Adenium plant - a gift from a friend

We also had this problem area beside the pool house...

Overgrown weeds BLAH!

As you can see, we plan to remove the weeds and plant these 3 flowering shrubs there too, we just have to have the time to do it. ;-)

On another note, this past weekend, we dropped of my oldest son in Chicago for a 3 week camp, the longest time he'll be away from home.

In his dorm room

I think I'm having more' withdrawal' symptoms than he does, since I am missing him like crazy (yes, he's only been gone less than a day since we dropped him off  yesterday afternoon), so my hubs promised me we're going back next weekend to visit him in Chicago for just a few hours (they limit the visits for parents like me since they feel the child will feel more homesick seeing their parents homesick)

So please excuse me for my sporadic posts since other than taking frequent long drives we're also gearing up for my other son's Summer Camp play the weekend after the 4th!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful and fun 
4th of July everyone!

VEL 

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The Chase is over for my Chaise!

Remember when I posted about "Chasing a Chaise" back in April?

Well I mentioned briefly afterwards that I did find my Chaise but it had to be custom-made, so it took a long while to get it and now it's finally here!

SITE

I ordered it from ARHAUS in St. Louis and I thought everything would be fine and dandy until delivery date...

After all the talk and email back and forth with my store rep, I (stupidly enough too) didn't notice the city address was wrong...

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Actually it wasn't all my fault because when I placed the order in the store, I specifically corrected the store rep with the zip code and city name, so I assumed, that it was corrected already, without bothering to double check the final order form (talk about being excited)!

So instead of getting the chaise on May30th, it went back to OHIO and I had to wait another 3 weeks!!!!!
I was sooo upset thinking I could relax on it that day after a long days work, but no, disappointment like this sucks!

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Luckily ARHAUS realized it wasn't at all just my mistake and refunded me all the shipping cost. I decided for a couple of hundred dollars (yes, it cost that much to deliver it since we were considered out-of-state-status), I figured I could wait. And here she is....

My Living room Spot!

Love that it's not too soft and not too hard, just right enough to sink in or lounge in

I love the brass railheads 

I love putting my feet up and watching tv  to movie with the kids

This chaise is a gift, from my hubs. He wanted me to feel comfortable with my pregnancy and when the baby comes and I am absolutely ecstatic about it!

I can just imagine relaxing here with baby sometime in the near future!

I need to still fix up our living room for the summer and with my new chaise,  it just might get me motivated to do it soon!

Have a Great Weekend!

VEL 

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Hi-Tech & Cool Baby Items

Last week, I shared you with you the very IMPRACTICAL stuff you can get for your baby in my post, MILLION DOLLAR BABY.

This time, I want to share with you some really cool and Hi-tech stuff that are out there, available for your wee one.

There are lots of videos, very short ones, but it's really is interesting to watch and see how our world has gotten so tech-y not just for you and me, but for the babies as well!

HI-TECH STROLLER

4Moms Origami Stroller

Basically, it's what every mom would want if possible in a stroller, power fold by the push of a button.

It has a small generator that generates power as you use it, it's got LED lights, charger for your phone, and of course a place for your baby and some other stuff. You gotta see this video to see what I mean...

The downside to this? It's heavy, about 35 lbs I think, and not cheap, about $850 and it does not recline all the way flat. But you know what, we got this stroller recently and we think we're gonna love it, will let you know... :-)

COOL PLAY YARD

4moms Breeze play yard

May seem very typical right? But the cool part comes in the ease of opening and closing this thing, just watch...

I think it's pretty cool, somebody get me this PPPUUULLEEEEZZZ ;-)

HI-TECH CAR SEAT

Carkoon Car Seat -$800

It basically supposed to cocoon your baby from any debris and protect from whiplash in case of an accident. Also sends out emergency/location signal on impact, cool huh!

HI-TECH MONITOR

Angel Care Baby Monitor -$185

Other than just listening and seeing your baby, it acts like a walkie-talkie and you can literally sing your baby to sleep if she ever wakes up in the middle of the night (hopefully). :-)

Whithings Smart Baby Monitor $217.39

This one is iPad, iPod and iPhone compatible so you can see baby anytime, anywhere. I think it costs too much though. :-(

COOL TUB

4Moms Infant Tub -$50

This could make a perfect gift. Aside from the cool color-coded temperature sensor, clean water is supposed to flow in one direction and dirty water out the another!  

COOL POTTY

CTA iPotty - $19.38 on Amazon

Yup, it's basically a potty with an iPad holder. But for toilet-training kiddos, this might help to keep the little one sitting still for at least 5 minutes after every meal. 

COOL APP

Cry translator app -$4.99

As the name implies this app claims to 'translate' your baby's cry to what baby needs! 

Will let you know my verdict once I try it out on my own babe ;-)

So, what do you think? Which one do you wish you have or had with your little one and which one you can definitely live without? 

Have a Nice Day!

VEL 

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Making our Wisteria-filled pergola a reality

You probably saw our PLANS after we set up our Pergola.

And we really want to have something like this...

Our inspiration photos are pergola filled with Wisteria Vine. So, naturally, we had to get our Wisteria Vines.

We got ours at a local garden Center -$48 per vine plant

And since the pergola was made of metal, we were afraid with the extreme heat in our area, the metal might end up being too hot for the vine to grow onto. Plus the posts seems too narrow for the vines for the vines as well.

So my brilliant husband devised an ingenious plan to build a trellis on the pergola posts!

Not looking so ingenious yet... ;-)

I have to thank my hubs for this idea immensely since I initially tried to convince him to buy something like this because I was doubtful of that plan...

Romantic Curved trellis from Menards

I just thought something ready-made would be easier and quicker, but then it's made of metal again, and I'm not sure our wisteria will survive climbing up these. 

So he built this instead....

Looks way better than my store-bought trellis

Up close

He built this using  2" x 1" pieces of wood and painted it with black outdoor paint.

We used the original trellis first to let the vines get acclimated to it's new pot and location.

We also added some mushroom compost around the vine plant as recommended by the gardener at the garden center we bought it from (apparently fungus is the wisteria's main enemy- anyhow, we both don't know much about it so we just followed what the gardener said, if you know something about vines, please let me know on how we can take care of it better!).

Our Wisteria without her 'crutches'

After a few days we removed the trellis our wisteria came with and tied her up to our own trellis.

We're keeping a close eye on it and hopefully we'll be able to share our progress on this. 

On a  not-so-good-note, they say it may take up to 3 years before a wisteria would start blossoming. But I'm in no rush, we just want the greenery to start creeping up before the winter starts again and also just trying to keep our wisteria alive! Cross your fingers with me would you?

Have a Great Week!

VEL 

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Linking back to...

Amaze me Monday, Under the Table & Dreaming, The Dedicated House, Linda's Coastal Charm, Cozy Little House, A Stroll Thru Life, The Winthrop Chronicles, Carolyn's Homework, VMG 206, Gingersnap Crafts, Savvy Southern Style, Fluster Buster, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Work It Wednesday, From My Front Porch to Yours, French Country Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Pin Junkie, Serenity Now

Pagoda Shelf

At last, after almost giving up on my Wall HERE, I finally found the perfect solution that I absolutely love.

TA-DA!

I found the shelf here on Memorial Day and ordered it right away (Free shipping was too good to pass up)!

Yup, got it from a Kid's store

So pretty

It was the perfect size and look! I just think it's really pretty. But yes, I can't believe I found the right sized shelf for this wall! I almost gave up and was thinking seriously of putting up a nice cork board or art work to display, but then I saw this - it was meant to be. :-)

When my hubs hung it I felt something was missing though. And I realized it looked "too white".

I initially wanted to paint it gold, but my hubs would not have it, he said I'd eventually grow tired of all the gold and I think he was right.  So I just added this gold-stripped gift wrap I scored from TJ Maxx last Christmas, on the back and I think I'm satisfied... for now... ;-)

So after months of searching, I finally don't have this empty wall and have something pretty and useful on it!

Now my next project will be replacing this....

I'm guessing with how "fast" I make my decisions in matters such as this, it would take me a couple of months or a year!!!!

Sigh. it never really ends does it?! ;-)

Have a Great Weekend!

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Million Dollar Baby

As I browse thru the myriad of current baby items around, I am amazed at some of the things that are available to these precious babies. Some a bit 'weird'...

Homedics Sound spa
not sure what it's for but I added it to my registry ;-)

and a lot, precariously & 'ridiculously' expensive....

$2,395- 4,140 Ducduc Morgan Crib

$3,950 + 250 shipping - Nursery works Vetro Crib
Same kind Baby Blue Ivy has (Beyonce' and Jayzee's kid)

$5,236 Pumpkin Iron Crib
Would work well for a Cinderella-themed nursery right?
All you need is a fairy Godmother to watch over your little one!

Solid 24K gold Egg Dodo Baby Basket -$12 Million
The plastic version costs 'only $2,500, a 'bargain' compared to this one!

Magic Bath Baby Hot tub -$2,186
Really? Do you want to introduce your baby to this kind of luxury this early?;-)

The Roddler - $4,495
Customized Alligator or stingray leather seats anyone?

If your asking if any of these are on my wish list? Nah - I do love my baby but I'm no gazillionaire and I think even if I was, that much money would be put to a lot of much better use in my opinion. 

Anyway, it is a free country, and people can buy what they want, and not what the baby really needs right?? 

As for my choice of baby gears, I've done my research and I think my choices would be perfect for us.

I'll share them with you some other time!

Have a Fabulous Day!

VEL 

Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...