Summer Bucket List

This week, Lily and I have been working on the summer bucket list. We’ll begin working our through the list very soon. Summer is almost here!!!!

What’s on your summer bucket list?

Our list thus far:

• Field Museum
• Museum of Science and Industry
• Adler Planetarium
• Shedd Aquarium
• Chicago Children’s Museum
• Splash pads
• Maggie Daley Playground
• Art Institute
• Head to the pool
• Have a pajama day
• Head to the library
• Go to the zoo
• Go to the beach
• Eat at Big Bowl
• Go to Morton Arboretum
• Eat at Labriola Cafe
• Eat at Rainforest Cafe
• Get ice cream
• Bake cookies
• Read books at home
• Make banana pudding
• Go on a hike
• Go on a picnic
• Go to Granny and Pa’s house
• Go to Mimi and Pa’s house
• Make lemonade
• Go bowling
• See a movie
• See a movie outside
• Family Festival downtown Chicago
• Ride the train at the mall
• Go to American Girl Place
• Go to Disney Store
• Go to Renaissance Faire
• Eat at Flat Top Grill

It’s going to be a busy summer!

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Container Gardening

I will say, that as much as I love our front yard garden – and it’s a lot – there is something very enjoyable about a little container garden. Since it is filled with annuals, you can change it up every year. You can make your container garden as large or as small as you want. And it’s a great way to experiment with new plants.

When planning my container gardens, I choose 1) one type of tall grass for height, 2) something with fun color, and 3) something that will drape or fall over the front. This gives the garden some interesting depth.

Once you choose out the plants that you will use, experiment within the pot. Where do they look best. Don’t plant them until you are sure about their placement. (It’s much easier to move them around now, than after you’ve already planted them in their new homes.)

After you are sure of your placement, go ahead and plant. Honestly, I don’t think that there is a wrong way to do this. I add lots of small pots (because we have so many!) and that gives the whole garden some interesting impact. Even one plant in one small pot can add some fun color to your garden.

I have two larger pots and those are the ones that I really try to play around with using different heights. I found some cool grasses this year that I used toward the back of the pot.

The final step? Water your plants every day (unless you’ve been getting as much rain as we have…..) and enjoy your garden all summer long!

Spring Cleaning – Makeup

I am horrible at getting rid of makeup. Until very recently, I had bottles of nail polish that were old, really old, more than a decade old. With nail polish, you can tell pretty easily when it needs to be tossed. You know how old nail polish has a different texture to it? It seems thicker, more clumpy? Well, you know when you see that, that you need to toss it, right? It’s not always that easy to tell when other types of makeup are ready to go. But, I made it a spring cleaning task to go through my makeup bag and toss out stuff that was either 1) too old, 2) broken or almost empty, or 3) a color that I haven’t used in several months, or in some cases – haven’t used ever.

Along with my bag cleaning, I cleaned sponges and brushes. I know that there are pricey cleaning solutions out there for cleaning makeup sponges and brushes. What do I use? Liquid soap. I usually use either a mild liquid hand soap or baby shampoo. So much cheaper than the expensive cleaners and works just as well.

How do you know if your makeup is too old? I found this handy breakdown from Good Housekeeping that goes into detail about many different types of beauty products.  That’s what I used as my guideline as I went through my bag……

The results? Yes, I have beautifully clean brushes and sponges…..but now I need to buy a lot of new makeup! Everything in the picture above, I threw away. I tend to hold onto makeup for way longer than I should. And that really doesn’t make sense because I tend to use a few go-to shades. Some of these that I threw out I haven’t used in a long, long time. And mascara? I need to get much better about buying new mascara! Expires after three months?! Oh man. Some of these I’ve had for almost a year! Gross!

Springtime in the Front Yard

We’ve had some rain recently and it has done wonders in our front yard.

The daffodils are pretty much done for the season but the tulips are beautiful, the new irises that we planted last year are coming up nicely, and the phlox looks great. Well, at least the purple phlox looks great. (And is expanding like crazy!)

The phlox plants that I got last year are still looking pretty small but there are several new blooms on each plant. I’m optimistic that these ones will eventually look as great as the purple one. (Pay no attention to the dandelions growing in the middle of the garden…..)

But what I’m most excited about?

Look how tall the peonies are already!!! The peonies are always my favorite.

 

What’s coming up in your garden?