Sweet Exchange

This morning a friend and fellow orchid lover sent me a picture with simple text: thinking of you. Three words embedded with a thousand more considering the bittersweet history of our connection. We've exchanged love stories of our potted plants before, how they brighten our soul and so forth. I replied with a picture. We do this every bloom. It was such a sweet gesture and took the sting out of Monday.

J's Orchid

G's Orchid

Yes, totally obsessing with Instagram at the moment. Really fun. Really addicting. Really. Really. Really.

Blooming, again

Been loving how the $13 spent on this orchid was possibly the best money I've ever spent. She's blooming again for the third time! It's been just what I needed lately.
Been smiling about my 3.5 year old nephew and his love crush on Ariel. His mom fixed pasta shells for dinner one evening. Later, when being tucked into bed he told her with a big frown that the worst part of his day was eating all of Ariel's shells.   ...    :-)
Been praying for a family member who has just survived something unimaginably horrific. 
Been pinning away over at Pinterest. It's addicting, I'm loving it, I can't stop and I don't care to. A genius way for me to organize everything I find on the web. Virtual collages? Brilliant. I'll be pinning all weekend, no doubt, and creating new idea boards.
Been thinking about that half piece of coconut cream cheesecake in my fridge that I'm going to eat for dinner tonight.
Been counting down the minutes until the weekend so I can sleep for 2 straight days.
Been craving old-timey homemade popcorn made with real coconut oil. If I wake up, it will be for that.

Happy Friday! It really is the best day of the week. Besides Tuesday, of course.

New Life

uess who's back? My gorgeous purple orchid that dropped all it's petals last November! I was devastated at the time. But she has totally redeemed herself. Just a few months later and she's sporting two gorgeous blooms on a brand new stem, one bloom just about to burst, and two other buds...budding. She's pretty much the Rock Star of all orchids ever to live, ever. Some people have kids. Some people have cats. I have an orchid. and I love her...

Speaking of love, I really loved this bullet list from Kami. There is so much cute valentine goodness out there right now. Like this and this and this. Whether you love or hate Valentines Day, you have to admit, it's pretty dang cute.

Thinking Outloud

When I came back from lunch today the last bloom on my purple orchid had fallen. This beautiful botanical has kept watch over my office for nearly 9 months. I've seen each blossom bud and grow and then one by one they have silently fallen. I've been giving myself the whole circle of life pep-talk on repeat. But this is probably the only plant that I haven't killed yet. And now it's gone ahead and died anyway.As I pulled into my garage tonight and passed the communal dumpster I noticed someone had discarded a little wooden chair. It called to me. Instantly I imagined it in a bright new color and topped with a pair of little tippy-toed feet reaching to help me crack an egg. So I picked it up and brought it home. And suddenly I'm feeling a lot better about the circle of life.