Disaster Strikes and History Repeats Itself

Well, well, well, look what we have here. A plant update/disaster story courtesy of Princess, my clueless 15-year-old cocker spaniel.

Here she decided Andrew's backpack would make a great dog bed

She's deaf, going blind, and slides a bit when she walks because she doesn't have 100% muscle control anymore but she's generally really healthy considering her age. She's always on the hunt for food, or whatever she thinks is food, and is rarely ever looking forward or up. In her world it's eyes on the floor = eyes on prize (possibly food, though it's mostly dog hair).

I'm not entirely sure if Princess mistook my hands being filled with plants as my hands being filled with treats, or if she was just scanning the floor for never-even-there crumbs. Either way, she knocked into me and when I couldn't recover fast enough, I tripped. This happens countless times every single day. Andrew and I are constantly tripping over her, but this time I tripped while moving my leaf cuttings from one window sill to another and, thus, disaster struck.

It took me quite a while to clean up the mess and go through each cutting while playing plant surgeon. After two long hours of babying the leaves and the tiny plants growing from them, I ended up with a few new arrangements. Admittedly, they look super cute with their little toothpick supports even if it's sad they need them.

Because I mist the plants I don't think drainage will be an issue this time around, I just hope they're not in shock/on the brink of death. So many tiny leaves broke off and now I'm guessing all of their energy will be put into recovery versus growth. I'll be happy as long as they don't all die.

The leaf cuttings and plants which were totally unaffected by Princess' wrath are still going strong. Some have been late bloomers but now have wild hot pink roots growing in every direction after looking like this only a month ago.

One of my lithops is worrying me a bit; same goes for my Split Rock. Both have gone wrinkly all of a sudden despite both only being watered once. I'm not totally sure, but I think the misting of nearby plants may be the culprit. I hope they make it...

And here I thought this single leaf I knocked off a couple weeks ago was a tragedy! I post progress shots on Instagram if you'd like to see these little guys growing in between posts, and I've blogged about them in July and August. It's all so cute and stressful! Can you believe they survived this just last Friday?

Jaimielee 'Plant Killer' Velasquez

A few years ago I became obsessed with the idea of gardening. The thing is, every apartment I've lived in in Chicago has not been particularly plant-friendly. Whether it was due to shade for days, little-to-no outdoor space, or ninja-like Princess on the prowl for delicious-yet-toxic plant nomz, each plant I've owned has died a tragic death one way or another. The pinnacle being the tomato plant that I dropped off my window ledge one summer. I can't blame anyone but myself for that mishap, well, maybe the wind? Then of course there were my twee teacup-dwelling cacti...


Drainage? Ha! Who needs drainage!? These poor babies held on as long as they could back in 2009. I'm sure you're thinking why on Earth would I embark on this journey again and I'll tell you why. Because!

Last Saturday night (lol) Andrew and I stopped at Home Depot for PVC pipe and some other random house things. It was 11:00 pm and I wandered into the darkness of the outdoor nursery while Andrew stuck to the list. Then I saw it... The absolute most adorable "Feed me, Seymour" looking creature I had ever seen in my whole life. I immediately snatched it up and held the tiny pot to my bosom like a newborn baby. Before I knew it, another succulent jumped out at me. I'd never seen anything like that one either! Of course, I didn't bother reading either label before I grabbed a bag of cactus soil and I went looking for Andrew.

He spotted me cradling these two tiny pots, and my soil, and I could see the look in his eyes. "This again?" I asked him if it was worth it, "Only $10 for heartbreak!" He said "Do it." And I did.


So here we are, not even a week later and I've already added three more to the mix from Adams and Son. The same nursery where I got my flapjack moss, which was swimming in the mites that claimed my lettuce, basil, and hostas a few years ago. Admittedly, I was wary of ever going back but I made sure to closely inspect the new plants before checking out this time.


When I got home I wasted no time before the googling frenzy began. I found a great blog called Succulents and Sunshine with gorgeous photos and detailed advice for beginners. This set off a fever in me and before I knew what I was doing, I almost bought 125 cuttings for $56. Luckily, I stopped myself and instead chose to strip two plants almost completely of their leaves in hopes of propagating. I even lucked out with a few bonus leaves that had fallen off of nearby plants.


I think it's safe to say I'm obsessed with succulents again. I just hope these little guys survive my not-so-green thumb!

I Keep Forgettin'

You have to actually do stuff in order to blog about it...

Andrew and I decided we're going to stick it out and renew our lease. We've still got a year left on it, and as embarrassed as I am to admit it, we've been here for a year with a whole mess of unpacked boxes.

We lack closet space so a lot of things are just stacked and well, not organized at all. I decided to tackle my studio the weekend of the fourth figuring I would work on my Lisette Portfolio Top in my newly cleaned room. This is what it looked like at the height of the chaos (I blame the warm weather and BBQs):

I know

I studied visual communications so I needed a lot of tools. A lot of materials. A lot of a lot. At any given notice I had to have the right adhesives for 10 different stocks of paper which I had in 10 different colors in 10 different sizes. I bought two wide format printers during those four years. I bound books that I printed at home and cut to precision by hand! I loved it, but it was expensive and time consuming. So I have all this stuff, and I've carried it with me from apartment to apartment for years.

At what point should I let stuff go? I've left some boxes untouched for the better part of a year because I just knew that all of my fill in the blank were packed away inside. I can't justify getting rid of all these usable materials, and on top of all that, I have mountains of schoolwork. Andrew says "It's art, keep it!" but for how long? Have any of you gone to art school? How long did you hold on to your projects? I made a 60-page pop up book my last semester, I can't just throw that out! I feel like a hoarder, but somehow this is different? In my head it is... For some perspective, these are all our newly emptied boxes:

I know

So, being completely overwhelmed by the chaotic mess and my inability to let things go, I decided to just stop and paint my nails. The best decision I made all month:


I think the eye is my favorite. Maybe the cheeseburger?
Naturally my next step was to continue avoiding cleaning and illustrate the designs:



Don't lose faith in me, friends (I've lost another follower, 2 in 1 year!!), I will always return. No matter how long it takes! Plus, I am determined to finish organizing this weekend which means that top will get sewn. OR ELSE!

Extreme Weather

For those of you who live under a rock, or say, Florida, we've been experiencing some EXTREME weather in the world. Chicago got hit by its third largest blizzard and I loved every minute of it. Thankfully we didn't lose power or anything. Walking the dogs was a bit hellish during the actual storm but the day after was AWESOME.





Everyone in Chicago had the day off work because the streets were packed with 20" of super fun times. I was really excited to finally put my hat to good use while playing outside. Muscles LOVED the snow and Princess just looked adorable hopping around in her old age.



After every walk Muscles came in COVERED IN SNOW BALLS! SO creepy cute.

The worst part of the whole ordeal was our crappy back door's inability to keep the snow out. The wind was FIERCE so we had to clean up snow inside our apartment!


It's still snowing & I'm in love with it. It's going to snow tomorrow too! Oh, Chicago ♥

Week of TERROR

Not to be all melodramatic and whatnot, but man! What a freakin' week this is turning out to be. Andrew and I ate out Saturday night* and by the time Monday morning rolled around I was DEAD. Between sobs and toilet hugs, I napped and generally hated life. I have never been that sick. Tuesday came and I couldn't have been happier. I'd made it! The day was totally uneventful with the exception of getting some new project ideas and being a nerd on the Internet. CUT TO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

I hear a bang. I get up and walk to my back door... AND THERE ARE TWO ASSHATS TRYING TO BREAK INTO MY APARTMENT!!

I don't know what on Earth possessed me to yell at them but I asked "Can I help you??!" A total WTF moment. I'm fine, pissed off but fine. The cops were no help either because I didn't actually see the asshats (they ran away when they heard my voice). Ugh!! Week of terror better be over.

*Never eat at Cemitas Puebla on North Avenue. It will murder you.

Oh, technology...

Andrew and I were borrowing internet from one of our neighbors. At first I felt pretty guilty but we never hogged it enough to where it was a problem... or so I thought! "Cher" has since disappeared from our wireless options and we've been without internet since last week. Kind of sucks, kind of rules? I'm sooo easily sucked into the land of twitter & blogs and before I know it, it's 3 in the afternoon and I've done absolutely nothing with my day. So here's to productivity!

Now I can focus on finishing my website and working on all of my projects. I haven't actually started any of my summer sewing because none of my patterns have arrived yet. But Andrew needed a cycling cap so I took a shot at sewing one and it turned out pretty decent. The darts could use a little help and the bill could stand to be lengthened a bit, but all in all I'd say it's a success.

The fabric is a thrifted bed sheet!
My tomato plant is flourishing despite the unnamed creatures crawling in the dirt. I'm trying my hardest to look BEYOND them and accept that it's just part of nature. Look at all the little baby tomatoes!! I'm so proud, they're growing up so fast! The flowers literally bloomed out of no where and within a week teeny tiny little green balls were forming. Look at the amazing difference one week made:



I'm so happy :)
The bugs have gotten the best of my lettuce plants and it breaks my heart a little but whatever. My basil seems to be ok and my goodness, my "hostas" are huge now! Still living in exile outside though...

Slightly obsessed, kind of addicted...

The smell of fresh bread filling the apartment has become addictive. This past weekend I baked two loaves using bread flour and whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. They were delicious but for some reason no where near the awesomeness of my first loaf.

Love the different shades
The whole wheat definitely had an earthy taste. I liked it but I think it would have done better with some honey mixed in and oats sprinkled on the crust. Maybe next time... Andrew came home from work the other day and told me his coworkers had been pining for his bread during lunch. Hah! Apparently now I'm taking bread orders? It's actually pretty awesome yet scary because I can't taste it before I give it away ;( I really hope it's good! Since I was making a loaf for other people, I decided what the hell and made another one for us. This time with cheddar mixed in. That's five whole loaves under my belt and I've blogged & tweeted about all of them. For this, I am sorry.


Thanks to this super easy recipe, I also made schiacciata last night! Even though it's supposed to be used for making sandwiches, it replaced the crust for our "pizza" tonight. With proper planning, I would have baked everything at once, toppings and all but whatevs. It was so light and airy and mmm. I never knew I'd love baking/bread making this much. Although, I HATE how hot it gets in the apartment when baking at 500° for hours. It is not fun. At all. Forgive the crappy iphone photo, all other cameras were out of commission.

Before & after resting for an hour!



mmmm
I used garlic, tomatoes, onions, yellow peppers, parmesan & mozzarella for toppings. It was kind of like a sicilian style pizza but without any sauce. Totally delicious. Andrew said when he was in Italy, they'd serve it sliced in half and pressed like a panino. That'll definitely be the plan next time I make it.

Mexico?!

A while back I found out about Growing Power, here's an excerpt from their site:

"Growing Power is national nonprofit organization and land trust supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and the environments in which they live, by helping to provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food for people in all communities. Growing Power implements this mission by providing hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance through the development of Community Food Systems that help people grow, process, market and distribute food in a sustainable manner."

They offer super cheap market baskets weekly and deliver them to various farmer's markets around the city for you to pick them up! Since Garfield Park Conservatory was having their last plant sale of the season, I went ahead and ordered a sustainable basket to be picked up there. Come Saturday morning, I was overcome with excitement for my veggies. We got to the conservatory and picked up a large brown bag with my name written on it. I signed over a check for $28 and was on my merry way. Promises of "approximately 10-12 varieties (18-22 pounds) of certified organic and sustainably grown produce…" filled my head, making me giddy to get home and cook something! Then, I suddenly thought, "man, this bag is pretty light! I was expecting almost 20lbs worth of… wait a minute…" My bag only included 8 varieties and weighed closer to 10lbs ;( After looking through the bag a bit, Andrew took an apple and I decided to pull out the lone cucumber and, sit down for this one guys, IT HAD A PRODUCE STICKER ON IT! *GASP!*

"Product of Mexico"
Seriously the saddest three words of my Saturday. What happened to the locally and sustainably grown promises?! It was a very sad moment for me. I felt like I'd been duped. Simple, gullible Jaimielee… you just paid $28 to have someone go the the grocery store for you. What were my 8 varieties? Corn, asparagus, tomatoes, potatoes, green onions, broccoli, apples, and a Mexican cucumber.

Looking beyond the yield of my bag, I went on to the plant sale and bought lettuce, sweet basil and a pair of (forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong) hostas (probably wrong).

Such cuties!
I wish I had better sun exposure in the apartment or better yet, a yard. I'm tempted to ask my neighbors to let me use a couple square feet of their completely unused, under appreciated, overgrown with weeds, and neglected yard. Can you tell I'm jealous? Then I'll be able to grow some Puerto Rican cucumbers.

It's been a minute...

Whoops. I keep losing track of time and things and projects and so on... I still have a mini quilt to make which I am NOT happy about or even remotely interested in making. So to further procrastinate on that project, I'm joining a sew-along!

It's hosted by Grosgrain's Kathleen: A Frock By Friday.
It's not 100% my style, so I'm changing the skirt to be a fuller, a-line skirt. I really hope it goes well because this will be my very 1st garment, e-v-e-r. I've only made little projects up to this point, pillows, totes, phone cases, wallets, zipper pouches, etc... But I'm really excited to try! I went crazy and bought a bunch of fabric from Vogue on Roosevelt but I don't think any of it will work for this dress. I'm thinking of making it out of a bed sheet for now and if it goes well, making another one out of awesome fabric.

In other equally exciting news, we're getting the apartment painted Wednesday! The previous tenant literally moved out 5 minutes before we moved in which really bothered me because the place was never cleaned or painted and we never even had a walk through. No major issues to deal with though (luckily), she just nicked the crap out of all the walls. Yay for painting!

All done!

Well, not quite, but at least the move is over. I cannot even express the happiness Andrew and I felt Saturday night. We had two movers from U-Haul plus a freight truck! It was literally insane. Packing/moving left us making horrible food decisions and we were really feeling it by the time Monday rolled around, not to mention the sore arms, knees, calves, and feet.

A sight that will never be seen again! Not in the new apartmenet, not everrr!
After finishing up the kitchen yesterday, I finally made our 1st home cooked meal in the new place. I made Shakshuka and it was divine. I was so tempted to make pitas as well but I didn't have half the ingredients or time, so pita chips took their place. I was so nervous I'd crack the yolks, I took 2 minutes to add 6 eggs...

Very satisfying meal.
I'd never heard of Shakshuka before but this is definitely going to be a staple in this kitchen. Jalapenos, onions, feta, tomatoes, eggs? What more could anyone ever ask for in a meal? Super cheap and quick to make, spicy and hearty but healthy... I wish I was eating another bowl right now, but I have to stop blabbering about it already. Tonight's class is going to be part lesson, part lab and I'm so behind! I need to get to work so I can finally catch up. I'll be posting photos of the apartment as soon as we've gotten more unpacking done. So excited :)

Should be packing...

As soon as Andrew woke up he was dying to make breakfast and seriously, it was delicious. We made an omelette with the spinach, shiitake mushrooms and eggs we got at the market yesterday. Added some garlic and onions, cheddar cheese plus apple cider vinegar, AMAAAZING!


For dinner I made another asparagus tart and it was WAY better than the last time I made it. We killed it.


It looks so cute!
We still have more silly apartment showings too and I can't help but get annoyed, but what's the point? By this time next week we'll have moved already :)