Inspiration: Front Porch

Aloha! I'm participating again this week in the Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop, and this week's prompt is "the front porch." I've always dreamt of having a house with a gorgeous wrap-around front porch. It'll have a swing, some rocking chairs, a comfy rug for Conan to lay on and plenty of flowers. It'll play host to jack-o-lanterns in the fall, cups of cocoa drunk under a cozy blanket in the winter, drips of ketchup and mustard when the grill comes out in the spring and plenty of red, white and blue bunting in the summer. I love to be outside, and my porch will be a place to read, relax and share laughter with friends and family. Right now we have no porch to speak of, and the backyard is a haven for mosquitoes and ants. So for the moment, my welcoming wrap-around porch is just a fantasy.

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What I Wore Wednesday

Hello all! My week has been pretty uneventful. I'm working on a few cute craft projects and reading a really good novel, "Moloka'i." I saw the movie "The Help" with a friend last week; I read the book long enough ago that I wasn't spending the entire movie picking out every single difference from the literary version (a lesson learned with "Harry Potter") and I thorougly enjoyed it! As always, I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy this week for What I Wore Wednesday.

Wednesday
Top: Old Navy
Jeans: Silver
Necklace: Bead for Life

Thursday
Ruffle top: Colour Works, Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange
Jeans: Seven For All Mankind, Nordstrom
Earrings: Kohl's

Saturday
Beaded tank top: American Rag, Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange (clearance!)
Shorts: American Eagle

Sunday
Top: Kohl's
Shorts: American Eagle
Bracelet and earrings: Bealls Florida

Monday
Top: Kohl's
Jeans: Rock and Republic, Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange
Headband: Made by me!

We've Been Framed

The weekend before last, we did a photo shoot with our friend and neighbor, Li. She's got her own photography company (Total Li Photography) and takes beautiful photos. My skills aren't even near to being in the same league as Li's, but someday I'd love to get there. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pictures with you. They were all taken on the Air Force base where we live. I bought a Groupon a few months ago for a 16x20 photo canvas, and since I wanted a picture from the shoot to use for the canvas I asked Li to take lots of zoomed-out, artsy pictures of us rather than just portraits. I love the results!

(This tree appears in the movie "Pearl Harbor"!)

Our Weekend: Chinatown to the North Shore

Happy Monday! Jarrod and I had a really fun Hawaiian weekend and I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

Friday night we went over to our neighbor base, Pearl Harbor, to see country singer Chris Cagle perform. We'd seen him once before (a few years ago at the Beulah Sausage Festival when we were living in Florida) but this time was even better.

We went to Honolulu's Chinatown on Saturday for lunch and a stroll. We ate at a place I've been wanting to try forever, Little Village Noodle House. Yum!

Yesterday we spend the day at the North Shore. Our afternoon started with sandwiches from Storto's Deli in Haleiwa (pronounced Hollay-AY-vuh), which I first read about on this blog. We got our sandwiches to go and ate them in the car overlooking the ocean.

Then we went to Waimea Valley, an 1,800-acre park containing Waimea Falls and an expansive botanical garden. We didn't wear our swimsuits so we couldn't get in, but next time we'll dress appropriately and take pictures under the falls.

We ended our North Shore day by driving up to the northern side of Ka'ena Point and hunting for shells and sea glass. What a fantastic day!

Inquiring Minds

I'm a very curious person by nature and always find myself turning to either my wise husband or the infinite knowledge of the internet to answer my (admittedly random) queries. So I thought it would be fun to have a recurring feature on the blog in which I tell you some of the things I've looked up lately and the answers I found.

• What kind of white wine is best for cooking?: (Googled on my handy-dandy new smartphone while staring blankly at the overwhelming wine aisle at the store.) The answers varied widely, but it seemed the most common choice is sauvignon blanc. I can't argue -- it was delicious and much better than the pretend "cooking wine" I used in the past.
  
  
• Why do alcoholic products always get placed in those long, skinny paper bags when you check out at the store?: (Wondered at the checkout when I was buying my sauvignon blanc.) Many people suggested it has to do with the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure. No one can see what kind of drink you have hiding behind the brown paper. The police are supposed to have probable cause to search your paper bag, so theoretically you could get away with violating an open container law.
  
  
• What's the definition of "brinksmanship?" (Heard in a President Obama speech, referring to Congress and the debt ceiling debate): "The art or practice of pushing a dangerous situation or confrontation to the limit of safety especially to force a desired outcome," according to Merriam-Webster. Ah. Makes perfect sense.
  
  
• Where is the new fall TV show "Terra Nova" filmed?: (Wondered when we saw a commercial for it and the scenery greatly resembled Hawaii, where we currently reside.) Not Hawaii! Queensland, Australia. I had no idea it was so scenic!
  
  
• What is gout?: Gout is a form of arthritis caused by excess uric acid. It most commonly affects the joints in the feet. So of course...
  
  
• What is uric acid?: From MedlinePlus, a website by the National Institutes of Health: "Uric acid is a chemical created when the body breaks down substances called purines. Purines are found in some foods and drinks such as liver, anchovies, mackerel, dried beans and peas, beer, and wine. Most uric acid dissolves in blood and travels to the kidneys, where it passes out in urine."
  
  
• What is the HTML code for a bulleted list?: Answer found on this blog.

Furry Friday

Lily loves to sit on the top of the couch and look out the window. It's also her favorite place for dozing in the sun.

Inspiration: Gardening

This week's prompt in the Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop is gardening. I have always loved gardens. My mom is an amazing gardener and she learned the skill from her mother, who had an absolutely exquisite garden. Unfortuantely, it doesn't appear that I've inherited their green thumbs. For now, my "garden" consists of a pot of pink petunias and a window box of lavender impatiens. Eventually, though, I would love to have a huge, stunning garden. I want a place to sit, a bird bath and a water feature, some shade and some sun, some flowers neatly contained in pots and cute containers and others grown a bit wild. I'll have plenty of snapdragons, peonies and daisies -- my favorite flowers -- and some hydrangeas for my mom. It will be the perfect place to enjoy a morning cup of coffee or escape in the pages of a book in the afternoon sun. Sigh... The following pictures are ones from which I would definitely draw inspiration when planning my own garden someday.

This is a tiny piece of my mom's gorgeous garden.

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This is my favorite picture of the week.

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I love these herb markers from Etsy!

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