humble beginnings

Last year I admitted to being my neighborhood's crazy flower lady. What do you mean you don't have forty potted plants on your deck?* They're so pretty! This year I got a slightly earlier start on planting so hopefully I can grow even bigger and more beautiful flowers, not that I had any problems last year. After I was done planting and watering each one I took a photo. A "before photo" to be able to look back on when these babies really start to grow and bloom. Most don't really look so impressive yet but I'm excited just imagining how great they're going to look in a few weeks.

This year I'm trying to step outside of my comfort zone a little with flowers. When I first started doing flowers each spring (three years ago) my mom made most of my planters and filled them with flowers she's super comfortable growing - petunias. Last year I got a bunch of petunias because I know I could grow them well and then branched out a little with some marigolds, salvia (which did both did AMAZING), and a few other things. This year I got all my old favorites, a few new things and I'm even trying my hand out at growing some peppers. Since it's still early in the season I'm now on the hunt to find more flowers I've never grown before to plant.

Anyway, here are my some of my newly planted goodies. I'll definitely be sharing photos of them from time to time to update you on their growth because as silly of a hobby as growing flowers on my deck is I can't help but get really into it. I LOVE FLOWERS!

And of course, it's not even possible to talk about my flowers without including a photo of my planting pal, Lloyd. I think he might even like planting as much as I do.

xoxo

*I said 40 as a joke but I'm currently resting at a solid 30 planters full on my back deck. Although who knows how long before I add more. Haha!

giveaway : StickyGram

Today I have a fun little giveaway from StickyGram! If you've never heard of them, let me fill you in. StickyGram is a company that will turn your instagram photos into magnets that are approximately the same size as they appear on your phone. They're pretty strong too, if you do recall my new magnetic chalkboard isn't all that magnetic and these babies are staying strong! I got some made of some of my favorite instagram photos...which all happen to be of the animals in my life. Hah!

Without further ado! The giveaway...
What? One very lucky winner will receive three (3!!) sets of magnets and two runners up will each get one set.

When? You have until May 27th to enter.
How to enter - Simply leave a comment on this post! It can be anything - why think you should win, what photos you'd get turned into magnets, where you plan on displaying them, etc.

Optional bonus entries...
(please leave a separate comment for each entry or they won't be counted!)
• Tweeting about the giveaway, feel free to use this -

win a set of magnets made from your own instagram photos from @stickygram on @thedaintysquid blog http://bit.ly/10frHTu

• Share the giveaway on facebook, tumblr or your own blog!
• Like StickyGram on Facebook.

Good Luck!
xoxo

what I wore : dress(ed) in denim

details

hat - thrifted

dress - Target

belt - came with this dress

sunglasses - Target

necklace - c/o Artifacts of Life

shoes - Greece c/o Blowfish

ring - Sea of Bees

camera bag - c/o August Wrinkle  (with this insert)

camera strap - Amazon

So I might have went back to Target and got the other two dresses that are similar to this one that I just adore. Totally justified because they're on clearance though, right? At least that's what I'm telling myself. Hah! I normally go for things a lot more obnoxious but sometimes it's nice just to be able to throw on a really simple dress that doesn't need much of anything to look super cute. A belt, necklace, some cute shoes and this dress is good to go!

Hope you have an awesome Monday! I'm excited to start the week, it's already looking like it'll be a great one.

xoxo