Agapanthus and a Garden Update

I've wanted some Agapanthus plants in my backyard ever since I noticed them in the landscaping around my Kohl's store years ago. 

Do y'all know about Agapanthus? I said on IG they remind me of Society Garlic on steroids and they really do! They have beautiful huge purple/blue blooms in the spring. Google it if you're not familiar. They're just gorgeous! I'll share a pic when they start blooming. 

I planted three here by the bald cypress...

And three in between the crepe myrtles...

Here's a close up...

I originally only bought one Agapanthus, but I have to give a big thank you to my Instagram friend and fellow Texan @thesimplysplendidlife for suggesting I get a few more. She was so sweet to let me know they do a lot better when planted in clusters and then in a few years, I can divide them! So smart! 

You might remember last fall when I planted three blue plumbago between the crepes, but only one made it through our winter "snow storm." I dug it up and added it next to the other plumbago here...

What??? You can't see it? Ha ha! It's very small. :) I added this arrow so you can see it. 

We'll see how it does through the summer. :) 

My green leaf begonias are doing so well...

 Those pinkish leaves are from the bottle brush trees nearby. 


I couldn't resist buying a few more begonias to add around the garden...

I have some begonias that are over 10 years old. They really seem to love it in my backyard. 

My hubby pressure washed the adirondack chairs and they look like new again! He used our Harbor Freight pressure washer that I talked about HERE. 

The amaryllis is going strong...

I went with Torenia again for the patio pots. It lasted all summer long last year, so it was worth a repeat. 

After seeing these pics, I'm thinking our patio could use another pressure washing soon too. 

That's all for now. Hope you have a great day! 

~Lisa 

Easter Decor 2018

I came this close to not decorating for Easter this year. I took about a week off from social media and had so much extra time on my hands. It was glorious! I think I need to take regular breaks from time to time. It's amazing how much I got done. I was so busy reading, marking things off my to-do list and enjoying my new found time that I almost didn't want to bother with Easter decor. But when I got out my box of Easter stuff "just to look" I couldn't resist getting out a few of my favorite bunnies.  

So here is my limited Easter decor for 2018...

And that's it! I think this is the least amount of talking I've ever done in a post. :) Wishing you all a very Happy Easter! 

~Lisa 

IG Funnies

I get so many emails from y'all when I post these funnies. You really seem to appreciate a good laugh, just like me. :) So I've rounded up a few more today. Hope these put a smile on your face. Enjoy! 

 Totally true, am I right? Or for me, it would be Pop Chips. :) 

Yes, yes, yes. And amen. 

Could not help but laugh at this! 

Please tell me some of y'all are old enough to remember this? Texting used to require some talent. ;) 

This is my new favorite IG account. I've been reading "The Secret" book too. Good stuff. Ask, believe, receive. Simple and true. 

~Lisa 

This and That

Are y'all having a good week? I sure am. After a busy week of getting a dental crown replaced and dealing with a temporary one and lots of errands. Then a weekend of replacing our kitchen sink disposer, detailing the car and tons of laundry, I'm now enjoying a few days off with a lot of "me time." I bought a few new books for my Kindle and I plan on reading and drinking coffee for hours on end. Although we had a busy weekend, I did find time to enjoy this little goodie...

Do y'all have a Smallcakes cupcakery near you? If so, I highly recommend the Wedding Cake flavor cupcake. It's an almond flavored cake with almond buttercream. So good! 

My son Logan is enjoying all that SXSW has to offer this week. I'm so jealous! I can't believe it's been a whole year since we all flew to Austin to attend the premiere of his film. If you missed my post about our SXSW experience last year, you can see it HERE What a fun time we had! 

I had to share this pic of Finn's tail. He must be part fox...

 Okay, so I've got a little of everything for you today. 

Do y'all know about Post It Extreme? 

Post It Extreme $4.99 at Target

They're for indoors OR outdoors! It says they work in hot or cold weather, on wet surfaces, wood and brick. They're made of dura-hold paper and a strong adhesive for extra hold in all kinds of conditions and they're water resistant. So neat!

 Here's the description on the Target website:

Remember when I told y'all about the inexpensive pillow covers on Amazon? Well, look at these I found...

Can you believe those prices? They're all 18"x18" and even with shipping, all 6 of these would only be $27! I'm tempted to order them. :) Just search "Christmas pillow covers" or "Easter pillow covers" or whatever holiday you're looking for on Amazon and they'll come up. 

Saw this amazing wallpaper on IG recently...

Can you believe that's wallpaper?! It really looks like stone! Just visit @vaughnhillhome on IG to see more pics. 

This made me laugh... 

 So funny, right? :) 

I also saw this on IG. You can upload a pic of your pet (or a human face) and they'll make it into a charm! 

Doesn't it look just like that cat?

Or how about this cute dog? I mean, the likeness is uncanny! 

It totally made me think of something Jim would do to Dwight on The Office, just to tease him! I can see him getting a charm made of Dwight's face! Lol! Can y'all tell I've been binge watching episodes of The Office? It's almost better the second time around. :) 

You can go to mypets.gift if you're interested in ordering. 

That's all I've got for today. Hope you're having a wonderful week! 

~Lisa 

Coffee Cake Recipe and Elchim Hair Dryer

I was next door at my mom's house the other day and noticed a 1964 Bisquick cookbook on her counter. I started flipping through it and found this coffee cake recipe...

 Don't you love the cool graphic showing you exactly how big a 9" pan is?! Lol! 

It seemed easy enough and I had everything on hand, so I tried it and it was really good! 

I ran a piece over to my mom when I returned her cookbook later that day. I love finding old recipes like this. Makes me feel like I've gone back in time. :) 

In other news, my blow dryer broke. Again. The last three blow dryers I've owned have all quit working within 6 months of purchase. And yes, we cleaned the filter and did all the other quick fixes they recommend and nothing worked. They were pretty cheap ones, probably only $25, but still. You'd think they would last longer than that. I use it every day, but only for about 10 minutes.

So I put out a request on Instagram, asking for recommendations. I was pretty sure I needed to invest in a professional one, but knew I'd have to pay a lot more. My friend Lauren said she had an Elchim and was very happy with it. I also noticed our local news anchor, Dominique Sachse uses an Elchim. (In addition to being a news anchor, Dominique is a big YouTube star with great makeup and hair tutorials) I remembered seeing her use an Elchim in one of her videos. Since she's local (and deals with our humidity first hand) and has naturally curly hair like me, I went with the model she uses: The Elchim 2001 When reading about the 2001, it said "The Elchim Classic 2001 is ideal for all hair types, but especially thick, coarse hair that typically becomes wild and frizzy after drying." Sold! That perfectly describes my hair. :) 

Here's how the Elchim 2001 is described on the Elchim website: 

 The world’s best-selling professional hair dryer

"The 2001 is a true classic, the two-time winner of the prestigious “Allure Best” prize, the best hair dryer according to Life & Style and the “Best Beauty Buy” for the magazine InStyle USA. Two speeds, five temperatures, high-pressure air compression technology, reliable and efficient. It has been adopted by many hair stylists and schools thanks to the long life of its motor, which guarantees 2,000 working hours."

You can see all the models HERE.   

Here's the box mine came in...

It's made in Italy and I love that guarantee of 2000 working hours! It's very powerful, leaves my hair less frizzy AND dries it in half the time! Oh, and right after I bought it, I had an appointment with my hair stylist (I got 3 inches cut off!) and while I was there, I asked what kind of blow dryer she uses and she has an Elchim too! I should have just asked her first. 

I highly recommend it. Worth every penny. 

One more thing...I've been using this Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum on my hair and love it!!! 

I apply it on wet hair after I shampoo. Then blow dry as usual. It definitely helps to tame the frizzies. And bonus...it smells like watermelon candy. :) 

~Lisa 

Spring Garden 2018

Do y'all remember our Yard Work To-Do List I blogged about almost two weeks ago? Well, I'm happy to report we've completed everything on that list! We've been busy over here. :) 

One of the big things on the list was to remove the backyard pergola. It was beginning to rust and needed to come down, before it fell down on its own. 

Not sure if we'll replace the pergola or not. It's amazing how much bigger the backyard seems without it...

I should have put out my new red chair cushions and cleaned the rug before I took these pics. Oh well. :) 

I think I've shown this Bridal Wreath every spring since I've been blogging. The delicate white blooms are so pretty. Can't wait until it's in full bloom in another week or so.

Below is one of the mini bottle brush bushes we planted...

Look how pretty my Shamrock plants are! Love their white blooms! 

This was the day I put down 20 bags of mulch all by myself. I declined all offers to help because I had a very specific way I wanted to do it. We already had a good amount of mulch, so it just needed a little added to the top. I was afraid anyone else would apply too much, which would require yet another trip to the garden center for more, so I opted to do it myself by hand. :) Plus, it counted as my exercise for the day. 

Which reminds me of this famous "mom quote"...

"I could really use some help around here! No, not like that. Oh never mind, I'll just do it myself!" Ha!

You can see the Blue Plumbago we pruned in front of the bottle brush tree...

Here's a closer look. I wanted to show how far down we prune it. It's already starting to come back. Those tiny bushes to the left are the ones we just planted last fall. I'm hoping they'll really take off this summer and start to get bigger. 

BTW, that tree stump is from the pine tree we took down in the front. We're going to level it off so it can be a little seat. :) It'll probably be moved somewhere else.  

The grass hasn't completely greened up yet, and a lot of things are still dormant. It won't be long before we're mowing once a week though. 

I planted 10 of these 6" red begonias...

I find the green leaf begonias do much better in our heat, versus the copper leaf. 

I love this Chinese Fringe...

I have two fairy doors by this tree. The one to the left (the smaller one) has actually grown into the tree!

Okay, do you see that little blur in the grass below the tree and to the right? 

 Here's a close up...

 It's a bee (or wasp?) in mid-flight! It was the weirdest thing. I was just taking a pic of my backyard. Then I went inside to look at the pics and I noticed something by the tree. I thought it was a bird, then I enlarged it and turns out, it was a wasp! So funny! 

One more pic. This is the state of my red Lantana in the front yard...

I took this pic because I want to show you how fast it comes back after pruning. I'll update you in a month to let you see how green and big it is. :) Also, I'm hoping that Aztec grass in front of it will come back too. I trimmed it a little and you can see the green starting to come through, so it's looking good. 

Well, that's it for my spring garden. Hope y'all are enjoying some spring like weather wherever you are!

~Lisa