While watering the garden today, I discovered that I have real live tomatoes growing! Roma, six of them, to be specific. I’m so excited!!
Everything else is still growing well too (except the broccoli), and I’m planning to eat some of the romaine this weekend! I’ve also decided to plant zucchini and green beans once I harvest the broccoli and romaine, so hopefully I’ll continue my garden success so far with those.
Lesson learned – in Houston, plant your broccoli really early! Apparently it starts to flower quickly if forced to mature at temperatures above 80F (thank you Aggie Horticulture Website), and it’s been just over 80 during the days for the past week or so in Houston.
Here’s what the broccoli looks like now:
Next year I’ll have to plant it when it’s actually still chilly outside!
I’m having so much fun checking the garden every other day or so to see how much it’s grown! Here are some new pictures!
My roma tomato plant has a small flower, which means that I should have a tomato soon!
And, in case you’re wondering, everything I learned from gardening came from my dad, whose garden seriously puts mine to shame!
It’s been at least a week since all of my garden has been planted. I put the broccoli and lettuce in about 3 weeks ago, the broccoli is actually growing! This is what it looked like today:
I also planted the cucumber seeds about 2 weeks ago, and I discovered that I have seedlings! I was worried most about these, because I haven’t had good luck in the past growing herbs from seeds.
I can’t wait until I can actually eat something from the garden!
Obviously I enjoy making baby blankets for friends! Here are some that I’ve made in the last year:
The first blanket I made was for some friends having their second baby, and they weren’t planning to find out the sex. I didn’t want it to be too boring, so I chose a few different gender neutral colors and fell in love with this pattern. I made a few modifications, which you can read about on Ravelry. This is one of my all time favorites, and I think I’ll end up making one of these for baby McCoy, if and when that day comes.
Honeycomb Stroller Blanket
Pictures:
The next blanket I made was for some friends who would appreciate something really unique. OpArt is one of the most beautiful, intriguing blanket patterns that I have seen, so I thought it would be a great fit. I chose red because I wanted to start knitting before the couple had found out the sex of the baby, and it really did the pattern justice!
OpArt
Pictures:
Finally, a friend was having a baby girl but decorating in bright primary colors. For some reason this beautiful orange sherbet colored yarn called out to me, so I chose it and picked out one of my favorite fun patterns!
Curlicue Blanket
Pictures:
Jake is in Houston now, getting everything moved into the house. If you haven’t already seen them, here are some new pictures of what it looked like before all of our stuff arrived. I can’t wait to move in and make it our own!
Posted in Photos
Jake and I are officially moving to Houston this weekend – kind of. I still have to finish some work on my PhD in Nashville, but we are moving all of our stuff, and Jake will head back there full time. The most exciting part to me is that we are renting a really nice house! No more fighting over parking spots, elephants upstairs, or loud music next door!!
Here are some pictures of the house that I pulled off of the MLS listing. Once we’ve moved in, I’ll get new pictures, of course!
Posted in Photos
I seem to keep forgetting the main reason I have been so unsuccessful at blogging in the past – I am WAY too busy! At some point I’d like to really get caught up on the posts I’ve got partially drafted, but until then, here is a snippet:
The Standard: 4, 5, and 6
Our 4th visit to The Standard’s wine tasting was alright – we took a break after that trip. For old time’s sake we caught up for visits 5 and 6, the last two of the season. I think the dishes were more on par with what we expected after the first few trips, but the food and wines were not as great as our first few pairings. I still recommend The Standard to anybody looking for some really nice Southern food.
Dim Sum
We’ve been back for dim sum twice. The second time everything was still great, plus we tried a few new dishes. The third time we went on a Saturday evening, so we sat in a different area and ordered off the menu. While the food was still good, I would not recommend this at all. Everything took a while to prepare, and came out at random times. Find time on Saturday or Sunday early afternoon and get the full cart experience.
Wii Fit
We got a Wii Fit, and I LOVE it! I’m still trying to make my Mii have a normal BMI, but hopefully soon!
Graduate School
School is so busy right now, it’s insane. I submitted my first journal paper about a month ago, so I’m waiting to hear back on that. I’m taking two classes right now, working on another project, and trying to make some serious progress on narrowing my PhD topic.
Random To-Reviews
Tin Angel, Greek Festival, Cuisine of India, Flying Saucer, Royal Thai, McDougal’s, WOW Wingery…
Pictures
Jake and I have been out to Stones River to do some shooting. Check out some pictures here:
Posted in Photos, Random Thoughts
Tagged dim sum, graduate school, Knitting, phd, pictures, site, The Standard, update, wii, wii fit
I got my diploma yesterday, so I am officially a master! 
1200 Clinton St.
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 320-0290
http://www.yazoobrew.com
We have been meaning to go visit the Yazoo Brewery for a while, so yesterday Jake and I, along with a couple of friends, went on the tour. For $6, you get a tour of the brewery, a pint glass, and samples. The tours are given on Saturdays at 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, and 5:30.
On the outside, the Yazoo Brewery isn’t much to look at. It is located in the Marathon Motor Works building downtown. To get in on the tour, you’ll need to visit the the Tap Room inside and sign up. I don’t want to give away too many details, because I think everybody should go visit on their own. You’ll get a great history of how the brewery was started, learn about the beer-making process and see where it all happens, learn about the different beers Yazoo makes, and taste a few of their most popular brews. The tour isn’t incredibly long, but we enjoyed it, and our tour guide was really friendly, funny, and helpful.
After the tour, we headed back to the Tap Room for (of course) some more beer. We got a few samplers to share, which included 5 oz. samples of their Dos Perros, Pale Ale, IPA, Hefeweizen, Porter, and Stout. Normally I prefer not to drink any of these styles. However, fresh from the tap these were a lot better than any I’ve had at local bars. The sampler was a great way to try everything, and it cost $8. If you know what you like, pints are $4. They also had some cheese and bread selections available to order.
One other thing to note – if you really enjoy the Yazoo brews, you can take some to-go in one of three forms: a half-gallon growler for $11 ($8 refills), a sixth-barrel keg for $50, or a half-barrel/full keg for $140. We had a great time, and we will definitely go back for both the tour and for drinks in the Tap Room.
Here are some pictures that we took:
