2022 Garden

Just browsing the 2021 Garden post and realized everything is so late this year!

2022 GARDEN

Orange Monarch Snow Crocus
4.4.22 – Crocus barely peeking out. Only 2 of the 10 I planted came up. We left on spring break shortly after this and when we came back the buds were gone.

Grape Hyacinth
4.26.22

Hawaiian Skies Daffodil4.28.22

5.2.22 The vase was a birthday gift from Jess!

Lilac Wonder Tulip
5.8.22 I love this little tulip!

Purple Iris5.11.22: I only have a couple of these.

Lily of the Valley5.14.22 I struggled to keep these alive last year when I planted them and didn’t know if they would come back this year, but here they are!

Kilbourn Park Plant Sale 05.15.22 All these and also rosemary! Reminder for next year, go on Saturday, not Sunday.

Lilac05.16.22 When your neighbor’s lilacs come through the fence to your yard, then they are yours! Actually, Jen and Cory have so many, they told me to help myself! Mine are not blooming yet.

5.19.22 I’ll never get sick of the scent of lilacs!

05.22.22 Now we have our own lilacs!

Garden 05.17.22 Got the garden in.

Mini Fuschia 05.18.22 These are so cute and dainty. Too bad they kind of fried later on when we had some really hot days in a row.

Yellow Iris05.22.22 I’ve never been a huge fan of these, but they really put on a show this year!

05.23.22

05.24.22 Blooming in the front and the back!

05.25.22

05.26.22

05.31.22

Front Garden
05.25.22

05.26.22

07.21.22

Moss Rose

05.29.22

05.31.22

06.26.22

Zucchini
06.01.22 – My zucchini is very small but getting blossoms. No fruits. This is my first year trying to grow zucchini.

Herbs06.02.22 The thyme and chives are gone crazy already. I didn’t plant these this year, they came back from last year!

8.31.22

9.30.22 I made pesto with end-of-the-season basil.

Little Free Library Garden

06.04.22 Dad helped me remove the grass around the Little Free Library and add a layer of mulch. We also added pavers around the base of the library.

06.05.22 I went to Pesche’s and got flowers to plant around the Little Free Garden. The lily of the valley was already there, but I planted the zinnia, dahlia, dusty miller and abutilon.

06.07.22 The fairy lights were not working for a long time. I think the cord was severed by the lawn mower. I added an extra set back on.

08.04.22

08.06.22

8.10.22 Cut flowers.

8.16.22

8.22.23

09.02.22

09.12.22

Tiger Lily
06.05.22 These Tiger Lilies just popped up out of nowhere.

Geranium

06.11.22 I’m not really a “geranium person,” but I let Makai pick what he wanted from FMGC to plant on the front steps. These are his favorite color to the max! He said he felt like they were burning his eyes out (that’s a good thing, apparently).

African Flake Daisy06.13.22 I got these at the Kilbourn Park plant sale and they are finally blooming. I wasn’t sure what to expect, since I’d never heard of this flower before. They’re so beautiful!

06.28.22 I was surprised when my second African Flakes bloomed and they were yellow! Still very pretty!

Daisy
06.20.22 The daisies are blooming in full force! I picked a few to put in the small vase that Jess gave me.

07.06.22 SO. MANY. DAISIES. I love it! People have stopped and commented on how much they love them!

Verbena06.20.22 Ive never grown verbena before, but I really like how it’s looking!

Lantana 06.20.22 This is also my first time with lantana. It’s so pretty. Makai picked the lantana because it reminded him of popcorn! ?

Coneflowers / Echinacea
06.26.22 The coneflowers look so pretty!

Pink Cherrywine Tomato (from the Chicago Tomato Man)6.27.22 I harvested my first couple of tomatoes and they were so juicy and sweet!

7.15.22

8.27.22

10.15.22 – Bringing in the tomatoes so they dont get frost.

Swamp Milkweed06.30.22 I planted milkweed seeds from a pod someone gave me a couple years ago. They’re finally big and blooming this year!

07.07.22 The milkweek is really blooming now.

07.27.22 OMG the milkweed is covered in aphids!

08.04.22 Today I noticed a few ladybugs on the plants. Makai thought that was sooo cool! Funny that kids understand the relationship between aphids and ladybugs from reading Eric Carle.

Coleus
07.04.22 Coleus going strong in the parlor palm one year later!

08.09.2022

Daylilies
07.07.22 Daylilies are in full bloom!

Dahlia07.10.22 The dahlia are small but very pretty.

Hibiscus7.14.22 First hibiscus bloom!

7.15.22 Open!

08.03.22

Black Eyed Susan7.17.22 I planted these at the end of the season last year and half thought they died. Glad to see them come back. They’re still small, but I’m sure they will spread and grow!

Phlox
07.19.22 The phlox is finally in bloom.

BUNNIES!07.22.22 I was tending to the garden and notices the large clump of thyme was …. slightly…. quivering? I lifted it up and saw…. BUNNIES!!!!!

07.23.22 They’re sooooo cute.

07.25.22

07.26.22

07.27.22 SIX bunnies! We were gone for a trip to Green Bay and Door County at the end of July and when we came back, the bunnies had left the nest.

8.17.22 WE HAVE MORE BUNNIES!

BELL PEPPER

08.01.22 The larger pepper is a Chinese Giant bell pepper and has a super sweet taste. The smaller one is a King of the North and has a more traditional bell pepper taste. I got both of these from the Kilbourn Park Greenhouse sale. And then a few more of the Pink Cherrywine tomatoes.

10.11.22

CANNA08.03.22

10.15.22 – out to dry

SUNFLOWER08.05.22 The sunflowers are here and they’re bigger than my hand!

8.10.22 – wink!

8.16.22

9.1.22

KATYDID 08.05.22 Maybe Katydids eat aphids too? Saw this one on the milkweed.

RASPBERRIES

8.11.22 No fruit yet, but look how tall they are!

Almafi Orange Tomato from Chicago Tomato Man8.12.22 Picked the first one!

GRASSHOPPER 8.17.22 – We’ve seen so many grasshoppers in the yard lately!

JASMINE9.1.22 Jasmine in bloom smells amazing!

9.14.22

CHRYSANTHEMUM

DRAGONFLY09.22.22

TOMATO HORNWORM

10.04.22

Mother’s Day Weekend

Makai and I went to Jewel to get some flower for mom. Jewel  had SO many flowers and gifts to choose from. Mom had a fall recently, so we added the Advil. Makai wrote out the card.

We had brunch at Eris. Dad and I both had the shrimp and grits with an egg.

Richard went home, but mom and dad stayed for Makai’s baseball game.

The next morning I took Makai to swimming lessons at Goldfish.

At home, Makai gave me a card he made at at school and two chocolate bars.

We got back home and got ready for brunch downtown!

Tanta, one of our favorite restaurants, was having a mother’s day brunch buffet. Dallas and I have been there many times, but this was Makai’s first visit. He found some things he liked and tried some things he didn’t. And also had like 6 slices of cake!

I got a new gardening bench and for Dallas put it together.

Makai and I went to Farmers Market Garden Center and on the way home we stopped for shakes at Big League Burgers. They have a Cubs theme inside the restaurant.

Spring Break in Washington

Our niece, Lilinoe, was born at the end of 2019, so we booked a trip to see her in the spring of 2020. That trip got canceled + we’re finally using our credits to visit. Lilinoe is already 2 years old! Happy to meet her + see Liz, Jordan + Mahealani, who we haven’t seen for almost 3 years.

Leaving Chicago

Touchdown in Seattle

Breakfast our first morning at Jordan + Liz’s house.

Me + Lili

Mahea + Makai

Mahea + Lili

Makai and his cousins Mahealani + Lilinoe. And meeting their puppy, Betty!

And speaking of Betty…

Makai and I totally fell for this pup and wanted to take her home!

She is a Boston Terrier that Liz got for Jordan for his birthday, making her only a few months old!

We arrived in Seattle on a Thursday night, got our rental car and drove up to Everett, Washington, where we had a hotel room. Since it was late we went right to bed. The next morning we went to Jordan and LIz’s house for breakfast (see photos above) and then spontaneously decided to take a ferry somewhere.

Makai had never been on a ferry up here (he has been on an NYC ferry).

We drove to Edmonds and took the ferry across to Kingston where we had lunch at Westside Pizza + ice cream + played in the Port of Kingston Kiwanis Park before taking the ferry back across.

On the way home from the ferry, we stopped at the Funko Headquarters store in Everett. We’d told Makai about this before the trip and he was SOO excited.
Aside from all the figures for sale, they had a lot of fun displays of the characters they sell. Me with Batman and Robin.

Ironman!

Really cool Harry Potter display!

Disney princess castle.c

Captain America and Stan Lee.

Star Wars

Godzilla

I don’t know how each of these kids finally decided on one figure each! There were THOUSANDS to choose from! Mahea looked at every cat in the store: Mewtwo from Pokemon, Hello Kitty, Crookshanks from Harry Potter, the Cheshire Cat, etc.

Makai chose Captain America, Mahea got Chester Cheetah and Mahea got Hello Kitty.

This is Liz and Jordan’s second house in Lake Stevens. Dallas had visited them at their first place, but I never had been there. We were curious about the actual lake that Lake Stevens was named for, so Jordan took us to Lundeen Park and drove us around the whole lake.

Swimming at the Snohomish (neighboring town) aquatics center. It was SO nice for a public pool! Makai went down a big water slide about 10 times! Liz and Jordan took Mahea, Makai and Lili in. I stayed on the side.

After swimming the kids were soo hungry so we went to Blazing Onion. Liz and Lili went home and Dallas brought his parents to meet us.

Jordan and Liz had a barbecue and some of their friends and Liz’s family came over. I don’t know why I don’t have any photos except this one of Makai picking up McFurry. He was squirming around and Makai yelled “OW, MY NUTS!!!” in front of the whole BBQ. Luckily no one seemed to hear!

Liz and Jordan also have 3 goats that they rescued: Marley, Fig and Peso! Makai LOVED them. Every day he visited them in the barn and fed them different plants to see what they would eat.


Makai liked to ride around on this motorized tractor. He called it his “Joe Deer” and because he can never be wrong, referred to it as that for the whole trip.

Liz took us for a walk by their house.

That same day there was a random freak hail storm that was super localized today! Liz and Kathy were at a store not far away and there was no hail at all! Kind of fun since it wasn’t big enough to do damage.

WHO COULD IT BE??

Jordan and Dallas went to the casino for a while at night. Since Easter was around the corner, the rest of us decided to dye some eggs. Liz and Kathy dumped the leftover dye in the yard and the next day we found an egg out there too!

Dallas and I took Makai in to Seattle to show Makai some of the common tourist sites. It was fun to explore. I hadn’t been to Seattle for a very long time.

The first thing we did was get lunch at The Athenian. Chowder! Oysters! Fish + Chips! (Makai loves fish + chips now. We just had to tell him it was “fish sticks” like he has at school!) We ate very light because we knew there would be a lot of good things to eat at the market!

We walked through Pike Place Market where the vendors were selling all their wares. We saw the flying fishes being thrown and then we walked out through the gum alley and the gum wall! Dallas was SO grossed out!

We next visited the Seattle Aquarium where Makai’s favorite exhibits were the ones with the otters (both river and sea otters). He also told a volunteer “Me and my dad are from Hawaii” and talked about the tropical exhibit and the Hawaiian species there.

Dallas REFUSED to go on The Seattle Great Wheel and instead opted to sit at a bar in the market and drink a beer! Makai was scared, but in a fun way, he said.

Before we left, we stopped at Beecher’s and split a grilled cheese and some mac n cheese, which were both amazing. Jordan and Liz highly recommended Beecher’s and it did not disappoint. They also recommended Piroshky Piroshky, a Russian bakery. We got two pastries to bring to dinner.

For dinner we visited Tandy and Chris on Mercer Island. They were moving literally in a couple days (just down the street), but were still nice enough to have us over and order pizza. Makai and Dallas met up with Tandy recently in Chicago when she was visiting for work, but the last time any of us had seen Chris or the kids was when I was pregnant and we visited them in Japan! Makai instantly made two new friends! Kanoa and Makai are close in age and have the same silly, punny sense of humor!

Jordan took us to Katsu Burger in Lake Stevens. We all really liked it. I had the Fried Chicken Katsu Curry which had curry powder, American cheese, tonkatsu sauce and curry.

After lunch, Jordan took Makai, Dallas and I to BobaKhan Toys. The store is packed with comics, toys and collectibles! They were all loving it! Makai was so overwhelmed when we asked him to pick something. He ended up getting an Avengers graphic novel, a Captain America pin and a magnet by ClockworkArt (Captain America reimagined as a cat).

Makai spent most nights sleeping in Grandma + Grandpa C’s room at Jordan and Liz’s house, while Dallas and I slept in a hotel room in Everett Hampton Inn, which was about a 10 minute drive away. Only on the first and last night did Makai stay with us. ^ Dallas’s parents went to Florida with Caroline’s family and got makai the NASA Cat in the Hat stuffie. The otter is from the Seattle Aquarium and the teddy bear from home.

It was nice in the morning to walk around Everett and do some exploring and to have some time to ourselves. We visited Narrative Coffee, but our favorite quickly became Choux Choux Bakery. It was very close to our hotel, had a daily rotating selection of bread and pastries, the coffee was good and the staff was really friendly.

This mural was near our hotel in Everett. It’s Breonna Taylor and Jatarius Tolbert, a local teen who was murdered.

On our last day of vacation, we decided to go into Seattle and hang out for a few hours, since it’s closer to the airport. Mark the Space Needle off the bucket list.

The Space Needle was fun, especially since there was no line! No photos of Makai because he was too afraid to go by the glass wall or in the rotating glass floor.

We ventured over to Belltown for lunch at Karaage Setsuna, a Japanese/Hawaiian restaurant. Makai asked to try the egg and spam maki then pounded the entire roll plus some fries and karaage chicken! Loved the restaurant and the neighborhood!

Our last activity in Seattle before heading to the airport was the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit. Dale Chihuly is from Tacoma and famous for his glass sculptures. I was so excited that we could now see his work while visiting Seattle – last time it was only in Tacoma. Everything was so gorgeous, I took sooo many photos!

New York! It’s been SO long!

I started working for Shake Shack at the end of October – Makai’s birthday was my first day, actually! Right away I was asked to go to New York for a big meeting. It was my first in-person meeting since the pandemic began! Also, the Shake Shack headquarters turned out to be just a few blocks from my old apartment in The Village, so each morning I took a walk around the old neighborhood! A good thing about New York is that they’re requiring proof of vaccination to get into anything – work, restaurants, events, etc! Unfortunately, none of my friends could meet up for dinner on this trip, but there will be more!

After checking into the Four Points Soho (only $100/night! and only $200 airfare!)

I went directly to my old haunt, Joe’s pizza. Sooooooo good.

There’s a Shake Shack restaurant on the ground floor of the building where the headquarters is. I passed by it on the way back to the hotel.

The next morning I got ready for work. I used a hair dryer! And makeup!

I went for a walk around my old neighborhood. I saw my old apartment:

Around the corner is Father Demo Square, which seems to have gotten an overhaul. I’ve spent so many hours sitting here and people watching or reading books or meeting someone.

I tried to get coffee at Grey Dog, my favorite cafe, but they weren’t open yet! I stumbled upon Bluestone Lane and it was great!

While sitting and eating my croissant and drinking my coffee I saw this Simpsons mural. Makai and Dallas have been watching The Simpsons together, which is kind of funny.

The Shake Shack common area and kitchen is so gorgeous. I love all the plants!

We spent all day in a big meeting whiteboarding and talking IN PERSON. It was a bit surreal. Ben

 

Fedi was getting tickets for the Knicks vs. Bucks at Madison Square Garden. I’m not a big basketball fan, but if you’re going to see the Knicks, you should see them at The Garden! Also, for a while at Isobar, Madison Square Garden was my client. I went to meetings in the building, but had never been inside the arena! So, I went… along with Alora, Brandi, Tara and Adam.

Regular stuff that is normal in New York that you forget about.BAGEL CART!

BODEGA CAT!

BODEGA FLOWERS!

CELLAR DOORS!

STREET VENDORS!

In the airport on the way home. Shake Shack mask.

 

2021 Garden

We had such a great garden this year! This doesn’t even show the squash and pumpkin!

HAWAIIAN SKIES DAFFODIL4.9.21 Last fall I bought some bulbs and planted them. These were some of them. My first flowers to bloom.

KINDRED SPIRIT OAK4.16.21 We requested a parkway tree before we even moved into our house and it took more than 2 years for the city to plant it. We got a Kindred Spirit Oak in the fall of 2020. I was so anxious for it to start to bud this spring and finally it did. I’m hearing that oaks bud late.

5.3.21 Getting some leaves going now.

5.16.21

5.25.21

LILAC WONDER TULIP4.24.21 I loved these tulips last spring and did research to find out that they are Lilac Wonder tulips. I planted the bulbs in the fall and they are finally blooming!

4.27.21

STRAWBERRY4.26.21: Last year the strawberries grew and spread, but did not produce any fruit. Looks like this year will be different!

6.3.21 YES! FRUIT!

6.5.21 Makai said the strawberries are SO sweet!

NIGELLA DAMASCEANA [LOVE-IN-A-MIST]5.4.21: Dad was going to pull these weeds out, but I stopped him, literally a second before he was about to do it. I’d remembered sprinkling some seeds around that I’d gotten for free in the neighborhood gardening group. It was late last summer or early fall. I wanted to see what this turned out to be. I posted in a couple gardening groups and some people had hunches, but no one was for sure. Some thought dill even!

5.26.21 – Finally blooms!

HERB GARDEN5.4.21 I’ve planted the herb garden. Back row is parsley, chives, cilantro and basil. In the front is oregano, dill, thyme and rosemary. The thyme keeps coming up every year. I dug out all the mint and literally threw it away! We never use it and it is hard to manage. The problem is that KC thinks its fun to jump into the raised bed and dig. I’ve replanted the chives 2-3 times now.

I got these fence pieces from Home Depot and put them around the herb garden. KC looked at them and jumped right over the top!

I ended up putting the fence pieces around the front flower garden. I think they look nice and give it a more polished look. I need to get a few more to complete the area.

9.5.21 Front Garden

For now, this is the best way to keep KC out of the garden!

5.25.21

7.4.21

7.9.21

8.14.21

COLEUS FLAMETHROWER – SPICED CURRY5.2.21: Makai did not want flowers in the turtle!

6.1.21

7.4.21

8.6.21

10.10.21

10.26.21

PANSY 5.14.21 Planted in the front garden near the bird feeder.

LILACS5.17.21

IRIS 5.19.21 The irises have grown so tall!

PUMPKIN5.20.21 I started these from seeds that Makai picked out at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

6.6.21 bloom!

6.17.21 Squash on the left, pumpkin on the right.

6.17.21 The pumpkin leaves are HUGE!

HIBISCUS5.21.21

7.7.21

7.13.21

7.15.21

8.4.21

BROCCOLI5.22.21 Starting to see some growth.

6.6.21

6.8.21

6.14.21 Roasted it

SPAGHETTI SQUASH5.25.21 Makai came home from gardening class with a spaghetti plant (and a very large onion)

6.7.21 bloom!

6.17.21

7.1.21 Squash + Pumpkin

7.9.21

LILY OF THE VALLEY5.31.21 Makai’s preschool friend Sam’s mom gave me some Lily of the Valley. I planted it around the oak on the parkway in front of our house.

RASPBERRY6.1.21 Picked this up at Home Depot randomly.

7.3.21 raspberries!

MOSS ROSE 6.2.21 I love these moss roses.

6.15.21

DAISY6.3.21 The daisies are in bloom! They’ve grown and spread so much since last year!

6.14.21 I have so many daisies, I cut some for my office.

6.21.21 I can’t believe these are so big compared to when I planted them!

BLACK SWALLOWTAIL CATERPILLAR 6.6.21 I discovered my dill is filled with caterpillers!

6.8.21 It loves the dill!

6.9.21 – spotted a butterfly!

“CATALINA GILDED GRAPE” WISHBONE FLOWER6.10.21

6.21.21

OTHER CRITTERS6.17.21 Someone thought maybe a mayfly?

7.8.21 gorgeous gold bug!

8.29.21 Grasshoppers!

9.1.21 Slug

9.4.21 Cicada

CALIBRACHOA6.21.21 I have these in three planters on the front steps!

7.4.21

CONE FLOWERS
6.23.21 I planted these at the end of last year. So pretty.

GREEN BEANS6.28.21 First green bean harvest.

DAYLILY
7.1.21

MARIGOLD7.3.21 Dad and I added a planter to the back of the Little Free LIbrary. I planted marigold seeds in there and they are blooming now!

7.4.21

8.29.21

RED AMARANTH6.14.21 Someone was giving this away on Facebook, so I grabbed 2.

 7.6.21 Growing very big!

9.6.21 I can’t believe how huge these got!

SUNFLOWER7.13.21 Sunflowers will bloom soon!

8.4.21

8.7.21

8.14.21

Storm! 8.24.21

8.26.21 Cut some of the sunflowers that were on downed branches.

8.28.21

9.4.21. I gave some of the sunflower heads to a little girl for her preschool. They were going to dry them and pick the seeds out.

CUCUMBER8.3.21 – Back from Hawaii!! Cucumbers, beans, squash! Not eating the squash!

PHLOX8.4.21

BELL PEPPER8.6.21

8.23.21

 

JALAPENO8.6.21

8.14.21

8.21.21

9.4.21

CARROTS8.7.21

9.12.21

10.25.21 Finally pulled them all. All tiny but very sweet.

COLEUS 8.29.21 Somehow this coleus just started growing in my indoor palm!?!?