A Tree Grows in Fairmount

2009 is going to be a year of growth and life for me. And Yesterday I got a jumpstart on my New Year's goals and embarked on what I know will be a wonderful and transformative experience. I am going to bring life into this world: I am going to grow a tree. Several trees actually. They will start as small little seedlings in my apartment. With proper love, care, and water they will grow into full-blown trees like you might find in nature!

The particular tree I am growing is called Solanum Quitoense it has a beautiful purple star shaped flower and produces a delcious fruit called the Lulo...a Costa Rican specialty!! I will be testing several methods for growing my lulos. I will start one batch from seeds ordered from the Internets, another batch from baby Lulo plants (also ordered on the Internets), and a final batch from seeds that I intend to smuggle home from my upcoming trip to Costa.

Though the seeds have yet to arrive and these bad boys take a solid six months to grow, I already have visions of me in a big hat with a water can out on my patio tending to my crops. And by my calculations I will be stepping out back to pick fresh lulos for breakfast by July!

Stay tuned for Lulo updates!!

Candy House 08

This creed governs the work my family does every year on the day after Thanksgiving. It is a holiday tradition that rivals anything Martha Stewart can come up with. It is: Candy Houses. But much like any endeavor my family takes, it is done with our own unique style. For one, we can not be bothered with the architectural limitations of standard gingerbread so we, instead, rely on meticulously constructed cardboard frames (as pictured in the "before" photo).

Despite the Better Homes and Gardens appearances of our fine holiday tradition, competition is what drives us to confection perfection. Where some families have warmth, we have acerbic wit. Where other families have support and tenderness we have cut throat competition. Where some families have "at least we're all together" we have I will hurt you if you don't give me back that pez.

Though there was no official judging of the candy houses this year. I had the best house. YAY! I love winning!!!!!

Before
A Work in Progress

The Winning House (oh, and my teammate alex)
The Magical Candy City

Final Dispatch from the Country

Sorry for the dearth of posts lately. I have been frantically readying to move out of the country and re-enter both the city and independent adulthood. As you might imagine, this is a very time consuming process. There are walls to be painted, bags to be packed, and of course U-Hauls to rented. It will be a done deal come Saturday and then I will be able to bring everyone up to speed on the many exciting things that have been going on in my life.

Until then, I will be enjoying one last night in the country filled with dogs, food, family members.