This year I signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share and I am so excited to eat organic produce from local farmers. I split the share with my Grandma and we signed up for a half-share, where we pick our items up every other week. Since we didn’t know what to expect, we thought signing up for the lesser option would be best to start with. The way my CSA works is when you signed up, you indicated what you liked and didn’t like so your selections would be tailored to your preferences.

Here’s the first week share, which included 1 lb. rhubarb, 1.5 lbs. crimini mushrooms, mixed greens, herbs and fresh bread. The first share was small since we had a wet spring and that impacted some of the planting in the area. My grandma made a rbubarb crisp that was delish! I also enjoyed lots of salads and sandwiches.

I picked up the second share last Friday and it was more substantial. It included 1.6 lbs of strawberries, mixed greens, head of lettuce, radishes, green onions, head of lettuce and garlic scrapes. Needless to say, I will be eating a lot of salads this week. Perfect timing, since I feel like I’ve been slacking on the nutritious stuff. The strawberries were the some of the best I’ve ever had, Its amazing how different something can taste when its locally grown vs buying something from the grocery store.

Being the nerd I am, I’ve been weighing and writing down everything I’ve gotten because I want to compare prices with the grocery store and see what the price difference overall is. Its not just about the numbers for me, but I think it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. I’m also toying with doing this every week next year and want to make sure I’m eating most items.

And my EarthBoxes…sadly had to be relocated to my mom’s since Bambi kept coming onto my porch and eating my tomato plants. Since I was in the middle of studying for midterms, I did not have the time to rig up something to protect them and it was just way easier to have my stepdad pick them up.  I’m headed over there to tomorrow to see how they’re doing!

Are you part of a CSA or growing anything in your backyard? Any tips on spicing up my salads?

This summer, I’m trying my hand at container gardening with the help of EarthBoxes. These babies are not cheap, but given that I had no supplies to start with, I figured it was worth the extra money for self-watering containers. I wanted to chronicle my experience with the EarthBoxes on the blog as I did a lot of research on these before purchasing them and liked reading people’s experiences with them first hand. I hope this hopes someone else considering them in the near future and feel free to contact me if you have questions. First off, the planting process!

When you first get the EarthBox, it comes with an aeration Screen, fill tube, casters,  fertilizer, dolomite and germination covers. I purchased two cubic feet of potting soil and plants. I planted two tomatoes in one box and five peppers/rosemary in the other. The company has a handy planting guide online that details the planting configuration and how many plants should go in each box.

The first step is to add the aeration screen, fill tube, casters to the EarthBox. Next, you’ll want to take your growing media (make sure its a little moist) and pack it in the top corners.

Continue filling the box with the moist potting media until you have about two inches in the container remaining.

Then, you’ll want to take the dolomite and spread it evenly. The dolomite is lime that contains calcium and magnesium – it lowers the acidity of the soil and acts as a secondary fertilizer.

Then, cover the dolomite with growing media to the top of the box. Then create a trough for the fertilizer and add it in.

Then, top it all off and create a mound above the rim of the box.

Then, you can finally plant! Add the cover and cut holes where the plants will go. After the plants are in, add water to the reservoir via the fill tube. You’ll know when its full when the water comes out via the overflow hole at the bottom.

Planting two Earthboxes took much longer than expected, probably close to two hours once it was all said and done.

I’m a little concerned that they aren’t getting enough sun, but with the casters I’ve been able to wheel them around on my little porch. I planted them last week and so far they are doing good. My mom got two EarthBoxes as well with tomatoes and peppers. Hers are in a spot that gets lots of sun, so we’ll see if she does any better.

Are you growing anything this year? I’d love to hear if you have any container gardening tips to share.

A few weeks ago, my sister graduated from college.

This weekend, we celebrated with a cookout and hot weather. I contributed the dessert, graduation cupcakes. They are easy to make and were a big hit. To make them, all you need to do is ice and frost cupcakes, take a Reese’s peanut butter cup and put the bigger part face down on top. Attach a square chocolate covered cookie that has a m&m in the middle with a fruit loop tassel. Bonus points if they are in the school’s colors. I used a small tube of gel icing to put everything together.

After the cookout, it was s’mores time by the fire pit.

Today I got up early to  watch the local Memorial Day parade with my family. The parade honored a fallen soldier from our area and I am so grateful for those that serve and have served so we can enjoy holidays like today.  In high school, I marched in this parade every year as a rockette (band geek alert!) and seeing my school and hearing the drum line with the same beats brings back memories.

I also got a lot of planting done this weekend, which I’ll share soon. I got everything I needed to get done outside of the house, but the inside of my house is a different story. There’s always next weekend. How was your Memorial Day?

Photo by Carrie D Photography

Fitbloggin‘ was amazing. I really don’t know where to start in recapping it all. I will say that I learned a lot and met so many amazing people. Rather than write about what I learned, I plan on showing it all to you on the old blog and you can read some great recaps others have written.

I’ve been inspired to majorly revive this space. For a long time, I’ve thought I didn’t really have anything to say or have any value to add. Julie wrote about the same feelings this morning. I’m not an expert in anything. I’m a slow runner. I should eat better foods. My social life is kinda lame these days with school. I am still trying to learn how to use my camera. Where do I fit in?

I’m working on not letting negative thoughts hold me back. Time to use my little space of the internets to improve myself and accept my faults. Maybe I’ll even find the courage to write about personal things and triumphs I don’t typically talk about (vague, I know), but Fitbloggin’ showed me that people do want to hear about my experiences and I can make an impact. Cheesy, but true.

I’ve been to blog conferences before, but none of them have inspired me like this one has. Major props to Roni for planning such a wonderful conference. I cannot wait until next year!

Fitbloggin’ peeps, I can’t wait to add you all to my reader and visit your blogs. I’ve been doing some major deleting in Google Reader and will be going on an adding/commenting spree this weekend.

I have lots of things I want to talk about, so writing an editorial calendar is on my to-do list. Stay tuned for some DIY, container gardening, fitness, cooking and whatever mess I get myself into goodness from this girl.

I’m in the suburbs of Maryland tonight, spending the night with a friend from college before I head into Baltimore tomorrow morning for Fitbloggin.

Here’s a recent pic of me. The dog stayed at home and I miss him!

I’m shy, so please say hello! I can’t wait to meet everyone.

When you start running and your knee hurts before you get to the two minute mark…you know its not going to be your day. I am disappointed with my 2:41 finish (I’ve set PRs in every half I’ve ran and this was not one), but it was the best I could do today.

Today started off with a 4:35 a.m. wake up call and some foam rolling. I was out the door by 5:20 a.m. to meet my friend Brian to take the train downtown. We got on the 6 a.m. train. After finding the bag check and a quick bathroom stop, the race was about to start.

The weather was perfect! It was a little rainy, but my socks were dry the whole time so no complaints from me. Since I had knee pain from the beginning, I did a run-walk. I pretty much walked every four minutes. As the race went on, the pain traveled from my knee up my hip. Can we say IT band?

I was so happy to see my family at mile nine and then again at mile 11. They gave me that extra push I needed to finish and since I was running alone, I really appreciated that they got out of bed early to come see me.

Thank you to everyone on Twitter and Facebook for your support. Your cheers and well wishes made my day.

And now I am off to foam roll and probably cry…

Source

On Sunday, I am running the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon. It looks like its going to be another rainy one, just like last year. Fun.

After Sunday, I’m taking a break from long distances, including the half. I’ve decided not to run the NYC Marathon this year either. My knee really hasn’t gotten better, even though I’ve taken most of winter off from running like the doctor suggested. Since I’ve been training again, I will get random knee pains here and there. I’ve been training very conservatively and haven’t trained as well as I should have. So conservative, I’m afraid this is going to be my slowest race ever. I wish I could tell you this is not going to bother me, but it is.

In order to get a little faster and have a goal, my plan is to run a 5k each month of summer and run the Great Race again in September. I figure this will be a more reasonable goal, especially since I’ve started school again. Only two more summers to go! With school, I really don’t have the time to train for distance. Others may be able to do it, but I cannot balance it.

With a shorter distance to focus on, I’m hoping to get back into weight training more and attend a yoga class or two each week. I’ve never really worked on speed since I’ve been running long distances. I’ve only ran one 5k in the dozen or so races I’ve participated in. Fingers crossed that my knee issues don’t flare up and that foam rolling, icing and stretching keep it under control.

What are your summer training plans?

Deck garden, a photo by briannaorg on Flickr.

Planning for a container garden this summer. Starting with tomatoes, peppers and herbs. I planted my herbs earlier today. This is the first time I’m doing it from seeds, so I hope they grow!

I’ve always written off yoga, mostly because yoga studios were clear across town and I’ve been intimidated. I went to my first classes at a new studio last week. Count me hooked! Luckily, there are now three studios near me and I’m looking forward to trying them all.

I brought a ton of IKEA Ribba frames this weekend and I’m excited to finally start putting my gallery wall together. I brought the white frames and white mats, but now I’m wondering if I should have brought the black frames. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

What are you lovin’ these days?

I’ve been living in my house since I brought it almost a year ago, but haven’t shared any pictures on the blog. I finally got all the big things I needed, but it lacks personality and still feels a bit empty at times. My goal for this summer is to finish the downstairs, decor-wise. We will not talk about the remodel I want to do to the kitchen.

I kept the paint color in the kitchen, living room and dining room. I am not really crazy about them, but painting is a lot of work! This is why I started painting my half bath last summer and I am still not done. Hoping to finish it and reveal it this month tho! The carpet is a dark blue. I hated it when I moved in, but its grown on me. It will go someday and now I’m just doing my best to work with it.

View from the front door when you walk in. Cute dog will most likely bark when you come in.

Hospital white on white kitchen. Notice white fridge and black stainless dishwasher and stove, drives me nuts! You can see into the living room from the kitchen.

Dining table, bookshelves and part of the living room. Nothing much on the walls or bookshelves here, working on that. I have a small desk to refinish for the empty walls. The side table is my aunt’s old coffee table and a little low for the space.

Couch, chair and empty wall (soon to be gallery wall). I wish there was more pop between the wall and the couch. I needed a small couch as couches under 90 inches are hard to come by. I didn’t have many options and this couch only came in two colors. The coffee table was my grandmother’s and was made in the 1950s. It needs a little TLC this summer. Notice the ugly vertical blinds. I’ll be replacing those as soon as I figure out what to replace them with.

Here, we have one awkwardly spaced picture and a old, monster TV. Someday there will be a nice flat panel and TV stand. Also, stackable footstool ottoman things I got from my dad. They were popular in the 80s and are from Ethan Allen.

If you’ve got decor tips, I am all ears. I’d love to hear them!

Meet Toby, the dog I adopted last week! He is a Pomeranian Chihuahua mix and ten pounds of fun. Housetraining is going really well, no accidents since the first night. Next week we start our training classes, which will be good because somebody doesn’t like strangers.

I got Toby after two weeks of stalking the animal shelters. I was going to adopt a different dog, but it didn’t work out. And let’s not talk about the time I went to the shelter and decided not to adopt a dog. I felt so awful. But, it was meant to be and I ended up with Toby. I am not in love with the name, but he responds to it really well and the poor guy has been through so much already. Its growing on me.

There are so many choices when it comes to dogs in terms of food, car transport devices, beds, toys. I had NO idea. Its quite overwhelming actually. I’m just sticking to the basics for now. His favorite toys are old socks, but I have got to get something for the car. He always wants to sit up front, which isn’t safe with the airbags and we go over to my mom’s quite a bit.

This whole dog owning business is so new to me, so if you have any advice or tips, I’d love to hear ‘em!