If you are staying in a hotel near LAX airport around Century Blvd (a major street) or have some hours between flights, I highly recommend taking advantage of the Ocean Express Shuttle. It’s a nice bus that will take you to Manhattan Beach, nice shopping areas, and dining spots for $5 round trip! After an early start to a 10-hour work day, by 4pm the other flight attendant and I were kicking waves at the beach, holding starfish at the pier, and browsing unique (and way overpriced) boutiques on Manhattan Beach Blvd.

I’m sure it’s written somewhere that Los Angeles is just not allowed to have a bad day. To say that the weather was good is just an insult. Sunshine galore paired with refreshingly chill breezes. There are no “white” people to be found; everyone is tan. They also had gorgeous succulent plants EVERYWHERE. I have never in my life seen them bloom like that. As we strolled down the sidewalks looking for a decently priced place to dine, I stopped by a group of planters and whipped out my phone.

Me: (saying without thinking) “Oh. my. gosh. These are probably the best looking succulents I’ve ever seen! I MUST TAKE A PICTURE.”

Her: *stopped* *blank stare* [Laughter] *shaking her head*

I like plants, okay?

It feels absolutely amazing to say that I turned 30 here. My friend and I arrived into Belize City airport on my birthday morning. After we went through customs, we hopped in a taxi to the Water Taxi station where we took a 40 minute boat ride to the island of Caye (pronounced ‘key’) Caulker. The island is small, beautiful and simple. Sparse white sands and palm trees with more coconuts than you could stand to eat in one lifetime. Clear water and happy, bare footed locals. There are no cars – only bikes + golf carts for faster transport, but it’s just as easy to use your feet. When I say small, I mean that you could walk the entire span of the island in seriously 20 minutes.

The trip was quick. Only 3 days and 2 nights, but to be honest it was plenty. Usually the first day you arrive somewhere by plane is a wasted day. We got to the island, checked in + dropped our few belongings except for our mini day bags on our back and proceeded to begin the day there. This was around noon. After a meal of red snapper fish, coconut rice, beans, plantains, and coleslaw and more meandering around under the gently overcast skies, we knew the entire island by 2pm. You live life outside all day long. You carry no worries or agendas or deadlines to meet with the entire day. You just dance between sun and shade and wait to get hungry again so you can try a new place to eat on the island that you passed a few times earlier. I didn’t feel any different on my birthday, but it was definitely one of the longest days of my life.

The mantra of Caye Caulker is “Go Slow”. On the second day I recall crossing on the streets as this older fella on his bike was coming pretty swiftly from the other direction. I was sure that we eventually were headed for a collision, so I started picking up my pace to reach the other side. He casually redirected his path making a huge half-moon detour to avoid me, and proceeded to twist his neck around as he passed to give me an odd look while he shook his head and laughed. It wasn’t until his hearty chuckle killed my adrenaline that I realized that I wasn’t in any actual danger.  I had a but-you-can’t-take-the-big-city-out-of-the-girl moment. It apparently didn’t jive well on an island lacking cars, street signs, and cross walks. Kinda refreshing though.

Every palm tree that swayed above your head carried a nest of coconuts. They were everywhere. Some had made it to the ground on their own I’m sure. Some were collected on tables in the streets for sale, as there were peddlers on nearly every path selling crafty wares, food, etc. We stopped at one table with freshly gathered coconuts (with an even fresher batch growing above the table…talk about supply and demand). The guy was offering to cut a coconut open and put a straw in it for us so we could enjoy the juice inside for 5 Belize dollars (which is $2.50 USD). We accepted. He placed two coconuts in his arms, grabbed a machete, and then proceeded to cut the tops off of each on a pre-carved tree stump that served as his chopping stand. He placed straws in each coconut and told us to come back after we finished the juice so he could hack it down further so we could eat the coconut meat. There was SO much juice inside! After carrying our heavy juice boxes around and taking ridiculous photos of ourselves taking sips of juice out of a real coconut, we came back as we were told an hour or so later + enjoyed it further. All for two dollars and fifty cents.

I could go on, but I just wanted to express to you that this was all I wanted for the longest. I just wanted to travel outside the U.S. and Canada and enjoy a REAL vacation and new experiences. I met people that have lived in Belize their entire lives and other travelers from Sydney, Toronto, Italy, Ireland, you-name-it! As a kid, we never really took any vacations growing up. Not because we didn’t want to, just because we couldn’t afford to. I missed out on some study abroad opportunities for the same reasons. But after I graduated college, I got my passport in 2007 with the hopes of actually using it one day. I do use it for work going to Canada, and soon Mexico, but I stared at that stamp a while after the customs officer handed it back to me in Belize. I made it here. On my 30th birthday!

There is still so much more to see. I cannot even wait!!!

 Freshly picked cherry tomatoes with store-bought raw kale I already had in my fridge.

Petunias

My bell peppers are absolutely gorgeous!

In all truth, my garden is going through a hard time right now. As hot as it’s getting and for someone that has rarely been home as of late, it’s truly rewarding to see what can take place with a little dirt, sun, water + minimal care. I am cultivating my own FOOD on my balcony. You guys, this fact alone blows my mind.

My plants that are doing the best are kept in the self-watering planters I purchased from Walmart. I can’t recommend those enough!

Front image of custom birthday card

Custom inner greeting message. She’s really turning 29, hehe.

Back of card

Cookie cake!

In my humble opinion, greeting cards just don’t get the proper press they deserve. I don’t send many out myself, but I definitely admire those few individuals who always take the time + care to still send you a card in the mail for special days. Who doesn’t love to get REAL mail? Those friends of mine that sent me notes + presents when I lived briefly in California absolutely made my holidays. Even if a greeting card is just exchanging hands instead of skipping states, the intentions are exactly the same. You just want to express how much you care, but sometimes a store-bought card doesn’t exactly SAY it.

This card cost $1.99 (tax not included), I was able to upload my image from my computer via Walgreens.com, and it was printed + ready on nice semi-gloss card stock in less than an hour! I made my own custom image to fill the card, but they have plenty of templates ready for your pictures to be uploaded into. And of course you customize the messages inside the card and on the back if you’d like.

Believe me, I’m not cool enough yet to have sponsors on this blog, so I am in NO way affiliated with Walgreens the company. I’m merely suggesting that if you have a location in your area and interested in a personalized gift or note for pretty reasonable price, it’s worth looking into. My friend Nancy + all of the friends that signed the card absolutely loved it! I’m definitely doing this again for sure. And don’t forget that Mother’s Day is coming up soon too!

Invisible zipper work + boning on the final peplum top fabric

Oh, and this? Yeah. This is the reason I haven’t updated in a while. I just haven’t gotten around to finishing, but here’s proof of progress. I’ve never sewed in boning before, but it wasn’t at all difficult. I’m actually almost finished! For better or for worse, I can’t wait to show you the final results!

My garden. Starting top row from left to right: cilantro, cherry tomato, various annuals (petunias, marigold, etc.), and strawberry. Bottom row: green onion, green bell peppers, petunias, and another bell pepper. I just bought a really pretty geranium yesterday (not pictured) with pink petals…couldn’t resist!

It began innocently enough. Strawberry, cherry tomato, green bell peppers, cilantro + green onion seed packets. Of course a bag of soil + a few pots. I guess I was really hungry that day.

Potting after my plant haul.

Cilantro + green onions sprouting. Didn’t take long!

Bell peppers. Strawberries about to turn red. Tomato plant needing a stake + a new pot very soon.

Round 2. Shopping for bigger pots, but somehow came home with more plants ?

All together now. I scored these small (18″x18″ ?) pallets for free from Lowe’s since they just throw them out anyways. Keeps the plants off of the hot concrete, which helps the soil + roots remain cool/moist on the bottom during the sunny summer days. I learned that from a passenger I sat next to on a flight who is an avid gardener!

You should know that these hands of mine have committed many murders in my past. Of the plant kind only. Well a few bugs too. But I tell you this first to say that if you’ve ever for a second considered gardening or thought it would be fun to try, but you feel that you only “kill” things, realize that there is hope. This is a worthwhile hobby that is a greatly rewarding, gets you outdoors, and is an awesome de-stresser of sorts. Besides, how cool would it be to cook tacos at home and then casually say, “oh let me just grab some cilantro from my garden…” Coolest. moment. ever.

I am no expert on the subject, but we all at least know that plants need sun (at least most), dirt, and water.  So some casualties are inevitable and some of your seeds may not sprout (my lavender didn’t do squat), but don’t give up. Get more dirt and try again. I just bought another packet of lavender seeds. They were $1.28. Did I mention that this is an incredibly cheap hobby to start?

Yeah. I’m preaching a little. But with the springtime in full force + organic food the way to go these days, this is a hobby worth trying out if you have a skosh of an interest. It has also given me something to say when other flight attendants I fly with ask me about my hobbies or what I’ve been up to. I’m surprised at the folks that carry an interest really, and one of the last gals I flew with updated on Facebook that she’s just started a garden!! *patting myself on the back*

A few things I’ve learned that I can share:

• Like I mentioned above, if you are container gardening make sure that your pots are not sitting directly on the bare concrete. If you live in Texas or another hot hot place, you already KNOW how hot the concrete can be! Place a plywood or other cooler barrier to keep the roots + soil moist on the bottom. If not, you may be cooking your plants!!
• If your plant will eventually need a stake to keep it upright, stake early. This way you don’t damage the already well-developed root structure by the time you decide to give your plant that extra support.
• If you are container gardening, it may be really tempting to buy those really cute pots on the market, but make sure first that there are holes on the bottom of the container. This is extremely important for draining excess water off of the soil.
• If, like me, you are scared of over-watering your plants, buy a self-watering plant pot. They work basically by having a reservoir on the bottom of the container that you fill with water, and the plant/roots are consistently kept moist by only soaking up the water it needs. It’s been awesome for me since I can be gone for up to 4-5 days at a time. You can find them pretty reasonable in price, but this easy + crafty tutorial will show you how to make your own out of plastic coke bottles!
• Not wanting to get your hands all dirty or don’t think you have the space to start a garden? Fine. How about re-growing store bought green onions in a drinking glass or maybe creating an easy hanging garden with cheap shoe organizer, you diva you. Mmmmhmm. That’s what I thought.

So I’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, I’m going to pick a ripe strawberry from my GARDEN and see what it tastes like!

Got the peplum piece worked out nicely.

This progress update is real proof that rearranging my space has worked wonders thus far. I’ll be all the way convinced once I produce the finished project. But I dare say if I didn’t have to work the last five days, I would’ve had this project done already. Absolutely baffling, since I am a professional procrastinator in my personal life.

I’ve also been meaning to finally earn my green thumb + grow a few plants on my balcony, and I have! It’s been over a month and my green onions and cilantro have sprouted, my cherry tomato plant is getting so tall I desperately need to stake it, and my bell peppers + strawberries are doing great! It’s mostly her fault though. She’s a young lawyer 9-5 and a green thumb technician on her own time, sharing both the triumphs + troubles in her limited gardening spaces.  If you take a gander at her blog, you’ll be inspired too.

A few other points of ideas + inspiration –

I’ve been brainstorming a way to set up my plants better on my balcony. I want to do something like this.

Of course I already believe sewing is incredibly awesome, but SHE makes sewing look SO FREAKING COOL. And I absolutely adore her style. Swag. Overload.

Do you like yogurt? Greek yogurt? How about cream cheese? Well you can make your own so easily + super cheaply. I tell you no lie.

New workspace setup in my living room.

It’s almost amazing what a little rearranging will do. I originally had these two tables set up in my bedroom side by side linearly with both sewing machines. It looked slick, yet highly inefficient for me. I HATED going in my bedroom to sew. I didn’t have as much natural light + having the tables longways didn’t make for a helpful fabric-laying surface. I was still cutting and laying my fabrics + patterns on the floor. It’s such an annoyance to crawl around on the floor, hunch over to cut pieces, and it absolutely KILLS my knees!

I was trying really hard to keep my living room space a pure living room space. Just couch, coffee table, tv, a few books on the shelves so when people come over they know I be readin’. People over? I hardly ever have people over. And secondly, it’s MY living room space and I was doing a horrible job living up to the room’s name.

I’ll admit, it’s a bit of an eyesore in the room. But me actually feeling motivated and happy to work on a sewing project is absolutely priceless. Not like I’m ever really excited about going to work ever, but I am so extremely sad that I will be leaving my awesome home workspace for the next few days….I just enjoy working away now so much more!

Peplum top drafting. Using Vogue Easy Options pattern #8184 for the top + creating my own pattern for the peplum lower half.

Good thing I made a practice first. The top will fit perfect, but that flared “peplum” bottom obviously needs work!

I’m really super obsessed with this neon yellow trend going around. I wanted to make a fabulous tube style dress with a flared bottom in the color for the summer, but when I went to the fabric store the only had one bolt of a loud (not neon) yellow. AND it was only 1 3/8 yards left on the bolt. Down, but not out, I gladly took it home and decided that although I couldn’t make an entire dress, I could probably pull off a peplum tube top. (The yellow fabric is shown on the table in the first two photos)

I gotta stop here. I have to wake up super early for work + unfortunately I’ll have to wait 4 whole days until I can tackle this project again *shaking fist*

Till next time kids.

Button + tufting detail. Pier One Imports, eat your heart out. 

This pillow is huge! 26″ x 26″.

One side of pillow.

Other side of pillow.

It could eat my couch.

I almost have no words. I was up til 3:30am last night. I’m just so happy to be finally all finished with this project + that it turned out as nicely as it did!! I think I actually like it better as a floor cushion than an ordinary throw pillow for the couch? Ahh details, details. Who cares. It’s so purdy. That is all.

Money. Having it, or simply having the lack of is a subject that no one likes to talk about. If I had an elephant that constantly followed me into every room, it would be an elephant that wore a skin with a repeated pattern of the one dollar bill. He’d be chilling while I’m in my apartment. He’d be there looking over my shoulder when I’m checking the mail for bills and snicker when I decline any 1-866 numbers that I make roll straight to voicemail. He’d be in my basket when I’m getting groceries from the store. He’d even start break-dancing on the table when I get my split of the check during a dinner out or a happy-hour with friends.  I’m pretty sure he did the Dougie yesterday while I called and put my school loan on forbearance.

Passion. Oh you know. Do what you love and never work a day in your life? I mean, I hear you, but what if you just like lots o’ stuff and carry a torch for nothing? When I visit my tax lady every year she is absolutely EXCITED about doing my taxes, crunching numbers, yada yada. She loves accounting!! My fellow ex-flight attendant friend Amy Jo runs a beautiful photography blog that she updates on the regular because she has such a passion for taking pictures every. single. day. I’m super jealous of these monogamous types. My interests vary so far and so wide and if I’m being truly honest with myself, I have no idea what I could find fulfillment in doing everyday while making a comfortable living in the process. I love me some travel, but I’m so not cut out to be a “career” flight attendant. I sat next to a young lady, exactly half my age, on a flight back to Houston the other night while I was deadheading from Denver after a 5-day trip. She asked me so many questions of interest about my job and then shared something about her personal experience on a flight coming back from Italy.  I kept a straight face, but my heart got a bit sad. I haven’t even been farther than Canada yet. I constantly hear the it-gets-better stories about the pay + seniority with this job, but I think I can only thank people for their trash for so long.

Love + relationships. Ahhh matters of the heart. Some people kick rocks. Other people kick hearts.

Lol, okay. So it’s not that serious, but let’s just say my most recent relations situation wasn’t so hot. I never talk about this and frankly I used to not worry about it. But when you’ve attended nearly 10 weddings over your brief lifespan, you’re about to top off your third decade of existence, and a Facebook pal of yours (already in an awesome relationship herself of course) posts a pic about even Honey Boo Boo’s mom has a boyfriend…..ONE STARTS TO PANIC. Which is probably why I went solo to San Francisco this past February for their annual Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight because I figured if you can’t join them, BEAT them.

Footage of opening carnage.

Mind you I only lasted about a solid 12 minutes and then I politely excused myself (meaning I fought my way out). There were some fools with those well soiled I’ve-had-this-on-my-bed-for-years type of pillows that sank like bricks in the cases so they were inevitably straight up Homie the Clowning folks. My new fluffy pillow couldn’t compete. Plus there were these obvious veterans out there that had bandanas over their mouths WHICH WAS BRILLIANT because when someone dropped a bomb of feathers, that ish would get into your eyes + all down into your throat. I don’t know how many times I heard people yell “I can’t breathe” after that. But the BEST was when this guy in a very I Am Sparta voice yelled out “Fight. For. Your. FREEDOMMMMM!!!!!!” Lol. This is the video I took at beginning of the fight when the bell tolled. I hung back a sec to make sure it wasn’t too much carnage going on because ultimately I’m not losing an eye over a pillow fight. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Such. good. times.

So. Sometimes you just have to keep it real. And I feel I write my best when I do. These truly are issues that do give me great stress sometimes, but they also serve as great reminders that it ain’t all bad, I’ll totally (hopefully) figure it all out someday, and it’s really kind of funny when you think about it. *wink*