hanging out: hammock edition

it's amazing how a blog quickly becomes like a good friend; therefore, if you don't stay in touch, the distance grows and you become anxious about the catch up period.

i feel like i haven't been all that great lately about staying connected. being out of town for a whole week for work in texas really threw me off. i am just now coming back around.

anyways, i wanted to share a recent outdoor project that j and i finished. we'd been talking about this project for months so it felt great to get it scratched off the to-do list.

we decided to finally put up some posts for our awesome hammock that we bought in tulum, mexico a few summers ago! since we didn't want our hammock to get covered in mildew, bird droppings, or damaged from the rain, we knew we wanted posts that would make it easy to bring the hammock in and out.


first, we determined that we needed the following items to complete this project:
- 4x6 posts (x2) - you need at least 4x4's but we figured 4x6's would be more sturdy. also make sure they are pre-treated wood posts to avoid rot
- 2 eye bolts
- 2 snap hooks
- 2 bags of quick dry cement (50 lb bag per post) and water to mix
- wood stain
- shovel

to get started, we first had to determine where to dig the holes. most websites suggested posts that are a foot longer apart than the length of our hammock. since our hammock is 12 feet long, we put the posts 13 feet apart and then started digging. it is recommended to dig your holes at least 24 inches deep.




once our holes were dug, we put in the posts and i held it level while j put in and mixed the cement and water. although it "dries" in 30 minutes, it suggests letting it set for 4 hours. most sites suggested giving the hammock posts a week to fully set before use.


after the initial 30 minutes, we put on the first coat of stain on each post. after the 4 hours was up, it was time for the eye bolts. we estimated how high we wanted the hammock and then drilled out the holes for the eye bolts. then we snapped on the snap hooks for the hammock. we also added a separate ceiling hook to hang a lantern on.




lastly, we put the final coat of stain on and once it was dry, we refilled the holes with the dirt and packed the holes tightly. that's it! we were done and have a beautiful hammock area. now we just can't wait to landscape and for the mosquitos* to go away so we can actually enjoy it!


we have 2 other projects that we've finished in the last 2 weekends! i can't wait to share them! stay tuned!

*you may notice the citronella candles in the pictures. we got devoured! we used probably a whole bottle of "off" too. we MUST find a better alternative! any suggestions?

bon anniversaire ma soeur

today is my sister's birthday. i sadly won't get to see her on her birthday but i am definitely thinking of her. she's been going through a hard time and hopefully soon that will come to an end and she will be on top of the world.

i know that no family is normal and my family is definitely no exception; however, i am lucky to have them in my life. my sister was 13 when i was born and i always hear stories about her treating me like her own and being the one who wanted to get up in the night when i would cry. she's always been so proud of me and loved me unconditionally. i am so thankful to have her as my big sister.

i really hope that this is her year to make everyone proud. mostly, herself. xo

"having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. you know whatever you do, they'll still be there" - amy li

fresh

i know i am a bit late and even overdue on the csa wednesday post, but either way here it is! this week's assortment is so good and i can't wait to use it all! we got eggs, sweet potatoes, basil, green bibb lettuce, arugula, muscadines (my MIL will be so happy), peanut butter bars, black eyed peas, peaches, and tomatoes!


"you don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients" - julia child

zuri at the zoo

last weekend we kept my youngest niece natalie. she's 5 years old and just started kindergarden so we needed to celebrate! we decided to spend the day at the zoo! the weather was wonderful and she hadn't been in a few years. our first stop was at the flamingos - which were so cute and natalie's favorite colors: pink and black!

then we headed over to feed the parakeets. they were so cute and colorful.




it was an exciting day to be at the zoo that particular day! first of, they finally named the new baby giraffe! they named the little girl zuri and they had a HUGE cookie cake to celebrate. secondly, a rattlesnake had escaped from the reptile world and the zoo couldn't find it. thankfully they didn't tell everyone and send people into panic and more so, thankfully no one found it the hard way. sadly the zoo found it off-site a few days later dead.



how dang cute is zuri? that's her and her dad. hard to believe she's barely over a month old!

i was really in love with the gorillas. there was this one relaxing in a hammock and his actions were so similar to humans that it made me so sad to see them in captivity.




natalie loved the animal statues around the park.




my other favorite was the baby panda. i don't think i've ever wanted to hug an animal as much! sorry for the glass glare in the pictures.










and lastly, here's my favorite animal from the day!

♥

urban picnic

one of my favorite things about portland is their food carts! when we went on our honeymoon down the west coast, we started in portland. the desk clerk at the ace hotel recommended that we check out the food carts and we decided it was a perfect fit since we wanted to see as much of the city as possible. we decided to get a "whole bowl" which is brown rice, red and black beans, fresh avocado, salsa, black olives, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and their special tali sauce.

sadly for us southerners in atlanta, street food vendors were not allowed; therefore, a wonderful non-profit called the atlanta street food coalition has been striving to "campaign for safe, affordable, and legal access to street food". the atlanta street food coalition teamed up with slow food atlanta to host a monthly urban picnic. this monthly urban picnic is held at the sweet auburn market in downtown atlanta.

as you pull into the market, there are tons of food carts, food trucks, and food stands with all sorts of great different foods. whether you're in the mood for korean bbq, burritos, soups, pizza, pimento cheese and toast, or popsicles - the urban picnic has it all. i am such a supporter of local food and local businesses and this is the perfect culmination. i definitely hope that we can get food carts all over atlanta in the near future!


i had the bell street burritos and loved it! they totally sucked me in with the "for those who miss tortillas" tagline. bell street burritos delivers burritos from decatur to the west end every monday night so for those who don't want to cook on those first days back to work, you should defintiely hit up bell street burritos!





i believe the last urban picnic for the summer is next month so if you haven't had to chance to come out yet, definitely try to next month! you will not be disappointed. plus, just the king of pops's popsicles is as good of a reason as any!

i'm off to travel to good ol' texas today. i'll be there for almost the whole week for work. too bad i never get to go any fun (or anywhere that is vegetarian-friendly for that matter), but i'll try and make the best of it!

happy get-back-into-the-grind day!

true love stories never have endings

[video via storycorps]

i can't decide if this video makes me so happy or so sad, but either way it is an honest story about love. new found love and until death do us part love. i need to start writing more love letters.

storycorps is a nonprofit organization who provides americans of all origins and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve their stories. if you live in the atlanta area, you can go and make a reservation to tell your story.

so, now the hard part - what story would you tell?

five years

can you believe that on sunday it will have been 5 years since hurricane katrina destroyed new orleans and numerous lives? it feels like just yesterday that i was in my women studies course and our professor told us that she was heading down to new orleans to see what she could do to help. her husband and her ended up bringing back 2 families to live with them until they were able to get enough money to start a new life. i've never forgotten that professor and she will always inspire me.

when i was in seattle a few years ago, j and i went with my best friend to volunteer for pasado's safe haven. she had organized a work event to go and volunteer and we were lucky enough to be able to join them! we helped them load up all of their equipment as they were about to drive all the way down to texas and louisana before hurricane gustav hit. they didn't know for sure if it'd hit louisana, but they were making the drive regardless to ensure that any abandoned, misplaced, or injured animals were taken care of. during katrina, they were the first rescue organization on site and rescued over 1200 animals! how amazing is that? they also have 85 acres which is home to hundreds of dogs, cats, cows, chickens, ducks, goats, turkeys, pigs, and donkeys (most were brought to pasado's due to abuse or neglect and now live out their lives in peace). after loading up the trucks, we got to drive an hour outside of seattle to see this sanctuary and it was so magical. all of the animals get to roam free and they have some incredible views!



here's the crew after a hard day's work!

see what i mean? anyways, if you are a huge animal lover and want to support an awesome organization, definitely check out pasado's.

sorry for the tangent, but as i was watching the today show this morning and they discussed katrina, it was ironically relevant considering i just finished reading "zeitoun" by dave eggers for our next book club meeting. it is a book that tells the story of the zeitoun family, a muslim family, before, during, and after hurricane katrina. although i've never been a huge dave eggers fan (actually i've always been anything but), i did actually really enjoy this book. it highlights how so many families stayed behind like they had done numerous times before with minimal damage. it is a story of heroism and horrible government injustices. i don't want to say too much since we haven't had a chance to discuss it yet in book club; however, i definitely recommend the book. plus it's so important that we don't forget the atrocities that occured 5 years ago and the book even ends with resources so that you can continue to help rebuild new orleans.


happy friday! have any fun things planned?
j and i may be having my niece over for a sleepover, but other wise we're going to take it easy. i just want to spend as much time together since i'll be traveling for work all of next week. hope you get to spend some time with your favorites this weekend!

♥