Rose petals laying on a paper towel

Drying Bulgarian rose to make rose tea 

I am fond of the idea of being a chic rose girl, but unfortunately, I’m seldom a rose girl in practice, especially when it comes to fragrance. In my mind, a rose girl effortlessly spritzes on a rose perfume and a rosewater facial spray before […]

Strawberries

Fall strawberry plant update

Now that I’m 29, one hard truth that I’ve come to accept about myself is that I’m a fairweather outdoor gardener. Unless I’m cleaning up our already established rose bushes, I water and attend to my outdoor plants based on whim. And when you live […]

Strawberry cake

I baked a strawberry shortcake!

I spent most of July pummeled by feelings of anxiety and dread, so I swiftly fell down a cozy culinary mysteries and Is It Cake? rabbit hole when in search of some much-needed comfort. (Translation: I pretty much scrapped my plans to read all of […]

Yellow roses

Pruning rose bushes during the summer

I am a neurotically detail-oriented Virgo daughter of a must-have-things-visually-orderly Libra mother, so, of course, against the advice of every proper rose planting guide out there, I spent a few hours pruning our unwieldy and crispy rose bushes this past warm June weekend. While most […]

Rows of DVD shelves

I went vintage shopping at Mad Monk

Happy summer solstice, friends! A few days ago, I stopped by the Central Valley’s Mad Monk store and had a blast on my little vintage shopping excursion! I first came across Mad Monk when I lived in south Berkeley, which actually had Mad Monk, Rasputin, […]

Hand with scissors holding freshly cut lavender

I harvested fresh English lavender to make tea

In proper Swiftie fashion, I have been a lavender haze lately. That’s to say, the English lavender I’ve been harvesting from the garden has had quite the soporific effect on me as a tea. Or maybe the trials and tribulations of adulthood have just left […]

Close up of Thai basil leaves

I am growing Thai basil in my kitchen herb garden

I think I have sufficiently established that I possess very little skill when it comes to the culinary arts. That said, I do enjoy infusing whatever rudimentary meals I cook with a generous amount of flavor. One lovely flavor trifecta that always hits the spot […]

Cacti and aloe

I visited Poot’s Cactus Nursery — again!

I took the day off today, and my boss was none too pleased. (And, for the record, I’m my own boss.) But given the beautiful weather, I decided that it was worth catching up with work over the weekend if need be. The temperatures have […]