round mirrors

just a quick post today to see what you think about this round mirror i got at the *epic estate sale*

(as soon as i get everything photographed i'll tell you all about it)
it's an antique and i had no idea where i was going to put it but for $22 i had to get it.

i gave the chalkboard to alex who needed it for work and now i feel like this area has grown up a little.  

it is all sort of awkwardly good.

have a beautiful week.

xo

janet

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3 days later

3 days later and this is how much better it looks already.

what i did...

mowed

edged

dug up the ferns in the left flower bed

turned the soil

weeded
removed unruly shrubs

started thinning the ferns on the right

filled 3 green trashcans full to the brim

maybe broke my back

but there is still so much to do and i'm actually excited instead of dreading it all.

yay.

this weekend i hope to further thin the ferns

and maybe even

plant some annuals.

we'll see about that.

anyway just wanted to thank you all again for your suggestions and support.

the gardener's cottage lives again!

have a beautiful weekend.

xo

janet

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easy

there is nothing really special about this outfit other than it is easy.

i love these high waisted jeans.

no more muffin top.

legs look longer.

shirts are easy to tie in front.
you gotta get past the american apparel advertising though.
why is it so slutty?
my friends have determined that strippers have to shop somewhere.
despite all that, they are well made here in los angeles and very comfortable.

the best part about this outfit are my madden girl faux suede booties
from amazon.com

i love them so much that i wrote a review on them and i never do that.

i also have a couple of things for sale on ebay right now.
don't freak out but i'm selling my j.crew trench.
since i've upped my yoga practice big time, my arms, specifically my biceps have gotten bigger and the coat doesn't fit my arms anymore.
isn't that gross?  i really hate it but that's the way it is.

in addition to that i picked up a burberry trench at an epic estate sale.
that's a story for another day though.
my friend M was here from hawaii and she took a pic of it for me.
i bought it the 2nd day of the sale so it was half price.
i know.

ok so that's that.

i hope all is well with you guys.

thank you SO much for all your garden advice.

wow, so many great ideas.

i've been working non-stop out there and i'll post pictures by next week of my progress.

thanks again...you guys are the best!

xo

janet

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what happened to my garden?

i remember when my garden looked like this.
i cannot tell you how happy this photo makes me.

and this too...

with the name of my blog being the gardener's cottage you'd think i might know a little about gardening right?  wrong.  otherwise i'd have never planted 5 ferns in my garden bed.
how was i to know that 5 ferns would take over everything?

this is a photo of the day i planted the five of them.
i can actually see them and i wish i could go back in time and rip them out.

  i guess i could have asked someone at the garden center or maybe read up on ferns.  but no...i just planted them.
and so now i have a fern garden.
and it ain't pretty.

if that wasn't enough i threw a lot of neglect its way this winter.

and this is what it looks like now...

we had a water meter installed and so the lawn was cut up.

the rest of the gardens don't look much better.  every bed has foot tall weeds.

this is the service area of the garden - covered in ground cover weeds.



i obviously have my work cut out for me.

i'll save pics of the yoga garden for another time.  it's bad too.

i did my best to stay on top of the rose garden.  i pruned them all on time.
thank goodness.

so here is my plan...
i've decided that the ferns that are taking over the front bed are just going to have to stay.
it's like fighting city hall.  if i pull them out it will be a year or 2 before i can even think about re-planting.  so why not let them do their thing.  i'll try to thin them and salvage anything i can that is hiding under them.
the other bed that runs along the driveway, well i'll definitely get rid of the ferns in there because they haven't taken over yet.

i remember when there was nothing here...

i may have been better off.

i welcome all suggestions at this point.

xo
janet

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a simple and refreshing green smoothie

hello dear friends.

in case you drank too much green beer or ate too many green cupcakes,

here is a healthy and delicious smoothie for st. patrick's day.

think refreshing spring day with every sip.
drinking it is like walking in a meadow with sunshine on your face.

it's not a sweety sweet smoothie

but the apple adds a definite sweetness to it.

the original recipe says it is for a juicer but i didn't let that stop me.  i  just used my powerful blender.

this blender will pulverize anything.

and it's only $59 at Target.



ok so here's the recipe that not only has powerful detox and cleansing properties,
it's gonna make you feel good about being alive.
for reals.



1 small organic apple diced
juice of a lemon
1 cup of chopped kale
1 rib of celery
1/3 cup parsley
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cup cold water

after washing, place all ingredients into the blender and hit the go button.
enjoy.


***

coming up this week...

the sad state of my garden
and let me tell you it is sad.

and hopefully some fashion


xo

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i totally *get* spring fever now

since i have spent a great deal of the winter in utah i now understand spring fever.

in southern california it just doesn't happen to me.

here, buried up to my neck in snow i find myself looking forward to spring and all its possibilities.
each evening i'm finding myself looking online at all kinds of pretty spring things.

like i'd love these sandals from payless shoes with this pair of high-waisted skinny jeans from american apparel and a crisp white shirt tied at the waist.

i'm usually not one for wearing earrings either but these,  also from payless shoes, are super lightweight and this comfortable drop in type is really the only kind of earring i can wear.

ok so thanks for indulging my spring fever today.
i need to get back to sunny california soon.


xo
janet

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this is...palm springs

yesterday i was in palm springs for the bnp paribas open.

after the cold of utah a sunny 80 degree day was perfection.

i wore my old chambray tied at the waist and this j. crew factory stretch pencil skirt.

i have to tell you that i love this skirt.  i'm thinking it may replace shorts for me this summer.

i was comfortable all day and when sitting down it covered my thighs so they didn't get sunburned.

this particular pattern is sold out on line but they have quite a few other patterns that i love.

they are on sale now, see them here.

you can see my old straw bag looks like it will make it another summer and those burberry sandals too.
someone in my last post seems to think i'm screwed up in some way b/c i'm overly concerned with brand names.
well i am screwed up but it has nothing to do with brand names.
that is for certain.
:)

this is my friend noelle.

she's wearing bright gap pants and a gap t shirt while making fun of my posing skills.

yes, they are skills.

my friends have a lot of fun at my expense.
btw we couldn't lose her if we tried yesterday.
and are those the payless shoes ballet flats in navy?
oh, yes they are.

this is ernests gulbis from latvia
he was so entertaining.

this is his mangled racket that he threw down and it bounced into the stands next to me.

he was angry that christian harrison was beating him.

he wound up winning the match

and it was thrilling to watch.

this is 14th ranked melinda czink.
she wasn't too happy either.

she lost to mallory burdett.

go USA

this is melinda who is kicking ovarian cancer in the ass.

doesn't she look amazing?

i can hardly keep up with her and that's no lie.
she arranged the whole day for us.

aren't good friends the best?!

xo

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stuff...and more stuff

i've been back and forth between southern california and utah so many times in the last few weeks that i'm dizzy.

but here i am today.

a new fatigue jacket from j. crew.  they call her charlie.

it's the t shirt like lining that makes it feel like you are walking around in pj's.

and here is my new handbag by deux lux.  

deux lux is sold at anthropologie, nordstrom, neiman marcus to name a few.

it is a 100% vegan line and it's hard to tell - it's so luxurious.
the days are long gone of vegan goods being made of unpliable plastics.
the new technologies are amazing.

i'm loving this gold clutch for summer.

and these are the vegan booties from steve madden.

extremely comfortable and affordable.

so that's it for right now.
i really hope to be back to regular posting soon.

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