Versatile Blogger Award!

Sarah at Honey, Sugah, Dahlin' was kind enough to give me the Versatile Blogger Award. (Thanks, Sarah!) We've never met, but I feel like we'd be friends since she is also a Georgia Southern Alum. GO EAGLES!

The rules are:

1) Thank the blogger who presented me with this award…done!

2) Share 7 things about myself.

3) Pass on the award to 10 bloggers I have recently discovered and love!

So here we go! Seven random things you might (or might not) want to know…

Here are my seven things:

1. I (like Sarah) have a ridiculous amount of cookbooks. I do cook a lot, but I should probably make myself some kind of deal that I won't buy another cookbook until I've tried 50 new recipes or something like that. Maybe that should be my challenge for the summer.
2. I collect carnival glass. My friend Andy probably thinks it's a little bit old lady-ish of me, but that's fine. I like it because each piece is a little bit unique and it reminds me of my Granny Grits (my great grandmother).
3. One of my favorite places in the world is St. Augustine. My husband took me there to celebrate our first year of dating and we've been back many times since. It's so laidback, you can walk practically everywhere, there are great outlets and the drinks are cheap!
4. I love photography and hope that one day I'll have the opportunity to turn it into an occupation instead of just a semi-part time occupation.
5. I'd love to live at or near the beach at some point in my life. Maybe even just for a summer...seems like you'd almost have to be in a good mood if you lived close enough to the ocean, right?
6. I am a proud Southerner, but if I had to choose any other culture to be a part of, it would be Italian. I love Italian food and could eat it 24/7 and the people seem like they really enjoy life. Plus, how pretty is Italy in the movies? I hope I get to visit one day!
7. I am obsessed with being frugal. I subscribe to 'frugal' blogs, print coupons, clip coupons and I'm always on the lookout for a deal. I rarely pay full price for groceries, clothes and a lot of other things. I love to save $$$!

And here's who my recent favorite bloggers are:

Katie at Tale of a G.R.I.T.S.

Amanda at I Love You Days

Leslie at lmstoehr

Mrs. M at My Life as Mrs. M.

Stacey at The Bowman Family

Katie at Don't Warn the Tadpoles

Brandie at Brandi Nell the Southern Bell

Tammy at Sprout! Coming Soon

Lori at Baby Hennesy

Carolina Girl at Ramblings of a 30 Something Year Old Carolina Girl

Finally Friday!

Thank goodness it's Friday! It felt like it would never get here this week. This weekend I'm looking forward to:

• gorgeous weather
• buying a few summer treats for myself at CVS (nail polish, etc.)
• grilling out hamburgers
• heading downtown to see what the Saturday Market on the River is all about
• starting a new book
• relaxing

It should be a fun weekend in Augusta! Have y'all got any weekend plans?

Wordless Wednesday

Mother's Day 2010

Summer Lovin'

One of my favorite things about summer (which is really right around the corner here in Georgia!) is home grown tomatoes. I love tomatoes all year round and will practically eat anything with marinara, salsa, or any other kind of red sauce. I also like to just slice up tomatoes to enjoy as a snack. Salt or no salt, I love them either way. I might be a little obsessed with them, especially my own plants. There's just something about tomatoes that come straight out of the garden and into my kitchen during the summer!

Here's a few of my little cherries from last year:

I posted earlier this spring about my tomato seedlings. This is the second year I have tried to grow my 'maters from seeds to plants. I have to tell y'all, it is much harder than it looks. Too much water, not enough water, or too much sun and half the seedling tray is gone and unable to be resuscitated. Matt was really helpful this year with keeping them watered and sunned while they were babies, but inevitably we were left with about 6 seedlings that were healthy enough to be planted. After a few weeks in the ground we were left with about 2 plants that would be able to make it, thanks to another cold snap, too much wind and a few neighborhood birds that love to nibble on tomato leaves. I still wanted a whole garden full of tomatoes so we filled in with a few tomato plants we found at the flea. (They are surprisingly sturdy so far!) Last night I bought the last tomato to fill the garden and it is a 'Talledega' tomato. I've never heard of this kind of tomato before, but we're going to give it a shot and his nickname will be 'Ricky Bobby'.

Here's Ricky Bobby being planted in my garden:

The first tomatoes of the season growing on my 'early girl' tomato. She will probably be named 'Scarlet O'Hara' because she has lovely green leaves like Scarlet's famous green dress.

Another view of the garden. Last year we tried two topsy turvies as well, and they barely produced anything. I decided to concentrate on plants in the ground this year and I hope it pays off!

I'm working on growing a few herbs too (parsley, basil, oregano, etc.) but those are moving slow too. Hopefully I'll have something to share soon, since they would be a perfect addition to the homemade spaghetti sauce I'm going to try to make after my tomato harvest this summer.