She just replaced the busted-up tannish planters with some bright turquoise ones. My mom loves bright colors, and she's also fond of daisy-type plants, so when I saw these orange gerbera daisies at work, I knew they'd be perfect. (Guess that one semester of art-majoring was good for something-- at least I know my color wheel!) I'd asked the annual-perennial manager for advice, and she said the daisies would stay about the same height, but the rest would get taller. So I filled in with some alyssum (the white flowers) and some portulaca (the funky-looking leaves around the side, which are supposed to be a mix of colors and spill over the edge. I remember we used to have those in the garden when I was a kid, and I thought they were pretty cool-- I liked the colors and the spiky leaves!)
Also added one of these-- Mom stopped in at the garden center today while I was at work to pick up some veggie plants, and I'd told her about them before and how insanely cute they are. (They're metal silhouette shapes of fairies on toadstools. In this case, dancing.)And to continue my garden experiment, I got all excited when I went to work yesterday to discover that we'd gotten in some sunflower plants!
Sunflowers are pretty much my all-time favorite flower, and so I couldn't resist taking one of these cute little dwarf plants home for myself. And so after I finished Mom's, I made myself a planter of sorts-- used a leftover cheap plastic perennial pot from Dad's landscaping purchases last year that was in the shed, and put the leftover portulacas around the edge. (I'd overestimated the number of plants I would need to fill the planters-- didn't do so bad on the portulacas, since there were only six plants left at the end, but I have five whole packs of the alyssum left! I hope I can figure out where to put them, because I feel kind of dumb having bought a full flat of 8 when I only needed 3 packs! And that was with probably cramming in more than I should have!)Anyway, my mom liked it, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens as more of them bloom.
In other news, being in Project Runway withdrawal until the summer, figured I'd check out Bravo's new take on it, The Fashion Show, which premiered last night. So here's my thoughts...
It really was pretty much a copy of PR, with just a few differences. Still sponsored by a fashion magazine (Harpers' Bazaar instead of Elle), sponsored by the same hair product company (Tresseme), still the elimination challenges, runway shows, and overly dramatic contestants.
What I liked, compared to PR, was the opening "mini-challenge". Rather than jump right into the main challenge, to start things off, they gave the contestants an hour to make a little black dress out of a basic black t-shirt. So, being a multiple-time pledge-signer in Wardrobe Refashion, I was quite happy to see reconstruction on tv! They used that as a basis for choosing the team leaders for the opening challenge, which was a team one (design 5 looks based around one must-have item. Note to designers: M.C. Hammer pants are not, and never where, a must-have item.)
What I didn't like, compared to PR, is the pace felt very rushed. Probably due to having that mini-challenge. I didn't really get a feel for the design process as they were making their final projects (or the mini-challenge, for that matter), particularly when it came to the mid-episode design critique-- I like when Tim Gunn comes in and advises the contestants about how they can improve their design, what's risky, etc. Probably because I'm watching this as a fashion sewer. My other quibble is a small one-- Isaach Mizrahi's "Bye, darlin'" parting shot just doesn't quite work quite as well as Heidi Klum's "Auf Wiedersehen." Then again, there's nothing like the German language to make everything sound so harsh and final. (And I can say that, because I took German in high school for four years, and used to be fairly fluent in it!)
So I'll keep watching it-- I'm interested to see how it goes, and it'll tide me over. But I'm still looking forward to PR coming back!
(Also, just one note to contestants of both shows, prompted by a comment made by Haven last night: So you think you can design, but you hate to sew. Why, then, would you put yourself on a show where sewing is a major part of the m.o.? Especially if lack of sewing ability = poor execution = auf'ed? Drives me nuts when they say that!)
