Landscaping DIY

The time has come for me to shed my black thumb and turn it green as we attempt to landscape the flower bed in the front of the house. I think I have mentioned once or twice that I am a plant killer - they see me coming and just jump off the bridge in order to save themselves from the torture. But I am ready to change that and it starts with our first major landscaping project.

After spending a lovely Easter weekend in NY with Ed's family, we decided to make the most of our Monday off and the sunny day by prepping our outdoor space. Since I'm a novice at this, Ed took the lead as Foreman on the job. We started our day with a trip to Home Depot to pick up the necessary tools for the job: Pitch Fork and Edger Shovel Thingy (yes, that is the official term). Of course while Ed was off in his man-aisle picking the tools, I was over in the garden center picking out a pretty pot and stand for our new indoor tree (thank you Sarah!). Leave it to me to find the girly stuff at Home Depot!


After stopping by Casa de Quartuccio to pick up our Lucy girl who spent the weekend while we were in NY, we headed home and got to work. We started by loading up the Scion with the paver bricks from both the front and back yards. We've decided that our landscape design will be 100% au na-tu-ral so the bricks had to go. Plus, Mow Cow will be by soon to place the sod in the backyard so it was time to get them out of there. After a quick trip to the recycling center to drop them off, we were off and running. Here is a look at our official "before".

We wanted to re-shape the flower bed so we used our hose to map out the new design. Ed then used the Edger Shovel Thingy to carve it out. It was hard work and the intense heat of the sun did not make it any better, but he did a great job! I played assistant by feeding him tons of water and keeping the cold, wet towel on his neck cold and wet.



While Ed was hard at work on the flower bed, I had the chance to prep my new pots for my herb garden. Lucy even shared in the fun and found herself the only shade available in the yard.

Once the flower bed was carved it out was time to turn the soil and that is where the Pitch Fork came in. We had to be careful of the newly buried drainage pipe, but all in all, it was a success. The area is now prepped for us to plant our pink azaleas, lily turf and lots of colorful annuals.


But the work didn't end there. You might remember that we have a miniature Dogwood tree in our front yard. In order to keep it alive for many more years, we needed to add more dirt and mulch to cover the roots. We also decided to attempt to carve out a perfect circle at it's base. This process included me, on my hands and knees in the dirt holding a tape measure as Ed made his way around the tree. It's not so perfect, but we are very happy with how it looks.


The day ended with a quick mow of the lawn and some watering. We are very proud of how it looks and we haven't even planted anything yet! We made a quick pit stop at Merrifield Garden Center after dinner last night to get an idea of what we want to plant (and how much it is going to cost!), and hope to get there tonight to make our purchases. The good news: Azaleas are on sale!! The bad news: We need a LOT more than just Azaleas! Stay tuned for the finished product!

Happy Easter!

I know it's Good Friday, but since we will be out of town this weekend in NY to celebrate the holiday, we need to wish everyone a Happy Easter now. The blog will be on hiatus while we are away, but we promise to say hello again on Monday.

My fabulous CEO closed the office at 1 pm today so Lucy and I are enjoying a lovely afternoon with the couch and HGTV. We had a visitor this morning which was very exciting for everyone. The lovely Mary Baehr came by and we shared "office space" (aka the kitchen table) all morning and then hit Ciro's for some pizza (very Lent friendly food!). Mary started her own company and also works from home so we decided to join forces and be co-workers for the day. It's fun to have someone to talk to that actually talks back (no offense, Lucy). :)

Tonight, we are spending some time with Mama and Papa Q AND a special guest: Grandma Basile!! My Grammy is in town for a few weeks and we could 't be more thrilled to see her. She is the sweetest, most loving person I know so I am very excited to have her here.

We head out to New York tomorrow morning so Lucy will be spending yet another weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Q. We'll be spending the weekend with Ed's entire family which is something I am really looking forward to since I haven't seen anyone since Christmas. So, we bid ado and HAPPY EASTER!!

What the Fuzz?!

One of my most favorite purchases for the house has been the rug in the living room. It's bold and fun and comfortable and has colors that really compliment the furniture in the room. I found it at Target - an internet return - and got it for a STEAL! Ed even came on board fairly quickly which surprised me since it is a bit bold for his taste.


So what's the beef? The darn thing is made of 100% wool and sheds more than my 2 cats on a hot day in August. It is not unusual for me to find wads of rug fuzz under the couch, behind the ottoman and even on Lucy's pretty face. It's like velcro - it sticks to everything and no matter how much I vacuum, I never seem to get it all.

Ed is over it and is ready to see it in a trash can. I feel more of an attachment to it. I do, however, think it needs to be relocated to a less trafficked location and replaced with something a little less fuzzy.

I've been scouring the Internet and some local stores to find something that is just as fun, just as bold, with similar colors and have come up with a few options. The first is a beaut from West Elm (my new go to for decorating ideas ~ love that store!). It is one that I have lusted over for quite a while - 3 years to be exact. I wanted it when we lived in Westbury and I want it again but alas it is a bit out of our budget range. Plus it is not quite right for the color scheme we got going on in the room.


This pebble rug popped up in my Inbox earlier in the week and I have to say, I am intrigued. It is also from West Elm and looks SO freakin' soft and yummy for the feet. I like the light blue color but I'm a little nervous about the loops. The fuzz fest we currently own is made up of little loops and I find myself on my hands and knees quite often snipping the loops that have unfurled. Not cute. But this one may be different and is currently on sale which excites me. It may warrant a trip to our local West Elm so we can see it in person and feel it under our toes.


Next up is another grey goose, but this one has a fun, big, BOLD pattern like our current rug. It's from Crate and Barrel and requires a lot of moola to own so I need to move on.

My new favorite blog, Young House Love, turned me onto a website where I found these beauties. These Bogart Flat-Weave wool rugs come in a variety of bright colors - 2 of which will blend nicely into our room (light blue and sage). I love the contemporary mosaic pattern and the best part is that they are reversible for double the wear! Houston...we may have a winner!


So what does everyone think? Of course I'm going to keep looking since I do love to beat a dead horse when it comes to choosing our interiors...especially rugs. If anyone has other good suggestions, we are all ears. In the mean time, you can find us over at Fair Lakes scouring the racks at World Market, Target and Home Goods.

A Little Lucy Loo at Lunchtime

You may remember that when we were in New York 2 weekends ago for Dominick Green's birthday extravaganza we made a special stop at the Cupcake Gourmet to pick up some anniversary cupcakes. Well, while we were there, we picked up a special treat for our Lucy girl - Pupcakes!!



I don't know what is in them, but she loves them. Here is some footage of her taking a taste when we got home:

She is currently staring at me as I hold the bag of pupcakes. Okay, okay Lucy girl...gotta go!

Happy 1st Anniversary

It's hard to believe that our first wedding anniversary has come and gone but here I sit, ready to share with you highlights of our anniversary getaway. Where did the year go?! :) Initially, we had hoped to plan our re-do honeymoon vacation to Ireland and Scotland since the volcano in Ireland ruined our initial plans. But alas, bedroom furniture took precedence, so after lots of Googling and Internet searches, we had a thought. Why not visit the place where it all started ~ Bethany Beach.

As you all know, Ed proposed to me while we were on vacation in Bethany. So it seemed appropriate that we spend our first anniversary in a place that holds so many wonderful memories. My Mom's good friend Shelia and her family graciously offered for us to use their GORGEOUS beach house for our trip and we gladly accepted. Since it is impossible to explain how adorable this house is, here is a quick tour:

As I said in the video, my family has been lucky enough to stay in this house for close to 5 years and hopefully will continue the tradition in years to come. Thank you Doyle family!!

After our scenic drive over the Bay Bridge and through rural MD and DE, we made it to the house and settled in. I forgot how much I love this drive - lots of open land and farms.


After a quick trip to the grocery and liquor stores (a must!), we cleaned up and headed to Rehobeth Beach for some dinner. If you are not familiar with the MD/DE beaches, here is a look at how they are laid out. Rehobeth is about a 20 minute drive north along the beautiful Coastal Highway. It was a beautiful night so we walked around town and on the boardwalk a bit before settling in at Dos Locos for some margaritas and burritos.


Day 2 brought us sunshine but a ridiculous amount of wind. But that didn't matter, because we were headed to Milton, DE to visit the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. We are big fans of their beer so thought it was appropriate that we see where it was made. Throw in a free tasting and we were on board! The historic town of Milton was adorable - completely quintessential with small streets and big houses with wrap around porches.



When we arrived, we were greeted by a HUGE tree house and a friendly face who offered us some fancy schmancy protective goggles and our beer tasting coupons.


Our lively tour guide John took us through the brewery and taught us all about how they make their micro brews and how a guy named Sam started the business with a 10 gallon brew tank and $30,000. Fifteen years later, they are the 13th largest micro-brewery in the country. Not too shabby!



Next it was onto the tasting. We enjoyed 4 different beers: Midas Touch, Palo Santo Marron, Black and Blue (our fav!) and Raison D'Etre. Cheers!


The tasting at Dogfish Brewery was a great time, but it was time to get down to business and go to the Outlets!!! It's amazing what you will buy when you have a small beer buzz! Since my wardrobe is much to be desired these days, I went a little nuts, but got some really good stuff. After hitting 1 of 3 outlet areas, we decided to grab some food at none other than the Dogfish Head Brew Pub in town and ended the evening with a good old movie - the Lincoln Lawyer (good flick btw).

Day 3 was our actual Anniversary and like our wedding day, it was gray and gloomy. No worries - we had no problem having a good time. After a delicious Cracker Barrel breakfast, we continued our shopping extravaganza at the remaining 2 outlets and in the small town of Bethany. We relaxed in the HUGE jacuzzi tub before heading out to our Anniversary dinner at Bluecoast Grill. Mom and Dad Q. surprised us with a gift card to this place so we indulged ~ the night ended with cupcakes and champagne back at the house and a very drunk Laura. :)



Day 4 (also known as Laura's hangover day) was VERY low key. We took a drive south to Fenwick Island and realized that Fenwick does not have a small town like I thought. It did have a Lighthouse, a Country Store and some really cute housing. The remainder of the day was spent in Rehobeth again now that the stores were open and then dinner close to home. The drive back was un-eventful, but we did have a sighting of Ed's favorite local college ~ University of Maryland University College. He loves that the college not only has the word "college", but "university" twice! :)



All in all, it was a wonderful anniversary. We had a great time at the beach and I was able to cross "go to the beach during the off-season" off my bucket list. :) Now that we are home, re-united with Lucy, we are looking forward to the summer and the many, many home projects we have ahead of us. Happy Anniversary!!!

Everybody Loves Dogwood

We have made it home safely from our little anniversary get away and are ready to relax so I apologize for the short post. I promise to make it worth your while with an exciting play by play of the vacation, but for now, take a look at at this...our GORGEOUS tree! We can see now that it is a Flowering Dogwood which happens to be one of my favorite trees AND the official state tree of Virginia. Happy Spring!

Life's a Beach

It's our last night here in Bethany which is both sad and happy at the same time. We are sad that our vacation has come to a close, but we are happy to head home and see our baby Lucy girl. :) Since we are going to make the most out of our last night, we are going to leave you with some images we captured over the vacation. More to come soon!