Summer Salads and Salsa? Yes Please!

 Who's ready for summer?  I can't believe I'm saying that because I can't believe it's just around the corner!  What has happened to the first 3 months of 2011?  Ok, back on track!  I have always had a black thumb for gardening...I mean I have killed bamboo...  But since October, I have grown Basil from seeds and been able to keep it alive and cook with it!  Going along with the momentum of my new found green thumb, I am tackling a whole vegetable garden.  From the seedling to the harvest!  Happy growing!

The Goss Garden is now growing:  Broccoli, Squash, Zucchini, Cherry and Beefsteak tomatoes, assorted Bell Peppers, Chives, Sweet Onions, 6 assortments of Lettuce, Parsley, Oregano, Cilantro and Rosemary! 

 I started with a Jiffy soil kit I puchased at Home Depot.  You just add water and the soil expands, add your seeds (2-3 per soilette) and gently cover.

Voila!  My own little starter greenhouse!  I wish the cover didn't look so ghetto with JIFFY across the top, but oh well!  They will remain in here for approx 20 days before I start exposing them to the outdoors then, bam!  Plant that exact soilette into the ground!

See you guys in 60-85 days for Harvest!! 

Check out that Basil!  YUM!

First LEED certified Neighborhood in the South - Say what?!

So I was in Nashville this week for work and when I'm there, I always do a little shopping.  Knoxville is great and all but Nashville is killing it with the shopping!  One of my favorite places to visit is the Urban Outfitters in the super cool Gulch area.  Every place and every part of Nashville is trying to be something "up and coming."  I mean Nashville has the coolest novelty stores now for your favorite treats:  from $5 cupcakes all over the city at Gigi's and CeCe's, to Las Paletas fresh made gourmet Popsicles,to you name it.  But the developers of the Gulch area decided the up and coming "thing" they were going to be was Green.  Not just cause it's chic but because its sustainable.  The area between downtown and midtown has just become {well as of 2009} the first LEED certified neighborhood in the South. {so cool right?}  And in this urban chic land is one of my favorites:  Urban Outfitters.  We were supposed to get one in downtown Knoxville, but that didn't happen.

Renovated Gulch Area

One thing I loved in Urban Outfitters {other than the $19.99 clearance dress I scored!}was the wall paneling in the dressing rooms.  It was some kind of reclaimed particle board that had this pattern etched in it.  Inside the pattern was painted a dark pink/burgundy.  Such a simple way to be "Eco friendly" and a cool way to be creative.  Kudos's Urban Outfitters!

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