Wodka's many uses!

Many of my friends and family laugh when I tell them that I use vodka to clean my shower...maybe it's that they're under the impression I'm wasting the good stuff??

No fear, I actually use the cheap stuff in a spray bottle to clean soap scum and mildew from the shower. I swear it works!!! And, it appears many others also believe in vodka as a cleaning agent:

Apartment Therapy - 12 Best Household Uses for Vodka

Cleaning and Disinfecting with Vodka - via Squidoo

*Linnea - don't you wish we had known about this before you cleaned that chandelier of mine on 9th Ave piece-by-piece!!!

**Sam - your Great Grandma would have loved this! Or, maybe she was ahead of the game and started the craze!!!

Great garden idea!

What a wonderful idea for a garden!

Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

LaNa's Green Tip of the Week

Green Your Kitchen Space - from marthastewart.com

"Unclog Your Sink Naturally
As is, baking soda won't necessarily clear a pathway. It first needs to change its chemical composition. Don't worry, it sounds more complicated than it actually is. Boiling water converts baking soda to sodium carbonate, a more effective drain cleaner. Pour 1 cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by 3 cups of boiling water, and let science take over. It's a much safer choice than commercial drain cleaners, which can harm skin, eyes, lungs, and the water supply."

Happy Cleaning!

LaNa eating local!

My edible garden is going strong!!

Tomatoes a plenty!

Squash blossoms!

Raised bed (and some crazy weeds in the background!)

Kale, bibb lettuce, and red leaf lettuce! My first cucumber!!

Squash!

Yummy Kale!

Prepping Kale Puttanesca!

Yum!!!

Caprese salad w/basil from LaNa!

My trip to DC...

I recently traveled to the east coast for some work events and stayed in a fun, hip hotel in DC - Donovan House.

The pics don't do it justice...it was very swanky and in a convenient location.

the shower...

Cool Vertical Gardens!

Check out these great vertical gardens from Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco...cool!!

Hens & Chicks immediately take me back to my childhood...they were faves of mine and my sisters.

Today's my Friday!

I'm so looking forward to the L-O-N-G weekend! I've got a laundry list of things to do around LaNa and will post updates as tasks are completed. Stay tuned...

My paternal grandparents - Hazel & Dan - posted just for fun!

Today I'm loving....

Love the yellow head board! What a great pop of color!

The stairs are beautiful! Instead of painting the top of the stair, I'm loving the idea of painting the kick plate...mine are currently scuffed white!

images courtesy of Mary Ruffle

Dinner in the Drive @ LaNa - June 2009!

The theme for this month's Dinner in the Drive was "local!" We dined on dishes with local ingredients (bonus points if someone used something from their own garden!) and Michigan wine.

Chocolate covered Michigan strawberries and cherry wine from Traverse City! Jiffy Mix (Chelsea, MI) muffins and local honey!
BYObeercozy!
Basil, tomato, buffalo mozzarella, onion, and avocado salad...and, a asian cucumber salad.
Pork loin, local MI asparagus, homemade sweet potato fries!
Homemade tomatillo salsa...cilantro from Melissa's garden - delish!
Good times...GREAT friends and family!

*All images property of LaNa!

Seafoam or Granite?

Take the poll at your right to give your feedback on the color of a couch for LaNa!

Seafoam - http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=351407&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

Granite - http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=357224&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

Thoughts...

Seafoam is fun...would look great with the "Tornado Watch" paint in the living room...and matches the pillows/decor. BUT, am I going to be sitting on it in a couple years thinking "I have a seafoam colored couch?!?!" *note: the seafoam color looks a little different on this link with the chair...it's definitely more true to the swatch provided. In the pic of the couch in seafoam it looks a bit robins-egg blue... here's the swatch on the chair http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=352291&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

Granite is more of a classic, neutral color...looks good with the paint...not so great with chair cushions and pillows...definitely don't think we'll be tired of color as we can spice it up with pillows, etc.

Love them both...find myself leaning towards seafoam, but am scared of that commitement!

Flowers at LaNa!

No alarm...this flower is from MY peony garden at LaNa!

My new painting, by L. Wardo Rusho, bought at Art for the Cure of Cystic Fibrosis!

Another one of my beautiful peonies...

2 pieces of art from "Kids for the Cure" benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Flowers from a beautiful bush at LaNa!

I'm still unsure what type of flowering bush this is (maybe a variety of honeysuckle?)...

but, I now notice these all over town!

All photos courtesy of LaNa...

Peony Garden at the University of Michigan Arboretum!

Someone's cute dog...

I love how delicate this bloom is...

All images belong to LaNa...