248 W Paradise

wanna see what the #1 gorgeous garden rooftop terrace in manhattan looks like?

my first piece of advice...

take down the circus tent. let the light shine on in.

no fear of anyone other than God looking in on you in your underpants.

and he knows what it looks like, he made it.

that triangle window peak thingy here (resembling a certain famous french art museum) is the skylight that i desperately want to de-treatment.

elle, why don't you just go ahead and put an offer in.

i'll come visit.

we'll throw a huge garden party for all the cool people.

{you all are obviously invited.}

only downside to this piece of heavenly real estate: 1 bedroom.

i guess it'll be a slumber party!!!

elle, thoughts?

JILL

{listing for this mega apartment found on sotheby's for a cool $4.5 mill}

randoms

2 random things i wanted to share,

although they have nada to do with each other:

1-- i wish we had smellavision so that you could take a whiff.

my mom's lilac topiary took my breat away.

i could have slept with that tree right beside me last night.

2-- i just changed tea companies for my daily work tea-time routine, because of nothing other than the package.

i don't think some marketing people realize the power of pretty packaging.

shoot, there are people on pinterest with whole boards devoted to it.

this lime and hunter and bright raspberry is as pretty as it gets.

and much to my delight the tea is delicious, too.

love.

JILL

rockstar water.

as i mentioned on monday, i was at a work tradeshow over the weekend up until yesterday. it was held at the lake of the ozarks in mo, so i got to stay at my family's house. {i was so happy. you have no idea how much i despise hotels... but i digress.}

the lake was in full bloom. i can't help but feel like summer is already here with the weather we're having. it was 80+ the whole time i was there. i laid out. in march!! i still can't believe it.

i think the lake might be the birthplace of dogwoods. either that, or they just really enjoy it down there. there are eleventy billion of them growing wild everywhere. and as of this weekend, they all looked like this:

our mint on our back deck was also growing.

we use it to make mojitos {especially my favorites, mango mojitos!} in the summer time. give this pot a month and it will look like a bush. a smell-good, tasty one.

i didn't make mojitos cause i had to work... but i wanted to welcome the mint back. so i made mojito water. aka- best water i've ever had!! couldn't get enough of the stuff.

its just plain old water with muddled mint and a squeeze or a few of lime.

das it.

i'm planting some mint here asap so i can enjoy this water all of the time! its delish. and refreshing and good for your health.

tip i've learned, make sure you plant your mint in a container because if you plant it in your yard, it grows and grows and grows and might take over the whole thing. it can even jump pots if you have some next to your mint pot.

look at me, giving out gardening tips and info. WHOEVER would have thought that was going to happen on here? NOT ME. but i just did.

happy hump day.

JILL

rock hard balls.

nothing dirty...

i'm talking concrete garden spheres!

elle's mom, jane, emailed this blog post to elle and i the other day. it's a garden/home tour of a belgian couple. the whole thing is pretty spectacular. check out more here.

these were just some of my favorite images:

but what really caught my eye, were their concrete garden spheres/sculptures.

aren't they kinda awesome? i've seen them before but i now really like them. and wouldn't mind a few in my own backyard.

 they are for sale here. but i'm not really looking to spend that much on a ball of cement.

so thanks to the internets, i found out how to make them yourself!

thanks to design*sponge. their tutorial is for smaller domes, but i bet you could try really hard and walk around home depot for a bit and come up with a solution for some larger balls. i'm also thinking if you did go along with their tutorial and used old light covers, i bet if you didn't fill the cement all the way to the top, you could eliminate the whole weird disk thing/fixture opening and make a perfect sphere.

if i ever try this myself, i will for sure let you know how it goes. it's going on the list of fun stuff i want to try/make, but just never can find the time to actually DO these things.

JILL

today's question

which one would i live in :)

tough choice because i love them all!!

xoxo

elle.

out your back door.

i say fancy little guest house/gardening house over garage any day :)

xoxo

elle.

{image from better homes and gardens via pinterest}

in my dreams...

...i have a garden in my backyard that looks like these. but like i said, in my dreams.

i can hardly keep house plants alive. i try and i try and i try. i haven't tried my hands outdoors quite yet. my yard is pitiful, actually. my husband and i have been spending all our time and resources inside to fix up our fixer-upper. this year, it's the yard's turn.

here's hoping i have better luck than i did with my house plants ;)

JILL

{images: #1 from one of my MOST favorite movies, it's complicated and #2 unknown-- i've had it for years as a reminder of my dream :)}