I recently acquired some succulents. This is in part because they're basically the same thing as cacti and in part because I'm venturing out on my green thumb potential. What better plant to start out with than a cactus? (Or at least something similar to it.)

However, the first one I purchased in the beginning of March from Home Depot came in a cute little terracotta planter, and I thought "this is easy enough. Maybe spray it with water every other day and let it do its own thing." It wasn't until my mom came over one day and looked at the plant that I thought maybe I should rethink my approach. "Ashley," she said with surprise. "These plants do not look healthy! Are you sure you're watching them correctly?"

It turns out . . . I wasn't. So here are some tips and tricks to make your succulents the best they've ever been! (Well, it's trial and error, but this is what I've gathered from experience and from reading other blogs - which I'll have links to at the bottom.)

 

• Bright sunlight. If you're growing succulents indoors like myself, it's important for them to be in the brightest room in the house. From what I've read, they typically need at least 6 hours of good sunlight - a south-facing window is suggested. This is because these types of plants are used to desert environments, which get a lot of sun and also varying temperatures. If you have the opportunity to place them outside during spring and summer, that's ideal. If you notice your plants "stretching" for light, that probably means they're not getting enough sunlight.
• Well-draining soil. This is important. Make sure that your succulent is in a pot that has adequate drainage and that you're using cactus soil or something similar. It has characteristics of the soil that succulents are used to growing in. Your container should be terracotta, which is ideal. Some growers suggest non-glazed pots as they tend to retain water, but it's what works best for you and your plants.
• Watering. The amount that you need to water your succulents actually varies per season. If it's cooler (i.e. winter and late fall/early spring), your succulent will need less water. If it's late spring, summer, and early fall, your plants will need watered more. HOWEVER, it can become easy to overwater them, which you don't want to do. Some websites suggest watering once or twice a month during the winter and once a week during the summer. You should always pay attention to the dampness of your soil first and foremost. If it is bone dry, then you water it. This should happen a maximum of once a week, and your soil always needs to dry completely in between watering. You also need to pay attention to root rot, which occurs from over-watering.
• Pay attention. Most importantly, all of these things vary (trust me, I didn't like hearing that either). People have different methods for caring for their plants, but if you're doing something that isn't exactly like what people are telling you, it doesn't mean you're doing it wrong if your plants are responding positively to it. Have fun! That's the point of getting house plants, right? To nurture and see progress in the little things you're taking care of.

Here are some links that I found really helpful in learning how to care for my plants:

• DIY: How to Stop Killing Your Indoor Succulents by Erin Boyle, Gardenista
• Tips for Growing Succulents Indoors, Succulents and Sunshine
• Growing Succulents Indoors by Bayer (yeah, the aspirin people)
• How to: Care for Your Succulents by A Pair & A Spare

Enjoy your journey with succulents! If I can't be out doing something outdoors or because of something else (which is really hard when I want to be outside, but it's still cold and rainy where I am), adventure can be had by trying something new! For me, it's learning how to care for something I've kind of always want to, but never took the chance in doing.

Adieu Caribou! xoxo

Cherry Blossom Festival 2014

I started going to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC in 2008 and have gone pretty consistently ever since. However, the past two years I was unable to because I was in Texas and it broke my heart. It's usually a tradition that my mom and I share, but she was in Florida this week so I took it upon myself to go on my own.

If you're ever worried about traveling to DC on your own, don't be. As long as you're by the monuments and Smithsonian, there is always security and usually a lot of tourists. If you decide to venture behind the Eisenhower Building and White House into "real DC," then you may want to take other people with you.

BUT the Cherry Blossom Festival is a beautiful celebration of the 3,000 cherry trees that were gifted to the United States in 1912 by the mayor of Tokyo in Japan. There are parades, famous cameo appearances, special art galleries and tons of Japanese culture that flood DC for two weeks. If you want more information on events (the festival ends on Sunday), click here to find out more.

Here are some tips that I have for making the most out of your experience:

• Get to know the camera you're using before you go. There are various settings you'll need to be acquainted with and you don't want to be stuck standing around the Tidal Basin looking at your camera like a foreign object. There are a lot of photographers that go, and they can get cranky if you're in their shot.
• Leave early. I drive from Washington County, and it can take a good hour and a half without traffic to get to Downtown DC. I woke up and left around 5 am and still hit traffic on 270, but I got there in time for the beautiful sunrise. It's probably the most beautiful thing you can see and take pictures of while there.
• Know where to park. If you get there early, the East Potomac parking is free and it's right by the Tidal Basin. Always my go-to when I go to DC. They also change the traffic patterns, so have a GPS handy if you're not good with maps and be free and open to having to change your route often.
• Have a tentative schedule in mind. Like I mentioned earlier, there are a ton of things going on during the festival. Weekends are always the busiest, so make sure you know what's planned. Even if you leave early, you're probably still going to run into crowds throughout the day. DC is a big city that's hard to realize when you're walking around such big structures, so plan time to walk between places and make it to your desired events early.
• Carry something to eat and drink with you. Always. This is probably a no-brainer, but something you should always do.

Happy traveling, folks!

Un Viaje de República Dominicana

I'm back :) We, our group of 17, returned on Monday evening safe, sound, and changed forever. I'm going to be posting my musings and photos on tumblr, but I'll try to post some of my absolute favorite pictures here in my spare time. Being back is weird. Like, let me emphasize this weird. I've had moments where I've cried unexpectedly coming home from class because the wrong type of song was on. I've had moments of determination to learn Spanish (so much determination that I think I downloaded some weird thing on my computer instead of what I was wanting to do. Advice: don't do torrents if you don't know how to do torrents).

It's almost like I know I'm not mentally prepared to ever go back to the normal ways of doing things. I carry keychains that were gifted to me on my work keys to remind me to always keep working hard and stay focused on what's really important. It's really, really hard sometimes when everyone else around you didn't experience the same things as you. They ask how your trip was - some care and some don't, and you just have to deal with that.

Anyway, below are some pictures. I'm hoping to get to DC this upcoming week for the Cherry Blossom Festival, so hopefully you'll start to see me more regularly. If you want to read more about the trip, my link to tumblr is here.

I laid this row of block by myself :)

MIA

It's been a while since I've really adventured anywhere, and I apologize for that. Things have been busy with school and work and there was a week where I was the main dean on duty when everything seemed to go wrong.

Anyway, I'm off to the Dominican Republic on Friday and with that, there will be tons of pictures . . . when I get back! I'll write my journal entries and post up the pictures from those days. It'll be great.

In the meantime, I hope you're finding adventures in your everyday and seeing the beauty around you!

Adieu Caribou! xoxo

National Gallery of Art

Wednesdays are usually mom days. That means my mom and I hang out, whether it's watching TV at her house, or going to the gym, or eating somewhere new for lunch. Today has been a day that we've been planning for a couple of weeks - homeleave was originally planned to start today (which means all the boarding school kids go home for the rest of the week), but because of the excess of snow days, we had to cut it short. So, we parked by the Jefferson Memorial, as usual. It's quite a hike, but it's free parking and the walk isn't bad if you're into DC, I guess.

We could only manage to make it to the National Gallery of Art, which was our main goal anyway. It doesn't compare to any other galleries I've been to recently. The national galleries are always the best: Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, Bernini, Degas, Rothko. And the atmosphere is always amazing. They had a special archives gallery based on the recent release of Monuments Men, and though it was small, it was really great. Other exhibits included Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections, Modern German Prints and Drawings from the Kainen Collection, and the showcase of The Dying Gaul: An Ancient Roman Masterpiece from the Capitoline Museum, Rome. The latter was made in marble in the 1st or 2nd century AD and its showing in the National Gallery marks the first time it has left Rome since 1797 (before, it was housed in the Louvre until 1816 - can anyone guess why?).

The Dying Gaul

My mom usually isn't into these kinds of things, but I appreciate how she can find something to like in pretty much any situation, whether it be Bike Week in Daytona or the National Gallery in DC. She walked around commenting and analyzing the pieces, being more drawn to the ones feature nature and splendid amounts of detail as their focal points.

Although it was cold today, it ended up being a good day to be inside admiring art. We had a great lunch (with gelato for dessert) at the café downstairs, and then headed home after the long trek back the car.

One of my favorites, Lake Lucern by Albert Bierstadt.

Hercules in bronze.

Nymph of Spring

Nymph of the Forest

Adieu Caribou! xoxo

International Food Festival

Every year, the high school that I graduated from and now work at does an International Food Festival. Our school has always been diverse, having international students coming from South Korea, China, Vietnam, and various countries in Africa. We've had students whose parents were missionaries in countries like Ghana or Kenya, or who grew up in Mexico or Puerto Rico. It's so cool to be part of a global community like that.

So, for a "school" day one Sunday out of the school year, students pick a country to represent and make booths with information and, of course, great food. I racked up quite a tab snacking on delicious cuisine.

Italian Soda. They also had delish Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato made from scratch!

South Korea's table.

SA did México . . . I feel like a joke could be made here.

Mexican cuisine

Brayan and Judy, photobombed by Hunter, for Brazil

Brendon and Ray for Brazil

I told Hayden to be Canadian - this was the look I got.

Congrats on Canada winning the Gold in both Women's and Men's Hockey in Sochi.

Drew and Derrick "selling" the shirts from the Vietnam table.

 I learned a lot about my camera actually using it in live action situations. I should probably keep it in auto focus until I get better. A lot of my pictures came out blurry, which was slightly disappointing, but just means I have to keep practicing. Yay for learning new things and eating great food!

Until next time :)

Snowpocalypse 2014

Since last night around 7:30 pm, my neck of the woods has received approximately 15-16 inches of snow. When that happens, there's one thing that is a fan favorite in my household: snow ice cream. It's quite simple really, and the ingredients are everyday items for most:

A big bowl of snow

Milk (if you want more of a nutty flavor, unsweetened almond milk is great)

Sugar

Vanilla Extract

I'm not going to give exact measurements, but basically you mix the ingredients to taste and until you get a condensed consistency. You don't want the snow to still be powdery, but you also don't want it to become soup. It's a delicious easy treat that hits the sweet spot if you're stuck at home.

If you're getting snow today, cozy up and enjoy!