they live!

i have a thing for succulents.  i tend to attribute this to growing up in the southern california with a father who, being obsessed with history in general and california history specifically, took us to every white-stucco-walled, brown-wooden-beamed, cacti-laden historic mission museum in the state.  the yard in front of the house i grew up in is pretty much an impenetrable fortress of overgrown, alien agaves.  and, for most of my formative years, i lived within a five minute walk of the santa monica mountains.  i live succulents.

so, when it was time to chose a color scheme and flowers for our outdoor, santa monica mountain wedding, i naturally (see what i did there?  naturally?) decided on purples, sages and whites, to reflect the real landscape of this area.  for reference, here are some photos of our wedding favors and my bouquet (and luke's back):

this photo also highlights a spiderweb on this aloe.  apparently it spent too much time outside pre-wedding.  also, this proves how much i didn't care about the details by d-day.  there really is only some much discussion about colors and tablecloths and lighting one can take before it's TOO MUCH ALREADY.

i was in love with this favor idea.  obviously, i was convinced i was the first person in the history of weddings to come up with it.  however, i haven't seen it anywhere else and until i do, i'm claiming all credit.

the bouquet.  it was insane and wonderful and created by a genius florist who took my "um, succulents and white flowers?" and ran into the best possible direction.  

anyway, my point is that i am deep in the throes of a love affair with succulents, with their waxy, smooth surfaces and near-indestructibility.  they are the plants for me.

this brings me to now.  we are about two months from our one year anniversary and i have managed to keep alive all of the leftover wedding favors and two of the giant succulents from my bouquet.  for some reason, this amazes me.  i can't get over the fact that some of the floral stuff from that day still lives - and thrives actually (for the most part).  sadly, though, the favors are still in their dorky little terra cotta pots and are obviously desperate for some more space/better potting soil.  i've been meaning to put them all in a giant terra cotta bowl for approximately all of the months since the wedding and now i've finally purchased all that i need to make this dream a reality.  i'm gonna wait until tomorrow, though, despite having had the time to make the transfer tonight, because buying the supplies was my productive task of today and planting them will be the one productive thing (aside from working before dawn - literally) that i do tomorrow.  see how i think ahead?

here's the station:

i think this is too tinytown, so click on it if you're so inclined.  the plants in the orange and yellow ramekins (from crate and barrel, created for baking creme brulees, one of my other favorite things in the world) are the succulents from the bouquet.  so big and green and alive!