Cut Flowers of the Farm this week

So harvesting last weeks load of cut flowers for my farmers markets was beyond awesome with all the crazy colors and textures going on in the fields. My late crop of zinnias is finally popping up and my euphoria! 
 
 
I had a date planned with the Lumberjack on Saturday and I thought I had gotten all the harvesting done the day before but after taking a walk with Subie around the farm I discovered a whole new harvest of flowers had popped up! 
 
 
Knowing that I had my big Sunday market the next day I quickly ran back to the farm house and filled the buckets with water and began cutting like a mad woman in the field. Normally I have my two summer helpers with me for harvest but I attempted to do it all by myself and as quick as possible. 
 
I totally lost track of time and when the Lumberjack finally got home from doing woodsy work I had only gotten a quarter of the harvest finished. I thought he was going to be mad but he just grabbed an extra pair of clippers from the truck and started cutting with me, even though he had been working all day! He is the most perfect man that ever lived. 
 
By the time we were done it was nine o'clock at night and pitch black so that squashed our plans of the Boardwalk for dinner on Lake George. I was happy I got an extra harvest in but sad that I had missed a chance to spend sometime together off the farm, so just as I was saying we could just stay in and cuddle on the couch he told me to go throw a dress on. He surprised me with a late night dennys date. ♥ 
 
It was a wonderful Saturday. Harvesting in the evening as the sun goes down with the crickets chirping and the air turning cooler with the most adorable beardy man in the world was amazing. 
 
Those Persian carpets were a huge hit on Sunday. I sold every single stem. People just love those crazy colors. 
 
I noticed a rouge sunflower popping up in a field I haven't used in two years that we decided to use this season. As we were weeding out bed plots at the start of the season one of the girls who works for me in the summer thought it was a weed and almost pulled it out! I told her to leave it be and weed around it. It will probably be in bloom next week. Funny how this is an annual sunflower that spent two years dormant in the ground even though its not supposed to make it through our rough Adirondack winters. 

The button zinnias finally decided to show up this season. A little bit late but still cute and they make the cutest little mini bouquets! 
It was a beautiful color filled week! 

Have a lovely day!

Lav. A 

Happy Shark Week!

Hope you had an amazing shark week! 

I will admit after the Olympics were over and I had no more soccer to watch I felt a bit lost, but then my amazing Lumberjack reminded me that shark week was next and I instantly cheered up! That Lumberjack always has a way of doing that.
 
While shopping forever 21's flash sale today I spotted this purple shark hoody and knew I had to add it to my monochromatic wardrobe! So perfect. Def goes with the theme of the week. NOM!  : ) 
 
I also ordered a bunch of purple basics so can't wait for that package to get here. I am on the lookout for cute little frilly ankle socks, purple of course. I am having the hardest time finding any so I will probably just have to buy some white ones and dye them. 

Well I am off to experiment with scents to try and create some special request shea butter soaps for some awesome people! 

Have a lovely sharky day! 

Lav. A

30 Lists September Edition

My hello kitty strawberry scented journal and I are very pumped for #30 Lists September Edition. I participated in one of last years editions but I was so busy with college I totally forgot to post them. So for now until September comes I will be sharing last years just so they are documented. 

I need to go buy a new pack of purple ink pens and stickers! 

Have a Lovely day! 

Lav. A

Bow Tights!

Ok...I will admit. I did go a little purple crazy while shopping today. I know I have problems resisting cute purple garments but I don't care. 

There were so many things I justified getting for my wardrobe today! I came home with tons of purple cuteness from target and forever 21. 

Fall tights def necessary! Purple plaid shirts for fall? Yup. New long sleeved purple floral dress? Didn't even have to debate buying that. Cute cardigans and sweaters? I will need those with school coming up. New purple leather purse... ok that I didn't need but it's so soft! 

I was only originally supposed to get cellophane wraps from the craft store for the new soaps I created over the weekend. The mall is right next to it though! Of course I am going to go in. This time of year hits my bank account hard with all the purple swag that starts becoming available. : ) Not my fault. In fairness I did manage to get the cellophane.

Have a lovely day! 

Lav. A

Flower Love!

 
I have been working in flower shops since I was 13 and then I went to trade school and then college for floral design. In that time I have designed in many of different containers and vases. Golden urns and Simon Pierce glass bowls worth thousands of dollars and yet nothing makes my heart sing quite like a mason jar full of posies! 
 
I have been harvesting all day and getting ready to sell all my beauties at various farmers markets and I figured I would keep some for myself. I usually wind up selling all of my bouquet jars and then I have nothing for my own little house. That might be a good problem to have though, since it means my flowers have fans! 
 
Look at that Dahlia! Very Sexy! ♥ 
   
I threw it together in about two minutes but I love how it turned out. I am very famous on this farm for my fast bouquet assembly skills. My girls who are helping me for the summer keep saying they are going to record me one of these days. Maybe it should be an olympic sport...Hey it could happen! If Speed Walk Racing is a sport then extreme bouquet production can be one too. : ) 

  This Bouquet Features: 
♥ White + Purple Lisianthus 
♥ Blue Ageratum 
♥ White Zinnias 
♥ English Lavender 
♥ White Dahlias 

I didn't put any greens into this one. I put mint in my small bouquets this time of year but I just didn't think this little bundle needed any. I am very happy with those Lisianthus. Thanks to my new spiffy high tunnel I have been able to produce a great crop of them all July and August!

Got any flowers in your house this week? If you don't you should stop by your local farmers market and grab some! 

Have a Lovely day! ♥ 

Lav. A

Summer Wind Down Goals

This summer has been flying by! It's not over yet but... according to my filo-fax school starts  up again in a few weeks which means my summer will be coming to an end. I love summer but honestly I'm happy to see it go. This particular summer was rather drama filled for me. I had to say good bye to someone that had been very important to me for a very long time because when it came down to it we just didn't want the same things. Simple yet hurtful. I feel like fall will be a clean slate. Plus I just love the crunchy leaves and everything pumpkin flavored!!

So I have made a list of some goals to keep me on track as the summer comes to a close!  



♥ - Get back into the motion of Hoop Dancing! Hooping just makes me so happy and relaxed. Since leaving college for the summer I had not done a lot of it due to the fact I was working like crazy and I didn't have the same ladies I hoop with during the year. This is one of the things I had stopped doing because I got caught up in another persons life and had no time for little things like this that I did for myself. I have been hoop dancing about four days a week lately and it feels so good! 



♥ - Drink more polar water. At school I lived off polar water and that was all. I loved all of the flavors, variety is a wonderful thing! Well sadly during the summer I developed a bad habit of drinking lots of Mountain Dew and Monster. I know it's terrible for you, but I had been living in a house where those were the only options. Now I am in my own little house and the only bubbly beverage in my fridge are many polar waters! 

♥ - Get prepared for school! I have been slacking in the paper work department for school. I have four classes this fall semester and since this is a new school for me, I need to get it all figured out. Even though I am going to school for my third degree I am still terrified of going to a new school and having to start all over again to make friends. With all the purple I wear and my hair people either really love me or they just wanna stay away from me. Should be...fun. Sigh. 

♥ - Keep Training for Soccer! With school starting up that means my favorite sport in the whole world starts also. I usually play at my college but since my new school doesn't have a women's soccer team (which is totally lame since there is a mens team) I joined a sports center in my area that has an adults womens league. Whats cool about playing there is that once fall turns to winter they have indoor sports fields so we can play all winter. Sounds like a blast and that means less time I have to spend at the gym in the winter. : ) 
 

♥ - Add to my Fall Purple Wardrobe. It has been very hard not to go crazy lately with over buying with all the adorable purple fall garments that are coming out in the stores. I will def be buying a lot though. Especially this purple plaid shirt I spotted at Target yesterday! So cute! 



♥ - Prepare for Holiday business. Last but probably the most important thing I need to do is get ready for the holidays. This includes preparing my fall and holiday bath & body line, cleaning up the flower farm for winter, harvest honey from my bee hives, process and can a lot of delicata squash (yummy!!!), Make all kinds of products for my winter farmers markets such as Maple Sponge candy and fudge, holiday farm baskets, basically maple overload. 

Fall is my favorite season and I can't wait for it to arrive but for now with the few weeks left I am going to enjoy the flowers, hike, go on some bike trail rides, enjoy my motorcycle like crazy till it snows and I am forced to put it away, attend the fair, cherish flip flops, go out on the lake and have a few more crazy nights with my ladies! (we still have crazy nights in the winter) 

Is there anything you have to do before the summer ends? 

Have a lovely day! 

Lav. A

Origins of my Indie Company

People ask me all the time at craft shows where my bath and body name Sweet Neon comes from, so I thought I would answer this huge mystery! : ) 

 

I actually got the first inspiration from the very pretty cut flower Neon Amazon. They are so bright and pretty! I grow all the colors this flower comes in on my farm. I especially love the bright pink and purple varieties. They are such an amazing cut flower and I don't think they get a lot of mention in the floral industry.

I know the Dianthus family as a whole gets used quite often but I dont actually see this really awesome variety in floral shops very often. This is probably why I sell so much of it at the farmers market in the summer. hehehe 

   

I also loved working all the pretty fragrances for bath and body products just like I love experiencing the natural sweetness of all the cut flowers I grow every year. 

So sweet scents and neon amazon flowers turned into...

 SWEET + NEON = SWEET NEON BATH & BODY !! ♥ 

♥

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy! Just like that I had this new awesome obsession that I could become married to. I love love love growing flowers on my farm of course, but the long winters of the Adirondacks left me with a very large time of the year where I didn't have to be creative. One can only snowboard and hoop dance indoors for so long before feeling the pull of the need to make things! So something that was once a hobby turned into a very big professional goal. 

Have a lovely day! ♥ 

Lav. A  

Soap Studio Inspiration - Cherry Limeade

I'm all about that Cherry Limeade from Minute Maid Juice and even more excited they created a low calorie version that still tastes good! I prefer it over orange juice in the A.M. since I find orange juice to be a little to much acid for me first thing in morning. Plus I feel it tastes better since it's what I use to chase my organic apple cider shot at 7 a.m. (Soccer season is starting soon and I eat some weird things to prepare.) 
 
Not only do I adore the taste but I also love the scent. So I decided to mix my own fragrance blend so I could make a whole line of products with it! Soooo Yummy! 

♥

Cherry Lime Shea Butter Soap is now appearing in my shop. It has def climbed into my top ten favorite scents I have ever created. I have been using it during my evening showers all week. Very nice to end the day with after working in the gardens all day! 

♥

Have a lovely evening! 

Lav A. 

Olympic Victory Bouquets

Greetings and Happy Monday! I am sitting in my air conditioned living room today listing my new soaps on my etsy shop while watching the Olympic Women's Soccer Semi Round. Cheering on the U.S. team! 

I realized I haven't done any flower related posts lately so I decided to highlight the Olympic medal bouquets that are given out to the champions.

♥

The bouquets for the 2012 Olympic games include four varieties of Roses divided by English Lavender, Rosemary and Mint. I also feel like I have spotted some of the bouquets being presented through out the games to also have a little bit of Ornamental Wheat in them but I'm not sure. Anyways, this design is def very English indeed! 

Over the course of the 2012 Olympics over 4,000 victory bouquets will be presented!! Holy cow, that's alotta posies! 

These bouquets were designed by the one and only UK Florist, Jane Packer. I'm sure the legend of a florist who passed away last year is very proud to represent British Floral Design for all the world to see during these games. It's on my bucket list to attend one of her design schools someday. 

A simple yet classic design and since they had to create so many of them a grouping bouquet is a good choice since it helps in replicating so many of them quickly. I love that they included Jane Packer's signature printed ribbon. Very pretty! 

Okay, back to yelling the the big screen in my living room during soccer! 

Have a lovey day everyone! 

Lav. A. 

Saratoga Park Outfit

 
I finally decided that it was time to break free of flower and soap work for a day! I ventured to downtown Saratoga with some pals. It was crazy busy which is to be expected with track season right now (Saratoga is world famous for their horse racing here in the big NY.) The sidewalks were filled with people and my friends always get a kick out of how many people stop me on the street to ask me questions about my hair or my outfits. Strangers are always curious about the all purple thing. My one guy friend always jokes when we are out by counting all the compliments I get on my hair. It makes spending hours to get it this way worth it! : )  


Everytime I'm in downtown I go into the park and go out on to this awesome concrete gazebo that's in the water and feed the ducks. I don't care if there is a sign that says NOT to feed them. They are just so cute! 
Anyways, here was my outfit of the day. (please excuse the quality, it's a phone pic.) That is one of the most comfortable purple dresses I own and it was only FIVE bucks!! 

Oh by the way, I adopted an amazing Pit-Bull & Boxer mix a few weeks ago. She has taken to the farm and my little home so quickly. She is so perfect, already house broken and she does all kinds of tricks! I'm sure you will be seeing a lot more of Subie around here. Just look at that purple collar! 

Outfit -  
Dress: Aeropostale 
Wedges: Old Navy 
Sunglasses: American Eagle 
Purse: Coach 
Coffee: Uncommon Grounds ( Best coffee shop ever!! )  

Have a lovely day!! 

Lav. A