It has been an exciting week in America, but it has also been a crazy long week at work, so  I cannot wait for this day to be over.  Tomorrow I am anticipating a relaxing day on the patio furniture, watching some football games and drinking some beers.    I hope everyone has a great relaxing  weekend as well!

As much as I have been complaining about the recent heatwave, I really love the fact that Southern California weather makes it easy to eat and entertain outside pretty much year round.  I have kind of become obsessed with browsing through the patio designs at HGTV and finding new ideas to spruce up my little patio for some fall relaxation. I am currently drooling over this Moroccan-themed patio:

Sadly this entertaining area is a little too elaborate for my space, but I feel like some other features could be easily incorporated.  For example, I love this “Chef/Pass-Through Table” and could totally see using it as a bar table:

Also, this Chef’s Garden is totally inspiring me to take another stab at the container garden.

For the time being, though, I think I’ll start with mint for some great Moroccan tea!

I was delighted to return from our recent road trip to find our orchids coming out of a long hibernation and our chamomile in bloom! I am most surprised about the chamomile; of all the plants I have potted recently, it seemed like it wasn’t really taking off. But I guess Miracle Gro really does live up to its name–it’s been just over a month since I planted the chamomile, and it’s already blooming! The feverfew and lemon balm are also growing by leaps and bounds as well (and yes, I KNOW i still need to do a lemon balm post!) My tropical oasis is within reach; now I just need furniture so I can enjoy it!

It was great to be on the road because it gave me a lot of great ideas for patio furniture. I can’t decide if I’d prefer a clay chimenea or a fire pit, because I can see pros and cons to having both. I LOVE the design and the Southwestern feel, but it doesn’t seem as versatile or as easy to clean as a fire pit. Then again, since we live in Southern California, there might not be that many fires, and a chimenea definitely has more stand alone appeal as outdoor decor. Maybe I should wait until the weather warms up before I make any decisions.