I've been on a strict spending diet that consists of nothing but flowers and food. Both beautifully delicious perishables, if you will. I know I should scale back on the fancy stuff but I'm struggling. Rock bottom happened last week in the Fairway gourmet honey section when I almost bought myself a $10 jar of "honey from a thousand flowers". A girl with no disposable income has no business buying thousand flower honey. It went back on the shelf, even if it took a little piece of my heart with it.
Flowers are harder for me to say no to. Sometimes I can barely comprehend that these stems, each more exquisite than the next, can cost little more than a dollar. What else can you buy for $1.50 that's more perfectly, transcendently beautiful than a single stem? Pretty much nothing, ever. And so I buy them in bunches. Big, fat bunches. More bunches than I have any business buying. And so it goes- my vicious, delicious downward spiral.
Sometimes you just have to buy yourself some flowers.
ReplyDeletei love this post. i do pretty much the same. i buy ranunculus for my last cents. poor but happier.
ReplyDeleteI admit to the same (and it doesn't help that your beautiful arrangements induce further cravings for flowers). This weekend I plan to go the market and buy an armload of magnolia and dogwood. Also, thanks for your (now long-ago) email with tips on the flower market.
ReplyDeleteIt's so, so beautiful. Your soul needs the bouquet of the ESSENCE of thousand flowers. So amazing. The colors are fantastical.
ReplyDeleteslayed.
ReplyDeletei think that would be my spending diet of choice...
ReplyDeleteand i guess it sort of is.
i loved seeing this post show up in my reader today.
this very morning i ordered new business cards. i am renaming my business "honey of a thousand flowers".
i am a bee keeper, and recently traveling in morocco i met a few more. i know a smidge of arabic and was speaking with one of them when he asked what kind of honey we have and i replied "wild honey". which is what it is called when there is no specific flower that the bee was near, it is just a mix of all the nectars in that area. he didn't know the term, and then said in arabic that it is called "honey of a thousand flowers" there.
i fell in love with the phrase in an instant and knew i have to make it something special.
and don't feel guilty, i say you go buy that jar of honey. he charges about $50 a jar for his honey, and that is in morocco....
Uuum, I think I might need to find that honey and send a jar to my parents--proud owners and operators of Thousand Flower Farm for nigh on 27 years now!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wish I had bought flowers today instead of a t-shirt. I mean, it's a great t-shirt and all...but if I could clothe myself in nothing but petals I would!
Well if you're going down, might as well take a big bouquet of overjoyed blossoms with you! They're worth it!
ReplyDeleteI commented earlier asking for dead horse bay finds cleaning tips! Now I am curious and envious about these flower market tips?? I have started treating myself here and there (I, too, have no business doing so) but I would go to great lengths to find flowers that are as majestic as these! Pretty please?
ReplyDeleteSarah! What a wonderful coincidence (and gorgeous name for a floral business)!!
ReplyDeleteThey sell the honey at Fairway, the B61 bus shall lead the way :)
The flowers are from the 28th street wholesale market. Bring cash, go early and have fun!
I love looking at your photos of flowers. That arrangement in the copper pot are perfect together. Please, NEVER stop buying your flowers. We depend on you & them!!!
ReplyDeleteCheers!!
that's a good spiral!
ReplyDeleteGood lord woman, you're killing me.
ReplyDeleteFucking amazing!!!
Wish you were here to raid my cooler and greenhouses :)
I want some of those flowers immediately! Nothing quite so lovely is lurking in Michigan these days. Although I heard some cardinal singing his heart out at 530 this morning :-)
ReplyDeleteyour willpower is an inspiration to honey-fiends everywhere. huzzah!
ReplyDeleteThis post totally made my day. I don't know what your circumstances are, but after myself having a disaster of a year (personally, professionally, academically), I definitely get that feeling of missing those little indulgences. Even before my 'spending diet' started, I wasn't a huge spender, so the fact that buying almonds can only happen via credit now is kind of an eye-opener. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteI can't really think of anything better to spend money on than flowers and food. Maybe coffee as well.
ReplyDeleteI have a very strong feeling that you would love this flower shop, Olla, in Vancouver. It's my favourite.
http://www.ollaflowers.com/
The second my foot steps off that bus and hits the Redhook pavement, every ounce of willpower leaves me and I pretty much make a bee-line to Ice House for their pulled pork and sweet potato fries. Ahhh sweet, cheap elixir of the gods! And since I made that trip twice in the last two weeks...I might have to wait a tick to go buy my honey haha!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right. They're gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteamy
ReplyDeletei came to your blog thru designsponge. i should say i have devoured it in 2 nights. ur sense of space, light, beauty and family is absolutely overwhelming and admirable.
u are truly a romantic in the most classical sense. every pic, every line is poetry. u remind me of an octavio paz's masterpiece called the labyrinth of solitude. i shall find a translation of this grate mexican poet for u, excerpts recall ur sense of awe for all things beautiful.
please do lend an eye to my tumblr stylequote.tumblr.com and twitter @cinemaquote, let me know if u like it.
thank u for the refreshing outlook on everything fragile.
raquel
Hi, Lovely to read and such a beautiful big fat bunch!
ReplyDeleteI am missing my flowers, with kittens around they are a no no at the moment, and that is tough when we live in an apartment with no garden.
Enjoy your blooms.
A woman who surrounds herself with flowers is a wise woman indeed...
ReplyDeletePerishable? In a manner of speaking. But you (me too!) can return to these photos again and again and absorb their splendor. Honey is so very yummy, but these photographed beauties are everlasting.
ReplyDeleteOnce again-thanks for sharing!
Stunning, stunning.
ReplyDeleteWorth every penny.
This is a beautiful post. Your words, those petals...I've had a rough week and this just brought me back to earth for a bit. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way! I was on a strict budget and felt so deprived without flowers. And every nice I came home and was struck by the absence of them. I tried to switch to plants (and I do love plants too) but they were somehow no substitute!)
ReplyDeleteAnd I completely identify with the honey! Beautiful groceries are easy to just throw in the basket and next thing you've spent $100 and still have nothing to eat for dinner!
Those flowers are breathtaking! I gasped aloud! Go and buy the honey.
ReplyDeleteI've actually started buying bunches of flowers after I started reading your blog. You've turned me into a lover of cut flowers!
ReplyDeleteWell... they're beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers and such a lovely shade of blue gracing your walls.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing pictures, Amy! I'm entranced by them all, especially the one where you have a peek of you and all your plants. You rock!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about the bargain stunning flowers are! And I would likely do some ridiculous math about the honey, also - one jar = 50 muffins/bread slices/yogurt's worth so that's only 20 cents each! such a deal.
ReplyDeleteThis post is so beautiful. Would you mind sharing what paint color is on your walls?
ReplyDeleteLove that etched mirror.
ReplyDeleteI would love for you to stop by my MainStreet blog I write with my sisters. We write about small town life and all of the fun things it brings.
Have a great weekend!
My honey costs $8, but it's sooo worth it...local and delicious? yes, please!
ReplyDeleteI brought home fresh flowers last night, my friday treat, and worth every penny. Lovely post, blog and photos.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blog <3
ReplyDeleteI adore flowers and those are just beautiful, they make such a diffrence.
ReplyDeleteZoe
http://blessedbeeapothecary.blogspot.com/
I just want to let you know how much I enjoy your blog. I look forward to each post...the fact that they are sometimes far between only adds to the enjoyment of anticipation. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteoh i am so with you. i am on a strict succulents and essentials diet.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to this sentiment. When I started going to the flower mart regularly, it was on a strict budget and only a biweekly treat. Now, I go over said budget by cutting out other weaknesses (mainly clothing) and visit once a week. I simply adore it and even find the table covered with floral leavings beautiful in its own way. It's hard to say no to something as fleeting as flowers. You never know if the same variety will be there when you go back!
ReplyDeleteJust discovered your blog and its luscious photos of a city so close to my heart. In this desert with endless sky and mountains the only other place I could possibly imagine myself is NYC -
ReplyDeletewe have an opposite experience happening in the same way....
thanks for the lovely images....
This is so beautiful!
ReplyDeletehttp://sweetharvestmoon.blogspot.com
Oh, gasp, that is the MOST GORGEOUS bouquet! I am so with you- no matter what else I have to skimp on, there is always room in the budget for fresh flowers.
ReplyDeleteOh i just...just love them...oh...flowers...well...if they make you happy,let them! Know the feelin of having to put stuff back on the shelf...well...the little tings are the most lovely...like your flowers...just...just...love!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful your post :)
ReplyDeleteI understand this concept. I tend to buy little things that I find truly beautiful instead of spending money on anything I really should. It's probably not healthy, but I sometimes just want something small and beautiful that brings me a smile.
ReplyDeletebeautiful!
ReplyDeletehttp://foralifeinspired.blogspot.com
hey you and your beautiful flowers, sans honey:
ReplyDeletecome over to my place for a bit of news that directly concerns you.
signed,
bigBANG
Wow, rally interesting, most beautiful bouquets. Beautiful flowers. I love looking at your photos of flowers. First of all, I love flowers. Thanks for sharing the great collection with us.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you just need flowers... :)
ReplyDeletei'm really not sure how i found your blog, but i'm so happy i did. love it so much! beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a blog! I mean, you just have so many guts to go ahead and tell it like it is. You’re what blogging needs, an open minded superhero that isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. This is definitely something people need to be up on. Good luck in the future, man.
ReplyDeleteOh, Amy, those are breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Osterreich, (That's Austrian auf Deutsch, right?): You hit the nail right on the head. We are all really lucky to be able to share a little piece of this remarkable woman.
Love,
Kit
These are so evocative!
ReplyDeleteI simply love these photos. Ahh.
ReplyDeleteLove this blog, keep up the great work wish you all the best.....
ReplyDeleteprivately selling your home