FRIDAY FINDS

We're still enjoying the bounty of the garden here (it's really just beginning, actually), and last weekend I made one of my favorite summer treats, but fancied it up. Usually I just chop everything up in big pieces and toss it in a bowl, but it was a special occasion so I stacked thick slices of home-grown tomatoes, avocado, cucumbers from the garden and a bit of basil. Top it with a little feta, pepper, salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and you've got summer on a plate. Yum.

Tone on Tone photo

Don't miss Loi's amazing kitchen renovation. It's amazing for a lot of reasons, but primarily because they didn't replace the cabinets. And also because of that Calacutta gold marble. I must have it.

I've been doing a few GardenFork radio podcasts with Eric, who I met through our mutual relationship with Troy-Bilt. Eric is an ex-Midwesterner and although our podcast chats seem to run off on tangents, I'm having a blast with them, so make sure to check out GardenFork radio. Also worth taking a look at is Eric's latest video in which he visits his neighbor's vegetable garden, which is thriving thanks to heavy duty nursery fabric. I'm anti landscape fabrics in general, but in a true vegetable garden I think they make a lot of sense and its certainly working here.

Forgive me for showing my inner geekdom, but I am a gadget freak and an admitted Apple enthusiast (you may prefer the term snob). I know there are lots of phones out there and I suspect there are some that are much better than an iPhone, but I love my Apple stuff and I really love it when my Apple stuff talks to one another. I have my home laptop, work computer, iPhone and iPad all linked up and let me tell you, it is handy as heck. You may recall I dropped my phone in Lake Michigan in July and I've been getting by with a borrowed iPhone 4 since then. Suffice to say I'm just a teeny bit excited about the new iPhone and I'm planning on pre-ordering it tonight the moment it goes on sale. My Instagram game will get seriously stepped up when I get a good phone again. With all of the various ways to get a phone now and with Apple getting into the phone leasing business, it's very difficult to figure what sort of plan to get. Here's a good site to compare the options.

Lauren Leiss is probably my favorite interior design blogger and she just bought a new house. I can't wait to see what she does with it.

Have an excellent weekend everyone! I'm still waiting for the winner of the Troy-Bilt garden tool set, Mary M., to claim her prize, and if I don't hear from her soon, I'll pick a new winner so stay tuned.