#8 - Making My Patio My Haven

I didn't expect for this to happen so soon.  But after I ran the Purity Moosic City Dairy 10K (and PR'd!), I felt like conquering something else.  So I went to Big Lots and bought a few pots/planters, some flowers, and a window box coco flower planter.

So I put the bulbs for calla lilies and star lilies in the planers.  Let me tell you, they should say a ruler is necessary to get this job done.  Who can "guestimate" 6 inches? Not me...that was tough.  (don't judge me)

I love these little planter stands.  They are perfect for allowing drainage too for the times when the plants get more water than necessary and they keep my patio from getting those planter rings.  Win-win.  

 I put the cushions in the chairs...and put that citronella candle out.  Although, I haven't seen any mosquitos...crossing my fingers that they have decided that my blood tastes like neck sweat so they've ceased to hang around.  Really doubt it...(my sweat is like twizzlers)

 This is a view of the finished product.  Do you see the flowers in the rectangle basket/coco planter?  Amazing! And easy peasy.

 Okay, I bought this little solar powered light for the back.  Mainly because going out there in the dark scares me.  The solar light might help :) You know what's funny...it's not the dark or what may be out there that scares me.  It's the dog poop that my neighbors fail to pick up.  Who wants to risk stepping in that?  I digress...

This is the awesome view from my patio.  It's too nice to not be a part of the haven.

But I couldn't consider my patio a haven yet.  A haven would be somewhere that I could entertain, relax, and hang out.  That meant a grill.  But I'm a starving doctoral student with a mindful eye toward my credit and getting a grill didn't seem worth getting another credit card.  So, I decided to wait until June when all of these random bills and commitments had passed. My father always says to have patience because when you rush into buying things, you get in trouble.  That's what he said when I was telling him about my journey to make my patio a haven.  Then he asked a bunch of questions about which kind of grill I was looking for and told me that it will all pay off.

The next morning, I woke up to a phone call from the Home Depot up the street from me.  My dad called them and ordered me a grill!!!!  Just the kind I wanted too!  It was the most amazing thing that has happened to me in a long time.  And so very thoughtful and endearing.  When I called him to thank him profusely, he just said "you deserve it" and "I'm happy I can make you smile".  That's my daddy.  And I'm his little girl.  Even as I am on the brink of celebrating my third decade on earth, my daddy is still my daddy and still knows what it takes to make me giggly and super excited.

 My grill at the Home Depot - the people there were really nice!  They were so taken by my dad (he's a charmer) that they GAVE me a full tank of propane for FREE! That saved this broke student $43!

So I set it up on my patio, read the directions, attached the propane tank and sat back to admire my work.  That night, I grilled up burgers and put bleu cheese on top.  I even used the warming rack to toast the bun.  PERFECTION! I love it.  Thanks, Dad :)

It's official...my patio is my haven (now if I could just keep myself from checking to see if the bulbs have sprouted yet...it hasn't even been a week lol).

Off to get some work done and try to clean up my place...