Versace Men's S/S '12 Sunglasses

The Versace men's spring summer 2012 fashion show sunglasses are finally here!

The Mod. # is 2130.  These sunglasses are similar in design to Lady Gaga's vintage Versace sunglasses  .  I was told that there is a wait list at the moment and were produced in very limited quantity.  Four different colors are available.

Versace Mod. 2130 - Front View

Versace Mod. 2130 - Back View

Versace Mod. 2130 - Side View Detail

Versace Mod. 2130 - Detail on the Temple Tips

Model from the Versace S/S 2012 fashion show.

photo from style.com

Model from the Versace S/S 2012 fashion show.

photo from style.com

Model from the Versace S/S 2012 backstage.

photo from Versace.com

What's blooming May 2012

The garden is doing wonderfully this year.  Thank goodness for the rain we've got and pretty pleasant spring weather.  It is starting to get hot now in late May; which is to be expected here in Houston.  Almost every specie of flower in the garden are blooming or are getting ready to.  So here is what is blooming:

Columbine - Aquilegia canadensis, Im retrying this species and so far they are doing really well.  I've grown them before from seeds I brought from my garden in Virginia but they kept rotting perhaps because of the heat.  Im guessing these new plants originated in Texas (maybe the Hill Country population) and are adapted to the climate better.  Im so thankful because I've missed having these in my garden so much.

Tropical Sage - Salvia coccinea, continues to go very well.

Turk's Cap - Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii 

Southern Blueflag - Iris virginica var. schrevei, growing in a large undrained glazed ceramic planter.

Gulf Coast Penstemon - Penstemon tenuis

Foxglove Penstemon - Penstemon cobaea

Blue Mistflower - Conoclinium coelestinum 

Spiderwort - Tradescantia ohiensis 

Mealy-cup Sage - Salvia farinacea 

Blue Sage - Salvia azurea 

Gaura - Gaura lindheimeri

Indian Blanket - Gaillardia pulchella 

Sundrops - Calylophus berlandieri

Bitterweed - Helenium amarum 

Lanceleaf Coreopsis - Coreopsis lanceolata 

Mexican Hat - Ratibida columnifera 

Giant Coneflower - Rudbeckia maxima 

Common Sunflower - Helianthus annuus, these and the giant coneflower really grew tall this year because of all the rain!

Martha Stewart Home Office

At the end of last year Martha Stewart and Avery announced they would be working together to produce a line of office and home organization products. The line would include over 300 items such as: binders, labels, storage containers, pocket folders, and desk accessories to name a few.

Today I finally got a chance to visit Staples and see the Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery line. I was really impressed and found a lot of things that will definitely help organize some areas of my life more efficiently and beautifully.

Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery line.  

I love how Martha Stewart products are displayed (here at Staples and at Macys, Petsmart, etc. ) all together with attractive signage, colors, and in an organized manner.  Its like a beacon of light in a stormy sea. 

Sticky notes and journals of various sizes, colors, and textures.

More journals and some to-do/good thing note pads. 

Binders and many useful inserts so that you can customize it to fit your specific needs. 

More binder inserts:  dividers, sheet protectors, papers, pouches, and calendars. 

Dry Erase Boards that fit many purposes.  

Wall Pockets

Stack + Fit Desk Accessories 

These stackable storage boxes are my favorite!

Accordion Folders 

Labels galore... Every kind of label you could ever need for all over the home and office. 

...and more labels for more specific needs. 

Also an office desk, file cabinet, and chair.  

I bought a few bags of good things for myself:

This accordion file has already been put to use holding some of my craft gemstone stickers.  

So as you can see there is a bounty of good things from the Martha Stewart Home Office line.  I am sure you can find many things that will help get parts of your home and office organized and make you more efficient.  These types of supplies not only help you get organized (which helps save you time and money) but also are attractive and can be fun as well!  

For more information about purchasing visit the Staples website:  Martha Stewart Home Office
Right now there is a printable coupon on the website as well as all the products and informative videos from Martha.

Vegan Fried Oysters

I recently went to Quan Yin restuarant and had their Vegan Fried Oyster dish.  The look and breading of the "oysters" was just like a real fried oyster but instead of oyster it is eggplant and a faux meat.  It was really good and the portion is huge!  If you are vegan/vegetarian in Houston you must try this restaurant.  There is a lot of really interesting and delicious choices on the menu.   

Vegan Fried Oysters 

ORA Variegated Sea Urchins

Last week I went to FJW Aquarium (my local fish store) while on my way to work.  I was just looking for another shrimp for my tank when I spotted the label: ORA Sea Urchins.  I remembered reading an article on the ORA blog about how they bred this species (link below).  FJW had just received ten of these urchins a few days ago and there was only two left.  I love Echinoderms and especially sea urchins so I bought both of them.

These sea urchins are Variegated Sea Urchins - Lytechinus variegatus.  Their range is around Florida and the tropical west Atlantic.  Every time I go to Florida I see these urchins, sometimes in the thousands.  They can get as big as a tangerine and are usually purple but sometimes pink.  I typically find them in sea grass beds but have also seen them on bare sand along the swimming beaches.  They eat algae and sometimes cover themselves with blades of the seagrass they are eating as well as shells; perhaps for camouflage.

ORA Variegated Sea Urchins at FJW, both are about the same size as a quarter. 

The other ORA Variegated Sea Urchin at FJW, this one is a little darker.

The two ORA Variegated Sea Urchins in my 30 gallon tank.  This tank has lots of Caulerpa, Halimeda, and some hair algae for them to graze on if they choose.  They are often seen together like in the picture above. 

ORA Variegated Sea Urchin - blog post.  For more information and some more cool photos of the Urchins developing.  Great job ORA!  I hope you add some more Florida urchins to your breeding list; perhaps.  Long-spinned Urchin - Diadema antillarum or West Indian Sea Egg - Tripneustes ventricosus. 

Phlox pilosa - Big Thicket National Preserve

There are many species of wildflower growing in the Big Thicket National Preserve and one of the showiest during the spring is the Downy Phlox - Phlox pilosa.  It grows along the roadside where you can see its bright magenta flowers when driving by. Up close it has thin leaves covered with soft hairs and sweet smelling flowers.  

Phlox pilosa, growing along the roadside in Tyler Co. TX

The bright showy flowers provide food for butterflies and hummingbirds.

There are 9 subspecies of Phlox pilosa across its range; 5 of those are native to Texas.

Another species of Phlox is found in the Big Thicket area is Phlox nivalis ssp. texensis; it is Endangered and was once thought to be extinct.  It has a very small range that is being monitored.

For more info click:  Texas Trailing Phlox

Other possible species that could be found in the area include:

Phlox drummondii - Annual Phlox (usually has bright red flowers)

Phlox divaricata - Wild Blue Phlox (has light blue flowers and spreading growth)

Sarracenia alata - Big Thicket National Preserve

Last summer I posted about how the severe drought in Texas was effecting the Sarracenia alata populations  in Big Thicket.  See:  Sarracenia alata 2011 Drought  Many plants in the Big Thicket area were severely damaged or killed due to the drought and populations of certain species declined considerably.

On my trip yesterday things looked much better than last year thanks to the good amount of rain we've had this spring.  It was much more lush overall with many species of wildflowers blooming.  The Sarracenia populations had many new leaves but I only saw one flower overall.

Sundew Trail:

The Sundew Trail Sarracenia population seems to have been hit hard by last years drought.

There were no flowers and all of the pitchers were thin, short, and phyllodia like.

A patch of some of the healthier plants along the Sundew Trail.  If I didn't know they were growing here I probably wouldn't have seen them.

Pitcher Plant Trail:

The Pitcher Plant Trail S. alata population looked really good.

There was a lot of healthy pitchers!

A nice big and healthy pitcher.  

The only S. alata flower I could find.

...So as you can see the Big Thicket populations of Sarracenia alata was negatively impacted by the drought last year but thankfully still survives.  Remember: when visiting it is important to never take anything!  No collecting leaves, plants, seeds, flowers, etc.  By collecting you could be removing plants that could determine the survival of the species.  As seen above - these two populations will have almost no seeds produced this year.  Hopefully there will be no more droughts in the near future and these Sarracenia alata populations can restore themselves to their previous abundance.