The Beauty that Stems from Contradictions

Five years ago if you had asked me if I would be living in a house in the suburbs with an 11X20 ft. garden, a picket fence, two dogs and canning everything from pasta sauce to pickles; I would have informed you kindly that you are out of your mind! Having grown up in a condo overlooking Lake Michigan, I always considered myself a person of contradictions; a brick and mortar city girl who appreciates natural beauty, if you will.

The contradictions started at a young age. My window overlooked the beach bike path, but I resisted learning to ride a bicycle. Even when my friends were driving up and down Lincoln Ave in their SUVs, listening to the Backstreet Boys, I never wanted a car. If the destination were two miles or less, I walked. If it were more, I took public transportation. 

These contradictions were apparently a heredity trait. Even though we loved a good Target or Costco deal, my family rarely loaded up the car with tons of groceries at one time, favoring more frequent trips to a farmer’s market or European style grocery store.

In my new, “adult” suburban life I often see food, laundry and flower delivery services buzzing around my neighborhood. I think back to all of the flower shops that were just blocks from my door as a child.  Regardless of the premade convenience, I am reminded of how crafty my family actually was (and this was pre-Pintrest.) Never did my mother buy arranged flowers for the Christmas table or any holiday for that matter. Every year, our home was adorned with beautiful homemade creations; from handmade bird’s nest centerpieces with pastel-painted eggs for Easter, to a gathering of gourds and fall colored candles, arranged in colorful clay pots that my mom brought home from Mexico. 

Feeling ashamed of my latest rash of purchases from 1800-Flowers and Edible Arrangements, I decided to embark on a mission to create a handmade floral arrangement for my Mother-in-Law’s birthday gift. I still wanted to stay within my budget, so I had to get creative. 

I began by heading to my local Goodwill. They have a whole rack of nothing but vases, baskets and ribbons. One dollar and fifty cents later, I had a nice, sturdy vase and some pebbles to help secure my arrangement. After polling some fellow couponing and savings junkies on one of my favorite sites – jillcataldo.com, I found out that both Trader Joe’s and Costco have great deals on really fresh flowers. After checking out both stores, I found two dozen beautiful peach, yellow and pink roses for $14 at Costco. All that was left was to put a personal touch on the arrangement. My mother-in-law happens to love citrus, especially lemons. She had mentioned wanting to plant a lemon tree in the yard of the town home were she and my father-in-law plan to retire in California. Fifty cents later, I had some fresh citrus. 

A view I never had in the city :)

It took be about 15 minutes and $17 to pull this arrangement together. I know that some naysayers may point out that I could have paid a bit more and had a prearranged bouquet delivered. Yes, and after a couple hours of research I found that had I been willing to spend $10 to $20 more I could have saved myself some time, but only gotten a dozen roses delivered, without a vase.  

My final ruling on this topic is that if I am going to be in the area of or even at one of these stores, I will definitely be making my own arrangements from now on.  Don’t worry, since my childhood in that condo, I have learned to ride a bike, I own my own car and while I would never call myself a crafter, I now know that I can be crafty in my own way.