May Favorites

I thought it would be fun to try something a bit different today. Well, I shouldn’t say “different,” just something I haven’t done in a while. Some of my favorite posts to read from other bloggers are when they tell about their “favorite things” from the past week or month. So, I thought I would do something like that here for the month of May. Depending on whether you like this idea or not, I may do one every month. Let me know in the comments below if this is something you’d like to see more regularly. Let’s get into it! 

Growing In The Garden

In general, May is always a busy month for me. With a large yard and big gardens, I spend a significant amount of time outdoors getting things ready for another growing season. This year I planted about four to five dozen new perennials and shrubs. Some are doing great, while others have been completely eaten by bugs or the groundhog that has decided to move into my backyard. It can be a struggle. Gardening at this house has been a bittersweet adventure but I keep at it. 

I also planted a couple of rows of zinnias from seed right into the ground. In one of the sections I have lots of little sprouts coming up, but I think bugs (or that darn groundhog) got the other section. In both places, when I used this zinnia mix, the plants sprouted in just a couple of days. I highly recommend this. 

In addition, I got all my hanging baskets and annual flowers planted. I REALLY cut back this year and it feels so freeing. As much as I love all the beautiful flower-filled pots, I wanted to see what less feels like. So far it’s been great. 

And I assume you already saw/know this, but I got a shed installed! It still needs to be painted, so I’m hoping to work on that in the evenings over the course of the next week or so. 

What I Watched

The Little Mermaid – This past weekend I went to see the new The Little Mermaid movie and absolutely loved it. In fact, I want to go see it again. It was such a beautiful movie and so well done. Visually stunning! Halle was an amazing Ariel and her voice is incredible. And don’t get me started on Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. Brilliant! 

Great British Bake Off Juniors – I think I mentioned this in another post, but a new season of GBBO Juniors came out on Netflix. I love the entire GBBO series. In this new season of Juniors, Lola stole my heart. It’s such a happy, zero-drama, light-hearted show. 

How I Painted

I’m heading to France later this month for an art retreat so I’m trying to get as many brush miles in as I can. My goal has been to paint every day. (You can follow along at @michaelwurmjr on Instagram if you’d like to see my progress and (almost) daily paintings.) While my focus has been oil painting, I wanted something that was a bit easier to travel with and that had easy clean-up. 

I decided to bust out this palette that I bought a while back and use a limited color selection of my gouache paints. It has been AMAZING. Normally I travel with way too many supplies and mediums and I get a bit overwhelmed. Narrowing it down to just one medium, one sketchbook, a palette, a couple brushes, and a few paints has been a game changer. In fact, I may write a post about this. (Would you be interested?) 

In the meantime, here are links to my supplies:

• toned paper sketchbook
• travel brushes
• gouache paint
• airtight palette 

I also picked up this Plein Air Techniques for Artists book, by Aimee Erickson. It’s an amazing book filled with artists I love. Highly recommend it! 

What I’m Eating

I’ve been on a bit of a health journey for the past month and a half. I’m not doing anything special, just being a bit more intentional about what I eat. I’ve also been walking/jogging several days a week. Fewer calories in and more calories burned. “Easy” stuff.

I also try to choose mostly nutritionally dense foods (though I still enjoy ice cream and a beer from time to time) and only eat when I’m actually hungry. As of this morning, I’m down 17 pounds. The journey continues and I’m hoping to lose about 20 more which should put me at a place where I feel a lot more comfortable in my own skin. 

Two of my go-to meals have been…

• This Fiber & Protein Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal. I’m usually not hungry in the morning, so I have this around 11 am with a big serving of fresh berries. 
• For dinner, this Chicken Apple Pecan Salad has been a constant. In fact, I have it probably 3-4 nights a week. I’m a bit obsessed. The only thing I do differently is to exclude the candied pecans. They are AMAZING in the salad, but I don’t need them in there and it saves a lot of calories. 
• For snacks, these caramel rice cakes, kettle corn popcorn, and white cheddar popcorn have been lifesavers. (I like the pre-portioned popcorn bags as it stops me from overeating.)

Favorite Posts of the Month

It’s also been a busy month here on the blog with lots of new posts and updates to older content. Here are some of my favorites from the month: 

• Mountain Pies: The BEST Campfire Food
• Strawberry Crumble – sooooo good!
• Vintage Glassware
• Best Ice Cream Desserts for Summer
• Black Forest Ham Pinwheels – my new favorite snack
• Wedge Salad Skewers

It’s also worth mentioning here that if you’re not on the Inspired by Charm Mailing List, I highly recommend you join. (Sign-up HERE.) I’ll keep you updated with any and all new posts here on the blog so you don’t miss a thing. 

In addition to all of that… 

• I went camping for a few nights with a friend.
• I visited Cedar Point for a day with my family. We walked 11.25 miles and rode 28 rollercoasters. It was a record day. 

And while I’m certain there are things I’m forgetting, I think that’s all I have for you today. 

Looking Ahead

As with most months in the summer, June is going to be another busy one. As I mentioned above. I’m headed to France this month for an art retreat. I couldn’t be more excited. 

I’m going to be using all my time before the trip to double up on work so that I can still share new posts here on the blog while being almost work free during my travels. I’ve also turned up the dial on my art practice so I have lots of brush miles. I want to be tuned up and ready to go. 

Beyond that…

• I’m hoping to attend the arts festival here in Pittsburgh,
• I want to hit up a couple of flea markets,
• roast a few marshmallows and mountain pies in my backyard, and
• just generally enjoy the start of summer! 

What’s on your June agenda? What are some of your favorites from the month of May? Let me know in the comments below.