It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day!  It got a little overcast and a smidge chilly by around 5p, but other than that, it was a gorgeous day!  The azaleas in my neighborhood are in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous.  I think spring may actually FINALLY be here!!

I had a Groupon for Cloth and Bobbin, a fabulous fabric shop over in Narberth, which is small town not far from where I live.  Turns out, my cousin had one, too, so we decided today was the day to head on over and pick out some fabrics!  We spent almost an hour perusing all the different patterns, and had to stop ourselves from buying fabric "just because"!  They had so many fun patterns and bright colors to choose from, we finally had to buckle down and decide what we should buy based on what we would be using it for.

I have two patterns which I'm eager to work on, which I will share with you along the way, but for now, here's a shot of the fun fabric I purchased today --

Aren't those colors just so fun?!?!  With the cut pieces, I'll be making something for my sister for her birthday (I hope she isn't reading this right now, or I guess I just spoiled the surprise!)  With the jellyroll (from Moda fabric collection Modern Workshop), I'll be making a cover for my nook.  I already have a case for my nook, but it's boring black leather. Blah.  I want something with a little more pizazz, and what better way to do that than to make it myself!!

After our Cloth and Bobbin fabric extravaganza was over, we headed out on the streets of downtown Narberth, which is about 2 blocks long, since they were having a sidewalk sale.  There wasn't much going on at the sale, which was a little disappointing, but we did find a vendor on one of the corners selling potted flowers and vegetables.

I've been wanting a hanging plant for my shepherd's hook since I moved into my new house, but haven't had the chance to get out and see what's out there this year.  So, this was the perfect opportunity to pick something that would be great in my new backyard!  I knew as soon as I saw it, I had to have this plant --

It's a fuchsia plant!!  HOW COOL IS THIS!!!  I am in love with this flower!!!  I saw one last year when I was looking for a hanging plant for outside my apartment, but learned that they need mostly shade to survive.  Sadly, the front of my apartment got nothing but sun all day long, so I had to go with something else. This year, however, since my backyard has a lot of shade (as evidenced by the moss covering the one side of my garden), I was able to get one of these fantastic plants and I can't wait to have it hanging outside in all its glory!  There was a sign at the vendor that said that the frost date is 15 May, so I'm not risking anything -- as you can tell, I currently have it hanging indoors in my spare bedroom.

I mean, look at these flowers!!!  I love how they're all kinda folded over and just bursting from the bud!!

And there are two different colors -- the purple, which you can see on the left pretty clearly, and the light purpley-pink, as you can see in the picture on the right.  I cannot wait for this to just take over the pot and explode with even more luscious color!!!

The last thing I will share with you all tonight is a quick and easy gluten-free vegetarian dish that I whipped up in my fantabulous kitchen last night.  Being gluten-free sometimes makes it difficult to whip up dinners when I'm somewhat short on time.  My go-to quick dinners usually involve eggs or tuna, since I almost always have both on hand.

Last night, I remembered that I'd gotten tofu at Trader Joe's, and decided to make something with it.  I'll admit, I was never one to go for tofu in the past, but I've come to enjoy it.  Tofu takes on whatever flavors you're cooking with, and is an excellent source of protein.  I also remembered that I'd gotten leeks the last time I was at the grocery store, but wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them, since I'd intended to get kale (don't ask.).  I also had a red pepper which was looking particularly delicious sitting in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator, so I decided he needed to join in the fun on my pan, too.

I cut up the leeks and pepper and threw them onto the pan with some olive oil from DiBruno Brothers, while I was trying to squeeze out the last drops of water from the tofu.  I cut up the tofu into cubes, and added that to the pan.  Then, I took two cloves of garlic and threw that into the pan.  I sauteed it all up until the tofu was browned and the leeks were transparent.  I threw it all onto a small bed of rice and, taadaa!!!!

Doesn't this look yummy?!  It was quite tasty, so easy, and I highly recommend it. :-)