Dendrobium aggregatum
Orchid Blooms, Cat Portrait, and more

1. Dendrobium Aggregatum: this orchid has been in my collection for literally 11 years without blooming…until now. The first bloom on this plant opened on March 1, and the rest opened up the next day! This is one of those situations that proves that patience can really pay off with orchids.

Dendrobium aggregatum

2. Cheddar + Linus: our boys had dental work done last week. They both had their teeth cleaned; in addition, Cheddar had one tooth removed, and Linus had six teeth removed. Their poor little mouths! We were worried because cats have to go under anesthesia for dental work, but they did great and are both back to their normal selves. I snapped this photo of them this week when Cheddar started grooming Linus. I think this is now one of my all-time fave photos of these guys. Linus gets such a sleepy happy face when Cheddar grooms him…he looks blissed out like he’s receiving the most relaxing spa treatment.

Cheddar + Linus
Cheddar the protector (and feline spa manager)

3. Not Fried Chicken: I discovered this Life Raft brand ice cream treat in the Fresh Direct frozen section and was very curious. It’s literally an ice cream bar designed to look like fried chicken. Underneath the outer layer of crushed cornflakes are waffle ice cream, a chocolate-covered cookie “bone,” and caramelized white chocolate. And it tastes great! I’ve ordered this treat a couple of times and will buy it again.

Not Fried Chicken

4. Mini Ulta Haul: my feet are looking mighty rough these days, so I ordered a couple foot peels from Ulta, along with a fresh bottle of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat because my current one is pretty old. I also decided to try an Ella + Mila Elite Collection nail polish (shade: Mediterranean Mist). I’ve used the Boscia foot peel a couple times before (in its former packaging), but I’ve never tried the cult classic Baby Foot! I used it on Wednesday night, so we’ll see how it goes.

Mini Ulta haul

5. Milk Bar Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies: another recent Fresh Direct discovery are these packaged Milk Bar cookies. Years ago I attempted to bake these using the recipe in the Milk Bar cookbook, and it did not go spectacularly well. This grocery version of the cookies is a carton with four packets containing two cookies each. They’re obviously not as good as the real thing from a Milk Bar shop (and they’re significantly smaller), but they’re still pretty good. I want to try the other grocery flavors too!

Milk bar cookies