Everything and Nothing

movin' along

2011-09-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all you loyal readers! If I have any left that is...

I'm making a move to my very own shiny corner of the internets and I wanted to invite you to come along. It's a little sparse right now, but I'll be blogging there really soon. Promise!

You can find me here:
www.findingjudi.com

Hope to see you there!

oh hai

2011-09-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Long time no bloggity blog blog.
And today is really no better, but I thought I'd at least say hello how ya doin'!
I don't have much to say at the moment... well, really I'm feeling a bit uninspired on the blog front.
So I leave you with this.
My cute tiny little cacti that flowers constantly.

<3

shiny new toy

2011-07-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

First things first. I've finally done it. I've caved to the ~~imaginary~~ pressure and my total curiosity and purchased a MacBook Pro. So what do I think so far? For now a bit of confusion with a bit of aha thrown in. I'm learning. Slowly. It's fun though and I can't wait to learn more and be a better user.

In other news, I'm still knitting socks. Shocker I know. Oh and I'm learning how to use iPhoto.
See how I did that just now? Threw in a mention of one of my newfound skills? I'll figure out this new system eventually with all it's scrolling and hidden functions.

Speaking of new things. Does anyone know of a good blog writer for the Mac? I used Windows Live Writer before, but obviously that's no longer an option. Anyone?

Other than all that excitement, life is pretty good over here on the left coast. The sun is attempting to get through the clouds and I need to make breakfast so we can get over to the Farmer's Market for our weekly veg fest. Good times!

and then there’s socks

2011-07-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

Holy crap! Has anyone out there watched Bridezillas? I watched it like 3 days ago and I’m still feeling a bit traumatized. Look, I watch my fair share of reality TV, but seriously? These women need to check themselves and their ~~frenemies~~ bridesmaids/friends need to find a new one. I kept thinking that if a man did this he would be arrested for abuse. Crazy!

On to things that are good and wholesome…

I’ve been knitting like crazy lately. Behold the Unisex Slip socks by one of my favorite knitters, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee! The pattern and yarn was part of the Rockin’ Sock Club May 2011 edition. I’m amazed that I actually finished a pair before the next shipment. Whew!

Since I seem to be on a roll, I quickly cast on for my next pair, The Intrepid Traveler. I believe this was from the March 2011 shipment. This may be the year that I finish all 6 pair from this club in a timely fashion… it could happen. I’m working on a whole new outlook and part of it is get ‘er done!

naval gazing

2011-07-14T22:38:00.001-07:00

So, I finally got my library card a few weeks ago and I’ve been using the heck out of it! I love that you can go online and request books and just pick them up at the most convenient branch. It’s the little things, people. I’ve also started watching a videocast by SummerTomato and Darya has added several interesting titles to my reading list. Between that and the Sword & Laser group I recently discovered, oh and the eleventy billion books I already own I might have to become a full time book reader… I wonder if there’s any money in that?

So last week I finished up Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Great book and super interesting! Though I had heard of several of the studies (I think it was published in 2006 so I’m sure some grabbed the headlines) there were plenty that were new to me and really made me think about how we eat and why. Certainly not because we’re hungry, at least for me…. party tray anyone?

Currently I’m reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. I’m finding this one particularly insightful. It’s interesting to read certain examples and think, really? is that why I do that? now how do I change it? Unfortunately, I’m not even half way through so I’m not to the this is how you go about correcting these behaviors bit, but I’m excited to get there. I love reading a book like this where I honestly feel like I’m not being fed magical moonbeams that will miraculously help me in some fashion. What I see so far is realistic expectations if you work for it. And work hard. The key being work hard and since I always feel like a work in process we’ll see how it goes.

Later!

the plunge

2011-07-09T17:21:00.001-07:00

It’s time to talk about some knitting and knitting related things. Whee!

One of my plurk buddies, Aesox, bought the cutest knitting bag and since I’m the queen of copy decided I needed one for myself. That’s the best kind of flattery, right?

Can I mention that I love receiving goodies in the mail, especially if they are smartly wrapped goodies?

Ta Da!

If I ‘d been smart I would have taken a picture of the other side with the three ladies knitting. But this bag is awesome! Well made and fantastic fabric design.

In other news, I decided to join the 26 Pair Plunge. This is a group of knitters who have committed to knitting 26 pairs of socks between July 1 2011 - June 30 2012. That’s one sock a week. This is from someone who has only knit one other pair of socks, ever.

Sock .5/26 Pretty good considering week one just passed.

So why would I sign up for something so drastic? It might be due to the fact that I have 3 years of sock club yarn hanging out in the stash that snickers at me every time I walk by. Or it could be that I have totally and utterly lost my mind. I’m leaning towards the latter.

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of your own foot? Next time I’ll be enlisting ~~Joe~~ a helper.

happy 4th!

2011-07-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

What a great getaway weekend! I woke up super early this morning, at least for me, and have been fooling around on the computer with the 8 pictures that I took and trying to decide what I would write today. Well, I’m sleepy, so you’ll get a picture montage of our weekend*. Too bad I didn’t get more pictures of our wine tour the first day, but it’s super hard to take pictures with a wine glass in your hand…

Big giant metal chickens were on my mind, so it was pretty funny that I came across this at our picnic lunch on Friday. We also saw it’s twin in Petaluma on Sunday… it’s an epidemic of chicken sized proportions.

Group shot of our awesome tour group. Platypus Tours was great!

This is on the property of MacArthur Place where we’re staying this weekend. Great sculptures and art scattered all around.

Notice the life size chessboard behind the flower. This was one of the few times we walked by and someone wasn’t playing.

The lovely lavender fields of Matanzas Creek Winery.

More fields of lavender.

Proof that we actually took this trip…

Obligatory nature shot at Matanzas.

Later Saturday afternoon we drove over to Petaluma so Joe could see the TWiT cottage live and in person. I also might have yelled “Shwood!” out the window when we saw Brian Brushwood walking down the street. Then while having lunch we decided to let him know it was me screaming like a crazy person…

funderbug Judi
Hey @shwood ! I'm the one who screamed at you from a moving car in front of TWiT cottage :)

in reply to ↑

@shwood Brian Brushwood
@funderbug that is AWESOME!!! mystery solved.

and that’s why Twitter is awesome.

Giant metal farm animals were a theme.

*OK, so it was impossible for me to add all these pictures with no commentary. Your Welcome.

it’s the weekend, baby!

2011-07-01T15:07:00.001-07:00

Hello! I’m back for another day of blogging. There must be something in the air… maybe it’s the summer breeze here in the city or maybe I just feel like I’ve got something to say.

Like… we’re spending the weekend in Sonoma! Oh my! Joe found this great place for us to stay for a few days and we will be wine tasting, of course, and spending a nice relaxing weekend together sans ~~child~~ dog. I’ll do my do best to take some pictures and let you know how much fun we’re having while there. That’s OK right? Doesn’t sound like I’m rubbing my nice weekend with the hubster in your face? Hopefully you have awesome plans of your own, right? You do? Well, what are they?? Inquiring minds want to know!

On another bright note, I got an email from my manager telling me Happy 4th and get out of there early! You don’t have to tell me twice. Plus, that means I have some time to stop by Azalea and check out some shoes I’ve been eyeing. If you must know they’re TOMS, which, honestly, I haven’t been too thrilled with until I saw their wedges… super cute! I’m hoping they’ll be able to replace the super cute wedges I have on now that are currently trying to cut off one big toe at a time. Really? Is this necessary? It’s taken most of my adult life, but I’ve finally come to the conclusion that life is too short for uncomfortable shoes. Especially when there are so many out there that were not designed to be destroyer of heels and maimers of toes. It’s just not worth it.

But I digress… as usual. The point is I’m excited about the weekend. I’m excited about a new pair of shoes. And can’t wait to hear what everyone else is up to this weekend.

Ciao!

the chicken

2011-06-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

So here it is. The world’s most expensive chicken. At least at my house.

This was a pretty tasty bird, but I may have overcooked it a bit. OK, I did overcook it a little. It’s not my fault the online cooking instructions said an hour and a half cooking time and after an hour this bird was already past 165 F. I don’t know how much more exactly. After it 173 F I figured it was past being an issue.

Behold, the bird. I have no idea why it seems to be green under that front leg. Every picture I took looked like that…

Along with the chicken I roasted some veggies and made some rice. Have you seen the Romanesco broccoli? It’s the green mixed in with the cauliflower and onions below and it is delicious. I hate that I’ve walked by it so many times and thought about how pretty it was, yet never stopped to try it out. FAIL. Well, no more. I will now be more adventurous and try new and wonderful things. I may be disappointed at times, but there’s also a good chance I’ll find something wonderful!

beware the tomato

2011-06-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

My daily To Do list has been pretty out of control the past few days. I need to get through at least 3 or 4 of them before I start working on my $23 chicken tonight. Yes, you read that right. I bought a $23 3 1/2 pound free range, happy butt chicken when I went to the farmer’s market on Saturday.

All I have to say is this better be the best damn chicken I have ever tasted. Of course, that’s also assuming that I don’t somehow destroy it in the oven this evening. My luck in that area has not been stellar as of late. Last night is a prime example when I managed to dump a tray full of salsa ingredients into the bottom of the oven. Once I cleaned up that mess and got them all properly broiled and ready to be cuisinarted I then managed to burn my fingers on a molten tomato.

I’m so awesome.

I’ll let you know how that chicken turns out… maybe.

filler

2011-06-27T19:57:00.001-07:00

Oh my poor neglected blog. It’s weird how I think of things to write about and then never quite get around to actually writing anything. Well, maybe not weird, maybe it’s ennui. Yes, I have blog ennui.

The only reason I’m even writing this now is because it’s on my to do list. Sure, it’s been on my to do list before, but today I have been busting through this list like nobody’s business! So here I am, blogging. Marking one more thing off the list.

Kinda sad… I’ll think of something much better to write about soon. Pinky swear!

a little knitting time

2011-06-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

Hello! Long time, no see, err, blog…

Tonight I spent a great evening with a great group of knitters/crocheters and even a new member spinner at The Grove (I always find it a little strange when placed don’t have a website). You should join us. Our group information can be found here.

Just don’t be put off if our conversations turn towards things like:

What can be eaten off the floor and other food topics
Monkey clown sweaters in intarsia
I had to pee so bad… stories. These may or may not have ended badly, but are always funny
This one time at band camp… oh wait, I think that was a movie

I just started meeting up with this group the past couple of months, but what a group! You should really stop by and hang and share a few stories with us. It’ll be a hoot!

this is what i use technology for

2011-06-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is an IM conversation I had with my friend Linda the other day...

Linda

*shrugs*

u should pay me for bringing joy to your daily life

Judi [2:28 PM]:

wow

Linda [2:29 PM]:

what

when u win the lotto

Judi [2:30 PM]:

nope

i'm greedy, keeping it all for me

i might buy you a drink though

Linda [2:30 PM]:

...

i thought we agreed

u wud get me a porsche

Judi [2:31 PM]:

nope

Linda [2:31 PM]:

...

i'm going to sue you now

lol

Judi [2:31 PM]:

i'll counter sue

i will win

Linda [2:31 PM]:

cuz u got your lotto money

and your apt in france?

Judi [2:32 PM]:

pretty much

but i will be house poor with my french apt

it will be really sad

Linda [2:34 PM]:

but mostly happy

cuz u got teh lottery

while your friend gets nothing

Judi [2:36 PM]:

that about sums it up

This conversation is referencing a conversation I had with Joe while we were in Paris and I was admiring the lovely apartments with the fabulous slate roofs. Joe may have gotten a little tired of my admiration of the roofs, but he got me back. He always does…

Me: When I win the lottery I’m moving to here and buying one of those apartments with the fantastic
balconies.

Joe: You won’t have any money left after that.

Me: What?

Joe: Once you pay taxes on your winnings and then with the crappy exchange rate it won’t leave you much and those apartments are pretty expensive.

3 hours later, cause it never occurs to me at the time…

Me to myself: Who goes into exchange rates when I start a sentence with “When I win the lottery”? Sheesh!

And now I realize I need a prettier font for my IM.

silver lining

2011-05-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

It’s my birthday and I’ll be sick if I want to…
Woke up this morning with a fever. Slept almost all day. Good times.

When I finally did wake up I found a cute box that Joe had left out for me to find with my birthday gift. I would have taken pictures, but, well, you’ll have to excuse that for today. I will, however, direct you to the website… I love it! I write a lot. Especially since we moved. Yes, I know you wouldn’t know that from the blog, but you know, it’s personal stuff. Stuff I need to get off my chest. Stuff I need to think about. Stuff that becomes clearer written down. So now I have this beautiful cover and my first ever Moleskine journal. It’s perfect. Plus, he left me a really lovely note inside and no, like my journals its not for public consumption.

So even though I woke up feeling like yuck on my birthday I feel loved. I received lots of Happy Birthdays and talked to everyone in my family, some of them several times over the day. It’s nice. Nice to know that people care and are thinking about you. Even if they are thousands of miles away.

Have a lovely day everyone!

field trip

2011-04-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

On a Ravelry forum last week I was made aware of an interesting place near where I work called the Mechanic’s Institute Library & Chess Room. So today I went over for the weekly tour that they provide. If your in the city and looking for something to do on a Wednesday I recommend it… really interesting place with lots of history. I’m seriously thinking about becoming a member.

This staircase goes down five floors.

And chess…

They apparently have a very active chess club. I <3 these old worn tables. Can you imagine the years it took to wear that down?

And their very own chess director. Who knew?

I realize I didn’t take any pictures of the actual library parts. You know, the books and stuff, but I figure you all know what that looks like. Plus, these were the more interesting bits of the Institute. I found it all very intriguing.

On a completely unrelated note, as per normal, someone has been writing on my shiny new chalkboard. We will not be naming any names.

it’s on random

2011-04-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

I only seem to have a few random thoughts for today

I’ve been procrastinating way to much lately. Even procrastinating with things I enjoy doing.
A simple (non-dressy) black skirt is apparently not available here in the city.
I need a lamp for my desk. It’s just not conducive to writing with an overhead light. The glare!
I need to figure out how to get the sound to work on my webcam. You can only hear me if I shout.
I’ve been reading my horoscope lately and it’s all true.
I have a super ambitious To Do list for this evening… see item 1.

silently sleeping

2011-04-20T22:18:00.000-07:00

And I’m back. Again. Aren’t you three just all excited!?

Tonight I finally got off my ass and made it to the Crafty Meet-up that I’ve been talking about and telling Joe that “I really should go” for months.Gah! Why do I wait so long to do this stuff? Besides the fact that I met other super nice yarny/crafty types (hi Alice and Anne!), it was nice to get out and do something I like to do with other people who like to do similar type things*. Fun! With no pictures! Cause that’s how I roll… not even one shot for Instagram. There’s always next time…

On yet another entirely different topic, um besides the fact I need to work on better segues… I think Leeloo is giving Joe and I the stink eye. It may not be entirely unwarranted, but it’s disconcerting nonetheless. Thank goodness we kennel her while we sleep. One can only imagine what shenanigans she’d get into when we’re sleeping as payback. For what you may be asking? Because we are at our wits end with all the barking. It’s not only embarrassing, but a few weeks ago she made some poor little boy cry cause she scared him half to death with her crazy barking self. Something had to be done and none of our training techniques were doing a bit of good. So, at the recommendation of a fellow dog owner I purchased a citronella collar to startle her so she would think twice about barking. Yeah, well, considering everything from the motorcycle that drove by outside to the crazy shake she does (this time inside) sets it off, not really a winner for teaching your dog to stop barking. Could be good for making your dog neurotic, but not much else. So last week I started the search again and found this remote control buzzer ~~with electric shock**,~~ which seems to be doing the job. She hates it, but has been staying fairly quiet even when it’s not on her. She hates it, but quiet wins every time. I kinda hate it too, but I don’t have any better ideas. *sigh*

She just looks so cute and innocent when she’s sleeping…

*Yeah, the long, convoluted run on type sentences are epic around these parts.
** not to be used at our house…

good things come in threes, but mostly twos

2011-04-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

What? A post three Wednesdays in a row? That’s right people, I’m working on consistency.
Of course, since I’ve now mentioned it I’ll probably fall right on my ass next week. That’s how I roll…

Now on to our regularly scheduled blog posting.

I realized this afternoon that while I’m walking around, far, far away from paper, that I think about really interesting or clever things to write about. Then I get distracted and they’re gone. Gone without a trace. And then later I think… what WAS it that I wanted to write down. No clue. I’ve come to the conclusion that two things could actually be happening:
1) I’m missing out on really great ideas and things to write about
2) they’re really mediocre or bad, but seemed really great at the time and should be forgotten

Now for the experiment. My shiny happy iPhone has a voice recorder and I’m going to start using it. I mean, I have that thing with me ALL THE TIME. This, of course will lead us down one of two paths as well.
1) I’m gonna have really great things to blog about. And I will!
2) I’ll never mention this again. I have a feeling this one may be the winner. *sigh*

And now for something completely different.
I decided to check on my horoscope today and the one thing that caught my eye was this statement: It's also a good day to handle paperwork relating to finances. Huh, it’s like they knew two things:
1) my taxes are still not done
2) but they were already on my to do list for today

I don’t know why I have waited this long to finish them up. Actually, they’ve been done for about a month, but I needed to do one last run through. That apparently takes a lot of time. Apparently. The point here is two fold (yes, again)
1) they’re done!
2) to forestall this happening in 2012 I’m making a vow

The vow is as follows*: the second any tax forms come in I’ll get them into TurboTax (love me some TurboTax!) immediately. Or at least within 48 hours. That means 2011 taxes will be done by mid February. To this end there’s now a reminder in my calendar with an alarm, no less, reminding me of this fact. Stay tuned ten months from now for my riveting follow-up to this story. I know you will…

So to that end. This post is over. And I’m off to get some sleep. Nighty night!

*ultimately vows are made to be broken. I just won’t be responsible for how this all turns out.

wants

2011-04-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my future. What I want to do with my life. What I want to accomplish. It’s vague and full of knots. Rolled into one big ball of sorting out the big picture into the bite sized pieces.

This is what I want:

I want to be my own boss.
I want my own space to fill.
I want the freedom to make my own destiny.
I want the freedom to succeed or fail on my own merits. To own my own dreams. Not based on arbitrary standards & measurements.
I want to sell lovely, cute, well made, well designed things to people who will appreciate and enjoy them.
I want hard work that’s fulfilling.
I want a challenge.

So what this means is that I’m looking for a change. I have an idea, but I need a lot of help and a lot more information ~~and investors.~~ Of course, if I had my way I would jump in without looking back. That’s why I have Joe. He’s my temperance to my impulsiveness.

It’s a road I’ve started down though and that’s something. I’ll let you know where it goes…

why i don’t knit gauge swatches and stuff

2011-03-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

So, I had all these grand plans to write a blog post last week about my trials and tribulations with this new stole I started knitting. How it suggested using a size 4 needle, which I didn’t have on hand so I swatched (yes, I swatched for a stole) and it ~~totally lied~~ did not work out at all. I went to Imagiknit twice and bought a total of 4 circular needles. I finally settled on size 5’s and started the darn thing and took it with me on our flight to WV this weekend. I should have know this story was not going to end well… especially since I ~~flagrantly~~ decided not to take any of the other needle sizes with me. I was so confident!

I’m sure you can see where this is going… on the plane I realized that the fabric was too loose and, you guessed it, the size 4, suggested needle size, was what I needed. You know, the one I left at home. This meant yet another knitting shop, this time Kanawha City Yarn Company, and success! The first repeat of the stole looks great!

Maybe not the greatest picture. Of course, this is about par for my picture taking abilities, especially on a plane.

As I mentioned, Joe and I flew to WV for a nice long weekend visiting our families. It’s so strange being so far from home. No longer a quick 4 hour drive for a visit, but a hard 8 or so hours flying across the country. It makes me appreciate them all the more! Hopefully we can get back for another trip before Christmas, but I’m thinking that’s not too likely…

On a lighter note, hello to you lurkers out there! It has come to my attention that more than two people are reading this here blog. When I say more than two, I’m thinking there now might be five. This makes me very very happy! So I’m going to ask a favor, por favor. I would love a headcount. A hello. Nothing fancy. Just a quick hi in the comments to let me know you’re here. One time. You can do it!

this and that

2011-03-20T22:56:00.001-07:00

So I’m a little behind on posting my 30 day lists and I’m kinda tired. That means I’m going to cheat and just link you over to my flickr account and you can go take a look at my new ones if you’re interested. I’ll wait, go ahead…

After last nights thinking session I decided I really needed some sort of ~~dream~~ board and headed to Lowes to by some galvanized metal and paint among other things. Martha Stewart came to the rescue and as long as I can get a few days of no rain I’ll get this bad boy up and running. I’m kinda excited about having a place to stick all my random thoughts and ideas where I can see them clearly. Ripping out magazine pages and sticking them in a pile with a note is just not working out for me. I know, shocking, right?

I did manage to finish one Cascadia sock today. It even fits. Wow! I immediately cast on for the second one so I don’t have that poor sock hangin’ out by its lonesome for too long. I might actually knit myself an entire pair of socks!
I’ve got to figure out how to take a better picture…

late night navel gazing

2011-03-20T02:22:00.000-07:00

Up late tonight. Sort of reverting back to my old ways in a time that I could get away with this (I’m so going to pay for this tomorrow…)

Making a list for tomorrow, of course, it is tomorrow, but I digress. And thinking about what I want to do with myself in general. I had an interesting conversation with a newish friend Friday night that was surprised at my current occupation and thought I had more to do with social media and well, probably anything other than what I actually do. True enough. What I do now doesn’t suit me, but what to do?

For one, I’m going to blog more. Not that it’s going to bring in extra cash, unless some kind soul would like to send it my way, but because I enjoy it. Because I enjoy writing. Even when it’s all grammatically incorrect. I’m also going to spruce up my craft room and get a board on the wall where I can pin and write ideas. Any idea on a combo for that? Or do I need to have two separate pieces… hmmm… the hamster wheel runneth.

So this is what I need. I need ideas.

shhh… she’s sleeping

2011-03-13T22:06:00.001-07:00

Before we begin… sleeping puppy… so cute!

Fun, fun day today. Even if we did have to move the clock forward. Blech!
The day was spent with good friends, good food, and maybe a few cocktails. What a great way to end the weekend!

I thought it was time to post some updates on the 30 days of lists, so here we go with Day 10: Wishlist.
I’m really enjoying the daily prompts and the time it creates to sit and think about, well, a lot of things.

Day 11: Date Night Ideas
I’m pretty flexible…

Day 12: Weekly Rituals
Made me think that maybe I could get more done if I had a few things that were to be done on a specific day. It’s funny how I like consistency, but when I sit and think about it, I haven’t created any for myself.

Day 13: DIY’s I Want to Try
I think this speaks for itself

and the lists go on…

2011-03-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying the list thing and I LOVE looking at all the lists everyone else is posting on the Flicker group. I may be having some journal envy. They are beautiful! Mine seems so plain jane… I want to fancy it up a bit, but just don’t know how to get started… you know what that means, right? The blog search will be starting shortly for journally type things. I know they’re out there. I know it.

On that note, here is my list for today: Favorite Websites and Blogs.

And as promised… days from the past.

Day 3: I am looking forward to
Realized I forgot to add my trip to WV to visit the fam. Definitely looking forward to that!

Day 4: Today’s Playlist
yeah, I listen to a lot of podcasts.

On the home front. I cooked. I know. Shocking!

It doesn’t look like much, I’m not much of a photographer after all. Oh and I realized that all the food is white. I swear that’s cauliflower on the left. It’s a vegetable. Really!
I did however, make almond crusted oven baked chicken from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated and it is fantastic if I do say so myself. Delish! I’m seeing a subscription to that magazine in my future. And possibly more cooking. Maybe.

So, to celebrate I ordered wine. OK. I may have ordered the wine last week. It still counts.

lists etc.

2011-03-08T21:35:00.001-08:00

Oh.My.God.

I found list nirvana… or maybe something close… daily lists… at least for a month… love it!

Go here to see what all the hullaballoo is about, I’ll wait.

OK, so, I started late, as usual. My plan is to start with today and then throw in some of the pics from day 1-7. I know you’re excited. You may even find out a little more about me. Or, you may be like, we all knew that, move along.

Day 8: It’s scary people. There’s a lot of stuff in there.

So this is what my bag looked like just hangin’ out. I bought Leeloo a toy today, don’t judge me.

I wanted to list everything out, but then it becomes:
2 hair ties
2 vitamin containers, 1 empty
1 Hershey Kiss wrapper sans kiss
1 1/2 knitted sock + yarn + bag + pattern
It’s ridiculous.

Day 1: About Me

Day 2: Things I’m Good At

And now for something completely different.

Joe and I went to have sushi this evening and bumped in to the doggie parents of Chewie. The cutest dog evah! in case you were wondering (I have a picture somewhere…). Anyway, we start talking and realize we live in the same neighborhood. Score! Cool people. Awesome dog. What more can you ask for? We traded numbers and puppy play dates will ensue.

resolution update

2011-02-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

I think I need some resolution accountability. I mean, it is almost the end of February, right? So what have I done so far…

Out of the required 12 completed knitting projects, I’ve managed to complete 3. I’m actually pretty impressed with my current progress since I am tend to much better at the starting side of things.
So, I haven’t actually started a business, but I have one forming in my head. It would be retail. There would be hats. Jewelry. Bags. A fair portion would be handcrafted.
Meditating has currently stalled out.
I’ve read 1 of out of the required 6 books so far. That means one whole book leaves the building…
Podcast? What’s that?
I’ve been drinking wine, but not actively learning anything. We’ll get to that later.
Letter writing. Sort of working on this. I’ve been more diligent about writing an actual note on birthday cards, etc. instead of my typical two line sign off.
Learn French… nope
Oh the craft room… I so want this to be a lovely space, but I seem to have stalled out at the moment. I’m feeling a giant upending/purge coming on. Stay tuned.
The writing. This I’ve been doing better with. Like now. I’ve also been journaling more, which I find helps me to focus. I really need better focus.

Obligatory puppy photo… I just don’t understand how she sleeps like this.

i should blog more

2011-02-23T21:38:00.001-08:00

I won’t feel like I have much to say for a while, which is fine. Then I do and I still don’t blog. Doh!

So here are a few things I should have mentioned already.

My friend Emily sent Leeloo these adorable toys!

They are super and Leeloo adores them. Especially their crunchy ears. Who can resist the crunchy sound? Not Leeloo. That’s who.

My parents were here this past weekend and what does it do? It rains. Well, it rained on Saturday. All day. And since they were here for two days that means it rained 50% of the time. Pooh! So I didn’t get to do all of the things I wanted to do with them, but it was so nice to have them here! In lieu of touring the city, I helped Mom make potato soup with shrimp on Saturday and it is delicious. I’ve been taking it to work and eating it for dinner. Yum! I also made chocolate chips cookies, which oddly is the only thing I took pictures of…

Yeah, those aren’t the actual cookies, but my pictures of the actual baked cookies are not so great. Ingredients, that’s what you get.

Um, I’ve been working diligently on my Cascadia sock. So hard to get a good indoor shot, but here it is… getting ready to start the heel. Oh yeah!

I need to stay away from twitter. Why? Cause people tweet about all kinds of cool stuff. Like these. Thanks Ysolda… I just bought two of them. *squee*

Then there is poor little Leeloo. She was spayed yesterday and I was able to pick her up today after work. She is tired. And sad. And probably doesn’t feel to hot. Which is why I feel so bad for laughing…

It really shouldn’t be this funny. Maybe it doesn’t seem funny from where you’re sitting. But she’s so understandably mopy and has that silly cone around her head and it’s so cute… and funny. I keep giggling. And feeling guilty. But I still giggle. It’s not just me, Joe’s laughing too. I’ve taken a thousand pictures, almost.

a weekend in carmel by the sea

2011-02-13T22:57:00.000-08:00

Paying for internet at our hotel just seemed silly when I’d be using it for all of 20 minutes. So here you have a twofer… enjoy.

Saturday: Joe and I dropped off Leeloo for her first boarding experience and headed on down to Carmel by the Sea. We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and the views were really spectacular. The coastline is just gorgeous!

Look at that blue sky. Amazing!

I may have looked away from the loveliness to knit, just a little…

We spent the day wandering Carmel by the Sea and checking out the cool shops and art galleries. If I had a spare 75 grand I might have come home with an original oil painting. Instead I picked up two fabulous hats and took a picture of beautifully tiled steps. That’s probably just as good.

Dinner was a glass of wine and the saltiest salad and hummus appetizer ever made. They actually salted the pita bread. Was that really necessary? I’m not going to name names on this one since we didn’t try any other items, maybe next time we’ll give them another shot. But despite our annihilation by salt this was a perfect weekend get away! Today was really great and I can’t wait for tomorrow.

Sunday: Oh my gosh! if you’re anywhere close to Carmel you have to go to the Tuck Box for breakfast. Oh, and you MUST order the scones. They come with two jams and fresh whipped cream. Delicious!

We walked over to the Cypress Inn to take a look around. We were told it was a beautiful place and dog friendly, as most places here seem to be. They have this painting in the courtyard. Isn’t it great? Next time we’re here we’ll have to stop by for drinks and soak in the ambiance.

Before we left we walked the beach. I took like 1000 pictures, but some how narrowed it down to these 3. Your welcome.

Loved the bits of rock that lined part of the beach. I may have picked up a few to bring home.

There were a lot of people out enjoying the great weather. I could have walked forever, but we had to get back to the city.

Before I leave you for the night I had to show you two more things.

There was a murder of crows grabbing a drink (yes this was fresh water on it’s way to the ocean). I only mention this cause I love saying murder of crows.
This was by far the most grand, but there were so many beautiful homes lining the coast. Can you imagine looking out your window and seeing that ocean? Something to aspire to, eh.

a bit on the nothing side of things

2011-02-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

So, I’m pretty sure that I mentioned I watched Julie & Julia on Sunday and there was this one scene I can’t get out of my head. Don’t quote me on this, but essentially Julia is talking about getting up early (at 6:30, ugh!) to get ready for cooking school and she’s just so excited about it! That scene (or my rendition, anyway) seems to be on a constant loop in my head. I want that. I want to be excited to get up and start the day. Is that too much to ask? I mean, I don’t dislike my job, but I’m certainly not excited to get up and go every morning. I don’t get up and think, Wow! I get to go do that! I know, I know. My life isn’t all that bad. It’s actually pretty good. But you know what? Sometimes I need a little self indulgence here in blog land.

So what to do? A friend recently said I need to follow my bliss. Well, what the heck is that? Anyone know? Besides quitting my job and… what? I’ve got a whole lot of nothin’. Basically, it’s just me dreaming about, well, sadly, I’m not even sure.

um…

2011-02-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

Just watch. The whole thing. I mean it.

a lot of nothing

2011-02-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

What did I do today instead of watching “the big game”? Besides the normal stuff like cleaning, hanging with the pooch, and knit knit knitting I used the power of Netflix to watch Julie & Julia. What a cute movie! I love a movie that inspires an underachiever like me to do something with herself. Now if I could just get more people to read this blog and talk about how great I am so I can write a book about, well, who knows… a girl can dream can’t she? :)

In lieu of any real content I leave you with a pic of Joe & Leeloo. Enjoy!

sunshiny day

2011-02-05T16:32:00.001-08:00

Ahhh Saturday. Normally I’m a little more excited when it rolls around, but since walking around the block still wears me out, not so much.

On a much brighter note, I pulled out a half knit sock and started it over so that it will actually fit. Now that would be amazing!

Here is the start of a shiny new well fitting sock.

never had the flu, till now

2011-02-04T17:23:00.001-08:00

Here’s how it all started… Sunday morning I woke up with a tickle in my throat. Wasn’t too worried, just a little cough. Joe and I head out to MOMA for the day and I’m super excited cause we have been talking about going for ages. I’m not all knowledgeable about art so I’m not going to go into a lot of the exhibits, but a lot of photography and it was really fascinating to see. I would say pretty thought provoking items are their at the moment. You should go…

So we’re their for a couple hours and I’m starting to feel really tired and I start to realize that my legs ache. Like I worked out recently (um, no. not even close). And I’m just so tired, exhausted without really having done anything. This really should have been my first clue, but I’m slow with these things.

So Monday I wake up and feel completely awful. To shorten this pathetically sad story I’ll skip to the part where I go to the doctor, she says I probably have the flu and not some bronchial infection that I think I have and shoves a swab up my nostrils. Tuesday the results are in. Influenza A. Could be the Avian flu. Could be H1N1. Clarification on these points were not forthcoming so I went back to bed.

I’ve been housebound for the entire week. Now it’s Friday and I’m finally starting to feel a bit better, except now I have made this mess up here since I’m hiding from our puppy so she’ll stay kenneled during the day (another long story).

It’s probably time to take advantage of the fact that I can walk around for more than 5 minutes and not feel like I’m going to pass out.

On the bright side I’m about 3/4 through with Joe’s scarf. I hope he likes the flu…

filler

2011-01-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit it. I’m writing tonight just to write something in this empty place…

The weekend has been nice and slow and relaxing. I’ve spent time knitting, reading, hangin’ with my fabu husband, and just plain having a good time.

Long weekends rock!

veggies and fruit, oh my

2011-01-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of my once a month fruit/veggie delivery from Farm Fresh to You. I know, you’re thinking once a month? Why so often? Yeah. Yeah. Look, I want to eat all this good stuff, but I find that it becomes a little daunting and if this showed up once a week there would be lots of wasted food in the trash. The idea is to start off slow and simple and see where it leads. Any ideas?

The rest of the day has been less exciting. Leeloo went to puppy day care today. I found her sprawled out sleeping this evening. She is so exhausted from all the fun!

what are you doing? I’m sleeping over here…

a few resolutions

2011-01-03T21:07:00.001-08:00

I haven’t made resolutions for years. I mean, I’m the consummate list maker and I can’t remember the last time I actually sat down and made long terms lists/goals. Forever. Well, that has all changed in the last few days and not only that I’m going to make it public. Oh the humanity! Probably actually not that big of a deal. See me in 2012 and we’ll discuss how I did.

Complete 12 knitting projects. One a month. This started from some people talking about knitting their sock stash down, but I just need to get some things done. Oh, and all 12 projects must be from stash yarn, not shiny new stash.
Start a business. Purposefully vague.
Meditate on a more regular basis. This means more than every two weeks or never.
Read at least six books on my bookshelf. I bought a Kindle to save room, yet I still have a bookshelf full of books that are unread. Ridiculous.
Start a podcast, vlog, videocast. Something. Anything.
Learn more about wine. I love wine and there’s this awesome wine bar, Hotel Biron, down the street. What more can a girl ask for?
Write more letters. Not emails. Not post some crap on Facebook. Real letters that needs stamps.
Learn French. I took Spanish in school and know enough to be pseudo dangerous. French seems more exciting.
Turn my craft room into the best space for me to relax and be creative in. That means corralling the mess into something lovely. That also means taking at least 30 minutes a week to purge and organize.
Write more. Journaling. Blogging. Anything counts.

And there you have it folks, my goals for 2011. Thoughts?

the sun could come out

2011-01-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

Morning world! It’s raining, again.

I spent the past hour or so reading through blogs on Google Reader and I still have 141 to go. I’m such a glutton for punishment… I really need to use the “mark all read” button more often, but what if I miss something great? Could happen.

So it’s 10AM Sunday, a new year has started and I’m still in my PJ’s. Maybe I should do something a little more constructive with my day besides blog reading and playing games on Sally (I named my iPad, if you were wondering).

to a happy new year

2010-12-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

We had quite a little scare this morning that included a trip to the emergency vet. She’s fine, but we think she may have eaten something bad on her walk. The dangers of city life. Whatever it is, she’s been sleeping it off…

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year!

please buy my stuff

2010-12-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

Still working on my craft room. I’ve been busy posting things to ebay and hoping that they sell cause we all know it’s better to get a little cash then none at all.

Here is a big mess o’ stuff that I’m still sorting through and hoping to get rid of. It may not look like much, but cross-stitch mags and patterns are deceptively small. So much stuff!

Not everything there is going, but a lot of it is.

The worst part is the closet… I shudder just thinking about it.

OK, I’ve seen worse, but I know that almost everything in there needs to go and it’s just so hard sometimes to let it go. So many things just taking up space, but all have some sort of potential or meaning. Ugh!

Then there’s Leeloo. Still trying to get actual in focus pictures of her. She moves so much!

So this evening while I’m fooling with the camera it dawns on me that I always use this camera on auto and maybe I should turn that off and fool with the shutter speed. And there you have it. Picture perfect. Sometimes I amaze even myself.

tappity tap tap

2010-12-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

I’ve been using my tiny little lap tap a lot more lately and it has a nice little tap tap when I type. Even though I sometimes wish I had a bit larger screen I do really like the keyboard on this little guy.

Anywho, yesterday was a day off from work so we lazed around most of the day and then after lunch we headed out to IKEA again. I’m determined to get my little ~~nook~~ room tidied up, purged, and organized. We bought another Expedit piece, you can see it here, and some additional organizational pieces to go in the cubbies. I then spent the rest of the evening putting it together and then mercilessly going through ~~the junk~~ items and trashing, donating, or setting up for Ebay. Feel free to check out my auctions here. My goal is to put up 5 or so items until I run out. I might be doing this for a while…

I may not have gotten much sleep last night, but I felt super productive. Though it is a little disheartening to go in there and see a bit of a bigger mess. I realize that most of the stuff piled up is either leaving through Ebay and if it doesn’t sell it’s going straight to charity, but it really is a lot. I can’t mess around with this stuff. I feel like I’m at critical mass and everything must go! Right now I’m concentrating on the cross stitch items, but once that has been cleaned out the knitting is next. It’s not as bad, but it’s starting to be. I was on a forum in Ravelry earlier and they were discussing completing one sock weight yarn project a month. This was an idea that the Yarn Harlot had put out there last January and it’s a pretty good one. Not sure if it’s doable for me, but I’m seriously considering picking out 12 and creating a project pack with yarn and pattern just ready to go when I’m ready. At least that way I’ll feel like I have a plan for some of this stuff.

As I’m reading over this I really don’t want anyone to think that I have a bunch of stuff lying around and it’s all crap. The real problem is that I really like all these things, but it’s become overwhelming and it just plain makes me anxious every time I walk in there. The exact opposite of the inspiring and relaxing feeling that I want to have in that space. It’s going to happen, but this may take me several months to sort this all out. *sigh*

boring, for you probably

2010-12-26T20:22:00.001-08:00

Today was a day spent almost entirely of knitting and watching TV. It was great! Of course, that means that there’s not much to say today.

So, I’ll be back with something more interesting tomorrow. Or not, we’ll see.

it’s christmas

2010-12-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

It’s been a nice couple of days here. Last night we went to Yoshi’s to see Clairedee perform her annual Christmas Eve show and it was really wonderful! The music was great and we shared a table with a couple super nice ladies. Good times!

I realize today is Christmas, but even though I tried to make things festive and we ate cookies and pepperoni rolls sent from our mom’s and opened gifts it’s just not the same without the rest of your family. Now, don’t go feeling sorry for us or anything. We had gifts to open and I was able to use the ceramic Christmas tree my mom painted way back in the 80’s. Pretty!

And there’s always the ~~Yule~~ Holiday Log channel. I really tried to take a picture of Santa’s arm coming in and stoking the fire, but I just didn’t have the patience to sit around and wait for the phantom arm to show up again.

What was really nice about today is that Leeloo took a nap mid morning and I was able to get several pattern rows done on the shawl. I am getting really excited about wearing it, but that dang chart is complicated and if I’m not totally focused on it I tend to miss the yarn overs. Super annoying.

In the afternoon we went to see Tron Legacy in 3-D. Loved it! I thought they did a really great job in moving the story forward. Interesting side note, after the movie I mentioned to Joe that I was going to put the original Tron (from 1982) in my Netflix queue and he said it probably isn’t there. Something about Disney being embarrassed about it cause it was really bad. Hmmm… so yeah, not currently available on Netflix and I checked Amazon to see if it was available. So? Yeah, it’s available. But only from third party sellers for crazy prices. No one seems to be selling it retail. Check here for what I found. I find things like this intriguing. It’s like Lucas updating the original Star Wars. It’s just weird. You just can’t compare a movie made today to one made 20 + years ago. Things change. You can’t remake the past. Time to move forward.

Speaking of moving forward. I’ve also been working on my big Noro blanket. I happened to unfold it today, which apparently I hadn’t done in forever. Wow! It’s much bigger than I realized. Heh. I feel like I might be able to finish this thing up sometime in 2011. I guess that makes it a New Years Resolution.

a good day

2010-12-24T18:26:00.000-08:00

What a lovely day! First I got to spend some quality ~~sleep~~ fun time with Leeloo. She looks so innocent, no?

Oh, am I not supposed to be on the stairs?

It seems that the pillow needs to be “taken care of”.

Totally exhausted. Note that it is apparently more comfortable to not sleep on the squishy pillow.

Later Joe and I went out to a late lunch at La Mediterranee in Pac Heights. Yummy! We had hummus, a spinach salad, and a mixed plate. Would totally eat there again. Afterwards we roamed around the neighborhood and stopped in a couple of shops and just generally fooled around. Then Joe was nice enough to take me over to Imagiknit so I could do some pre-Christmas yarn shopping for yours truly.

I bought some really gorgeous Malabrigo Rios. Two skeins are for my scarf and two are for Joe’s. I’ll let you decide which two belong together.

For Christmas Eve festivities we’re headed over to Yoshi’s for a show. I’ll let you know how that was tomorrow. For now it’s time for a dog walk and dinner.

testing

2010-12-22T22:12:00.001-08:00

This might be a bit of a cop out for today's post, but I just downloaded BlogPress for my iPad and wanted to test it out. So far I can say it's definitely better than using it on the iPhone!

Good night!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

out of her shell

2010-12-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

Our baby is growing up. We went to puppy school tonight a little early for a short puppy play time and she didn’t hug the wall! She actually pounced and chased and acted like an actual well adjusted puppy. I’m such a proud momma. Of course, towards the end the instructor was using her as an example on how to get them to wait for their food bowl (not rush it) and the instructor accidently kicked the bowl and scared poor Leeloo half to death. She wouldn’t even eat yummy treats out of it after that. Oh well, I guess we can’t expect too much after only a few weeks.

I would post some pictures or video of tonight, but we were too distracted by the cuteness. We’ll have to get some next week cause you have to meet the other cuties in her class. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate with all the puppiness everywhere.

let it go

2010-12-20T21:06:00.001-08:00

Getting ready for an early night, but I made the mistake of turning on Hoarders first. Well, maybe not a mistake since I emptied out a large plastic bag of clothes and miscellaneous items and culled through some old junk jewelry that has been taking up space. Happens every time I turn that show on. Maybe I should watch it more often. Heh.

rain

2010-12-17T23:41:00.000-08:00

,rain, go away, come again another day… Of course, that’s like wishing for no sand in the desert at the moment. We have rain forecast for the next foreseeable future.

I would have put the 10 day forecast up, but it looks just like this only it takes up more space. So, with all this rain comes our first real trials and tribulations of puppy potty training. She just doesn’t want to be out in the rain and she hasn’t figured out how that crazy umbrella of mine works. What this actually means is that we go outside more, not less, which is what she would ultimately like. I hope she figures this all out soon.

On a brighter note, I was able to finish the scarf I was working on and now I’m going to concentrate on the Orchid Thief shawl. It’s definitely an at home project, which means I need to look into another simple traveling project. Maybe a vanilla sock with this beautiful Trekking yarn that I bought way back when I first started knitting because I saw someone else knitting socks out of it. That was back in ‘07, it’s probably time to set it free.

On that note, I leave you with Leeloo.

I know there’s a treat hiding in there…

trash

2010-12-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

Phew! Spent some time this evening going through all these random piles of paper that I stack all over the place. I really need to keep in mind that the recycle bin is my friend, but I seem to have this fear that I’m totally going to need that piece of paper that I picked up the craft show with that awesome jewelry designers info. Keep in mind that as far as I recall I have not once gone back to these people and bought something. Yet, I hang on to them incessantly. Oh and that’s just one tiny corner of the random stuff that (mostly paper for some reason) that I hold on to. Yet another corner of the crazy I like to air in the sun from time to time.

In other news, I’ve been able to knit a little more the past few days. I’m trying to get back to it and get some projects off the needles so I can move along to bigger and better things. I have a plan… I hope it works!

Before I go, I leave you with little sleepy Leeloo. She is exhausted from her first day of puppy day care at SF Puppy Prep. I’m a fan!

puppy school, really

2010-12-14T22:28:00.000-08:00

Another busy day. Sometimes I feel like my life is a whirlwind of activity. Mostly puppy activity, but we all know that’s to be expected. I mean, it’s not like I got a puppy and thought she would just train herself. Though, that would have been really awesome!

Tonight we took her to puppy school, which is really more for us than for her. I really have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing, but feel like I have a bit more of a grasp on this training thing now. I’ll let you know in a week or so if I’m eating those words. Heh.

I’ve actually been able to get some knitting time in, which has been so very nice. Nothing too complicated, my Orchid Thief has been waiting patiently on the sidelines for a time when I can concentrate on all that lace. Tinking back is not much fun on that thing and I speak from experience… No, I’ve been working on a nice simple ribbed scarf that I can pick up and put down as the need arises. Perfect for me at the moment.

In the meantime I’ve been daydreaming about some sort of sweater to knit. So far I’ve found two that intrigue me. One is Collins, which of course the lovely tweedy yarn that was used has been discontinued. I’m sure I can find some sort of substitute, but I really don’t like putting that much effort into these things. Then there’s Paper Dolls, which I saw someone knit with Madelinetosh merino light and it’s just beautiful. The only downside to this one is that I’ve not done any colorwork before and I’m not sure I want to experiment on a sweater.

So there you have my knitting and puppy adventures for the day. See you tomorrow!

why?

2010-12-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

It’s late and I’ve procrastinated yet again on writing. My brain is tired and I don’t have much coherent to say so I’m leaving you with a video of Leeloo eating her dinner.

No puppy was starved in the making of this video…

the weekend

2010-12-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

It’s been a long fun weekend. We spent time at puppy socials, a people only social, and went to dinner this evening at Zuni Café. I was even able to get in some meaningful knitting time in. I think we’re beginning to figure out our new schedule and able to get back to a semi-normal existence.

Having a puppy is exhausting and a lot of work (I know, duh, right?), but she won’t be this way forever and I’m sure we’ll look back on this with a sense of relief and sadness that the puppy days are gone. Before that happens I’m just going to work on getting a full nights rest!

meatballs

2010-12-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

OK. If you haven’t taken the time to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs you are missing out. We’re not even all the way through and we’ve been laughing like crazy!

You really should be watching it right now. Go! What are you waiting for??

so tired

2010-12-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

How tired? Did anyone realize that I wrote essentially the same post on the 5th and 6th? Heh. I guess traveling to the east coast for a week and a half (and getting sick), then the day after I get home we drive 3 hours to pick up our little Leeloo. As you’ve probably guessed it’s been non-stop with her highness the bundle of energy since. So tonight was my night to relax. I lounged around all evening and now it’s time for some much needed rest.

See you tomorrow!

not a puppy post

2010-12-07T22:52:00.001-08:00

So besides playing with the ball of cuteness that arrived on Saturday. What have I been up to? Not a whole lot actually. But before she arrived I was working on this beautiful shawl. I’d made some good progress on it too and now I’ve totally stalled out. I knit one row Sunday night and then ended up having to pull back 3 rows because, really, I’m that awesome.

So here is my Orchid Thief in her unfinished glory. I have grand plans of spending some leisure time this weekend knitting and hopefully at least getting through one repeat before it’s Monday again. One can dream…

moving objects

2010-12-06T20:24:00.001-08:00

Have you tried to take a picture of a feisty fast moving pup? It’s tough.

More blur.

Finally!

Or you just wait till she’s sleeping.

And just so you, she’s sleeping on my lap right now. It’s hard to type a post with only one free hand…

not much

2010-12-05T21:03:00.000-08:00

Do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph a moving target?

When she does sit still she must obviously be facing the wrong direction. Obviously.

Looks like I will have to enlist Joe for some decent photo ops.

new arrival

2010-12-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

Today we welcome our new addition to the family.

Say hello to Leeloo (from The Fifth Element). You may have noticed that we did not go with Peaches as we had originally planned. Minds were changed. Oh, and her full name is Lady Leeloo Van Meter. That may not be Joe approved, but it’s going on her papers regardless.

She’s a super ham.

She may have stolen my heart… now if only I can get her to go potty so we can settle down for the night.

right now

2010-12-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

I’m flying through the air on my way back home. It’s been a long trip filled with family, friends, and a stop over into the land of crud, but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything*!

For the past couple of hours I’ve been catching up on my blog reading. I started with about 140 and I’m down to 42. I either need to cull a few from the herd or learn to skip a few posts here and there. It’s a sickness the way I feel I must read them all or else! I wonder if the world would truly end of I dared to mark them all as read and move on with my day?

Tomorrow is puppy day! We will be picking up or 12 week old miniature schnauzer, Peaches, around 11AM and I think I might die of excitement! This is going to be a tough few months with all my her training and settling in, but I know it will be totally worth it! Keep your eye out for pics… I have a feeling there might be one or two.

* well, I definitely would have traded the crud for a few extra days to visit friends.

do one thing

2010-12-02T21:15:00.000-08:00

Not surprisingly, the topic of productivity came up at work today. During the discussion our manager said his motto is “do one thing”. This really struck a cord in me and I feel like this could be a theme I need to adopt for my everyday life. The point of “do one thing” is to not literally do one thing and then take the rest of the day off, but to be sure that no matter what else comes up or gets thrown at you that you keep coming back to that one thing until it’s done. Then, you focus in on the next item. Rinse. Repeat.

I like this since some of my home productivity issues are due to a spot it and do it mentality. I may have my list of things to get done, but if I walk into the bedroom and see a glass that needs to go in the kitchen I’ll pick it up and take it down. There I see the dishes need washed so I’ll do that, oh and then I need to take those dirty dishtowels up to the laundry and start those in the wash, but I get sidetracked by the shoes that need to go in the closet. My afternoon of cleaning becomes an unproductive hodge podge of half done activities. Yes, those things did need to be done, but they either weren’t priority or were done halfway cause I flaked out half way through to start something else.

Do One Thing

This may be my new motto…

a new goal

2010-12-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

And… she’s back, again. This time with yet another ambitious project.

This month I’m joining NaBloPoMo, which I believe I tried once a while back and if I remember correctly I failed miserably. So here I am, try, try, trying again. This month’s theme is Zeitgeist, which they are defining as “capturing the mood of your culture and your life as they exist right now.” December is going to be a busy month and I expect I should have plenty to write about. Of course, that typically has not been my downfall. My downfall has been actually taking the time to sit down and write about it. I am a born procrastinator. Doing those absolutely non-essential things just so that the essential things can be done in a panic at the last second and with great anxiety. I am awesome.

In order to attempt to cultivate some better habits I have joined a site called Health Month, which is a pretty fun site where you can set goals for yourself and then check in daily to see how you’re doing. I’ve done it for the past two months and did great the first round and miserable the second. I’m back for a third try in December to try and get back on track. My goals being:

Take vitamins 6 days a week
Meditate 3 days a week
Blog every day

My goals may not seem particularly difficult, but for me goal setting can be challenging in my personal time. I’ve never seemed to have to much trouble with this in a work setting, but when it comes to my own time it seems an impossibility. Strange, I realize, but true none the less.

So keep your eyes open and feel free to send me nasty grams if I start to slack off. Motivation is key!

done! well, almost

2010-11-07T09:02:00.001-08:00

I know everyone has been waiting so impatiently on an update of my craft room. Seriously. This has got to be high drama for the people of the interwebs.

The thrilling part is that I actually did not procrastinate at all on this project*. With Joe’s help I sorted and arranged every picture we owned and tossed the dupes, of which there were many. Once I had a grasp on how many we were talking about I promptly ordered the correct box for shipping. Thursday, after having said box for only two days, sat down and packed it up. I know! All that was left was to get this sucker in the mail Saturday** Well, not entirely all. I’ve ordered a second box that will take care of the remainder and then all of our pictures will be officially part of the digital age!

So what to do with that extra space? I’m sure it will be put to good ~~yarn storage~~ use. Next up is magazines… srsly? Why on earth do I feel the need to save/buy all those magazines? Anyone? Anyone?

I think it’s now time to get back to knitting on Serenity. Cause I’m worth it!

* at least so far…

** the box weighs approximately eleventy billion pounds and I’m not going to haul it around the city on a bus to get it to the post office.

may I have a random tuesday?

2010-11-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

Don’t answer that… it’s rhetorical.

A bit of random for today:

Cleaning up my craft room has created a short term disaster to the already insane space. Suffice it to say that I have stacks of photos all over and I’m patiently waiting on a box to stuff them in so they can be scanned. This really can’t happen quickly enough.
Remember that desk I was going to reward myself with? It was sold.
I voted today, did you?
While voting I attempted to get my I Voted 2010 badge via foursquare, but I’m convinced that my phone totally hates me.
I have tried to watch my most recent Netflix movie for the past four days with no success.
That sock I was gloating about a few posts back? It’s in time out and may not be coming out in one piece.
And speaking of knitting. I’ve been working on Serenity, but am at a standstill because I don’t understand the instructions.
I just ordered Paxti’s Pizza cause I’m starving and their pizza is delicious.

The end.

progress?

2010-10-30T16:24:00.001-07:00

Here is a pic of my craft room a few weeks ago, before I really started getting down to business.I’m not sure it really shows the layers of minutiae that need to be dealt with, but it was not looking good.

I decluttered quite a bit. Moved things around. Then I started working on the pictures. Now this is a project!

I realized that I have years of photos sitting in books and boxes that we just don’t have the space for. I mean, I would let them have space if I had actually looked at any of these since we went digital. That brings us to a company called Scan My Photos. Brother Joe has used them in the past and had good things to say about them so I’ve decided to just do it. Once the photos have been scanned they are all being trashed. It feels so wrong to throw all that stuff away, but seriously? What good does it do me for them to be hanging out in the back of a closet for another ten years?

This would be a pretty simple assignment if it wasn’t for all the duplicates. I apparently felt the need to own two of everything. This could take awhile…

it’s gotta go

2010-10-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

So I came across this really great blog a while back. I found it pretty interesting, but really wasn’t keeping up with until the past week. Most likely cause I was in the midst of our craziness and knew things needed to go already. Now I’m at the point where things are settling down and I need a little extra impetus to keep up the momentum.

In our new abode I have a room to call my very own. I’ve been calling it a craft room, but well, I want it to be my own personal space amongst the shared. Right now it’s a complete disaster. Not complete, but close. There is no calm zen in there, its chaos. Chaos that needs to go. That means I’ve made a decision. There needs to be a quick and brutal purge and soon. Like starting tonight. Here’s the start to my plan*:

The first thing to go is the workout stuff. The videos, the stepper, the weights. I did use these things at one time (OK maybe not a lot), but I have not the motivation to move furniture and then workout when I have a gym membership.
Next is the huge collection of pens we have accumulated over the years. Yes, I realize that these are in almost every room of the house, but they’ve gots to go. I bought 8 shiny new pens today that I will leave in strategic locations and will probably last us for the next ten years. No more crappy logo pens that barely work!
Culling of the cross-stitch patterns and yarn that I’ll never ever use. If they don’t sell on Ebay then they go to Goodwill. The end.
Oh and don’t forget the eleventy billion magazines that I hold onto “just in case” I ever want to make some recipe or craft project or read some book they talk about. I need to be ruthless.
Then there’s the books. I have a soft spot for books. Your reading selection says something about who you are and what you’re interests are, but really, one only needs so many books on house rabbits. Really, it’s got to be some kind of sickness…

So what’s the reward? Well, this past week while Joe’s parents were visiting we actually walked through a lot of the cool stores here in the new ‘hood. One spot in particular, Nancy Boy, had some really cool vintage furniture and amongst them this awesome 60’s-70’s desk with chair. Love it! Need to have it! But I can’t with a crappy cluttered room that has no personality.

The goal is to have that room in shape in the next two weekends. That’s really pushing my ‘let it go’ boundaries, but that may be exactly what I need.

*Note that Joe may be skeptical about the plan, but I really want my reward that I’m not even sure I’m getting cause I haven’t actually mentioned it yet.

the cold cold beach

2010-10-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday we drove up to Stinson Beach to see what it was all about. The plan was also to stop in Muir Woods, but by the time we left the beach we were both pretty much ready to head home.

The actual town of Stinson Beach is pretty small. It’s a nice place to spend a leisurely afternoon for lunch and taking a walk on the beach. It was pretty chilly out, or so we thought, but that didn’t seem to stop people from spending time in the water. Water that Joe and I thought was too cold to even walk through. Brr!

Let’s start with some pictures of our drive to Stinson Beach.

A lot of fog in this area. Well, their seems to be a lot of fog in general here.

Wasn’t there a Steven King book about fog?

The water may have been cold, but it was really beautiful.

This was one of my favorites.

And Em, this one is for you. The cutest pugs evah!

Last, but not least. A couple videos of us driving around. I think I see a cool little video camera in my future.

knitting fun & pizza

2010-10-10T09:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took my first foray into the East Bay via the Bart. Joe needed the car so I headed out to Knit One One in Berkeley to attend the Brave New Knits book signing and trunk show.

I was a little nervous about showing up on my own, but soon realized that this was a really great and friendly bunch! Julie Turjoman was so sweet and really everyone their was super nice. I will definitely be attending other events at Knit One One.

We had a great time trying on the different pieces. It’s great to be able to try on something you’re thinking about knitting. There are several sweaters I would love to try and now I know what changes I need to make so they will be perfect fit for me.

I would post pictures, but it seems that I was too distracted to even think about it. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I was completely derelict in those duties. Oh well, I guess there’s always next time.

Joe picked me up from the event and we headed over to Telegraph Avenue to find some dinner. We ended up at Lanesplitter and had some really great pizza. I think it may have been the best we’ve had so far. Service was so so (we didn’t get a refill on our drinks and Joe ran out), but I felt like it was one of those places where that’s just the way it is and you deal with it. Don’t get me wrong, the staff was very friendly just maybe not as attentive as I would have liked. Though, I don’t think that will deter us from going again if we’re in the area.

That’s about it for now. Joe and I are heading up to Stinson Beach today to see what we can see. Cross your fingers that I remember to take some pics!

and their was a blog post

2010-10-05T18:45:00.001-07:00

Some of you may be wondering what is going on in Casa de City* or you may have wandered off into some other corner of the internets. Possibly a corner that gets updated more than once a month.

Our new abode is almost ready for visitors. We realized once we got here that most of the furniture that we actually did bring with us was really not suited for apartment life. And so, the shopping began. Joe and I approach this type of thing very differently. He is the make a decision get it done shopper. I’m the let’s pick a few pieces, see what they look like, find a few more, rinse, repeat, 8 months later it’s done shopper. You can see that we both had to make some concessions there… Thursday our new couch will be here (joy!) and then Joe is going to pick up a new rug that afternoon. Done and done! At least the part that visitors will see.

I think I’m going to miss the fancy cardboard speaker stands…

So, other than 2372 trips to West Elm, Crate & Barrel, and other various stores we’ve been sorta busy. We have in fact missed two events due to our distraction with the apartment and not putting a note in our calendars, but we have managed to make it to some fun things.

A few weeks back we went on a fun trip to Napa Valley with a tour company called Gears & Grapes. They picked us up in the city and drove a group of us to Quixote winery where we sipped some wine, ate some yummy cheese, and were allowed to see where they made their wine. From there we hopped on bikes and for the rest of the tour we rode from one winery to the next, four in total, until we arrived at my very favorite, Tres Sabores winery. That is definitely one I will want to visit again.

The Quixote Winery

A view from the winery

The owner of Tres Sabores had a beautiful garden

And don’t forget the little bababa’s

Our hosts from Gears & Grapes were really great!

I have also recently discovered the joys of Netflix (someone remind me, why do we have cable?). I already thought it was super awesome and then brother Joe called a week or so ago and mentioned he was watching shows on his computer/iPad/iPhone… what? I’m now hooked. In a week I watched an entire season of Dexter, which by the way is a MUST SEE. I had to step away before watching the second season or you might have never heard from me again. Did I mention how cool it is to watch TV from you iPhone on the bus? It is. You should try it.

I did at least do some knitting whilst whiling away the hours watching streaming video. This sock has been in a state of not finished for over a year now. I’ve actually ripped it out and restarted it about 3 maybe 4 times. It must be completed. It must be completed so that I can start on its mate. Don’t even get me started on the fact that there needs to be two of them.

* I’m told the locals never call it SF or San Fran, but it can be called the city.

cherries rock

2010-08-16T22:03:00.001-07:00

I’m done with the move, at least for now. Maybe I’ll post pictures of the controlled disaster that was moving day, but right now I want to focus on the fun that is brandied cherries. I mean what’s not to love about brandied cherries?

I came across this yummy recipe on the Craft website (which is a fantastic website, btw). It was on!

So here are the ingredients.

Basically it’s a flavored simple syrup which you use to marinate the cherries along with a generous helping of brandy.

So, here you have it people. The only problem is that now I have to stop and get some additional ingredients so that I can make the drink that goes with it…

Looks like I’m on my way to restocking the bar!

shiny

2010-08-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

I know, i know... I haven't written in a while, but I did buy a shiny red chair for my craft room Sunday. I mean, that should count for something right?

It was even on sale!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

city living

2010-07-21T17:50:00.001-07:00

Well Hello from the City!

I’m here, we made it relatively unscathed. Their were some battles with the movers and my lovely bronchitis, but I’m here. Here with Joe in the city of San Francisco.

It’s weird to think that I’ve only been here for about 4 days, but I already feel at home. Besides the fact that instead of 99% humidity at 99 F it’s a balmy 60 F and a tad breezy. Oh and the fact that I’m living not out of a suitcase per se, but more like the floor until the moving truck arrives.

And the fact I keep thinking about stuff that maybe I should have brought with me, like the battery charger for my camera. Oops!

So, the packers came on Thursday and packed ALL DAY. No lunch break or anything. They left us with this… a bunch of rooms filled with boxes.

Friday, the truck was supposed to arrive to load everything up. It didn’t. So, they showed up on Saturday at 6AM. Good enough.

It was strange seeing your stuff out on the street waiting to be put in a giant cross country hauler.

I will admit, it was sad to leave this house, the city, our friends…

Now, it’s off to new adventures. I think we’re ready…

ponder

2010-06-02T18:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I met Mike after work for a drink and on my way back to the car realized I’m really going to miss this place. I think I have been so focused on leaving that I forgot what I was leaving behind. Drinks with friends, walking downtown,

having friends over for dinner.

Don’t laugh at the table setting that includes our cell phones…

Last night was a perfect evening to sit on the patio and hang with a long time friend.

This is all to say that we accepted an offer on the house yesterday. Waiting on the final paperwork, but it’s pretty much a done deal. If all goes well I will be in San Francisco mid July… I have a feeling it’s going to happen all to fast.

viva las vegas!

2010-05-31T14:08:00.001-07:00

Who’s that guy I’m with? Why, that’s my long lost husband!

Before we knew we were moving to SF we had planned a trip to Vegas with D&R. The timing turned out to be pretty good since Joe and I hadn’t seen each other in three weeks by this time.

So how was Vegas? Awesome! Of course, I am biased… it’s one of my favorite places to go. I am such a gambler at heart. Heh! D&R treated us to Viva Elvis and Penn & Teller while there. Both shows were really great, but if I had to choose would probably go with P&T. But really, you can’t go wrong with either one.

Vegas has really grown in the two years or so that we were here last. Unfortunately, it means that a lot of projects that were started before the great mortgage debacle of ‘08 are at a standstill, but they have still managed to get most of the City Center completed despite all that.

This restaurant inside is spectacular. It’s the Mastro’s Ocean Club and looked just amazing. Next time we go I’m going to have to get a reservation just so I can say I ate in the floating bubble.

I was able to get quite a bit of knitting done on the 4 hour plane rides there and back. I started working on Wisp since I figured it would be an easy no brainer item to knit on the go. This really is going to be beautiful once it’s done and great for the weather out in SF.

more stuff!

2010-05-18T17:30:00.001-07:00

Oh, hi there! Guess who is in yet another funk? I was going to write about three things that I was happy about today (which on Sunday would have been cake), but just can’t seem to pull that together at the moment. Pathetic, yes?

So, on to other things… Yesterday my manager brought me a St Joseph statue to bury in my yard and of course it POURED the rain all day and it was entirely to gross to even think about digging. It seems to be a bit drier today, so hopefully I can bury ~~the poor guy~~ him this evening. I feel a bit odd about this procedure. I mean, I feel like he can help me out, but then I feel bad about not only burying him but he needs to be buried upside down. I guess so he will help to sell my house and then I can dig him up? Just go with it.

I have been steadily working on Ishbel as of late. Crappy picture due to a lost camera. Yes Joe, I seem to have misplaced the camera after Saturday’s festivities. I have a call in…

I have realized that moving into a smaller place is going to necessitate a lot less storage place for my crafty type items. What that really means is that I need to ~~put my big girl panties on and~~ work with what I have. That also means that I need to do a major culling of my cross-stitch patterns. Anyone out their interested? I have lots and may have some things you are looking for.

ps: I can’t get so SF soon enough

pps: hope St Joseph works out

ugh

2010-05-15T05:40:00.001-07:00

OK, so not the most cheerful post, but really? Why is this OK?

I was in a bit of a mood when I left work yesterday and then this was right next to my car. I guess if I have trash cluttering up my car it’s OK to dump it anywhere. *sigh*

a note on etiquette

2010-05-09T20:39:00.001-07:00

Lately I have been thinking about etiquette and how our general lack there of creates unnecessarily uncomfortable encounters with people. Interestingly, I had a conversation about inappropriate behavior last night at dinner with some friends and the majority of these stories could have been solved by someone having read a basic book on etiquette (otherwise know as, how to interact socially with other human beings). No giant tome required, just one of those little paperback ones would have sufficed for most of the stories.

I think I may have found the problem. I went to Books-A-Million yesterday and this was every etiquette book they had in stock. Now, I am not blaming the store since they stock what sells. Obviously, this is not a popular subject.

At least I know I’m not alone in thinking this. While poking around the internets I found this very interesting blog.

much complaining ensues

2010-05-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

It’s been a tough few weeks. Lots of sorting, cleaning, and much fussing at each other as Joe and I try to sort out our lives before he heads to SF to start his new job. I will be staying behind while the house is put on the market (anyone looking for a nice, barely used home in Charlotte?) and find out whether my employer is willing to let me work from the other side of the country.

It really isn’t so dire as it sounds. Things are coming together and we are feeling good about all the things we have accomplished so that this transition goes smoothly. It’s not so much the things that need to be done, but the emotional toll that a move like this creates. We are leaving family and good friends. Some are really supportive and some, well, some are not and that makes things tough. It’s hard when people you care about are so negative about something you are excited for and can’t seem to see that the negativity is practically a self fulfilling prophesy of sorts. Oh well… on to other sad news…

The bunnies.

Little Rosey

and Roscoe

I am trying to find a new home for my two wee ones. A good portion of the apartments we have looked at in SF do not allow pets. There’s a chance that it will be fine, but I don’t want to be down to the last week here and find out they can’t come along. So in the spirit of being pro-active I am looking for someone who would like to have to bundles of cute to add to their family. They need to stay together and at three pounds each they’re really like one still tiny pet.

Let me know if you or anyone you know is interested…

not much

2010-04-21T04:08:00.001-07:00

I have attempted to write a post for the past couple of days, but it seems that I am out of words for the moment. Let’s see if list making helps.

Joe accepted the job in SF.
It may not show, but I am super excited!
Currently I can only manage to knit garter stitch. Too much floating around in my head to manage anything else.
Brain is done. Apparently the list making is not working so much.

angst

2010-04-09T14:34:00.001-07:00

The suspense of it all is creating major stress all over. I alternatively feel like I’m going to throw up or am at complete peace with the whole thing. Though, the former seems to be winning out more and more.

No word today from the recruiter, of course they still have several more hours at work to get this sorted out, being on the west coast and all… I have a horrible feeling that this is going to stretch into Monday.

Finally home and would love to knit and relax for a bit. Of course, that is not likely to happen since we have a realtor coming over and then we’ll probably head somewhere for dinner. I mean, dinner out isn’t a bad thing. I am just starting to feel a bit frazzled by the not knowing. A bit stalled out and not able to make decisions about things that need to be done until we know for sure we are or are not moving. I’m in limbo.

and we’re back

2010-04-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

It would be nice if I could say that I got a decent nights sleep after getting home yesterday, but alas with all that is on my mind I went to bed late and got up early. Joy!

All in all I feel like we got a lot done while we were there and that we have enough information on the area of SF that we would like to live in.

Our top pick is Hayes Valley. Lots of cool shops, nice restaurants, and a Walgreens within walking distance. Oh and don’t forget the ~~liquor~~ grocery store for all your basic needs.

It also has this little park with a crazy sculpture as it’s centerpiece.

I’m sure you can see it’s appeal.

On the plane home I started on Ishbel. I figure if we really make it to SF then I’ll need a little something to keep the chill off.

Toodles!

room with a view

2010-04-02T16:32:00.001-07:00

Today has been a pretty busy day. Joe has been interviewing practically all day with an hour squeezed in for us to see an apartment. The rest of the day I spent looking around a few other neighborhoods to try and get a feel for things, oh and to stop by a knitting store. By the way, if you get a chance to visit Imagiknit I highly recommend it. Everyone was super friendly and so much yarn! I mean, like, a lot of yarn. Anywho, the only picture I have taken today is the view from our room. Do to some overbooking we were upgraded to a little larger room with a view of the city. It’s actually very pretty at night. Unlike, the one here showing the cloudy overcast view.

Now, it’s time to get ready to meet the possible future boss’ family for dinner.

Toodles!

big news or maybe it’s nothing

2010-04-01T23:39:00.001-07:00

At the moment I am sitting in the middle seat in the rear of a plane flying to San Francisco. A lot has happened in the past few weeks and it’s been a crazy whirlwind of time and energy. The short of it is we may be moving to said city and the long of it is filled with major, minor, and the mundane that relates to this kind of decision making. For now we are planning as if we are going so as not to be caught with our pants down. With all the stress and sleepless nights I’ve lost two pounds. Heh. Maybe I can market this as the new wonder diet plan for the ages.

I wish I could say April Fool’s, well, not really… cause I am so excited about the prospects of this kind of move, but the uncertainty of it all is so very daunting. For us it’s a decision of epic proportion that’s as easy it is hard.

So we are off to SF and tomorrow Joe will have his first face to face interview and I will scout the city to see what neighborhoods seem livable with a few apartment viewings thrown in so we can be reminded just how ~~big~~ small 1500 square feet really is.*

So that’s our big news. It’s time to get back to knitting this really lovely Damson shawl. I seem to be having issues with yarn overs at the moment so hopefully this short break will help me gain a little perspective on how this very ~~very hard~~ simple shawl should be knit.

Toodles!

* I do love a really good run on sentence…

one week anniversary

2010-03-13T11:25:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday I did what I thought to be the impossible. I ran a 5K. Not only did I run it, but I ran it without stopping. I realize this may not seem like a huge deal to most people, but I am a certified couch potato. Exercise is not my thing people!

Howeva, I decided that 2010 was going to be the year I start taking care of myself. This was mostly to take care of my crazed neck muscles that were delivering headaches on an almost daily basis (no wonder I’m so cranky all the time). Yet, I realized that I really need to take care of my health in other ways as well, so I signed up for a running class 10 weeks ago. After 9 weeks of running with this group it culminated in the Alston+Bird LLP Corporate Cup Challenge 5K. Here we are before the race. OK, so maybe I don’t look that thrilled to be there, but I am still working on the morning person thing…

With some encouragement from my running partner Jennifer we ran it. Ran it like we meant business. And it was fun! Next Saturday I’ll be at the Shamrock 4 Miler, maybe I’ll see you there.

Toodles!

london revisited

2010-03-11T11:12:00.001-08:00

I’m not sure what possesses me to think I’m going to blog while on vacation when blogging in the comfort of my own home is nigh on impossible as it is.

This may be a bit of a long post, but the following is the highlight reel of our trip to London, which by the way, was such a good time!

On Friday we headed over to the Borough Market. This place is totally worth a visit if you’re in town. Great to grab a bite to eat (pretty much standing room only) or just shop around for a few yummy tidbits while the locals grocery shop.

Lots of good looking food for sale.

I found some great fish ‘n chips with LOTS of salt and vinegar added.

Joe found a place that had three different giant paella pans going.

He ended up with the curry I believe.

Buy me!

Then it was lots and lots of walking. We did get to see the London Bridge. It was great except that someone parked that great big naval boat over their to the right… I see some picture cropping in my future.

Saturday we woke up late (this was pretty much a theme of the trip) and decided we should head over to the British Museum. Wow! This place would take days to go through so we concentrated on the time pieces

and the Egyptian items.

After that it was time to pick up our Lady GaGa tickets at the music store and then grab some dinner before the show.

mmmmm… street food!

The Lady GaGa show was just fabulous! It was absolutely worth flying to London!

Because we are completely ridiculous we went to Harrods and spent hours browsing this completely oversized, yet fascinating store. You could buy an apple or a writing pen that will set you back 20 grand. Who wouldn’t want to shop at a place like that?

One tip we learned for anyone wanting to spend some time there. Pictures of the store in general are just fine, but don’t even think about taking one of a particular item. Joe tried and was politely yet firmly told it was not acceptable. Ahhh, gots to love the British.

Before we left we did make it to see the changing of the guards (quite by accident). Different than I recall. I thought they wore red.

Took a pleasant walk through St James Park where the crocus’ were just coming up.

And made it over to Trafalgar Square.

That pretty much finishes that up. I feel like their was so much we didn’t get a chance to do. I guess that leaves it open for another visit…

Joe was kind enough to go with me to two knitting stores in London as well, but I want to get some picks of my booty before I blog about that. Oh, and there is such a list of things for me to talk about right now, but I am done!

Toodles!

holy catnap batman!

2010-02-25T13:25:00.001-08:00

Wow! We are in London! Can you believe it?

We left yesterday at 6:15PM east coast time and arrived in London around 7:45AM London time. We were exhausted. Luckily we were able to upgrade to first class and hang out in the lovely USAir Club before the flight.

The food in first class is ridiculous! We ate so much food that I just thought I was going to pop.

I just wish I could sleep normal on a plane. Everything swells up including my sinus’… although, it was better sleep than I could have gotten in the back.

We checked into our room, which is lovely by the way, and headed out to see some sights before we collapsed. We took the underground straight over to the Eye of London.

It was raining off and on.

This is one amazing contraption!

We got back to the room and completely passed out for a few hours. After our somewhat refreshing nap we decided to head out for some dinner. For some reason the Underground wasn’t letting anyone on so we just walked around near our hotel looking for somewhere good to eat.

Along the way we passed by Westminster Cathedral. It looked really beautiful lit up at night.

We ended up at a restaurant one of my work buddies had suggested. If you’re in London I would definitely recommend stopping by Wagamama’s. The food was delicious and definitely hit the spot after walking around in the chilly rain.

That’s it for tonight. Off to bed so we can get a fresh start in the morning.

week of goodness

2010-02-12T19:03:00.001-08:00

It’s been a good week! Besides the fact I can’t stop thinking about our trip to London in a few weeks (have I mentioned the fact that we are seeing Lady GaGa in concert there?), good things have been happening over here. Monday I ran farther than I have since junior high. About 3/4 mile. That is an accomplishment for my no cardio doing self.

Tuesday I met a friend and a couple of new ones for a fun evening of knitting. Go knitters!

Wednesday… Wednesday was the day we finally got our new door. You know, the door that was required after some young hooligans decided to kick in our door and steal our stuff. That door.

Here is the last of our old broken in door. Yes mom, the old door parts are safe in a box in the dining room. Even the kick plate if you want it.

The gaping hole that is just dying for a shiny new entry door! It’s worth noting that it was very cold that day.

Look at that perty thing! We are totally in love with it. Oh, and the storm door? So nice to open the door and not actually be outside. What a concept!

Then there’s Friday. Did I mention it was getting cold this week? Well, today we actually started to get snow. Not yucky wet gross rainy stuff. Actual real live snow.

As we made our way home the snow started to come down more and more.

So pretty!

So we came home and marveled at the snow a bit and then decided to get down to business of dinner. I recommend Pizzadillas from Rachel Ray’s book. Yummy!

Oh and maybe a glass or two of wine while we watch the Olympics Opening Ceremonies. So inspiring! Go watch!

a few things

2010-02-04T17:51:00.001-08:00

It’s been an interesting few days here. Monday was a fab mail day due to the arrival of my first installment of the 2010 Socks That Rock Club. I almost didn’t sign up this year, but I am thrilled that I caved to that one.

** For anyone reading who has not received their shipment and wants a surprise I would recommend heading off to another web page now…

I took pictures on Monday that are so-so, but here they are anyway. Really need to work on those camera skills.

It’s hard to tell, but it is the most lovely color! I started knitting up the Cascadia sock as soon as I could get a hold of the size one needles I needed. Can’t wait to get these done!

On a not so great note I feel like I have been fighting with the window and door people about installation. Two different companies with two different issues. The window people came today and thankfully realized that the replacement window had a broken seam before they removed the original window that has essentially the same problem. Now we have to reschedule that visit…

The door people will finally be coming on Wednesday and I am just not confident that the sensor for the alarm system is going to be OK. Too long of a story to go into here, but I really should not be the middle man in that conversation. I am just not the expert on either door or alarm sensor installation.

Finally there is the Best News Evah! Joe and I have booked a trip to London and while we are there we will be seeing Lady GaGa in concert. Can you believe it! Joe threw the idea out earlier this week and we booked the tickets today. I am crazy excited!!

Can’t think of anything that tops that bit of news. Will try to keep this blog up and running on more of a regular basis. Of course, we all know how that’s worked out.

oh, the weather outside is frightful

2010-02-01T16:42:00.001-08:00

Yeesh! Quite the weather pattern we’re having here. We came back from WV to this…

Of course, WV looked like this…

Didn’t think my car was going to make it up that hill Saturday morning. There may have been some slippage on the way up.

This weekend was a special one. We celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary. Amazing! When I think about them being together for 50 years it just seems unfathomable. Yet, Joe and I have already been married for 13 years and it seems like no time at all.

I managed to take only a few pictures at the party, but the view out the windows was just lovely. And that cake was delicious. This was the wedding reception my parents didn’t have 50 years ago when they eloped!

I did manage to get a good picture of Joe after the toast.

It was a really wonderful weekend. The highlight was hearing stories about the two of them. Stories we had never heard before. As a child it’s sometimes hard to remember that your parents were once young and in love. Impulsive and daring. They were great stories!

the crud

2009-12-14T19:24:00.001-08:00

Ugh! The crud has been beating me up all weekend and then miraculously I wake up this fine Monday morning and feel OK. Typical. I mean, I’m not well, but better. Well enough to go to work after I spent practically the entire weekend in bed. Yeah.

So, on the drive into work I hear Meghan talking about this game on the iPhone called Words with Friends. What can I say, been playing it all day with friends and family. Love it! My new favorite thing!

Joe took me out to dinner tonight at Mama Ricotta’s since I missed all the fun parties this weekend. Super sweet! Then he helped me get the tree up. Yep, you heard that right. I just put my tree up this evening and by put it up I mean all I have done is get it out of the box and fluff all the branches. Lights and decorations will have to wait for tomorrow cause now the sick seems to be creeping back in and I am worn out just from that.

In other fun news there was a package from my Aunt & Uncle in the mail today. I had no idea what it could be and I would have never guessed! It is a super cute yoga top with a koi fish. Super cute! I will totally be wearing this to my next class.

In other random news, I upgraded the bunny condo this weekend (about the only productive thing that was done). I attempted to get some good shots of them this evening, but their was little to no cooperation on their part as you can see.

Oh, and I am still working on the baby blanket. I have finished the 70th repeat with only two left. Then… the border. Can’t wait to finish this sucker up so I can work on something new and maybe a bit smaller. This thing is getting pretty big to be lugging around with me.

chugging along

2009-12-06T20:04:00.001-08:00

I’ve decided to start using more functions on my camera, hence the daily pictures that have been showing up here. I’m trying to take them first thing in the morning so I don’t get to distracted by the day.

Today was spent thinking about studying and then finally getting to it. My schedule for this class is going to be pretty tight for the next few days. I took the last quiz tonight then the last chapter test will be tomorrow and then I will most likely take the final on Wednesday. I have a feeling that Wednesday evening is going to be a big adrenaline crash. I will feel so much better when it’s done!

On a lighter note I am up to repeat 58 of the 72 required for the baby blanket. I’d take another picture, but really it looks just like it did last time… I’ll take more once I start on that border. Picking up all those stitches just has be so excited, NOT!

cletus

2009-12-05T15:31:00.001-08:00

This morning I took a picture of Cletus. He’s really doing an amazing job of keeping the Northern Mockingbirds from using our new patio set as a jungle gym/toilet area. You go Cletus!

Not much else to tell today. ~~Wasted time~~ Goofed around on Facebook for a while then headed out to the farmer’s market and other mundane, but much needed errands. Now I’m home and contemplating a shower so that I can be presentable to meet up with friends tonight. Maybe just one more look at my farm on Facebook…

da plane! da plane!

2009-12-04T20:26:00.001-08:00

We live relatively close to the airport, but luckily not under any of their current flight paths. Though, the ride in to work in the mornings takes me directly underneath one and super close to an actual landing strip. It’s pretty awesome to drive underneath a humongous plane in the morning and I have been attempting to get a pic of it. This is the best I could do today…

moon and blankies

2009-12-03T19:33:00.001-08:00

Took a pic of the moon as I was leaving the house this morning. Can you see it? Right above that cluster of trees in the middle…

Still working on the baby blanket. I’m more than halfway through the body of it and then on to the edging. Can’t wait to finish this thing so I can move on to the next item on my list. Yep, there’s a knitting list cause the closet is getting too out of control and it is no longer making me happy to open those doors. The yarn must be knit!

random things and some food

2009-12-02T18:21:00.001-08:00

Here we are in December and I seem to have completely missed blogging about Thanksgiving. Of course, the entire thing was filled with nothing but pecan pie… maybe a little turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, really just food in general. Oh and did I mention family? I may not talk about them a lot here, but it’s really nice to get everyone together and just hang out at Mom and Dad’s. Maybe do a little shopping and did I mention eating? Good times!

I really didn’t take any Thanksgiving pictures since that seems to be brothers job. So here is a nice picture of the evening sky as we were headed home on Sunday. It was really quite lovely. A lot nicer than the image I caught here. The clouds were really amazing!

Then Tuesday morning I awoke to this…

Weird, especially when you drive to the corner, make a left and it’s completely gone. Not a speck of fog to be seen. Seems someone must have left the Christmas fog maker on next door.

Tuesday night I headed over to the monthly Charlotte Knitting Guild meeting and ate lots of food (I’m sensing a theme here) and participated in the white elephant game. Fun! I was the lucky person that ended up going first which meant I got the pick of the gifts at the end. I picked up this cutey patooty tape measure from Lantern Moon. I mean, a girl can never have enough tape measures.

So, that’s it for now. I’m still knitting on the baby blanket and I’m pretty sure I have finally passed the half way mark. Whoo! I’m starting to feel like it may never end. Just wait till I get to pick up all those stitches for the border. Awesome!

is going to the dentist considered procrastinating?

2009-11-24T13:22:00.001-08:00

I stayed home from work today so that I could get some of my school work done, cause as usual I am doing everything but. I even had a dentist appointment this morning and then told myself I would get to work as soon as I got home. I knit. Watched a couple shows on the DVR. Called to check on a few things for work.

OK, so I did spend some time on school, but not as much as I had planned on. This leads me to the looming question… am I ready to continue with school? Is this what I want/should do right now? I have a lot of things to think about especially when it looks like their is some opportunity for me to move up at work. Which begs the same question. Is that what I want? Or should I concentrate on work and forget the schooling for now? Well, I have a few months to think about it. I have a feeling school is going to be on the backburner for a while.

catching up, again

2009-11-21T10:46:00.001-08:00

I feel like I’m always playing catch up. That may have something to do with the fact that I am always procrastinating by doing things that are completely non-productive. Enough of the introspective stuff! Here is what I’ve been up to for the past week.

1) Knitting on the biggest most giant needles ever. They are size 35’s and felt like knitting with large tree branches, which, except for the fact that they’re actually plastic, is what I was doing. When I went back to the baby blanket (size 8’s) it felt really bizarre. Like I had switched to toothpicks.

2) On Sunday I made Maple Pecan Muffins from Joy the Baker. I highly recommend this recipe. They were super delicious! The prep wasn’t too hard except maybe for browning the butter. OK, that wasn’t hard. I think you can handle it.

The finished product. Please ignore the random items on the island… it gets crazy on their sometimes.

3) Sunday night a couple of friends came over and Joe said he was going to get the fire pit going. We still had a bunch of scraps from the new wood floors so he used ALL OF THEM. Not just a few at a time. He threw in the entire box. Giant flames ensued. It may have melted paint off of the cover…

Cletus was not impressed in the least.

4) Tuesday was an exciting mail day! My order from One Planet Yarn & Fiber arrived with this lovely bounty. I ordered it as a kit with this pattern The Cedar Leaf Shawlette. Their customer service was great and I just cannot wait to start this.

Alas, I have a list of other things that must be done first. In my attempt to organize and to have things actually leave the closet of yarn,I have compiled said list and an order in which some things need to done. The goal is to stick to that list until I can get through at least 3-4 items. We shall see…

surprises

2009-11-14T13:47:00.001-08:00

You see that? It’s the sun and we haven’t seen it for days thanks to Ida. It was a gorgeous day!

After hitting the Farmer’s Market I headed over to Rainy Day Creations to pick up my raffle prize. I was pleasantly surprised! It included two Debbie Bliss books and three from Ella Rae. Can’t wait to sit down and peruse these!

While I was taking the picture of the books the doorbell rang and look what greeted me. Boxes! So what did they contain?

Those are two cute knitting bags I purchased from ruddawg on etsy and she also did a special order for me. She was kind enough to line a bag I had knitted a while back and just didn’t carry since it was so floppy. It is perfect! She even added something so it has more body and will certainly see the light of day now.

Knitting bags

My new fabulously lined bag

The smaller box contained my first installment of the Sip ‘n Stitch club I signed up for this fall. As soon as I opened the box the smell of yummy fresh ground coffee was overwhelming. I am so tempted to brew some now, but I think I will contain myself and wait till the morning…

Not only did I receive the expected, coffee and yarn, but there was also a super cute coffee cozy and I was thrilled to see that it was made by my friend Aimee of fairieknits! Bonus!

That about does it for now. Time to get cleaned up and meet some friends for dinner.

too tired for a title

2009-11-13T20:47:00.001-08:00

It’s been a long time hasn’t it? A lot has happened in the past month or so and honestly, I just don’t think I have it in me to play catch up.

At the moment I am really attempting to organize and figure out what I need to do with myself. Sometimes taking a hard look at what you’ve been doing with yourself can be pretty enlightening. A few weeks ago I gave away 3 years of Martha Stewart Living magazines. Really? Why on earth was I saving those? These are the amazing introspective issues that are being worked on. Set them free!

Tonight I decided to work on some charity knitting for the Charlotte Knitting Guild. Dish cloths are being collected at the December meeting and I definitely have some excess cotton that needs a good home. See paragraph two about letting things go. Looks like I may finish the first one this evening.

I’ve also been fooling around with the settings on my camera. Fun! Sepia may be seeing more use in the future.

It’s late and I have lots of things planned for tomorrow. Things like the Farmer’s Market, grocery shopping, and school work. Good times!

a fresh start

2009-09-26T06:22:00.001-07:00

Today feels like a really good day and that’s saying a lot for this week. Luckily for us Joe had this past week off and was able to get a lot of things done around the house that were necessary after the break in. One of those thing being available to let our handy man in so he could start the repair job on the dry wall. He will be back this afternoon to finish up. If you ever need someone who can do it all and actually cares that it’s done right, let me know and I will get you his info.

I woke up early this morning and headed out to the farmer’s market. Perfect brown eggs. The one on the bottom right is now in my belly… delish!

I also picked up a couple of Arkansas Black apples. Thought I would try something different. Oh and I am totally excited about those onion and cucumbers in the jar! Can not wait to crack that baby open.

Last, but not least, some nice colorful veggies. I found a couple of recipes this week I wanted to try. My cooking skills aren’t the best so I’ll keep you posted on the results.

That’s it for now. Off to get ready to go to the door showroom so we can figure out which replacement door we will have installed. Wish us luck!

the break-in

2009-09-17T09:37:00.001-07:00

You never think you’re going to be the one… Yesterday around 1PM Joe gets a call on his cell from our home phone. It’s the police. Someone has broken into our home.

The two of us race home to find four police cars parked out front and the warning to not touch anything since they are still trying to get prints. This is one of them trying to get prints off of the TV that was mounted to the wall. Looks like they stood on the table and pulled to no avail.

Here is a peak behind the wall mount. At minimum we will have to have the dry wall repaired. Hopefully that stud is intact.

Our front door was in shambles when we came home. Apparently it is pretty easy to kick in most doors. The deadbolt just tore right through the frame.

Here are some remnants of our door.

So we could actually leave the house to, well, look for a new door Joe was able to rig us up some new framing so the door would actually close and lock for the time being. Not bad! You have to love wood flooring re-purposed as part of a door.

From what we can tell it looks like we got off pretty easy. Our neighbor came home for lunch and it looks like it may have spooked them into leaving in a hurry. They got away with a flat screen TV, Wii plus games, Playstation 3, and a few other small items but they left some other things by the door and there was a lot more that could have been taken. Our neighbor didn’t realize what was going on until he left his house later and saw our front door wide open, that’s when he called the police and reported it. I’m just thankful they left quickly and that we came home to the police and not an emptied out house, or random people. You just have to look at the upside to these things.

Here’s a few of the officers checking out another TV that they were hoping would have prints… looks like they may have been smart enough to wear gloves.

This is what I had to drink after everyone left the house.

Oddly, I don’t feel violated so much as pissed off that someone thinks it’s OK to just help themselves to things that we have worked hard for. It’s just hard to fathom the mindset of someone who thinks that breaking in an stealing someone’s things is perfectly acceptable behavior. I really don’t get it.

Today the Brinks guy came by and now we have an activated (and yes, it’s on right now) alarm system. That makes me feel better about the rigged up front door. Still waiting for the door guys to call and come by so we can get an estimate on having a new more secure door installed.

As odd as it seems, I feel like we were lucky and that this is a lesson learned. Never thought I would say it, but Hooray for the new alarm system! I feel better already. Well, at least a little.

and their were farm animals

2009-09-13T18:05:00.001-07:00

Unbeknownst to me I was in for a livestock filled weekend. Leaving work Friday I decided to walk outside to get to my parking deck and ended up in the middle of the Blues, Brews & BBQ event that took place this weekend. Almost immediately I spotted the pen of goats and sheep. I suppose their purpose was to look cute and be fed by us humans or possibly be BBQ… do you BBQ goats?

They also had a pen of llamas. Dr Gemma was right, totally stuck up little things, but cute. A bit on the matted side, but cute.

After work, Joe and I, headed up to WV to visit the fam and to wish Dad a happy birthday. Oh, and Joe had to fix his parents TV set up. Typical visit home.

Saturday, Mom and I headed over to the annual Mound Festival to see what sorts of arts & crafts we could find. Guess who I bumped into? Alpaca! Cute, adorable, super friendly alpaca. These guys were part of the Good Shepherd Farm Alpacas and their coats had been sheered and made into some lovely yarn. I bought two hanks of natural yarn from Biscotti and Gracie… their pictures and stories are even on the labels. How adorable is that!

Sunday morning was Dad’s birthday so in an attempt to get a picture of him with his cake on his actual birthday (we celebrated Saturday night) the cake was picked up, held at an angle for the photo op, and then…

CAKE DOWN! That cake was thrown in my generally direction being the picture taker and all. I was saved only by my wits and ninja like reflexes. The floor, however, was not.

This is what icing looks like on your wood floors, beware the cracks and crevices.

The floor was saved by Mom’s mad skills in icing removal. The cake was lost to the big trash can in the sky.

In case anyone is interested I should be posting pictures of my lovely alpaca yarn soonish. Just need some good lighting.