movin' along

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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.