Today is my birthday! I’m not obsessed with my age but 35 does sound like a big number. I like to torment my parent’s and ask “do you believe you have a daughter that is 35 years old?” (insert evil laugh here)
This has been a great day. (Will be near perfect if the Blackhawks win tonight.) Bill took the day off work to spend some time with me. He took me to my allergy shot, dropped me at the hair salon while I got a cut and color. Then we went to lunch at The Garret for a burger and beer. There was a quick stop at Blockbuster to pick out a movie for the weekend (500 Days of Summer) and then home to relax and knit and watch the Blackhawks game. I got birthday phone calls from all the parents and lots of facebook happy birthdays! It’s not been too different from most Thursdays, but different enough to make me happy. Suffice it to say, I feel pampered, loved and special.
Green Planet Yarn made me feel super special a couple of weeks ago with their birthday sale program. You can go in one day during your birthday month and have the opportunity to save 20, 40 or 100% off your total purchase. I had my eyes on some Lorna’s Laces Worsted in Valentine and Spud and Chloe in grass for two sweaters. Then some other yarn caught my eye for a little capelet. It’s a decent amount of yarn that came up to a pretty hefty total, but then I picked out a 40% chip (!!!) and once I put in my Christmas money, it didn’t cost me very much out of pocket.
Today I’m working on a top down raglan sweater in the Valentine yarn. I’m very nervous about it because I have to modify the pattern for my size. I’m not an experienced sweater knitter but I have confidence in my math skills. It’s just such beautiful yarn I don’t want to wear out the fiber if I have to frog it. The beauty of a top down sweater is that I can try it on as I go. My other “issue” is that I agonized over which pattern to use. I went with the garter yoke cardi because it’s a simple silhouette that won’t compete with the multi color yarn. Fingers crossed that it fits well when I’m done.
Well, it’s time for some special birthday cupcakes from Sprinkles. 34 years later, I still get the same happy and excited look on my face when someone offers me cake.
I hope that you have been enjoying the first four days of the new year! It feels pretty much like last year except for the underlying current of a fresh start and new opportunities. I’ve been giving my “goals” addition thought. There’s a few more things that I want to accomplish:
7. Finish at least 5 photo albums this year.
8. Organize my fabric stash.
9. Finish the curtains for the craft studio, living room, and master bedroom.
10. Refocus my efforts on my etsy shop. Figure out what I really want to do with it.
A couple of these are pretty specific, but I think that’s good. It will hopefully help me stay focused.
While I’ve been pondering my goals, I’ve been working on my textured shawl. It hit a speed bump as I got a little obsessed with the textured section and getting it symmetrical around the center stitch. It took me about a week, but I’ve finally got it worked out. This is a pretty mindless knit and perfect to work on while watching tv and doing laundry.
Speaking of laundry, I washed and folded nine loads today. For two people. And a few of the dog’s socks, but really, just for two people. I think that little munchkins come in, dance around in our clothes, and put them in the laundry hamper while we sleep. But five episodes of Heroes, two episodes of Chuck, the first period of a Blackhawk’s game from New Year’s Eve, and an episode of Rachel Ray made it go pretty quickly. Okay, it didn’t go quickly but it was pretty painless.
I’ve spent the last few days thinking about the new year. I am a fan of new year’s goals. (I like goals more than resolutions.) To me, it’s an opportunity to start fresh and re-energized, with a clear focus and full of optimism. Perhaps a little schmaltzy, but that’s me.
I think my mantra for the year is going to be “baby steps.” When I get an idea, I tend to think I have to dive in. For example, exercising. I have these grand plans for daily hour long walks. A healthy aspiration, to be sure, but for soemone just starting out it can be a bit ambitious. And easy to lose motivation. Last month, I read the editor’s letter in my fitness magazine and she said that she started jogging fifteen minutes a day and now she’s running marathons. I might be wrong about the marathons but the bottom line is, she started with baby steps.
My theory is that by starting small you gain strength and confidence. The better you get at it, the more you want to do it. The stronger you get the farther you can go. I think this applies to more than just exercise. I mentioned in my previous post that I needed to work on the guest bedroom, the wrapping room, the garage (which I didn’t mention but was on the list). So I tackled one project a day and I still had time for the other fun stuff I wanted to do. Baby steps.
While looking forward, I’ve been looking back too. 2009 was a pretty darn good year. We sold our house and I moved to California. I knit my first sweater. I knit my first triangle shawl (and second, and third, and am on my fourth). I read 42 books this year with 104 in my queue. I attended the inauguration of the 44th President. I did some of my most challenging hikes at Yosemite this year. I know there are other highlights but these are the ones that stand out.
As for what I want to accomplish in 2010…
1. Continue to try and live a more simple life. Get rid of stuff, eat local, use what I have, waste less, stop and smell the roses.
2. Use up my stash. I have bought a lot of yarn lately. I’m going to allow myself one more shopping spree (there’s a birthday special at my LYS) and then I’m going to work from what I’ve got.
3. Read more. I love reading. I’d like to get the number of books in my queue to under 70 by this time next year.
4. Spend more time outside. Knitting outside works, but biking, walking, or hiking would be better.
5. Eat more fruits and veggies. This should be pretty easy living in California where they are quite plentiful. It’s more a matter of choosing the fruits and veggies instead of the carbs.
6. Remember that life is a precious gift.
There could be more, but I think this is a fair start. I hope that 2009 was good to you and that 2010 is better! Happy New Year!
P.S. The photo is me and Bill, in the kitchen, preparing our New Year’s Eve feast of hors d’oeuvres. I think Bill looks really good in the photo.
I feel like there’s always something else that could be done. Plus, I’ve had to adjust my expectations just a little. Not in a bad way, but in a it doesn’t have to be perfect way. For instance, my tree skirt. It’s not done, but it is done enough for this Christmas. I’d like to do some quilting on it for a final finishing touch but I just ran out of time. I had gifts stacked on the coffee table so I decided the quilting could wait until next year. I still have my fun tree skirt with my giant ric rac so I’m happy. What else? My Christmas tree only has lights on it. I’m okay with that. Maybe we’ll put ornaments on it, maybe not. That may sound crazy to some people, but I’m enjoying the tree, even ornament free.
The things that are really important to me are done. I have my favorite decorations around the house. The gifts are wrapped and under the tree. The cookies have been baked. There’s maybe one more batch we might do (nut cups, which are a bit labor intensive) this weekend. Movie tickets have been purchased (Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, Nine).
We are changing things up a little this year. We are going to cook our “big” dinner on Christmas Eve. We’ll do a nice breakfast on Christmas morning (although maybe not since I have to have room for popcorn and we’re seeing a movie!). But by doing dinner on Christmas Eve, we can nosh on leftovers Christmas day and the rest of the weekend, keeping things easy for ourselves. We’ll do our special backed brie on Christmas Day and Bill’s ordered cheese from the Italian Market in Philly. We love cheese, can you tell? We’ll skype with our family. I’m sure one of us is going to get a DVD or wii game that will be watched or played. And of course I’ll be knitting.
Those are my plans for Christmas and the weekend. I hope that whatever your plans are that you have a very Merry Christmas!
Tags: life
I just don’t know where the time goes. I really don’t.
We got home from Vegas and in less than 20 hours we were back at the airport picking up my Mom!!! Thankfully we had left the house in good shape, but we still were running around dusting, vacuuming, changing sheets, etc. But yay, my mom was visiting!
She was here for eight days and they flew by. Seriously. So what did we do… Lots of knitting. We’re doing a knitalong (just me and Mom) of the Monday Morning Cardigan. I had some yarn that Bill bought in Shannon, Ireland, and I had a lot of this yarn. About 20 skeins. It’s a heavy worsted yarn so we’ve checked our gauge and are making smaller sizes but it’s going well so far (fingers crossed).
Mom also helped me decorate the house for Halloween. I don’t have that many decorations, but every year Bill and I are digging them out right before the kids starts trick-or-treating, and putting them away after they leave. Not very festive. Anyway, in my box-o-decorations, Mom found some fake pumpkins that I bought to glitterize a la Martha Stewart. I even had the glitter. Why I never did it is beyond me. But we finally got those pumpkins glittered! I really like how they look on my crystal cake plate.
I took my mom to my knitting store, Green Planet Yarn, where a sequined dk weight yarn caught her eye. We found a free pattern on ravelry but it called a for a bulky weight yarn. We went back and saw the knit doctor ( a free help session) and she helped us pick another yarn to hold together to make gauge. They even lent us needles and wound the yarn so that mom could knit a gauge swatch before we left to see if we needed to modify the pattern any further. They definitely get two thumbs up for customer service!
What else did we do? There’s the required trip to Google for lunch. We did drive to Monterey for the day and at my inlaw’s recommendation, took the 17 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach. It was beautiful though the day was a little gray. We walked the neighborhood. Found a bead store and got some stuff to make some earrings as requested by Mom. I got mom set up on facebook and ravelry. There was the farmer’s market and almond croissants! And because Mom is Mom, she helped with laundry of which there was TONS! Most importantly, we had plenty of time to hangout and be together.
It was a great visit that ended last week. Since then, I’ve been knitting, Bill and I did a yard clean-up on Saturday, I’ve done more laundry… But I’ve got to get a little more organized because there a bunch of things I’d like to do (organize my armoire, cut fabric, take photos of my jewelry, sew some lavender sachets, work on my photo albums…) but I don’t seem to get to it. I think I need to make a list.
I’m going through a phase. I’m sort of obsessed with my wardrobe. This is a little inconvenient as I am unemployed and short of funds. Nevertheless…
This started with vacation and watching “What Not to Wear.” This led to the discovery of a new favorite show “Making Over America with Trinny and Susannah,” also on TLC. I LOVE this show. I don’t like WNTW because I think Stacy and the guy who’s name I can’t remember seem to really like making fun of the participants and their lack of fashion sense. This bugs me. But “Making Over America” isn’t like that. The hosts, Trinny and Susannah, can be harsh but they tell you face to face. They also are incredibly supportive and feel like their goal is to make you feel good about your body and then help you look fashionable. Plus, they are hysterical. They have no boundaries.
The first episode I saw was in Annapolis, which is almost like home to me. Part of the makeover process includes the participate getting their hair done and they went to a salon I knew. Actually, it’s the salon that my old hairstylist, Luc, started. I love Luc. He is/was the best! I discovered him by accident but he did my hair for about 6 years. I followed him to his new salon, Hudson & Fouquet, which was a great salon. It was just a bit of a hike from my house. Anyway, Bill and I were so excited that Luc’s salon was featured on the show.
I have not had a good stylist since Luc. Until now. I got my hair permed in the beginning of the summer after a moment of temporary insanity. Two months later, I had about 4 inches chopped off to make it chin length. And while it was an improvement, I still wasn’t loving it. So I decided to go short. I found a hairstyle on a knitting pattern of all places. I used yelp to find a new salon, asked for a person who could do a short cut, and found my new stylist, Katie. I like it because it looks longish (chin length), but actually it is pretty short in the back. It’s fun, is stylish, and I am finally happy.
I also splurged on some new makeup from Bobbi Brown. I’m a little bit of a makeup snob. I don’t like to do the drugstore thing, mainly because nothing I buy there looks good on me. I might spend a little more, but at least I know the colors will work for me and I get tips on how to put it on. I didn’t do anything super drastic, but when I do my hair in the morning and I put on my makeup, I feel pretty darn good. So I’m doing this a bit more often. I had gotten into the habit of not really putting myself together every day. Bill really doesn’t care and the mailman hasn’t complained. Now I do it for myself. Not every day (don’t talk crazy talk) but more days than not.
And this leads to my wardrobe. I went through my closet and pulled out all the stuff I haven’t worn, doesn’t fit, I don’t like etc. It helped me figure out what I really need and I bought myself a few new things. I’m also making myself a few new things. I’m having fun, trying to add some color into my wardrobe. I found some great satin on sale at Joann and my mom bought me some silk fabric in NYC and some cotton fabric at a store that was going out of business.
The whole process has been a lot of fun. Now I still have a long wishlist for once I am employed. And I need some accessories, but thankfully I know how to make jewelry and knit!
As Gran said, when I woke up on Sunday, I had no idea I would find myself in Nashville on Monday. We had a little kitty cat issue that needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but Harrison (Bill’s cat) has been living with Gran (Bill’s grandmother) since September. When Bill got his new job and we had to put our house on the market, our children (the dog and three cats) were farmed out to various family members. Gran offered to take Harrison to help out, and while we love him, we were hoping that Gran would want to keep him. He’s super sweet, but we thought he would be better in a single cat situation. Working full time and having 4 animals was really not ideal as I don’t think we gave them as much attention as they deserved.
Anyway, the new living situation has worked out and Harrison (or Harry as he is known in Nashville), is spoiled rotten. I think Gran is finding Harrison to be a nice companion. He’s a little skittish, affectionate but not cuddly, well behaved when it comes to the furniture, low key and sweet. All of which is a good mix for Gran (in my opinion). The only problem is that Gran can’t manage it if he needs to go to the vet. Nicknamed the Big Cat, he is 16 pounds and long. He’s also got his back claws and does NOT like his carrier. Gran’s an itty-bitty thing and she’s never had cats before. There was really no way for her to get him into his carrier, and then once in his carrier it would be too heavy for her to lift. So I flew in to help out.
I spent two pleasant minutes with Harrison where he contemplated licking my nose by didn’t. And then I made the mistake of jiggling his crate which sent him under the bed, where I had to semi drag him out, and then we spent 10 minutes (bloody minutes) trying to get him in his crate, finally succeeding. With some beautiful scratches to remember him by, and on my leg of all places. Gran got scratched on the arm which makes a little more sense. Did I mention the blood? And let’s not even talk about the howling/crying which was heartbreaking.
I’m not sure if it was more traumatizing for Harrison or for Gran.
But we got him to the vet. Bill worked the internet and phone from CA to get an appointment set up for us. As it turns out, Harrison had bladder stones. He had an operation. The vet said he had never taken out that many stones. Yikes!
The reason for my trip was not the best, but I’m so glad I got to make the trip (and not Bill). We had such a lovely visit. On Tuesday I drove Gran around town to run a few errands (in a car that is about 2 1/2 times longer than my little bug). I checked to make sure Gran didn’t have a death grip on her seat, so my driving was passable. Driving aside, it was a relatively unexciting day, but still so nice. Now, we did hit all the hot spots: Big Lots, the library, and Kroger. Gran made a yummy lunch, gave me a tour of the grounds (a fancy way of saying her different flower beds), and I read and napped and knitted…
And on Wednesday I came home. Shorter than I would have liked but we have some stuff going on at home that I have to take care of so I couldn’t stay longer. We do have to figure out how to handle these kinds of situations in the future, without someone having to fly out. (Not that we mind, but there does have to be a cheaper way.) I’ll think about that tomorrow (channeling my inner Scarlet as I did just come from the South). In the meantime, I’m just thankful that I got to see Gran and help with Harrison and have a really, Really nice visit.
Dear Friends,
I have survived my trip into the depths of the second guest bedroom. I have seen things no organized person should have to see; the dust, the clutter, the gift bags! It was more challenging than I anticipated. No person needs that much Christmas paraphernalia unless they are an Octo-Mom. And when I was almost strangled by a nest of angry USB cables and saw a heavenly light, I was saved from certain death.
It took Bill and me three days to complete our journey, and in the process made our living room look like a Radio Shack, but together we endured. The lessons we have learned are many, but most importantly, don’t be afraid to throw crap out.
I hope you will understand that it’s too soon for me to share the horrifying and dusty details. Let the photos (closet, ribbons, bookshelf) speak for themselves. This favorable end to my journey would not have been possible without ideas from Martha Stewart, my Container Store stash of clear plastic boxes, and my ever faithful label maker. Lastly, but probably most importantly, I must thank my dear sweet husband, for finally organizing his damn cables.
Yours,
Margaret
Tags: life
Dear Friends,
I am about to embark on a tremendous journey. One fraught with danger at every turn. Each person has a destiny. Mine, to conquer the disaster that is our second guest bedroom. While this may not look dangerous now, know that there are two boxes in the hallway that need to be emptied and stored in here too. And a bookcase.
Do not worry about me, my friends. I have been preparing for this event since I work up this morning. I am fortified with iced coffee, eggo waffles with peanut butter, and DVDs. I am prepared for all contingencies; my ipod is fully loaded with new music.
Thank you for your support and your prayers. Without you, it would not be possible for me to take this first step. If I do not return from this journey, do not mourn my loss. Instead, tell Bill to go through all his damn cables and organize them so that my effort was not in vain.
Sincerely,
Margaret
Tags: life
Bill and I went for a bike ride this evening. Normally we ride on Sundays, but I’m trying to adjust our schedule so that Sundays can be more of a go to breakfast and the farmer’s market and relax kind of a day. Not that biking isn’t relaxing, but it is exercise and so is a little bit like work. Plus, we need to have a free morning so that we can go to breakfast! Yum!
I’ve been walking the last two days and was not up for it this morning. I needed to do something different and asked Bill if he’d be up for a ride after work. As usual, he was game.
It was a very nice ride. It’s been in the 70s and gorgeous. The trail wasn’t too crowded. There were commuters as we expected, and it was nice to see families out and about.
Of course bike riding requires us to make numerous Tour de France jokes. At one point we were going up a small incline and Bill “sprinted” past me. Our conversation went like this:
B: I was going for the stage win.
M: Oh. I thought you were going for the sprint bonus points.
B: I do have more of a body of a sprinter than a climber.
M: Should I call you the God of Thunder?*
B: Only after I have beans.
*The God of Thunder is the nickname of Thor Hushovd, winner of the green jersey and best sprinter in this Tour.
Bill cracks me up.
The other highlights of my day involved my striped scarf and rearranging furniture. We have an extra desk that we’ve tried to sell on Craig’s list but have not had any takers. As it turns out, this is a good thing because I am rearranging the office area and I think the other desk will work better. I am going to use the desk that is there as my sewing table and my current sewing table is going to become my cutting table and my cutting table is going to be taken apart and stored in the garage and we will have a big net gain of space. Yay. We moved that furniture around but I still have to put the rooms back together. Photos after I get that done.
And then there’s my Noro striped scarf. Or, as I like to think of it, the explanation for why I typically have multiple projects going. Because it’s tedious. I thought I was at the halfway point yesterday. I had just a little bit of yarn left and it took me hours to get through that little bit. Ugh. But now I am past the halfway point and should be able to coast to the finish line. (still have bikes on the brain). This pattern is a vehicle to show off the yarn (Noro’s silk garden). I don’t think mine is as striking as some of the others that have been done, but I think it’s still pretty and it’s all because of the yarn. I originally started knitting this as a Christmas gift for my grandmother, but I think I am going to keep it. I need another scarf like I need a hole in my head but I think it will look great with this cute pink coat that I have. Instead, I am going to knit my grandmother a scarf out of this Manos, which I actually think will be better for Chicago and is softer.
Yep, I’m already thinking about Christmas. I’m trying to get a head start on things while I have time. Plus, it is going to be another Handmade Holidays (ie a lot of gifts will be handmade) and that always takes time and planning. I do not want to be as stressed as I was leading up to last Christmas. We’ll see how it works out.
And that’s all I got. But I think it’s enough for now.
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