Goodbye 2011

    Well, here we are at the end of another year.  Seems like just yesterday I was ringing it in!  Although I've only been sharing my thoughts on this little corner of the blogosphere for half of it, it has been a fun ride!  In July, I thought, "Writing a blog might be fun; maybe I should make one."  Even though I really had no idea what I would write about, I decided to do it anyway, and here we are.

     Even though this year has ended on a pretty awful note, for the most part, it was a good year overall.  In Janurary, I spent New Year's in Berkeley with Will, and we had breakfast at a cute little cafe, before driving home in the rain as he sang along to Rihanna; we spent four days in Tahoe as I taught Will to snowboard; and later that month I started my second semester of college.  In February, my 10 year old golden retriever, Sydney, died of lymphoma; Will and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day together - a very romantic event, from white roses left in my car door handles, to treasure hunts, and bubble baths. In March, Will turned 23, and we spent the evening in San Francisco; I turned 19, and Will surprised me with a two-hour flight tour along the coast; we were supposed to be in Tahoe snowboarding for my birthday weekend, but the weather had other plans, so we had a huge breakfast at a local diner, played The Sims Medieval, ate extremely delicious pizza, and came home to a chocolate cake my sister made for me. April was extremely uneventful. In May, we finished our spring semester; and Will's nephew Allen was born.  June was very lazy, and we spent most of our days poolside, when not working four or five days a week.  In July, a string of purls was born; Will and I visited the county fair on the 4th and watched a marvelous show of fireworks; Will went to 4-H camp as a 'chaperone', and I even got to visit one day; at the end of the month, I had my wisdom teeth pulled.  In August, we spent a week in Carmel on vacation - visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium (behind-the-scenes tour and all), cutting my hair, and kicking up our feet in the ocean; we started our fall semester.  In September, I was fired from my new job; Will had his foot surgery, and spent 7 weeks on crutches - the first two were spent mostly in bed!  In October, we had midterms, and did nothing for Halloween.  November was a pretty eventful month: Will returned to wearing regular shoes after being in a walking cast for almost two months; we went to the midnight premiere of Breaking Dawn: Part 1; I spent four and a half days in New York City; Will spent Thanksgiving with both my dad and mom's families. In December, finals were finished, we had Christmas, and, well.... that.

     So here we are, on the last day of the month, in the last month of the year, saying goodbye to many things, and hello to a few others.

     So.  I have one final knitting post to make for the year of 2011.  I am in the midst of making a gray, Anthropologie inspired headband with the scraps left over from one of the Christmas presents I made.  Already I love it!

     Tonight will be probably the least fun and exciting New Years of my entire life.  Originally I was going to be spending it at home and alone, with only my dog for company, but my dad called earlier and invited me over for pizza, so at least I'll have some real company - ie, company that talks back to me, which, my dog does not...

     Anyway, I hope your New Year's Eve is much more fabulous than mine, and am looking forward to spending 2012 with you!

xx

currently listening to.... Pain - Three Days Grace

A Band of Diamonds

     Alright.  A post! I've missed you guys, so I thought I'd share the hat I finished last night.  The yarn was a Christmas gift from my cousins in Washington, and of course I cast on a swatch with some of it as soon as I got home the other night!

     This was my first colorwork project, and at first I was a little hesitant, but after a few rows I saw that I was doing it right, and by the time it was over I was totally psyched about it!  I'm still in love to death with this hat, and even wore it to work this morning (which was understandable, as it was 6:40 AM).

     These are the first yarns I have (at the same time) that are the same in weight and texture, which was ideal for this project.  And luckily, these colors kinda matched (the contrast color is a pale green; I know it looks a little yellow in the pictures).

     The yarn in the picture above is what's left after finishing this project, so now I'm off to figure out what to make with the rest of it!

     Hope you had a lovely holiday!

xx

currently listening to.... We Three Kings - Ella Fitzgerald

A Brief Return

     Hi guys..  Sorry I've been kinda MIA lately, but there is a good reason...
     The 15 month relationship I was in, with whom I believe is my soulmate, ended on Monday, and I have barely found it in me to get up and go to work, let alone blog..  It's been hell the last five days; by far the worst time of my life.  And as if that wasn't bad enough, I have two finals this upcoming Monday.  Needless to say, my attention span has shrunk by about a thousand factors.  Luckily, I have Netflix to mindlessly watch, and knitting to work on.  Unfortunately all of the thoughts that have crowded into my head don't leave much room to paying attention to what I'm doing with my needles, so I haven't been very productive in that department as of late.
     I still don't have any energy or heart to post anything, so for now my keyboard will remain silent.  Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be able to get back into it..  Time will tell.

xx

How to: Make a Smoothie

     Have you ever gone to Jamba Juice, Juice Shack, or any other smoothie store and wished you could make your own at home?  Then you're in the right place!  Because this post is all about showing you how. This morning I decided to shake up the breakfast routine and make a smoothie instead of the regular cereal or bagel.

     Here's what you're going to need:

     1.  A blender
     2.  Juice of some kind (I used guava-strawberry)
     3.  Plain yogurt, if you don't have any vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
     4.  Fruit of your choice
     5.  (Crushed ice is optional)

     Here's how you're going to do it:

     1.  Add aproximately 8 ounces of juice to the blender (eyeing it works perfectly fine.  Keep in mind that it's better to use too little juice, and add more if you need it, though)
     2.  For this smoothie, I used two bananas and one tangerine.  If you're using frozen fruit, add about half a cup of each, or 1+ cup if you're only using one fruit.   (as a side note, if you decide to use oranges/tangerines in your smoothie, make sure you take the time to peel the white skin off that's under the peel, otherwise you'll end up with a pulp-y smoothie.  You can tell from the picture that I learned that the hard way)
     3.  Yogurt/ice cream/frozen yogurt will thicken your smoothie up.  Add a large spoonful or two of whatever you have on hand.
     4.  Add 1 cup of crushed ice.
     5.  Blend for 20-30 seconds.
     6.  Pour and enjoy!

     Yummy!  :)

     Have a good Saturday afternoon!

xx

currently listening to.... Sherlock Holmes

White Halos #2

     Okay soo it's been three days since I posted anything... I haven't forgotten about you!  I promise.  Just haven't had anything to blog about.  I finished a hat for my sister for Christmas the other night, and I'm planning on making a post on it soon; I just need to find time during daylight when I'm home (and she's not) to shoot it.  In the meantime, I've been clacking away at my Falling Water scarf, and it is now 2.5 feet long.  It's taking foreverrr.  But, it's way more progress than you saw in my first post about it, which you can find here.

     Also, I didn't tape my needle to my laptop to make it stay - the benefit of having metal ends is that it attaches to anything magnetic!  (I had no idea the edges of my screen were until I had to pull my needle off, but that's okay)

     Now back to finish season one of the Vampire Diaries!  And perhaps some dinner too - my stomach is starting to protest about not being fed....

xx

currently listening to... Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson

Cabled Mug Warmer

     I feel somewhat proud of myself for completing (well, almost) my second project in the last few days.  This one is a cabled mug warmer, and I decided to make it because I wanted to use up the last of the yarn I had used for my Burberry inspired cowl, and a hat I made a few weeks ago (still have yet to photograph said hat...).  Somehow, this skein seems endless!  I still have yarn to use.  I'm too lazy to measure it, but just by looking at it, it seems that I'll have enough yarn to make another mug warmer, and after that I'll have to decide what to do with my scraps..

     The only thing this puppy is waiting on to be completely finished is a button or two, for the loop that will go through the handle.  Someday soon I need to go up to Petaluma to a quilting shop that said they carry a few buttons...  No one else seems to.  If they don't, I'm going to be kind of screwed, now that Ben Franklin's no longer exists here in town...  If only I'd had the foresight to stock up on buttons there when they announced they were closing!  But, alas, hindsight is 20/20.


Enjoy your Tuesday!


xx

currently listening to.... Careful - Paramore

Burberry Inspired Cowl

     Finally!  I have finished this cowl, and I couldn't be happier!  I started this the weekend of November 13th (I think), and just finished weaving in the ends a little bit ago.  You can find the first post I made on this cowl here, if you'd like.

     Here is the actual Burberry cowl, which retails at a whopping $750!  I was able to make this neckwarmer for only a dollar or so.  ;)  And it turned out not half bad, if I do say so myself!  If you'd like one for yourself (or someone on your Christmas list!), feel free to email me and I can make one to order for you.  :)

     Now back to some knitting (what else is new??) and something warm to drink, because I would really like to feel my feet again..

xx

currently listening to... Frankenstein - Neurosonic

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

     Aghh I haven't posted anything in days!  I feel really guilty that I haven't had anything to blog about lately...  So, in lieu of that, I thought I might share a few glimpses into the holiday decorations around my house.  :)

     I simply cannot believe it's December already.  At work today, I was talking to a customer and he was telling me that his favorite holiday was New Year's, and it struck me that it's less than a month away.  It literally feels like yesterday that we rang in 2011, and here it is almost ending.  Where did time go?

     Enough of my ramblings.  Now, to get back to some knitting, and maybe a few Netflix shows before I head to bed.  Are you decorating for the holidays?  Maybe just a little?  :)

xx

currently listening to.... Mary's Song - Taylor Swift

This & That #4

This:  My workstation at my school's library, as I work to finish a paper on a basket.  I know.  I can hear you thinking, "Why would you be writing a paper on a basket?"  Trust me: I've been asking myself the same thing since it was assigned.

That:  A little peek inside my computer bag.  All sorts of yummy snacks and some knitting for later!  :)

xx

currently listening to.... What Lies Beneath - Breaking Benjamin

White Halos

     On my needles right now is a lace eyelet scarf that I started last Friday.  Not much progress, as you can see...  I'm a little tentative about this yarn; I love it, but I'm wondering if I should've done this scarf with it doubled up.  I'm afraid that its thin-ness makes the plain old regular stitches look like eyelets, and the actual eyelets not as noticeable.  But I'm holding out for it until after I block it, and hope it helps to define the beautiful pattern.

     In other news, I found out today that I need to register for next semester's classes in the next three days!  Yikes!  I haven't even begun to think about next semester with three weeks left of this one... I have a few psych classes, a precalc, ASL and astronomy class on my "Possible" list.  I have yet to make a "To Take" list....

     Anyway, happy Monday night!

xx

currently listening to....  Situations - Escape the Fate

One Day of Thanks

     I realize this post is a little late - I just haven't seemed to have had enough time to make a Thanksgiving post until now!  Tonight I had Thanksgiving #2, with my mom's family, although we were missing a large chunk of cousins/cousin-in-laws.
 hi.
     The girl below is my cousin Caitlin, who just turned 13; she's extremely photogenic, can't you tell?  Her older sister, Mackenzie, is in another picture below, in a red and black shirt.  She turns 16 in only a few weeks.  My younger sister, Sarah, who is 17, is wearing the tie-dye.
hi. 
     And beware!  This post is very photo-heavy, but I love them!  I feel like they express my family perfectly.  :)

     I have so much to be thankful for - my life, Will, my family, having a future, a job, yarn to knit - that it's crazy.  I know most of the time we're too busy to think about any of the things we're thankful for, and that's why it's so important to have this holiday; to step back and remember what is truly important.

xx

currently listening to.... Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble

New York 11/22

     Well, today was just as busy as predicted.  Started out bright and early at 7 AM (which resulted in two extra shots of espresso in my coffee...), and headed to breakfast uptown at a place called Sarabeths.  I had nothing, as I was under the impression we had been going to a local bagel shop (this wasn't it) and wasn't really in the mood for anything else.  Nor did I want to get something and end up with leftovers, and be left carrying it around all day, on top of my purse and bulky camera bag.

     After breakfast, we walked a block to a local market called Zabar's, which was interesting to wander.  Upstairs was where the fun was, as all the cooking utensils and gadgets were up there.  Almost everything came in colors of the rainbow!   I loved it.  When I move out I plan on getting brightly colored pots and pans, and I'm quite excited.  :)

     From there, we took the subway to the American Museum of National History (where they filmed Night at the Museum), and wandered around there for a short while before continuing on to Central Park, which is right across the street.  We walked through Strawberry fields, a commemoration John Lennon's wife created in his memory, and through the park to the Plaza Hotel (which is seen in Bride Wars).  We climbed into a horse-drawn carriage there and had nearly an hour-long tour through Central Park, which was lovely!  It turns out that the man driving the carriage had a brief scene in the upcoming movie New Year's Eve, so I'll be keeping an eye out for him when it comes out.

     Across the street from the Plaza and the carriages was the infamous glass-encased Apple store - being a die-hard fan, I had to go in, and see the mother of all Apple stores!  And it totally was.  At least three times bigger than the store closest to us at home; I was thoroughly impressed.

     Last was a stop at Tiffany's, which was incredibly sparkly.  But, I love pretty things.  :)  My faves are the yellow diamond princess-cut ring at the bottom, and the silver/white diamond key necklace on the left.  Someday I'll be able to buy them!

     After we came back to the hotel for a while to unwind and let our poor feet rest, we left at 6 PM to see Wicked on Broadway.  Which.  Was.  Amazing.  This, coming from someone who really can't stand musicals, so you know I must be telling the truth.  Although the first act seemed pretty slow and very drawn-out to me, the final scene of it and the entire second act was simply perfect.  After seeing it, everything (and I mean everything) about The Wizard of Oz makes sense.  Ah, I loved it!

     By the way, if you're an avid Friends watcher, then you'll recognize the fountain above!  It's the one the cast members all jump into during the theme song.

     Lastly, this is a photo I took last night from one of our three hotel windows, overlooking the corner of 39th and 6th Ave.

     Tomorrow we'll be flying out of Newark (is this trip already over?  Seems like yesterday we were first told about it in July!) at 5:30 PM, so the next time you hear from me, I will be back at home on the West Coast!  As Dorothy would say, there's no place like home...

     Hope you're having a good night!

xx

currently listening to.... The City That Never Sleeps