Look what Dad sent me the other day…
The only difference between me and little Zoe?
Mine are two-tone.
Happy Friday!
Total relaxation
Tuesday night I woke up at 3:00am when Jeff crawled into bed (he’d been up late working on law school stuff), and then I had a heckuva time getting back to sleep after.
My head was swimming – work drama, excitement about this weekend, housework to do, patterns to knit, my bad puppy, letters to write and packages to mail, things to remember for tomorrow – you know how it goes.
Know how I was finally able to get to sleep, though?
Thinking about my favorite place…
I miss Minnesota.
I need to go back, preferably to stay.
Mark your calendars!
As some of you might recall, this spring my mom started making jewelry. A lot of jewelry.
Up ’till now, she’s been content to just make items and sell them to co-workers from a cigar box with an angel on it (no I’m not kidding), or to give them to me for, erm, publicity purposes.
The time has now come, though, for her to move on to much bigger and better things…
A bigger cigar box with an angel on it!
Or, uh, craft shows. Real ones! With displays and signs and strangers buying stuff!
This Saturday, Mom (photo for identification purposes) will have a booth here:
So if you’re in the Kansas City area, please feel free to stop by and shop, or just say “hi”, or bring us both grande soy chai lattes. Whatever 
But wait! There’s more!
On Saturday November 21st, Mom and her jewelry partner Peggy will have a booth at the Oak Park High School craft fair, as well (link).
(My high school had a longstanding rivalry with Oak Park, though I’ll be sure to hold my nose in the air and put on a sour face when I step into the building 
)
Mom is also working on scheduling some more shows (maybe even outside the Kansas City area!) for this winter and next spring. I’ll let you know as soon as I do!
Finally, a message from the artist, Kathy Monson, herself:
The recession is over. It’s time to buy jewelry again.
Now that’s some advice I can take to heart! 
Hope to see you on the 7th and/or 21st!
Encyclopedia of Meeeee: B is for…
B is for…
Blueberries. I’ve kind of got a thing for them. They’re delicious and incredibly healthy, for one, but I also love the color and think they’re just as adorable as can be. Plus they remind me of Canada and Minnesota. Oh, and I was Mrs. Blueberry on Weddingbee
Beef. I don’t eat it. Nor do I eat pork. But I don’t mind wearing leather. I know, I know.
Bags. I’m not one of those “change bags every day to match my outfit” kind of girls. I’ve got a few which I use for a few months apiece, then rotate when I get bored. In general, I prefer cross-body bags, and they’ve gotta be high quality and durable. No pleather or $10 Wal-Mart numbers for me! My current bag is by Fossil, black leather with contrast stitching. It’s cross-body and big enough for all my daily necessities (wallet, phone, camera, mp3 player, reusable shopping bag, odds-and-ends, sock in progress, keys and fingerless gloves).
Bills. I don’t pay any of the bills, or take care of any of the finances in our house. That’s 100%, completely Jeff’s territory (it’s for both of our good). Of course, I have the right to check up on things as often as I want, and we have equal say in how the money’s spent. It works great for me (yippee no stress!) and Jeff (yippee the bills are paid on time!).
Boxers. I often give Jeff a pair for his birthday, Christmas, etc. My favorites have Darth Vader on them and they say “Sith Happens.” I gave them to him for…our first Christmas, maybe?
Baking. Even though I haven’t been blogging about it very much lately, I’m still baking a lot. I love it. It’s fun and relaxing and – oh yeah – delicious! (I think the reason I haven’t been blogging it is that food shots are soooo unappetizing in artificial light, and that’s usually the only light I cook by).
Blogging. Before I found my home here, I had a Xanga blog started in 2006 while I was planning my wedding (and I still cross-post all my content there). Before that, I had one or two other Xangas dating back to the angsty teen days (no links – let’s just let dead, bad blogs lie, eh?). Before that, I was on the now-defunct Teen Open Diary. That’s for the best. The me from eight or ten years ago was not a fun me to read I hope to be here on WordPress for a good long time
Justice
When I received one lovely skein of Buffalo Gold Lux Lace yarn a few weeks ago, I knew two things:
1)It was lovely
2)It must become something lovely.
Oh, wait, three things:
3)I must protect myself, at all costs, from the scabies, night terrors, &etc.
In no time flat, I’d knitted and bound off on an Ishbel shawl, at which point I moaned to Jeff “But I don’t WANT to be done!” I was on the verge of frogging just so I could have the pleasure of re-knitting, but Jeff managed to talk me out of it.
I’m glad he did, though I’m still sad that my beautiful little skein of yarn is gone.
But look what I’ve got now in its place!
Why helloooooooo gorgeous!
(Notice I’m wearing long sleeves to protect from the neoconservativism)
I am still absolutely in love with this yarn, and I wish to nom it. And the pattern is fantastic, too. So simple. So pretty.
I’ve got about (just a guess) 30 or 40 yards of the yarn left, just enough for a row or two on the ends of a stole, maybe?
I also – can’t lie – really like the outfit that I put together for yesterday afternoon’s photo shoot. I think I may wear it to work tomorrow. Those Gap & Target “tissue-weight” turtlenecks are my FAVORITE. Perfect for layering with handknits The skirt was thrifted (Goodwill!) and boots are LLBean.
But really, this outfit is all about the shawl
I love it!
PS> The bits that were purplish-red by lamplight? Out in the daylight they’re clearly reddish-purple. I think I’m safe
Autumn
I love autumn in my neighborhood. The brick houses provide a perfect backdrop for all the violently yellow, orange and red trees.
And at brief intervals in the week, it actually stopped raining long enough for me to really appreciate the season.
These were Friday night, right as I got home from work:
Mmmm. I just want to roll around in these colors!
As I lost my daylight, I noticed the moon over our neighbors’ house, and I just couldn’t resist…
Is there anything more wonderful than the air and sky after an autumn rain?
I love this time of year. I come ALIVE this time of year.
…now I’m off to go knit and bake and maybe bury some acorns in preparation for winter.
On the radio
Sorry for the short notice, but my mom is going to be on KCXL this morning sometime between 10 and 11 am THIS MORNING, talking about her jewelry!
If you’re not in the Kansas City area, you can listen to it streaming here. (click on the little red radio that says 1140 at right) That’s how we’re going to try and listen.
Jeff and I are going to *try* and record it (he downloaded a simple streaming-audio-to-mp3 software last night), and if it’s successful I’ll post it up here later.
I’m so excited for my awesome Mom! Will be back later to explain how this all came about – it was quite sudden!
Ever wonder?
Ever wonder where I get it from?
This was an email from my dad, sent in response to my cookie-related Tweets this morning:
Victor
to me
I don’t believe any further explanation is necessary, no?
Encyclopedia of Meeeee: A is for…
Mad Bride nagged me on Xanga the other day to share more “me”, less knitting. Personally, I think that knitting is much more interesting than me, but what do I know?
I loved Kate Mulder’s “Encyclopedia of Me” feature, so I think I’ll go with that format. It’s tidy and orderly and if I’m being honest (as if you didn’t already know), I kinda get off on tidy and orderly
So with no further ado:
A is for…
Apeshit. As in, “Apeshit crazy”, ie, my favored mode of existence.
Airplane! One of my most favorite movies ever. I could probably just about quote it line-for-line.
Ale. I’ll choose beer over wine almost every time. I love a hearty microbrew, and even though I know next to nothing about beer, I know that I like unusual, interesting ones!
Apples. I eat at least one every day, in some form or another. Can’t testify to any “keeps the doctor away” benefits, but I sure enjoy the taste (Jonagolds, Jonathans and Fujis are my favorites)
Austen. Jane Austen. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice 18 times, Sense and Sensibility 3 times, and Persuasion…never. (Rather anticlimactic. Sorry.)
Atheist. I am one, of the benevolent “everybody leave everybody else alone and let’s all just be happy” variety. It seems to have served me well so far; I just follow the Golden Rule (or, try to at least ) and try to be the best little secular humanist I can be.
Atchoo. aka, sneezing. Which is what I do year ’round, thanks to seasonal allergies (I have one for each season!) as well as the pets I share my life with. I’m a very sneezy person (something I guess you wouldn’t know from just reading a blog?) but according to Jeff and random acquaintances, my sneezes are “cute.” Make of that what you will.
Accessories. Thanks to my mom’s burgeoning jewelry-making skills, I’m positively swimming in lovely jewelry lately. As a direct result, I find myself wearing more variety, and putting more thought into my outfits. I’m also treading into the terrifying waters of “coordinating/complementing” versus “matching.” It’s scary, I tell you. But awesome.
They’re watching me.
It’s a pretty common daydream/fantasy, I think, to imagine that you’re a secret celebrity, that you’re being watched and admired when you don’t realize it. To imagine that people *notice* you, just for being you. That people miss you when you’re absent.
Here’s the thing – and I know this is gonna come out wrong but I don’t know of another way to say it - I think I really AM.
At least, I may be on my morning commute.
(Keep in mind, I’ve been riding the 8:20 train, getting on at the Delmar stop and getting off at 8th and Pine, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for about a year and a half now.)
~~~
Argument the first:
About three or four weeks ago I got on the train and in the process of sitting down I accidentally nudged my seatmate with the container of muffins I was carrying. “Oops! Sorry!” I said. “It’s all right,” she replied, “I just looked up and saw you and thought ‘Oh! The knitter!‘.”
(Apparently I am The Knitter)
Argument the second:
YESTERDAY MORNING I was running late. I made my train, but just barely! I was at the back of the second car, rather than my favored location at the middle of the first car. Got off the train at my usual stop, and started the walk to my office. I was walking alongside a guy, who said “You’re running late today!” “Umm..yep.” was my oh-so-witty reply. “Usually you’re way up there ahead of me! Did you ever finish that thing you were knitting?” he asked.
(Apparently I am The Knitter, and they notice my routines)
Argument the third:
Several months ago I was standing at the Delmar stop, waiting for the train. A woman came up to me – one with whom I’d exchanged pleasantries with occasionally – and said “You weren’t here yesterday!” I told her I’d been home, sick. “Well,” she said, “This is my last day riding this train. I’m moving this weekend. And I just wanted to give you these.” She handed me a plastic bag *full* of knitting needles. “I’m cleaning out my mom’s house,” she told me. “Mom used to knit but can’t anymore, so I thought you might use them.”
(Apparently I am The Knitter, people notice my routines, and are inherently kind and generous and thoughtful)
~~~
In conclusion – and yeah I was right, this is coming out wrong – I think people SEE ME. And for whatever reason (my ravishing beauty, perhaps? The copper-colored hair? The OMNIPRESENT KNITTING NEEDLES AND SOCK?) they notice me.
That’s kinda cool. I like being a secret, G-list St. Louis celeb. At least, among the commuters on the 8:20 and 5:34 Lambert trains.
