SMCer2005

One Step Forward....

2012-01-27T04:46:00.000-08:00

Well the cabinets have been painted and the drawers and doors have been re-attached. The pulls have been painted and put back into service. Sadly, in the course of hanging the corner cabinet doors, I broke the stove! Dad was holding the door and I was trying to screw the hinge back into place so I put my knee on the stove top to balance. Then I heard it! The worst sound EVER. The sound of my glass stovetop buckling. Needless to say, I'm absolutely sick about it and am currently in the market for a new stove top since the rest of the stove is still in working condition. Hopefully, this is the last major roadblock before the move-in.

Painting Progress

2012-01-13T04:37:00.000-08:00

The cabinets have two coats of primer and two coats of paint on them! Sadly I'm out of paint and so is the local hardware store where I bought it. The truck should be here today so hopefully I can pick up another quart and get this job finished this weekend so I can touch up the walls and install some appliances.

Copy Cat Cabinet Paint

2012-01-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

I'm a HUGE fan of Young House Love. And when I say HUGE I mean I read it everyday just to see what awesome and entertaining things those guys can come up with and try to adapt those projections for my own home. So when I saw the amazing transformation they made on both of their houses simply by painting their kitchen cabinets I decided to give it a try. I'm excited to see the progress on this project and hope it will really lighten up the kitchen and make my "butcher block" countertops look a little better until I can save up some cash to gut the entire thing and start again.

Before shot

Doors removed but before sanding

Sanding doors

In progress sanding cabinet fronts

After sanding with 220 grit sandpaper

After the deglosser was applied

Tour De Fort

2012-01-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

K-Dawg came to visit over New Year's Eve and I took her on a tour of Fort Wayne and the surrounding areas. We went to Country Heritage Winery for a tasting and to pick up some wine to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Then we toured the estates and went to meet some of my co-workers at Trolley Bar.

K-dawg and her tasting glass and temporary ID

at the wine tasting in LaOtto

Sunday we met up with my knitting group at the Firefly Cafe and went to lunch at Mad Anthony's. Then we had dessert at Debrand's (though we couldn't take the tour because the Auburn road location was closed). Then we went downtown to tour the actual fort and the history center.

Trying the Rasberry Wheat

Trying the cold hot chocolate at Debrand's

at the actual fort of Fort Wayne

at the history center working the train brakes

Since the weather was bad K-dawg stayed until monday! So we met my aunt for pedicures but first we went to Cebolla's for lunch and checked on my dad at the estates. He grouted all the tile and trimmed out the patio door. What a guy! I take the day off and he drives up in horrible weather to work on my place. I am so blessed!

comparing cebolla's chips and salsa to Hacienda's

1st pedicure!

Finished product

action shot of the best dad/ contractor EVER

Finished product

Knitting progress

2011-12-30T04:47:00.000-08:00

My company is super generous with time off at Christmas so I managed to make a ton of progress on my mitered square blanket. I only have 16 more squares to go until I have 100 completed and then it's time to sew them together and start weaving in the ends. As you can see I managed to get one square done on Christmas Day. You can also see my brother winding balls of yarn for me in the background of this first pic. The second pic is a progress shot of how many squares I have to sew into squares before I sew them into strips.

Look who's wiring now

2011-12-29T12:38:00.000-08:00

While dad was tiling the foyer this weekend I busied myself with wiring in the new master bathroom light. I actually surprised myself with how it easy it was to install. I just connected the black wire from the wall to the black wire in the light and the white wire in the wall to the white one in the light. Then I attached the ground wire and screwed it into place. After I got the light installed I installed the mirror clips and put the old mirror back on the wall. Hopefully, after we get all the doors trimmed out I'll have some extra trim leftover so I can frame the mirror.

Christmas Break

2011-12-28T12:50:00.000-08:00

There are no breaks at the estates. Dad and I spent our Monday and Tuesday off of work tiling the kitchen and foyer. Three trips to Home Depot later, both floors have been laid and are currently curing so we can grout them this weekend. We had one minor mishap where we didn't notice that one box we purchased wasn't like the others until after we had laid it. But after we pried them up and relaid the proper tile everything is looking much better and we are on our way to buying baseboard and getting the carpet laid next.

Painting Progress

2011-12-15T14:21:00.000-08:00

With the second coat of paint on all the bedrooms, and the kitchen floor finally peeled up Dad and I painted the kitchen and living room this past weekend. Each wall got two coats of nomadic beige and the accent wall got two coats of sea breezy (I think) by Sherwin Williams. We got more receps changed from almond to white and I managed not to shock myself too many times in the process. Hopefully, we'll be putting tile floor down in the foyer and kitchen sometime soon.

Family Work Day

2011-12-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

We had a family work day at the estates a few weeks ago. Tim put the 2nd coat of paint on all the bedrooms while Dad, Mom, and I primed the hallway, living room, and kitchen. We also put another (3rd) coat of primer on the beams and the 2nd coat of primer on the ceiling. We ended up getting on the ladders and hand rolling the ceiling instead of using the extender pole since we wanted to make sure that we got the best coverage possible. Thankfully, now that every surface in the house has been primed and painted the smell is officially gone and we are starting the process of putting everything back together.

Mixing our 3rd bucket of Kilz 2 Primer

Painting the green room

Taping off the kitchen for paint and primer

Priming the beams... AGAIN

Working Bathroom

2011-12-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

I am super behind on posting updates about the Estates. But the biggest and best news so far is we now have a working bathroom! We re-hung the bathroom door and added the trim around the inside and the bathroom is now fully functioning. Although, I now have to repaint one wall because I put a ding in the drywall when trying to screw on the new doornob. Now all that has to be done is change out the recep to a GFI, rehang the light fixture, and put the new cover on the receps.

Weekend Break

2011-11-21T14:14:00.000-08:00

Instead of working on my house this weekend, I went to the Notre Dame/ Boston College game with A. It was her first time going to an ND game so I had my brother get a parking pass and we tailgated in the Joyce lot with my cousin, brother, aunt, uncle, and a few friends before the game. It was a perfect day for a game. No rain, no snow, just chilly and windy, but the half time show of the ND marching band performing with Chicago and Bon Jovi leading the band in "Living on a Prayer" between the 3rd and 4th quarter made all the wind worth it.

Since I didn't work on the house all weekend I had plenty of time to work on my mitered square blanket. Over the weekend I managed to complete 6 squares brining my total to 53 squares completed. Only 27 more squares to go!

Painting some progress

2011-11-16T11:24:00.000-08:00

This week I've been trying to make some progress on the house since I won't be working on it this weekend. So far I've painted the office, guest room, and master bedroom. Each room only took one coat of paint and less than one gallon. I seriously can't believe how easy painting has been on this project. I managed to paint the office and guest room in one night it went on so quickly! The only problem is I'm not that great at edging and the the ceilings in everyroom need to be touched up, but at this point I think it might be easier to buy crown molding. :)

Guest Room: Clary Sage by Sherwin Williams

Office: Breezy by Sherwin Willaims

Master Bedroom: Gray Clouds by Sherwin Williams

View down the hallway. I can't wait to see how it looks when the doors are hung, the hallway is painted, and the floor is installed.

Popped

2011-11-15T04:33:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we made huge strides in getting the house closer to being lived in. Dad scrapped the last of the popcorn ceilings in the living room. He also started skim coating the ceilings and the wall. We should be able to start painting the beams and the ceiling after Thanksgiving.

While he worked on the ceilings Mom and I primed all 3 bedrooms. I should be able to get them all painted by the end of this week.

You're Not My Boy Blue

2011-11-08T05:35:00.000-08:00

I decided to go back to Sherwin Williams last night and buy some testers for the paint colors I have selected. One can of the test paint covers about 100 square feet so I decided to try it out in the foyer and in the main bathroom. I was going to do the right way so I taped off the ceiling with blue painters tape and went to town.

Before paint from two different angles

After: Nomadic Desert from Sherwin Williams

The paint was awesome! It went on easy and covered really well with just one coat, but sadly the painters tape peeled the paint off my ceiling. Needless to say I am not happy that I'm going to have to get back on the ladder and repaint something I thought I had finished.

Eff you painters tape

I learned my lesson in the foyer, so in the bathroom I just avoided getting anywhere near the ceiling and concentrated on the middle of the wall.

I can't wait to go back and buy more of this paint and finish this bathroom. Kiln Beige is the perfect color for this bathroom and the tester covered almost the entire bathroom already! I really only have half a wall and the small wall above the tub to go. It's nice to finally see some progress on the place after all the demo we've had to do.

Major Progress

2011-11-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

Some major progress was made on the house this weekend. Friday my dad picked up 67 bags of insulation and the new dining room window. Saturday we blew in the insulation and installed the window. Thank GOD for the fact Home Depot gives vetran's a 10% discount. It has already saved me hundreds of dollars on the Estate. Saturday morning we got an early start and had all the insulation in the attic by 11:30. Then while Dad returned the blower, Granddad and I, painted shelves for the closets, and looked over the old window. Then after lunch, we removed the old window and installed the new one. We managed to get all of this done in time to go to dinner with my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle. I was honestly shocked because I thought it would take all weekend to do both of these things.

The garage on Friday night

Friday night with my favorite contractor

The best assistant I've ever had, my 83 year old Granddad

The old dining room window

In the process of being removed

The new window installed

Back at it again

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Since vacation time is officially over, that means it's time to get back to working on the Estate. This weekend Dad was back and we got the bedrooms wired for lights and the rafter vents installed for the insulation installation next weekend. He also got the fluorescent lights removed from the kitchen and installed one central light.While he was up in the attic, I primed and painted the pantry, removed the shelves from the laundry closet, and primed the door jams. I also got the yard raked and a couple of coats of paint on the doors. Only two more coats on three more doors!

laundry room with shelves removed

central light installed in the kitchen

primed door jams

central light in the office

central light in the guest room

light in the master bedroom

NYC Knitting

2011-10-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

While on vacation with the family I did manage to fit some knitting in. I'm still working on trying to decrease my amount of cotton stash and making dishcloths made a perfect plan project. Four days on vacation amounted to four ballbands being completed.

I Heart NYC

2011-10-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

This past week the whole family and I packed up and headed to the city that never sleeps. That's right, the whole fam damily traveled to the Big Apple for 4 days and three nights of fun for Mom's Christmas, Mother's Day, and birthday gifts.

We got there on Friday, October 21st, and went to Little Italy, Occupy Wall Street, and the 9/11 Memorial.

Saturday we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the morning. Then while we waited for my brother and sister-in-law to finish visiting with friends my parents and I walked over to Purl SoHo. Then we all went down to Times Square, Magnolia Bakery, the Love Sculpture, and dinner at Cowgirl's.

I had the baked Mac and Cheese with a side salad.

For dessert, we had the "baked potato" which is actually made of ice cream

Sunday, we had a big day planned. We went to lunch at Carneige Deli and then the Lion King. After we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge for pizza then took the subway back for cheesecake at Junior's.

Monday, I had to work at the New York office for awhile then we went to Central Park and walked around the pond. Then we went to Saint Pat's and lunch before heading back to the hotel to be picked up to go back to the airport.

Not So Manic Monday

2011-10-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Monday, some of the girls from work and I took the day off to go visit our old intern at IU. On the way down, since B had class until 3, we stopped at Oliver Winery for a tasting and a picnic. It was a great way to get away from the grind of work and just take a moment to enjoy ourselves.

During the picnic :)

Feeding the koi at the winery

We finally found a parking space at IU, and managed not to hit anyone :)

Another Busy Weekend

2011-10-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

My Dad and I had another busy weekend working on the house. We're mostly done with the demo stage of this game and ready to start building the place back up to be a place that someone (me) can occupy. That being said, we did have to do a little bit of demo this weekend. Dad removed the old patio door and installed the new one and I removed the kitchen peninsula.

After the peninsula was removed - just need to get the floor prepped

The start of the new patio door

New door installed. Thank Menard's for having a sale!

I also painted all the outdoor lights and house numbers with hammered black spray paint so I wouldn't have to buy new, raked the leaves, and painted the interior doors with two coats of white paint.

Outdoor lights before

Outdoor lights after AND the interior doors on display

Popcorn No More

2011-10-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

I spent the last few night scrapping the popcorn ceiling down from the 3 bedrooms, foyer, hallway, and both bedrooms. It took 2 nights, but the even the ceilings before painting look better than the before with the popcorn.

Before in the Master

After in the Master

After in the Foyer

Making Progress

2011-10-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

With Dad in town for three days, a lot of progress was made on the new homestead. The "antique" carpet was removed along with the baseboard and trim. All the wallpaper in the house was peeled off (It only took 2 days and 5 bottles of Dif) and the skim coating has been started. I also managed to paint the numbers, the pole light, and the kick plate on the front door while taking breaks from breathing in the wallpaper remover.

Living Room with carpet removed

My general contractor skim coating the foyer drywall

The foyer after mudding, but before sanding

The main bath with the wallpaper removed

Main bath with skim coating completed, waiting for sanding

Master bath with the last of the wallpaper removed

Week One

2011-10-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

I've officially owned my new place for a week today. In that time, the new place has had 4 sets of locks (original, my replacement locks, the bank's replacement locks, and my replacement locks again), been foreclosed on once (more on that later), and undergone some major cosmetic changes.

Last Monday evening, I closed on my house. After I closed I went straight to my new place and replaced the locks on my door. Then on Tuesday, the bank that had previously held the mortgage, forclosed on the previous owner by changing the locks again. So Wednesday I went and changed the locks back to what I orginally wanted and turned in my receipt for the locks to the bank for reimbursement. Thankfully, the demo has gone a lot smoother. Before, I get into detail on that I thought I would share all the before pictures.

Foyer - looking out the front door

Down the hallway from the living room

Looking into the living room from the foyer

Into the kitchen from the living room

Into the living room the garage/ kitchen

Main Bathroom (1st door on the right)

First bedroom - first door on the left

Second Bedroom - door straight on from the hallway

Master Bath

Master Bedroom

A shot of the disguisting smelly 32 year old carpet before removal

Wine at the Line

2011-10-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I ran the Wine at the Line 5k at Mallow Run Winery in Bargersville, IN with my high school best friend LJP-J. We ran the Blueberry Stomp on Labor Day and had just as much success with this race. We average a 9:56 mile and finished in just over 30 minutes. I'm hoping to complete my next 5k in less than 30 minutes.

Before the race

Free glass of Foch Wine

After the race, during our picnic in the vineyard

After the picnic and our free glass of wine

Trying a another new wine (buck creek), while watching ND play Purdue

I'm an Adult

2011-09-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

In just a few short days this place will be mine. (Hopefully). Though after the closing process I've already gone through it really can't get much worse.

Recap

2011-09-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy lately, but you wouldn't know it to look at this blog. Two weekends ago I drove up to Livonia, Michigan with my roommates for my friends Mike and Amy's Wedding. My roommates visited with my Aunt Nancy and Aunt Laura while I partied down, then we headed back to the farm on Sunday.

This past weekend I went to Club Soda to celebrate E's 26th birthday on Friday night. Her Mom planned the entire thing as a surprise. I was so nervous that I'd blow it, I didn't talk to E all day because I was afraid I would say something like, "See you tonight".

Then on Saturday I got up early to run my very first half marathon, the Fort 4 Fitness. I finished in 2:44:45. I'm hoping to beat that time in Indy in November, but I doubt the Indy race will have shots of beer at mile 12 or the finish line in the stadium like this one.

Then on Sunday I hit up the Country Hertiage winery again. This time we did another tasting, purchased a bottle of Honey Mead, and then had a picnic inside. I love the fact this place is so close to home!

Local Adventure

2011-09-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend my friends and I met at the Country Heritage Winery in LaOtto. We did the $2 tasting and then went out to the porch to split a bottle of wine and have a chance to catch up. We tried the cranberry-riesling and then after we all purchased another glass on our own, I tried the red rasberry. I already can't wait to go back and try some others.

Oops I did it Again

2011-09-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well.... I wandered into JoAnn's last week and of course they had HUGE 1lb balls of cotton on sale again. Since I can never resist a good deal on cotton I had to pick another one up. I'm trying to reduce the number of projects in my queue and have already completed 3 dishcloths that had been in there since I joined ravelry.

The easiest and quickest one to complete was the checkerboard dishcloth. I finished this baby while watching "The Hurt Locker" with my roomies.

I also finished the Double Bump Dishcloth. I thought this one looked interesting when I saw it come up in one the dishcloth groups I'm in. I just never had the time or wanted to put the effort into actually completing it until now. I will say that I do wish I had done this pattern in a solid color.

The last one I completed was the yarn over dishcloth. Which I forgot to take a picture with on this camera, but again I think it would have looked better in a solid color. But I guess the dishes don't really care what color washcloth they get cleaned by.

Blueberry Bound

2011-09-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

Ran my 2nd Blueberry Stomp 5k this Labor Day Weekend with my best friend from high school LJP-J and her husband while my brother and friend Anna ran the 15k. LJP-J and I averaged a 10:30 pace and finished the race with my personal record of 32:35.5. Since we did so well on this race we want to sign up for another 5k at a winery near Indy in October. I can't wait. :)

Warrior

2011-08-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Back in the day I signed up for this little adventure. And wouldn't you know, I not only survived I completed both of my personal goals for the day. 1: Finish in under an hour (actually it was under 54 minutes, but I don't want to brag). 2: Complete every obstacle

Sadly, there aren't any pictures of me actually jumping over the firepit or swimming through the pit of mud, but rest assured I completed all the tasks and EARNED that beer. :)

Urban Adventurer

2011-08-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I participated in my first Urban Adventure in South Bend. L and I teamed up for team SMCchic2005 and managed to complete all but 7 tasks before time ran out.

We found the mystery location, kayaked down the East Race, Zip lined across the river, ran a lap around the ND football stadium, attempted to throw a fish, and took some time out for a lunch break at O'Rourke's.

More Progress

2011-07-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend I managed to finish 7 mitered squares. Sadly, I still have a TON of yarn in my stash, it doesn't look like I even started to make a dent in it.

1 Sick Knitter + A 3-Day Weekend = Knitting Overload

2011-07-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Over the July 4th weekend I wasn't feeling so great, so I decided to fill my time with naps and knitting. I also managed to visit some family and mow my Granddad's yard (I'm not completely worthless) but most of the time I worked on a project for my Aunt Laura. Aunt Laura, asked me for a couple dozen dishcloths several months ago, but I haven't had time until recently to work on them. So when this three day weekend came up and I didn't have any real plans I got to work on reducing my yarn stash and continuing with my yarn diet. Throughout the 3 days, I made it a goal to make as many dishcloths as I could and I ended up with 14! How amazing is that?

There is one ballband dishcloth missing from this picture, I gave it to my cousin because I finished it while I was at her place. It seemed only fair.

I started this weekend with a pound of cotton and a tote bag full of cotton. I turned the majority of that into 9 ballbands and 5 other dishcloths.

I made wheatfields.

I made Grandmother's favorite dishcloth, but instead of yarn-overs I knitted into the front and back of the 3rd stitch on every row.

I made the eLoomanator's diagonal dishcloth. Which is super easy, but I usually end up messing it up. Can you see where?

Just to change things up I also did a star cloth. Which was really easy and very quick. I did this one while watching a made for tv movie.

And last, but not least I finished the long beach dishcloth. I didn't worry about the color changes that the pattern shows but I still think it looks great and it provided just enough difficulty that it kept my interest.

Here is a shot of the package I sent my aunt this morning. Over the course of the past few months (and this weekend) I managed to finish 14 dishcloths for her. I wish I could be there to see her receive this in the mail.

And here is a shot of the missing ballband that I gave to my cousin. She's getting ready to move out of her current apartment to one closer to her school and wanted a new washcloth to go with her new kitchen.

The best part of the weekend was I managed to reduce my cotton yarn stash down to this....

That's a HUGE difference in just 3 short days. It actually motivates me to get working a little harder on the rest of my stash.

Progress

2011-06-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

I've been making slow but steady progress on my mitered square afghan, blogged about here. I've lost my knitting mojo lately. I'm enjoying being outside and enjoying this beautiful weather that has fiinally arrived than sitting inside creating FOs. These little squares are the perfect antidote for the apathetic knitter. Each square only takes about 1.5 hours to complete. I love instant gratification! Plus it's helping me on my yarn diet.

Ta-Ta Trot and a party

2011-06-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

For the second year in a row, my family and I participate in the Ta-Ta Trot in Plymouth, I ran the 5k in 34 minutes, my brother ran the 15k in 1hr 18min and my mom, aunt, uncle, and cousins participated in the 5k walk.

Then we headed back to my parents house for where we threw them a surprise 35th anniversary party. We grilled hotdogs, roasted marshmellows, had cheesy potatoes, baked beans, cookies, brownies, and a ton of other food. It was a great opportunity to catch up with almost the entire family and hang out on the deck and enjoy the beautiful summer weather.

My contribution to the party was homemade whoopie pies. My newest issue of the Paula Dean magazine had an entire section dedicated to homemade pies and filling and I found a recipe for grasshopper pies online. They were a huge hit! I still can't believe how easy they were to make. Over the course of Wednesday and Thursday night I made enough pies to feed our entire crowd of 35 people and then some.

FlashMob Trio

2011-06-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

I can now cross one item off my bucket list. I have officially participated in a Flashmob. Today, the Journal Gazette held a Flashmob on the green in front of the Courthouse. Thankfully, I have some truly amazing work friends who agreed to partipate with me. From 12:00 - 12:02 today we stood on the green at the Courthouse and pointed at the Lincoln Tower. As an added bonus, since we were the only people that participated we were interviewed by the newspaper, cementing our place in history for sure. :)

It's Tradition

2011-06-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I ran my first 5k of the summer, The Sunburst 5k. This has been my friend L's and my tradition since we graduated college 6 years ago. This year was my slowest time (35:47) yet, but it was definitely one of the most fun. My friend Erica came in from Chicago and we were joined by another class of 2005 SMC chic, Angela, and her running partner, Tabitha. They finished in under 30 minutes!

Finished Products

2011-05-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

I finished a few projects this past week, specifically the two I blogged about here. The projects weren'at complicated, but they took me awhile to finish (especially the blanket with all that stockinette stitch). I still have 1.75 skeins of the baby brights yarn from my Aunt Judy so I'm on the hunt to see what else I could make for her new grandbaby out of that yarn.

After I finished those projects I casted on another Bring Me Home Hat by French Press Knits. I love making this hat out of Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton. It's so soft and squishy I can't imagine any baby not loving wearing it. :)

Sew Sew

2011-05-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

I hope my knitting group doesn't kill me, but I actually tried sewing this weekend. I bought a kit from JoAnn's fabrics and tried my hand at making a bib, burp cloth, and a diaper wipe holder. They are far from perfect, but thankfully I still can use all of my fingers and I didn't break the sewing machine! I still have the curved burp cloth and bib to try. But I'm saving that for another day, until after I've mastered the art of sewing straight lines. Then I'll try for the curved. :)

WIP IT, WIP IT GOOD

2011-05-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm off of my dishcloth addiction for now and on to making baby things. My Aunt Judy sent me 4 skeins of Caron Simply Soft in baby brights. Which I took as a hint to make a new baby blanket for her grandchild due in November. (Because there's nothing like getting a good headstart) And just because I decided to also start a new baby hat. I found both patterns in the Stitch 'N Bitch Book. I'm making the Big Bad Baby Blanket from the Caron yarn and the Umbilical Cord Hat from some green yarn I have in my stash. These aren't the greatest pictures, but it does show the progress I'm making on some of my projects.

Have I Lost My Mind?

2011-05-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

I just signed up for the Warrior Dash. I hope I don't trip and fall in the fire pit.

Dishcloth Central

2011-05-10T05:48:00.000-07:00

I've finished a lot of projects lately. My Aunt Laura requested some new dishcloths and of course I was more than happy to start working on them. Especially if it means I get to try out some new patterns and use up some stash cotton as part of my yarn diet. :) Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-09T06:14:00.001-07:00

Finished

2011-05-02T05:29:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my lazy daisy sweater! I found some adorable pearl buttons on sale at JoAnn's and completed this baby last week. I can't wait to send it off to the Saint Mary's charity bazaar.

Hippity Hoppity

2011-04-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm still working on my Lazy Daisy Sweater (I only have the buttons left to go). Over the weekend we celebrated Easter at my grandparents complete with the traditional Easter Egg Hunt in the yard.

Lazy Daisy Dress Up Kit

2011-04-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

I've started the Lazy Daisy Dress-Up Kit from Pickles. I finished the turban in no time, but the sweater is taking me a little longer. Not because it's difficult but because my needles start to hurt my fingers after making the daisies for long stretches of time.

Friend Stay-cation

2011-04-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had a stay-cation with some friends that drove in from Chicago. Friday night we went out to dinner at Cebolla's and watched part of the 1st installment of the 7th Harry Potter movies.

Saturday, we toured DeBrands Chocolates. For $5 we had a 10 minute tour complete with free samples, then we hit up the store to use our $5 off coupons to buy truffles and other goodies.

Then we headed out to lunch and shopping at Jefferson Pointe. Where we hit up Old Navy for some baby clothes for C&G and then Vera Bradley for C and Lyzluv. After we finished watching Harry Potter and then went to see Scream 4. After dinner we went to dinner at Mad Anthony's and headed back for the night. All in all I consider the weekend to be a success and am so happy to have had my 1st visitors to Fort Wayne. :)

Baby Blanket Blues

2011-04-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my Sweet Dreams baby blanket. It was an easy pattern to do, but for some reason it took me forever to finish. I don't know who I'm going to give this to, but I'm glad I can finally add it to my finished objects pile.

I also started working on a new project for SMC's charity bazaar in December. I'm trying to practice colorwork.

Preparing for Visitors

2011-04-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

Next weekend I'm getting my very first visitors to my place in Fort Wayne. So I've decided to try and spruce up my place before they get here. Starting with my kitchen table.

Before:

During:

After:

Knitting Progress

2011-04-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working on quite a few projects lately, not all of which are knitting related, but I have been knitting. I've been trying to work on my mitered square afghan and managed to make at least some progress on it. When I'm finished I want it to be at least 3 by 3 squares, but I'm hoping I have enough stash yarn to make a much larger afghan.

Other than knitting

2011-04-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

I've been working on another one of my New Year's goals to get out of the apartment more in 2011. That being said in the last couple of months I've gone to several fun events AND managed to keep in line with another one of my goals to stay within my budget.
My suitemate V and I went to a Notre Dame game courtsey of her dad's law firm. We had special tickets to get into the new Purcell pavilion in the Joyce Center. It was AMAZING! They had a buffet set up with filot minon steak sandwhichs, pasta bar, carving station, popcorn, hot pretzals, and drinks. Then we walked down a short stair case to our seats. But the best part was watching ND's come from behind victory!

More recently I went to the Miranda Lambert concert at the coliseum. One of my coworkers couldn't use her tickets so she gave them to me and my other co-worker JJ to use. It was a great show with Josh Kelley and Justin Moore.

Recent Charity Knitting

2011-03-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

One of my New Year's resolutions was to knit more for charity. As a break from my citron shawl I made a couple of items for the local March of Dimes chapter.

Marley Hat from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson

Seemless Baby booties by Laura Yarnthrower

Preemie Hats by Carissa Browning

I can't believe that all of these patterns were so quick and easy. Definitely filled the bill for a nice break from all the stockinette stitch in the citron pattern. Which hopefully, I will complete and be able to share with everyone soon. I can't wait!

Phenomenal Christmas Present

2011-03-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Before the year started everyone in my knitting group made a pact to complete one Christmas gift every other month to prevent the usual year end stress. And I've completed my first present. I made my SIL some Twilight inspired mittens, since she loves the books and mittens. I made them with Spud & Chloe Outter purchased with the help of the lovely ladies at Knitting Off Broadway. I've never worked with such a beautiful, soft yarn. It makes me want to keep this pair of mittens for myself.

I love my job!

2011-02-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

Where else would they serve make your own waffles for Friday breakfast? It remind me of being back in Noble Family Dining Hall.

I've got Mail!

2011-02-24T10:39:00.000-08:00

More accurately I got a package today. My order from Knit Picks finally arrived so I can try to decide which project I want to do first.

View of all the yarn in the box

And out

Since this yarn has arrive I have enough yarn for my next 5 projects. I just need to decide which one to do next. Citron, Calpotois, Irish Lace Stole, Purl Bee Candy Cane socks, and the Maile sweater. One of my college friends just learned she's having a baby girl and I can't wait to start knitting sweet things for her little one to model for me. The 3 different shawls are for me and the socks are either for my SIL or her mom since, at least to me, they look like IU socks. :) It's time to get knitting!

Another one bites the dust

2011-02-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

I finished another WIP this weekend, just in time to send it off to a friend who will be having a baby. My forever blanket is finished. I loved working this pattern. With only 2 rows to repeat it was great mindless knitting in front of the tv. I wish I could be there to watch my friend open it at her baby shower next weekend.

Weekend Update

2011-02-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

I can officially cross one item off my Fort Wayne bucket list. As of this weekend I have officially attended the rollar derby. My friend Erin and her girlfriend Mel drove in from Warsaw and we attended the Fort Wayne Derby Girls aka "The Bomb Squad" matchup against the Ohio Rollargirls. The meet had a lot more strategy involved in it then I antipated, but it was a fun time. Next time I go, I plan to sit in the suicide seats and hopefully be witness to a Fort Wayne victory!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

I had planned a night of dinner out and movies with my cousin Angie, but since she's sick I'm heading out to a local Mexican place with some girls from work. Followed by some Redbox movies. :)

Snow Day Fun

2011-02-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

How many adults can say they get a snow day? Well I can officially say I've had one. Since Allen County was at a level one emergency level yesterday I didn't have to go to work. Instead I spent the day relaxing on the couch and knitting. I've started the Forever Blanket to have as a backup for all my friends having babies. It's actually a very dark navy blue, and not the gray it shows in the picture, but I just love how this angle shows off all the ridges made by this surprisingly simple pattern.

But the best knitting news of all, is I finally finished the toddler blanket I've been working on for awhile. I've added it to the March of Dimes charity box I've started and I can't wait to bring it over and see what they think.

Completely Bored in my Hotel Room

2011-01-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

Since I'm still out of town and completely terrified of driving in this strange city I've been keeping myself busy doing other things.

What I'm up to

2011-01-23T18:52:00.001-08:00

Since I'm not home this week, I've had to find new ways to entertain myself. My life is so exciting.

Recent Knitting

2011-01-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

I've been on a knitting kick lately. My friend Cassie is expecting a baby this summer and for once I've decided to work ahead and get some cute baby knitting done well before the baby shower. I've decided to make a few bibs and then work on some other things as I come across cute patterns on ravelry.

I've also been working on reducing my yarn stash before it takes over my apartment. I've been working on the Mitered Square Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. I'm hoping to make a super cute and unique toddler blanket.

Christmas Knitting

2011-01-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

During my Christmas break, in between vising family and baking cookies I managed to find a little time to knit for L. She asked if I could make a Hogwarts scarf for her sister since she's fallen in love with the Harry Potter series. Since I had some extra yarn I also made a 2nd year scarf as well.

Christmas Recap

2010-12-29T09:43:00.000-08:00

My family and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at T & J's house in South Bend, with Rose Knows, the grandparents, and Mike and Sharon. We even had a chance to skype Adam and Jeannie in Illinois. Chaos, as always, was the word of the day, but we had a great time being together. My Grandma was pleased to receive the two berets I knit for her and Rose Knows appreciated the IU dishcloths I whipped up. I think I'll have to make a couple more for J in the future.

Since we knew we wouldn't have time to open presents on Christmas Eve we planned to get the 5 of us together on the 26th. We had a dinner of beef stew (but I forgot the potatoes), salad, and peach cobbler then we started in on the presents. I made Mom, Dad, T, & J all stockings for Christmas. I meant to have them finished last year, but I ended up finishing them early for this year. :) This year's most memorable gift was given to Mom. Dad, T & J, and I all chipped in for Mother's Day, her birthday, AND Christmas and gave her a trip to New York this summer. T wrote a cute poem and then she had to open 5 gifts which were clues on what she was getting.

What I've been up to

2010-12-22T07:05:00.000-08:00

If anyone actually reads this thing, you're probably wondering what I've been doing with my life since I haven't written anything since Halloween. And just to prove to everyone I do more than just knit I'll provide a brief update.

I tailgated at the Utah v. ND game.

I constructed some gingerbread houses with my cousin.

I went to Chicago to visit with some friends to visit my college suitemate.

I actually did it!

2010-12-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

So after being teased by some of the ladies in my knitting group about not meeting my knitting potential I went ahead and tried some "fearless" knitting. It's a pattern I've been wanting to try for awhile, but didn't think I could do it because it looked too hard. Turns out I was wrong. Not the first time that's happened. I actually made the Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigan by Looking Glass Knits. Thankfully, someone on ravelry did all the math for the increases already, which made making this little baby a LOT easier. I had some difficulty duplicate stitching the sheep, but overall I think I did ok. I found some gray buttons at JoAnn's and sewed them on with the same pink yarn I used for the checkered section and stripes at the cuffs. I can't wait to make more of these precious sweaters for all of my friends having babies.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-12-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything on here. Lately, I've been busy getting ready for Christmas. Decorating the apartment and wrapping presents. Sadly, I'm not done shopping or knitting. I need to make a few more dishcloths for Rose and finish a scarf Liv asked me to make for Stefanie. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all done in the next 5 days, but I'm going to do my best. I'll also do my best to post more often.

Halloween

2010-11-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

This is what Halloween looks like at my company! Finance went with a last minute theme of cowboys and Indians. IT was Saturday Night Live complete with the Blues Brothers and Mary Katherine Gallagher. Retail and the Web team hosted a Red Neck wedding and PD hosted Octoberfest. Complete with an accordian player, costumes sewn to look like leiderhosen, and baskets of pretzals and mugs of apple cidar.

They've got balls in Alexandria, IN

2010-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

On the way home from Louisville, I stopped by Alexandria, IN to visit the World's Largest Ball of Paint. I heard about this landmark several years ago on the CBS Early Morning show and then again more recently it was mentioned on ABC's "The Middle", and I figured I would never be that close again, so why not stop by. I called on Sunday and made an appointment to be there on Monday evening at 7pm. I had the chance to paint on layer 22,544 in light pink. Consider it one thing I can cross off my bucket list. :)

Roadtrip: Final Day in Louisville

2010-10-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

On Monday, K-Dawg and I checked out of the hotel and drove into Louisville for our last day of vacation. Our first stop was the Louisville Slugger Museum. We were lucky enough to find a parking space at the museum and headed downstairs to take a tour and walk through the museum. We took a tour and watched the employees make the bats. Which was actually very interesting. I'm not sure how they did it, but Louisville Slugger managed to make something as boring at bat making seem interesting. At the end of the tour we received a mini-bat as a souviner. Then K-Dawg and I tried out the batting cages and watched a brief movie on baseball. The museum was great! I was able to hold Mickey Mantle's baseball bat and stare down a 90mph fastball.

Then K-Dawg and I walked to the Louisville vistors' center to collect our urban bourbon trail tee-shirt and pose with a statue of the late/ great Col. Sanders. Then we walked over to eat lunch at Proof on Main. I actually tried and liked the bison burger! The best part about the restuarant/ hotel was the art museum that was attached and the best exhibit was interactive. It was a screen with letters falling down. The letters actually stopped when they sensed someone walk by the screen. By holding out our arms we were able to read the messages. We actually noticed this place on our walk to the vistors center because of the bright red penguins on the outside of the building. They reminded us of the yellow ones we saw in Prague. When we asked one of the employees of the resturant, they told us the penguins are made in Italy from recycled plastic. I'm still trying to figure out if the same company makes both.

Then we walked down the street to glassworks where we made our own glass coasters. We picked out our base colors and then cut and designed our own set of glass coasters and we only managed to cut ourselves once.

Road Trip: Louisville Day Two

2010-10-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

After sleeping in S, K-Dawg and I decided to go to Lynn's Paradise Cafe for breakfast. It's a popular place, and we ended up waiting about 45 minutes to get a seat, but the bourbon ball french toast (it beat Bobby Flay on Bobby Flay's Throwdown) made it worthwhile. Plus they had plenty of things to entertain us while we were waiting.

Then we drove out to Churchill Downs, but sadly they weren't racing that day. So we walked around the gift shop for awhile and headed out to Frankfort Avenue. Since it was Sunday, not much was open there either, but we did have a good time wondering around and we found another stop on the Urban Bourbon Tour. So we drove S back to the hotel and we rested for awhile before heading out to The Falls of the Ohio state park. This is where we learned the difference between the woolly mamooth and the mastedon, how the continents shifted, and other misc facts about the Ohio River.

Then due to an accident on the bridges going south to Louisville traffic was at a standstill so we hung out at the vistors' center for awhile before going back to the hotel to watch Sister Wives until traffic started moving again. Once we could get across the bridges, we decided to visit Bourbons Bistro. Stop number 4 on the Urban Bourbon tour. Here we met a fun couple from Washington DC, also doing the tour, and where we learned we had an outdated passport. The new passports have 9 places in them instead of our 7 and one of the places in our passport is now closed. But the good news was we would only need 4 stamps to get a tee-shirt and if we visited all 9 places we would receive a premium gift (a flask with the fleur de les). So we sat with this couple and ordered a drink they recommended and an appetizer. Then we tried to go to Jockey silks in the Galt House Hotel, but they're closed on Sundays and Monday so we walked down to Z's fusion where we feasted on a sushi roll and had a bourbon martini. K-Dawg and I had an "interesting" conversation with a couple of salesmen which made us want to leave and go back to the hotel. Other than the company Z's was a great place to hang out and a perfect way to end the night since it was a super mellow place.

Roadtrip: Louisville Day 1

2010-10-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Like any good roadtrip, this one started early. I set my alarm for 4:45am and was on the road by 5:30. Thankfully, the drive down to Louisville went really well. There was almost no traffic on 465, at least not in my lanes and I managed to make it to the Louisville airport by 9am. So I hung out in the cell phone lot until K-Dawg called me. Then I picked her up at the arrival gate and we were off to our hotel. We checked in a received our welcome bag, complete with a plastic horse, mini baseball bat, bourbon balls, kandy cakes, and homemade sourdough bread.

Then we were off to the wedding and reception via the hotel shuttle. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was jumpin'! I caught up with some college friends and enjoyed the wonderful dinner buffet and dessert bar.

After the reception we started on the Urban Bourbon Tour with a trip to Maker's Mark on 4th Street. We picked up our passports at the hostess area and took a seat in the bar. K-Dawg and I split a traditional southern drink, the mint julip. :) Even though I liked it I will admit I expected it to be sweeter.

Next stop after Maker's Mark was The Old Seelback Bar. There was a large, lively crowd and a live jazz band which unfortunately decided to take a break soon after we entered the bar. But on the plus side we did meet some other people in town for another wedding on 10/17/2010 by asking them what their tee-shirts were for. We tried a bourbon infused beer and then walked further down 4th street to the historic Brown hotel.

At the Brown we decided to try another traditional drink, the Manhattan. This was the most beautiful/ interesting places we visited. The lounge was comfortable, the bartender was super nice and patient as we picked out our cocktail of choice, and the building was nothing short of amazing.

Before heading back to our hotel, we decided to try a pizza place around the corner from The Brown. Some of the other wedding guests had gone there the night before and liked it so we decided to give it a try. It definitely lived up to the hype.

Then S, K-Dawg, and I caught a cab at 4th street. As we headed back to the hotel, our "trusty" cabbie managed not to turn on 2nd street to head across the bridge back to Jeffersonville, IN. When I yelled at hime about missing our turn he mumbled some excuses and then started driving like a maniac. Seven minutes and $10 later we were safely back at the hotel for the night.

Pony Up

2010-10-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went down to my first Indianapolis Colts game in Lucas Oil Stadium. While I do think there is more energy at a Notre Dame home game, it was still an awesome experience.

Just call me Mama J

2010-10-08T05:03:00.000-07:00

I made a pizza last night. From scratch! Doesn't it look yummy?

It was pretty easy too. Thank goodness for google searches. I have no idea what I did with my life before them. :)

3C Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
4 - 6 TBSP Olive Oil
1 1/4 C warm water

Mix the ingredients and then knead for a minute. Form into a ball and let it rest on the counter for 15 min covered by a towel. Roll out, cover with toppings and bake at 400 for 15 - 20 mintues until the edges are brown.

Look What I've Made

2010-10-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

I've been trying really hard not to buy any new yarn until I cut my stash in half. And I've been doing a pretty good job of it too. I've made two Tea Leaves Sweaters and my only new purchase were the daisy buttons I used a coupon for at JoAnn's. Now I just need to figure out who to give these little gems to.

Roswell Adventure Day 3

2010-09-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

Day Three in Roswell wasn't really a day at all. We all got up, ate some breakfast, packed and then got on the road. Lyndsey and Sarah headed to San Diego and I drove the three hours back to ABQ. But along the way I stopped at Cline's corner for a snack and to look through all the knick-knacks they have to offer.

Roswell - Day Two

2010-09-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Day two of my adventure in Roswell, New Mexico brought plenty of exciting adventures. To start our day, we went to the Roswell UFO museum. For a small admission fee of $5, you can learn all about the famous crash site and UFO sitings around town. (SPOILER ALERT: If you plan on visiting Roswell anytime soon, you may want to avert your eyes from the pictures below. I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone. )

After the museum we wandered down-town for awhile. Taking in the sites and listening to the Men In Black soundtrack being blasted from a store front.

Then it was off to lunch at the Rib Room. Where everything comes with the option of a side of brisket and even the beer is out of this world. :)

Then after a brief siesta, we drove out to explore the bottomless lakes.

New Mexico Trip Recap

2010-09-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Carolyn got married in Mexico during the last weekend of August and she and her new husband decided to celebrate by hosting a reception in Roswell, New Mexico. This was a trip of first for me. The first time I drove in Chicago, the first time I went to New Mexico, the first time I went to an alien museum. Very exciting stuff! I flew out to Roswell on the day of the reception. I drove myself to Midway airport and in doing so I actually drove the Chicago skyway for the first time EVER!

I actually messed up driving to the airport. I thought my flight was at 10:30, turned out it was at 11:30. So with so much time to kill. I ended up reading a majority of the book I brought with me for the trip. (James Patterson's Against Medical Advice) So I went to the airport bookstore and bought The Girl Who Played With Fire. Amazing book! But that's a little off topic. I arrived to New Mexico EARLY. Thank you SouthWest Airlines! And the good times kept coming. Enterprise gave me a free upgrade to a Chrysler 300 for my trip instead of the tiny Chevy Aveo I had reserved. After a 3 hour drive, I arrived in Roswell. My friends Sarah, Lyndsey, and I got ready for the reception and headed off to PARTY. We'd been warned that the bugs are bad in Roswell so with our cocktails we all got a dose of Off.

Basically, we all had a great time. There was dancing and plenty of yummy food. Some of the nights most memorable moments included the motorcycle gang parking their bikes IN the building, Carolyn's little sister having to be taken home because we encouraged her to drink too much, and the mustaches. Lyndsey brought us mustaches from Korea so we turned the reception into a mustache party. Later in the evening Court broke out the forklift and took Carolyn out for a spin.

Carolyn and her older brother dancing up a storm

On Court's bike

Respect the 'stash

Dollar Dance with the bride and groom

This really seemed like a good idea at the time ( I swear)

Results Are In

2010-09-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Really the race results have been in for awhile now, but I've been too lazy to post them. I finished the salmon chase 5k with a chip time of 34min 48 secs. Not my best time, but not too bad considering I really didn't train. After the race T and I went out tailgating for the ND/ Michigan game and thanks to our super generous aunt and uncle we got to go to the game as well. Too bad ND couldn't give us the outcome we wanted but it was still a great weekend. :)

Chasing Salmon

2010-08-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't been running in about a month and a half, but somehow my big brother convinced me to sign up for the Keybank Salmon Chase. He'll run the 10k and I'll run the 5, then we're off to tailgate for the big ND v. UM game on 9/11/2010. God help me!

Obession

2010-08-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

My FO pile has been growing by leaps and bounds recently. Lately I've been obsessed with Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats book. I bought this book several months ago because I loved the picture of the hat on the cover. Since then I've come down with a bit of knitting fever and created the following:

Simple Baby hat #1 (perfect for my charity donation bin)

Bunny Ears

Rosebud

Snowman Cap (I have a very special little boy in mind for this one)

Little Pumpkin (for a baby due 10/10/10)

Marley

Upside Down Daisy

and Candy Cane (just in time for a special delivery due 12/16/2010)

Each pattern has been so easy and fun to make it urges me to move on to the next pattern in the book and try that one too. I don't see any studying in my immediate future. Knitting is way more fun!

100th Item on Ravelry

2010-08-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

I've finally hit the triple digits in my ravelry projects! I'm saddened that it had to be a basic ballband dishcloth, but considering I'm really trying to use up all of my cotton stash lately it had to happen. Now comes the big question. Who do I give this to?

Last Day in Prague

2010-08-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Monday was our last day in Prague. We got up early, packed our bags, and checked out of our hotel. Then we went next door for breakfast. After we met up with a free tour in the main square, where we were educated about the history of Prague before we had to rush back to the hotel, grab our bags, and catch the train back to Vienna. We had some difficulty finding the correct part of the train station, but we made it. There were some interesting people on the train with us. The people in the cabin on one side of us really liked to whistle and the lady on the other side had a HUGE dog. Like the size of a small pony. Another person had hung their laundry out in the hallway to dry during the ride. This was by far my most interesting train ride ever, but despite all of that we made it back to Vienna. Keri and I packed our things and verified we wouldn't be over the weight limit by using Kelly's luggage weigher. Then all three of us spent some time wandering around Vienna. We purchased some Manna wafer cookies and spent our last Euros on some gelotto. Then we were up early in the AM to catch a cab and get to the airport.

4th of July in Praha

2010-08-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

On our first full day in Prague we took an audio tour of the castle and St. Vitus Cathederal. It took several hours, and we were on the shortened version! But we also were able to see the changing of the guard and some traveling musicians play.

Afterwards, we were so hot we stopped for a cocktail at a place called Cowboys. They had a plastic cow on a spit and misters. Pretty much heaven at that point. Then we went back across the St. Charles bridge to explore even more! We climbed the clocktower and took some pictures.

We went shopping at Manufaktura, where all of us managed to find something we wanted to bring home. Keri bought something for everyone she knew! Then we ate some street food, kabobs, fried dough, and cinnamon rings.

Feelilng all powered up we walked back down to the river for a paddle boat ride. We saw a little lost duckling, listened to a singer playing at an outdoor bar near the river, and did two laps around before we had to return the boat.

Then we headed to the bar, where we had heard the singer from the river. We hung around there for awhile drinking beer, listening to the music, taking pictures of the river, and even saw a few fireworks!

It's Saturday so this must be Prague

2010-07-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we all got up early and got ready to head to Prague. We had a big breakfast of eggs, what I thought was bacon when I bought it (though to be honest Keri was the only one brave enough to try it), fruit, and coffee. Then we picked up our backpacks and headed to the train station to take us to the train that would take us to Prague. After some apprehension we successfully navigated our way to the correct train station, found our train, and our reserved seats. Then we could just sit back and relax and let the train take us to our final destination.

I finished a book I had brought with me, Kelly napped, we played M*A*S*H, and had some snacks. Nothing to interesting really happened on the train there. So it was uneventful.

We exchanged some Euro for Kronos (sp?). Then we caught the tram to take us to our hotel. We caught the tram, without too much trouble, but finding our hotel was another story. We wandered around for about 30 minutes lost, before we finally got acclimated and eventually found our place. After a brief rest we went out to watch the FIFA World Cup in the Square. When we got hot, we found an Irish bar to watch the game. We met some “interesting” guys from England and had a couple of ciders before we went out to the pub’s tent and ordered something to eat and drink.

Then we walked around and explored the city. We walked across the St. Charles bridge and along the river. We also saw a huge sculpture made of keys. I have no idea what it says or what it means, but it was still pretty cool to see. Modern art was a very common in Prague. And it was all VERY interesting. Especially the babies with no faces. That's not something you see everyday in Indiana.

After wandering around and playing in a playground, we went back to the square to listen to the clock gong and then went back to our hotel for bed.

Schönbrunn Palace Tour

2010-07-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

On this day Keri and I got up early and took the audio tour of 26 rooms in Schönbrunn Palace. We walked around the grounds and ended up eating at the zoo. We each had a hamburger. After we finished our meal we took the train to the D-Tram and created a self made wine tour out of the Rick Steve's Guide Book to Vienna, Salzburg, and Tirrol. We went to all 3 wineries in the book.

The First Winery was the most intersting because we were the first patrons of the day and the fact the owners spoke no English. We ende up pointing to the wine we wanted on the menu and trying to communicate that way. It must have worked because we ended being served at all 3 places. We agreed that the best one listed in the book, was our favorite as well.

After our tour ended we went back to the apartment to meet up with Kelly to prepare to leave for Prague the next day. We went to the grocery store across the street and bought snacks for the train and some things for breakfast. One item was what I thought was bacon, but really just turned out to be meat. The only one of us brave enough to try it was Keri. We ended up throwing the rest out on our way to the train. Then we all went out for pizza and beer. Kelly had vegetarian, Keri has what we thought would be chicken but ended up being turkey, and I had the mushroom. Then we walked around the city for awhile before we went back to the apartment to get ready for Praha.

Some More Trip Recap

2010-07-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

7.1.2010 Keri and I found the famous Nascht market after our failed attempt the day before. Keri eventually asked a young man for directions while we were in the Billa buying some water. We found the market, Keri bought some candied strawberries and figs then we both had a kebob.

In the afternoon, Keri and I took the train to Bratislava.

Thanks to our trust Rick Steve's Guide book we were able to walk around the city and visit the Presidential gardens, see the "UFO" building, and then find the boat to take us back to Vienna. We packed some snacks for the hour long ride back to Vienna, some chips and some mini bottles of champagne. Once those were gone we tried the wine and beer they were selling on the boat. :) When we got back we went to McDonald's in St. Stephen's square to use the restroom and some nice young guy got the code for us so we wouldn't have to pay to use it.

After we got back to Vienna we went out for gelato recommended to us by my friend Lynn who used to live in Austria.

First Day

2010-07-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

Today Keri and I got up around 9am (that's 3am in Indiana people!). We ate some breakfast and then headed out to tour St. Stephens and shop at S. Oliver and Zara's. We took the elevator to the top of the North tower.

View from the tower

A close up look of St. Stephen's

After tour the church and some retail therapy, we stopped for gelato and then toured some shops.

Then we walked around the ring and got a view of the Hofburg Palace and St. Michael's church.

Keri and I attempted to find the Nasch Market. And failed! We wondered around for awhile and then gave up. So we rented a City Bike and went back to Kelly's apartment to meet up and go out for the famous Sacher Torte and to Prater (famous amusement park) to ride the Ferris Wheel. Along the way we decided to ride our bikes through the park near the apartment. It was there a Policeman informed us that bikes aren't allowed in the park. Oops!

The First 24 Hours

2010-06-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

I've officially been in Vienna for 24 hours. It's amazing! We went on a bike tour around "the ring" last night using the Citybike system courtesy of our great tour guide Kelly. We went grocery shopping which was an experience since I've never been in a two story grocery store before and I had no idea what people were saying. I also mistakenly purchased tuna salad because I thought it was humus and I couldn't read the label because it was in German. We didn't do too much last night after our tour of the city since both Keri and I were exhausted from the plane ride and Kelly had to work today. But we're up and at 'um this morning for a tour of St. Steven's and a trip to Zara. :)

Purple People Eater

2010-06-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Purple must be the new "in" color for babies. At least the ones I knit for. It seems that I'm in a bit of a color rut.

First it was the paper bag hat by Susan B. Anderson which I selected to try out the picot edging. Which I think I did right. It looks good so I'm calling it good. Then I tried the Autumn Leaves pattern. But I messed up the dye lots and the buttons I selected were too big. But it was really easy so I'm going to do it again, but only this time I'll do it the right way. Now I'm working on a cabled baby dress. It's going ok so far and I've learned how to properly "make" a stitch instead of just knitting into the front and back of a stitch. :)

Reunion Recap

2010-06-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Wow! Reunion was fantastic. Better than fantastic. Unbelievely Awesome!!! I still can't believe I've been out 5 years and I can't believe how easy it was to fall back into conversations with these wonderful women I graduated with in 2005. Thursday night I arrived in that magical town of South Bend and went to Hacienda for a dinner of chips and salsa and margaritas.

Friday my friends and I picked up our registration packets for the Sunburst 5k, attended a few lectures on campus, and attended a tour of the new academic building and renovated Madaleva Hall.

Saturday morning some of us were up early to run the Sunburst 5k. We finished the race despite the crazy humidity and had an excellent time. Then Lauren and I walked back to campus for the picnic and class photo. Despite the rain the picnic was a good time. Then we all went on a tour of Riedinger House. This house is legendary on campus. Built back when home economics was a major, everything in the house was built to 7/8 scale. The students used it as a practice house to sharpen their skills before graduation and going off into the real world. Later that night we went to the legendary Backer for some dancing and general hijinks.

Sunday was a bittersweet day. First a walk around the lakes at ND. Then brunch before saying goodbye and heading home. I'm ready counting down the days until the next reunion. I miss these girls!

It seems like only yesterday

2010-06-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow after work I'm heading back to Saint Mary's. That place I left for good 5 years ago. Boy does time fly. I can't believe I've been out of college for 5 entire years. It really does seem like just yesterday that my biggest worries were balancing classes, work, naps, and my social life thinking that life was SO hard. Little did I know, that time was some of the most relaxing, wonderful time I would have in my life up to this point. That in mind, I've been racking my brain to try and figure out what I've been doing for the past 5 years. Life certainly hasn't turned out the way I thought it would 5 years ago when I was walking across that stage to collect that hard earned piece of paper.

But really, I have done a few cool things in the past 5 years. I've completed numerous races ranging in length from 5 to 8k. I was a for brief period a biker (and I mean on a bicycle, I'm not cool enough for a motorcycle). Had shoulder surgery due to that brief period. Gained a sister-in-law. I've been in 3 weddings and attended countless others. Visited DC, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico. Made some great friends and lost touch with some as well. Earned an MBA. Passed one section of the CPA exam. Had a job and lost it. Found a new one that I LOVE!

Those Famous Family Photos

2010-05-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

If anyone actually reads this blog, you probably realize that the majority of blogs I read have to do with knitting (even though I’ll never be able to knit as well as those people), baking (even though I’m not much of a cook), and interior design (even though I don’t have my own place). But sometimes, there is a rare moment when I stumble on a blog so funny I have to share it. Now, I hate family photos as much as the next person, but these really make me feel good about every SINGLE family picture I’ve ever been in. That includes the year my hair was so blonde it was translucent or the one where my hair looks as if it could have been transplanted from a poodle, those are nothing compared to the ones listed on this blog. (http://www.akwardfamilyphotos.com/)

Time to Catch Up

2010-05-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my brother and SIL's birthday party in South Bend. We cooked out, hung out on the deck, and enjoyed our time together as a family. My Grandpa even let me drive his precious Lincoln. All in all a pretty outstanding day.

Here's a picture of Jenny opening up her present from me. I'm sure the smile on her face is because the card I picked out was amazing. Knock your socks off amazing really. In fact, I think that card is the reason I'm her favorite sister-in-law. Has nothing to do with the fact she doesn't have any other ones I'm sure of it! :)

Tonight my mom is in town and she's taking me to dinner! You know how I love Mom dates. :)

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY

2010-05-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the best sister-in-law a girl could ever have! I hope you have a wonderful day and I can't wait to celebrate with you on Sunday. :)

Much Ado About Nothing

2010-05-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Really I haven't been working on too much lately. Just some more dishclothes and Kelly's log cabin blanket. Which to be honest, I'm not sure I'll ever finish at this rate. I'm having a difficult time finding the motivation to work on anything big right now. With that in mind I'll leave you with a picture of my not so super secret office and my favorite water bottle full of Crystal light.

Green with Envy

2010-05-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

I went to the Vera Bradley outlet sale this weekend. I admit it. I was one of those crazy people looking for a great deal. And I found it!! The bag I've been wanting for awhile. The one they don't make anymore. The Chelsea tote. It's mine! All Mine!! Insert evil laugh here. :)

Back at it Again

2010-04-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

This week has been a busy one, but I've still managed to fit some knitting in. I'm trying to finish a quick gift for Rose Knows for Mother's Day. We're celebrating a week early this year because my mom has to work as usual, but it will still be nice to have everyone together. :) So far I've made two dishclothes and I hope to pair it will some nice soap to give to Rose. Then I hope to get a couple more completed in time for Mother's Day for my Aunt Denise. She is so amazing, I'm sad the only thing I can make her is a couple of dishcloths. I purchased some bright pink and yellow to make hers. All I have to do is find the patterns.

I've made the Circle dishcloth by Hackucho in Violet and Grape colored cotton yarn. And I've also completed another ballband dishcloth from the Mason-Dixon Guide to Knitting.

Same Yarn, Different Projects

2010-04-19T05:02:00.001-07:00

So I've been on a knitting roll lately. JoAnn's had a sale on cotton yarn, so I made a couple of dishclothes. Then those projects got old. So I busted out my new knitting book and made a baby bib for one of my friends due in November. Then I found another new baby bib pattern on ravelry and I whipped that one up to. I'm almost out of cotton yarn. It's crazy! All these items only took me a few days to make.

I learned something!

2010-04-15T04:33:00.000-07:00

My ballband dishcloth is finished! I am so proud of myself for trying something new. This pattern was way easier than I thought it would be so I finished in no time while watching Minute to Win It. Then of course I couldn't stop knitting when SVU came on so I found a pattern for a Tennessee dishcloth to knit up to go along with it. I'm planning on heading over to Target today to find a cute bottle of dishsoap to go along with it and then send it off to my friends in Nashville. Happy Housewarming!