Look, I made a hat

Starting on a hat..
Finishing a hat...
Look, I made a hat...
Where there never was a hat


Oh Sondheim, you're always there for me with an appropriate quotation.  Even when it really doesn't have much to do with what I'm actually saying.


A while ago, I mentioned that I was knitting a hat for Patternworks’ Chemo Cap donation project.  It was a new pattern for me, and while it wasn’t super difficult, there were aspects that required some thinking (I had forgotten some ribbing details, like whether to start with a knit or a purl stitch at the beginning of each row…I really need to remember that better). I thought I’d share some pictures, because I think it turned out really well.

The hat.  I really like how the border looks a little knobbly.

They say when you make something by hand, you're supposed
to leave a mistake.  This shows God (or something) that you
don't think you're perfect. I think. I just made a mistake and
didn't know how to fix it. Plus, a little error brings the handmade,
humanelement to it, right?

Love the way it looks from the top.

I even think it looks cool inside out.

All ready to send!  And yes, I sent it on time!

Plant Killer

they look ok from here...

I know I don’t have the greenest thumb in the world, but I never realized I was such a plant killer.  When we moved into this condo, I had grand plans of a patio garden – especially when the landlords left us three large pots and a huge bag of mulch.  Things started off well enough, my zucchini seeds grew into little sprouts, and my squash starter from Whole Foods seemed happy.  I bought tomato cages to help support the droopy tomato plants that had grown on their own after seeds fell from an upstairs neighbor long before we moved in.  I planted basil and a collection of other herbs in the window box my dad got me over a year ago.  Things were looking good.

And then…not so much.  The zucchini grew so quickly that it overcrowded the pot, and slowly died.  Whether this is due to the salt-air from the lake nearby, my lack of confidence in my pruning abilities (I probably should have uprooted a few of the plants to give them more space), or the fact that zucchini probably would rather be in the ground than in a pot, I do not know.  But the plants are sad.  I would come home from work to find them droopy in the heat, though they’d perk right back up again with some water and shade.  The leaves started to succumb to the fuzzy mold, though I sprayed them with edible-plant-specific antifungal spray.  The flowers bloomed in beautiful abundance only to wither and die without ever yielding squash.  I should have just plucked the blossoms and eaten them (stuffed with goat cheese) when I had the chance.

yum yum yum

They looked totally fine (albeit a little crowded) at this point!

The other plants didn’t fare so well either.  The squash I purchase as a starter also fell victim to the fuzz mold, though it did bear one tiny squash (which I never picked and ate because I was hoping it would continue to grow.  It didn’t.  It died).  The tomato vines withered, though I can’t tell if they are actually worse than they were before I got involved, or if it’s just more noticeable now that the vines are on display instead of hanging over the edge of the pot. The lemon tree seems to be doing ok, and the garden center lady at OSH said I shouldn’t have to re-plant it until next season (which is also when it will supposedly bear fruit). 

I don’t know why I’ve failed so heartily at this.  I always thought I was a good gardener, though I’m not sure where this confidence came from, as I’ve never actually had a garden of my own.  Perhaps it’s because as a child, I spent so many happy weekend days at the local nursery.  We would look at the model train set, wander through the beautiful, fragrant rows of flowers, take solace in the misty greenhouse on hot days, and of course, eat salty popcorn – they had one of those awesome vintage-y popcorn machines, and the popcorn was free (this was beyond thrilling to me as a kid).  We would usually go home with a flat or two of flowers and spend a few hours planting them in the yard.  I loved this weekend activity, and because of this, I suppose I just naively thought I had a green thumb.  Alas.

Perhaps growing food is different from growing flowers, and perhaps this spring, I’ll try my hand at flowers instead.  For now, I welcome any advice or tips you might have for my struggling “garden”.  Here are a ton of pictures.

zucchini plant. overcrowded?
you can see hints of the fuzzy mildew stuff.

sad, droopy leaves

but they totally perk right back up!

sad fuzzy mold on my squash starter. though it did grow a bit.

tiniest squash ever.

ugh.

so so sad.

womp womp womp

Christmastime is Here

Merry Christmas!  My Christmas (and late Chanukkah) gift to you is six straight days of new posts!  They're all scheduled and ready to go, so enjoy! See ya next year!

We are a multi-holiday household

 I’ve already talked about the Chanukkah side of this holiday season, so now it’s time for a little Christmas.  Since it's Christmas Day. Because we have nice, high ceilings in our new place, we could get a large tree this year.  Totally awesome.

Our tree is 7 feet tall, and we purchased it at Whole Foods (yeah, ok, but we heard the trees were better than the ones at the lot, and they smelled great, and Whole Foods is 4 blocks from apartment which meant less distance to drive with a tree tied to the roof of my car). 

I recently bought a remote control for the lights, so now we don’t have to crawl around behind the tree to turn the lights off at night, which means no more knocking ornaments and tinsel off the tree.  It also means I can turn the lights on and off from the couch.  Not that I’ve done that.  That would be silly.  Of course.

We also hung stockings (by the chimney with care), though I don’t know if St. Nicholas will be coming by our place this year, since we’ll be in Washington.  They look festive, anyway.

As I’ve done for the last two years, I got out the materials to make a wreath and didn’t make one.  Once I get out the wreath frame and the wire, I realize how much work it will take to turn the spare branches (discarded from the bottom of the tree when putting it in the stand) into a wreath.  Also, what do you do about the branches drying out?  Do you spray them with water occasionally? Do they just last without water?  So many questions!  Perhaps next year I’ll make one out of fabric scraps or felt or something.  That seems like it could be fun (and long-lasting).  Maybe I should have a wreath-making party...oooh, crafty ideas!

I love the warm and coziness of this time of year.  Making a fire, cuddling up on the couch, drinking hot cider.  Turning off all the lights and looking at the tree as it shimmers and twinkles.  Unwrapping the ornaments and remembering where they came from and smelling the tree.  Oh yes, I am a tree-smeller.  And I do love Christmas music.  Even the ones about Jesus and all that – I’m not big on the religious aspect (the whole “I’m Jewish” thing), but the music is so pretty.  And there’s nothing like a little Bing Crosby to fill a girl with holiday cheer.

Here's a slideshow of our Christmas decorations...it’s all so delightful, isn’t it?

PS: here's a picture of the tree at Will's parents' house. I think it's 9 feet tall.

Chanukkah

It can be spelled in many ways, but I prefer the one that uses as many letters as possible.  While this really isn’t a major Jewish holiday, it gives Jewish American kids something to celebrate this time of year.  Though I envied my friends with their Christmas trees and lights, I have fond memories of lighting the menorah and making latkes while listening to Chanukah at Home (only the best CD ever for this time of year…probably not as great without the nostalgia though, fair warning).  This post is rather late, almost a month after the holiday has passed, but I’d still like to share my holiday with you.

Now, I have some very strong feelings about the use of the word “holiday” this time of year, because in general, I feel like “holiday” is just a PC way to say “Christmas,” and I really think that if you mean Christmas you should just say it.  This blogger says it better than I did (here here here here and here).  I’ve always loved Christmas, even though I didn’t celebrate it until Will and I started dating (hey Jews – want to settle that Christmas Envy? Date a goy!), and it always felt so hollow when people wished me Happy Holidays with a card that featured a jolly guy in a red suit (uh, hi. Santa doesn’t come to my house. Thanks for rubbing it in).  It’s not that I wanted them to wish me a Merry Christmas, because I knew that wasn’t my holiday, but there just didn’t really seem like a good way for a little Jew girl to be involved with the mainstream commercialism of Christmastime (though The Nutcracker has been a big part of December for me for as long as I can remember).  As much as I wanted the tree and the Santa and all that, I knew that just wasn’t our thing.  And while I know the non-Jewish people try, the Happy Hanukah wishes that come weeks after the holiday has ended just reinforce that nobody knows what to do with a Jew at Christmastime.  Especially since Chanukkah comes at a different time each year (dang Jewish calendar, so confusing).  So I sang the carols and ate candy canes, because this time of year is all about the Joy of the Season for most people, and I like to be swept up in the festivity.  But I don’t forget where I come from.

Though I happily celebrate both holidays these days, I do love Chanukkah (what’s not to love about the Festival of Light and the story of the Maccabees’ miraculous victory over Antiochus’ army?), and I’ve amassed a little collection of decorations…dreidels and a star of david made of Popsicle sticks and the like.  This year, I got a few more and had a lovely time decorating the apartment. Five days after Thanksgiving.  Oy. 

Don’t know how Jews decorate for the holidays?  There’s no standard, like a Christmas tree and stockings, but these are the types of decorations I grew up with, so this is how I do it.  Enjoy!  And don’t worry; you’ll see pictures of our Christmas decorations too.

Please ignore (or note) the pumpkins.  Yes, our Fall decor was
still up when we hung the Chanukkah banner. Granted, it was
only 5 days after Thanksgiving.

The first night of Chanukkah, using up the
candles I bought in Israel three years ago.

The last night of Chanukkah.  Note that by
this point, we had gotten rid of the pumpkins.

hanging foil dreidel - there's also one made of
tissue paper.

Our attempt to make something fried during Chanukkah.
We were going for meatballs.  They ended up becoming
mashed-and-fried-meat because we don't know how to fry meat.

To Do: Procrastinate

Why is it that even when I make a lovely little to do list, I still put things off until the last minute? This weekend, I wrote my to do list up on the blog...in order to guilt myself into doing things quickly, I suppose.  Here's what's left, with commentary!

• pack for Washington - I tried to start this tonight, I really did.  I packed the suitcase of gifts (the largest suitcase we own, which is now almost entirely filled with presents) and even had to wrap a few (which meant organizing my new ribbon container - yes).  I started to get my clothes out to pack, but first I had to fold and put away the two loads of laundry I did last night.  And then I was tired.  And indecisive, because it was already after 11pm.  So, as always, I will be packing the night before I leave (and not getting home until around 10:30 or so because I'm going to the theatre tomorrow night).
• write 20SB blog exchange post (by the 20th! aah!) - Fortunately (or unfortunately), my blog exchange partner is also running behind schedule.  We decided to do our exchange tomorrow instead of today.  Have I finished (or started) it yet?  What do you think?  I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow morning...at least I know what I'm writing about.
• write pipelined blog posts (you know what you are - maybe from the plane) - yeah, this will likely be done from the plane. I'm guessing my flight won't have wifi, but maybe I can upload my pictures, select the ones I want, and write posts up in Word to be copy-pasted at a later time. Or I'll fall asleep on the plane. Ideally, I'd like to write them all and schedule them to post every few days while I'm out of town.  Wouldn't it be funny if my most regular posting happened while I was out of town?  Har de har har hilarious.  But seriously, there are at least 5 in the pipeline.  (and PS how cool is scheduling posts? For example, I am writing this at 11:54pm, but it will be posted tomorrow morning, so y'all don't think I'm a loon staying up late writing about how I'm procrastinating. Oh wait, blew my cover.  Oh well. I love scheduling posts, and I do it often.  When I actually write posts, that is.  And we've come full circle.  Sort of.)
• put away bedding from a sleepover a week ago - I put away the sheets and pillow, and forgot that the comforter was sitting next to me on the couch.  Oh, hi comforter. How are you?  I'll bring it into the bedroom with me when I get up.  I promise.  

On the upside, I bought a remote control for the Christmas tree lights, so now I don't have to crawl around behind the tree to turn the lights on and off!  Win!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...for making lists

Ok, folks.  You know what's coming.  I still have 5 blog posts in the pipeline, more photos to upload than I care to count, and an amount of things to do that make me start to get that my-chest-is-a-little-tight feeling.  So, it's time for the blog post listing the things I need to so that I feel like I have a little control over the situation.  Heeeere we go!

• shop for 1.5 presents
• wrap 2.5 presents
• laundry: 2 loads
• play with friends' baby and decorate gingerbread cookies
• pack for Washington
• find someone to drive me to the airport at 9am on Wednesday?
• write 20SB blog exchange post (by the 20th! aah!)
• write pipelined blog posts (you know what you are - maybe from the plane)
• put away bedding from a sleepover a week ago
• put away dishes, clean up kitchen
• figure out what to do with a quart of 2% milk (won't have time to use it before I leave)

Now it's time to eat some pudding!

Rainboots' Law

I have this theory.  Basically, it states that while I am wearing rainboots, it shall not rain.  Seriously.  I am not kidding about this.  The weather report says that it is currently raining and has been all day.  Not true.  Why?  Because I decided to put on my rainboots this morning.  This happens every time there is a rain prediction - I wear my galoshes and water fails to fall from the sky.  Even when, like today, there is a 60% chance of rain.  But should I choose to ignore the 30% chance of rain and wear sneakers?  You better believe it will pour.

I know it will start raining again as soon as I change into my party shoes for the company holiday party tonight.  Because that is Rainboots' Law.


Side note: I discovered a tear in my left boot when I got to work today.  Does this mean I have an excuse to get a new pair?  You know, in case it's supposed to rain?

yes, that is a bit of pink fuzzy sock under there.

rip.

Ed note: 2:59pm.  

It started raining about 10 minutes ago.  Did I call that or what?

A Winner!

A hearty congratulations goes out to Cath Curtis (a truly beautiful writer - and woman), who is the winner of my most recent drawing for a $30 CSNStores gift certificate!  Congrats, Cath!

Gratitude

I know I'm a little late for Thanksgiving, but tonight I've been thinking about gratitude and how thankful I am for so many things in my life.  I am in a joyous little mood tonight, so I thought I'd share.

• Having the luxury to do laundry for free in our apartment...so when I am facing a pile of laundry that looks like this, and suddenly it's after 11pm, I can just say, "Oh what the hell? I'll leave those clothes in the dryer until the morning."  (PS I used to be so crazy type A that I would not be able to sleep until they were all out, folded and put away. I am getting better at not caring so much.)
• Lighting my menorah with candles I bought in Israel three years ago, even though this year I'll use them up.  Using a menorah that was handed down to me by my aunt.
• Friendships that don't age, and friendships that withstand the test of "will we be friends in real life?".  A few months ago, I reconnected with a friend from high school, and it was like no time had passed.  We're both a little older, a little wiser and all that, but getting together with her made me very happy that we're living in the same city again.  Over Thanksgiving, A Serious Girl and I had an epic 3 hour lunch at an awesome little British pub down the street from our parents' houses.  We grew up in the same town, went to the same high school (though not at the same time), and yet we were meeting in person for the first time (well, ok, except for an awkward introduction after a play in high school, which we each remember differently).  Connected through a beloved teacher's incredible email update list, we became fast friends and pen pals, and we got along so swimmingly last week that we even forgot to take a photo for posterity. And then this week, I reconnected with three friends whom I hadn't seen in years. Three.  In one week.  I love them all, and it was just so lovely to pick up right where we left off.  This was a long bullet point, but seriously, my heart is happy.
• Homemade soup.  Thanks Jacqui; I finally made it.  I can't find it on your blog right now, but it's the one with the spinach and artichokes and tortellini and white beans and oh my goodness it was delicious.  There are leftovers galore, too.  
• The feeling I get when I come home from work with an unusual amount of energy and decide to wrap presents,  clean the house, start laundry, and make soup from scratch.  I feel very lucky that these types of activities relax me, and that coming home and nesting gives me such a sense of calm and happiness.  
• Having cuts on my fingers from diving into some ridiculously good crab last night.  It's such a silly thing to complain about that I can't even do it. I have two painful slices on my thumbs, which I got when I devised a brilliant tactic for getting crab meat out of the legs: pressing down firmly with both thumbs until the shell snapped open.  Hey, it worked.  And it was so worth it.
• A great new job with great coworkers.  I can honestly say that I am proud of the work my team is doing and that I enjoy going to work every day.  I am excited about the work that I'm doing, and I feel like I've found a really good fit.  It feels...good.
• Random luck...I've won two blog contests in the last couple of weeks: a basket of kitchen gadgets and accessories from Food on the Table, and an XBox 360 with a Kinect gaming console and a racing game from Dooce (and I actually know one of the other winners!).  I mean, what?  When did I become Miss Luck all of a sudden?  I feel like I should buy a lotto ticket.
• Sharing a home with the guy I love.  Last night, we opened our first Chanukkah presents and lit the candles together, and this weekend we'll get our Christmas tree.  He's learned the blessing to say while we light the candles, and we're pulling our advent calendar out of the holiday decoration bin.  I love combining our family traditions and being home together, and I just feel incredibly lucky. 

Ok, sappy time is over.  I have so many things I want to write about that I literally have placeholder posts waiting to be written.  I could complain about not having time, but really, I'm lucky that I have been having such a wonderfully full life lately.  Insert happy sigh here.  Time to curl up with Harry Potter (I'm re-reading book 7) for a little bit before I fall asleep.

Don't forget to enter the latest giveaway to win $30 from CSNStores (y'all know I love them) before the weekend is over!

$30 CSN Stores Giveaway!

CSNStores is graciously offering me another giveaway opportunity!  If you're a regular reader, you probably know the drill by now, but in case you don't know, CSNStores is a large network of online stores, where you can buy things from sling backpacks to telescopes.  Personally, I love their giant collection of cookware (I've gotten all sorts of things from cookware.com myself).

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post!  I'm feeling open-ended today, so you can leave any sort of comment you want, no theme or question of the day.  Happy Chanukkah (starts at sundown tomorrow night, December 1*)!

If you want to enter multiple times (no limit on number of entries!), here's what you do:

• Comment on this post (required, 1 entry)
• Mention this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere else with a link to this post, then come back here and leave a second (or third or fourth) comment to tell me that you tweeted (1 entry each)

A winner will be chosen at random by the Random Number Generator.  I'll be picking a winner on Monday, so please comment by 11:59pm on Sunday, December 5th.

If you are interested in doing a giveaway on your blog, email me (kimskitchensink [at] gmail [dot] com) and I might be able to hook you up with CSN.

*for the last month or so, I have been under the impression that Chanukkah starts on Thursday night.  Oops. It really starts Wednesday night.  Guess I'm decorating tonight!!

Hello, Custom Domain!

At long last, I have upgraded my domain name.  What was once www.kimskitchensink.blogspot.com is now the much simpler www.kimskitchensink.com.  And thanks to Google, it was supremely easy.  File this one under "These are the reasons I love Google."  Also under "It was really that easy?" and "It was cheap!" and "I am one happy camper."

I've been thinking of making this switch for some time, but was too lazy or intimidated or something to actually do it.  I thought it would be complicated, and expensive, and hey, what's so bad about having "blogspot" in the url of your blog anyway?  The tipping point?  I'm going to be attending some bloggy networky types of events soon, and I'm making some fancy business cards so that I can connect with other bloggers or potential sponsors or people who want me to review their products or who want to give stuff away to you guys.  Because that sounds like fun.  Anyway, the blogspot-inclusive url was too long to fit on the card, and it looked messy, and I think I'm ready to step it up a notch (is that even a phrase?).  Go blog.

If you blog using blogger and you want a custom domain, just read the instructions here.  It was seriously as easy as telling Google what name I wanted, agreeing to pay $10/year, and waiting about 15 minutes for it to become active.

If you read this blog via RSS feed, you may need to update your feed subscription. I think it should still work as-is (that is, if you were subscribed before, you should still get the feed without having to change anything), but I don't know for sure.  Let me know if you have problems and I'll figure it out.

But hey! What about those events you mentioned?  Why, do you want to join me?  Ok!

1. BlogHer Holiday Meetup (San Francisco, December 7, 2010)
2. FoodFete  (San Francisco, January 17, 2011)
3. BlogHer 2011 (San Diego, August 5-6, 2011)!

Are you attending any of these?  Let me know!

PS - know what else is new this week?  Disqus!  We launched v4 of our website and product...it's a complete overhaul, and it's pretty exciting.  Personally, I like the sweet, interactive design element on the new homepage, because I am easily amused.  The backend and admin changes are also great though - for complete info on the new stuff, read our CEO's blog post.  If you're not using Disqus for commenting on your site, and you want to, what are you waiting for?  It's pretty easy to set up, and our customer service team is supremo excellente if you have troubles.  Plus, I can see them from my desk. 

And that's all, folks!

Brownies

I have a confession to make.  I'm not much one for recipes.  I love to read them, don't get me wrong.  I read food blogs (which more often than not contain, oh, recipes) like the food I'm reading about will actually fill my belly.  I pore over cookbooks and the recipes in the back of Real Simple, dreaming of the dishes I'll create.  But if I'm being honest?  Most of the time, when I cook, I just make things up as I go along.  I gather information, ideas, inspiration from recipes, but when it comes down to hungry-time, more often than not, I don't have all of the ingredients on hand.  Or I'm just not quite in the mood for the thinking and the measuring and the reading involved with cooking from a recipe.

This might be why I have literally hundreds (tried to count to give you an accurate number, gave up) of untried recipes.  From Food Loves Writing, from Happy Jack Eats, from Hungry Girl from Smitten Kitchen.  From the 4+ years worth of Real Simple Magazines, of which I am finally ready to just let go.   Because you see, when the time comes to prepare food, I like to just let loose.  Yes, ok, I often use semi-pre-prepared items, though I'll admit to not being a huge fan of Sandra Lee (she scares me a little).  I guess what I'm saying is that I admire people who are able to cook 100% from scratch, beautifully recipe'd meals, I just don't always have the energy. And I'm ok with that.

Today had me thinking about self-acceptance.  I was asked to join a few colleagues in speaking to Berkeley Rep's current group of Fellows about our time in the program and how we transitioned into our lives and jobs afterwards.  I wanted to let them know that it's ok if your internship teaches you what you don't want out of a career (even if you have a great, fun, wonderful ole time while in it).  I remember vividly how difficult it was to reconcile a lifetime preparing for a career in the arts with the fact that I was about to start working in tech.  I wanted to impress upon them that they are building real, valuable marketable skills now, and that whether or not they decide to pursue careers in the craft to which they've so diligently harnessed themselves, having a theatre background will help.  I could go on and on on the merits of experience with the arts, arts education, and being the most holistically, well-rounded person you can be, but this is not the post for that.

This is the post for brownies (digression much?).  These are really good brownies.  Brownies made mostly from a box, with a little twist thrown in.  Because that's how I roll, when I want to fill my pretty new cake plate, and I need something to go with the pumpkin ice cream I just bought, and it's 9:00pm, and I just don't have the cocoa powder or the patience to make it from scratch.

I have only found this brownie mix at Costco.  It is worth a trip to Costco on a Sunday afternoon.  I added cinnamon and nutmeg because there are pumpkins on my countertop and I felt like making these brownies a little bit more...autumny.

pumpkins and brownies. delightful.

*PS: if you look carefully, you'll see something new hanging in the back of the shot.  That is, if you remember what our curtains looked like when we moved in.  There will be a whole post about that, don't you worry.

Update: brownie, pumpkin ice cream, and whipped cream.
Which I made from scratch. With cinnamon and vanilla.
Make of that what you will. It was delicious.  At midnight.

BlogHer: It's Official

See? It's official!

Ok dudes, I registered.  Officially.  I know the conference is not until August of 2011, and I know the Early Bird pricing is on sale until February, but I got an email today about how they do sometimes sell out, and how if you want to go, you should just buy the damn ticket already (I'm paraphrasing, here).  And since I just deposited my first paycheck from Lunchbox, I figure I should buy the ticket before I spend the money on something else.  Like food.  Or shoes.

Cause I promised myself that I'd use this money to pay for BlogHer.


If you are going, or planning on going, or wanting to go(ing), and you haven't filled out my awesome survey yet, please do!  Oh look, here it is again!  There are so many of you that I want to see and talk to and hug and cheers and learn with.  Let's do this!



Is it too early to book a hotel room?  BlogHer's website says it's not, and they have a special block room rate ($199/night), so fill out that form and let me know if you want to get in on some sharesies!  In a couple of weeks (arbitrary date: November 30), I'll send an email to anyone who signed up on the "I want to stay in communication with you about what you're doing at BlogHer '11" email list so we can start talking.  To each other.

BlogHerrrrrr!

Big news (for me)!  Yesterday, I received my first paycheck from Lunchbox, which means I can purchase my ticket to BlogHer '11!  Some of you had previously mentioned an interest in going, meeting up, sharing hotel rooms, etc., and since I'm a planner (the conference isn't until August of next year), I thought I'd gauge interest now.  After all, the Blogger Early Bird rate is only good through March 1.  And that's only...4 months away.  Ok, I'm a little early.  But what if they sell out?!?

Anyway, if you are planning on going to BlogHer '11, please fill out this little form below (or click here to fill it out on a separate page).  As it gets closer, perhaps all of us can plan to meet up, or share hotel rooms, or have a drink, or attend sessions together, or or or who knows?  And if you're a blogger who is interested in going to BlogHer, please feel free to share the link to this form with your readers so we can have one, big, happy BlogHer family!  Or don't, do your own thing, whatevs.

A Winner!

Congratulations to Leanne, the winner of the latest giveaway from CSN Stores!  Leanne found my blog through REI's Facebook page, when they randomly linked to my post about the How to Ride a Bike class I took last year.

Thanks for playing!  Hopefully there will be another giveaway soon!  :)


PS - REI also linked on Twitter. Tee. Hee. Hee. Tweet.

PPS - Wow, that's a lot of links.

PPPS - REI's website is making me want to go to the snow.

Knitting!

Knitting on BART is fun!

With the weather finally being all gray and rainy (I wore a coat three times this week!), my knitting instincts have started to kick in.  It's hard to work up the desire to knit when it's hot out, especially when there are all kinds of excuses along the lines of "but the knitting stuff is all put away, and it's so messy in here, I don't want to take anything else out right now".  You know, excuses.  Justification.  So easy.  But now the weather is of the sort that encourages warm and cozy feelings, hot chocolate and apple cider.  And of course, knitwear.

Also encouraging me to knit is the Patternworks chemo cap donation program going on right now. Their goal is to collect 1,000 chemo caps by October 29, to send to Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In addition, for every cap received, they will donate a portion of the yarn sales to the American Cancer Society.


Last night, I sat down to work on my chemo cap, since it's due soon, and I realized I was only halfway through with a baby hat I started months ago. I don't even remember who I was making it for, or if it was for a specific person, but I had to finish it.  You see, this chemo cap pattern calls for the use of size 6 circulars and size 6 DPNs, and those just happen to be the needles wrapped up in this unfinished hat.  Oh, the troubles! Such struggle! Such a hard life!


Anyway, I'm working on finishing this hat (should be done today) so I can get started on the chemo cap. This hat is a simple roll-brim baby hat; I've made several of them over the last few months for the long list of friends with new babies.  I love making them because the yarn is so soft, and the colors are so cute, but I'm excited to try the ribbed pattern of the chemo cap.  We'll see how it goes - I'm glad to be getting back into knitting!  

Happy News!

From Twitter:

ComedySportzLA ComedySportz LA

Thx 2 our loyal fans, we're extended thru Dec! We still need your help so buy tix at http://OurLoyalFans.com & help us win this!#iLoveCSzLA

As you can imagine, I am very, very, very excited and relieved to hear this. I'm going to the show on 10:30pm on Saturday night (yes, I will briefly be in LA), and I'm just so happy that the theatre has another few months. The fight's not over yet, and who knows what will happen post-December, but this is definitely good news!

PS: Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway! $30 to CSN Stores! Entries close at 11:59pm PST on Monday, October 25 :-)

That Announcement!

Last week, I made a pre-announcement on Twitter.  Announcing a forthcoming announcement is kind of a mean, teasey thing to do, I know, but I was feeling feisty.  So sue me.  I bet you'd already forgotten about the fact that I had an announcement to make, hadn't you?  Ha ha, joke's on you, I didn't forget! I'm going to announce it! Right! Now!

A few months ago, I was contracted as a copywriter for a new iPhone app/website: GroceryGuru (check out the "I also write for" bit in the left column now, and PS, new articles are also up at Valley Loop).  The exciting thing about these GroceryGuru articles is that I am actually getting paid to write them.  You know this blog doesn't make me any money (and I'm not just saying that), and I mostly just write for fun...but to be paid for writing is just glorious!  The money from these freelance writing assignments will cover my ticket to BlogHer 2011 (hell yeah! no begging for money!), and some of the additional costs as well (such as hotel, possibly flight), and jeez, that is just the most exciting thing ever.

I'm not looking to be a full time freelancer, by any means (have I mentioned that I love my new job? And that we're hiring? Come work with me!), but it is a fantastic source of additional income.   The irony of writing grocery shopping/lifestyle articles geared towards moms is not lost on me (see: not a mom, reads too many mommyblogs, has a thing for homemaking, ovaries that feel like they do this when a baby -or small boy dressed as superman- is near), but I know what I know, right?

Anyway, it looks to be a pretty sweet app, so please check it out and share it with your friends (download from iTunes here).  I have an article up this month*, another due to be published next month, and another in February, I believe.  Yay!  If you don't have a smartphone, you can also read the articles online here.  And if you're on Twitter, you can follow the app here.

I know it's a massive screenshot, but look at that! It's my name!

I'm learning a lot about writing for specific audiences, and about the highs (published! payment! my name on an iphone app!) and lows (giving up control over your words, waiting for revisions to be made, fretting over what The Public will think of you) of copywritership, and I'm excited about the possibility of writing more articles for these nice people!

Thanks again to the kind folks at Lunchbox and GroceryGuru for bringing me on board, and thanks to you readers for letting me toy with your emotions (ha ha yeah right) and for reading the blog!


*at this point, it appears that articles are posted to the mobi site, while the actual app is for managing your grocery lists. to view the articles on your phone, go to http://www.groceryguru.mobi/ from your mobile device.

Ok, Ok, Ok

Ok. I know. I have been promising new posts full of pictures of plants and the apartment and other such awesome things. I have not been living up to those promises. I've been busy, and I'm going to stop doing that thing where I just post an apology for not posting, because who wants to read that? Y'all know that eventually (ooh maybe tomorrow? I don't have plans tomorrow night!*) I will post things...and I may even write a bunch all at once and schedule them to be posted every couple of days. That's fancy! And efficient!

Anyway, instead of blah blah blah-ing about how I have been too busy to post, I'm going to share with you a hilarious email my friend received in response to her Craigslist Ad (she's giving away a TV). Her ad, and the response below. Enjoy!


The Ad:

free tv!

Yes, you read that correctly. I have a broken Sony Trinitron flat screen (NOT flat panel) with remote (see below for pictures of the TV containing my creepy silhouette and computer glare). The TV turns on for a second and immediately turns itself off again. The internet says that this is likely due to a problem with the power supply. Dimensions are approximately: 22" high, 30" wide, and 21" deep. The screen is about 27" diagonally. Perfect for anyone who has the time, skill, and patience that I lack to either figure out how to fix it or hire someone else to fix it.

The TV is extremely heavy - probably around 120 pounds - so bring someone to help carry it out of my house! Sorry, no delivery available. Please email to schedule a time to come by, thanks!

The Response:

Hi,

I just seen you CR ad. Well just to let you know. You have to think of TV's as light bullbs. Because it will last for so many hours. And when the picture goes. Well. You are better off buying a new one most of the time. And one can buy a tube for the CRT tv or just look around on CR for another one. And they sell them at the Goodwill and at Pawn shops. My mom likes the old type. I did buy an LCD Tv for her. But she did not like it.

I mean...WHAT? I love Craigslist.

*Don't get your hopes up though. I mean, you just never know.

More from CSN Stores!

The fabulous folks at CSN Stores (where you can find everything from console tables to immersion blenders to children's toys to furniture to luggage to...) are offering up another giveaway on my little blog!

The winner will receive a promotional code (like a gift card) for $30, which can be used at any one of their 200 online stores! There are TONS of great items for under $30, but the prize can be applied to a larger purchase as well.  The winner will be chosen at the merciless hand of the Random Number Generator on October 26, so get those entries in by 11:59pm PST on Monday, October 25!

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me how you found this blog!  For extra entries, you can tweet this giveaway, or mention it anywhere else online (facebook, your blog, etc). Just leave a comment for each extra thing you do. For example, if you comment a happy thing and tweet the contest, you'd leave two comments.  Easy as pie. Well, easy as eating pie.

Iceland Wants to be Your Friend

Iceland (yes, that Iceland) has just launched the most brilliant marketing campaign ever.  Iceland Wants to be Your Friend is a social media, internet, comedy mashup of adorable, and it absolutely makes me want to go to Iceland.  Nice work, tourism board.

Check it out at www.icelandwantstobeyourfriend.com (also on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Vimeo, Flickr, and a blog).  I am loving it so far.  So very much.

A snippet of the lovely that is this advertising campaign:

Halló. I am a very old island, and I do not know much about your inter-nets.

But I have heard that many people use e-mail to tell other people what to do, and to try to sell them things, and to talk about themselves.

I do not like to tell anyone what to do, and I don’t have anything to sell. But sometimes I like to send my friends emails about myself.

(They are good emails, with many good words in them, and even some pictures of me and my friends. Like this one. And this one. And this one.)

So go forth and enjoy all that is Iceland.  Online!

It's been a while since I posted an honest-to-goodness, what's-happening-in-my-life, housey-goals, writing-writing-writing sort of post.  Sometimes, I'm in the mood to write, and to share, and to talk it all out, but lately I've been more in the mood to just look at pretty pictures and repost them.  If you've been reading for a while, you know there's a lot that has been going on lately.

In the last two months, we moved, I quit my job and started a new one, I was the maid of honor at my oldest friend's wedding (no, that's not me in the picture).  And oh jeez, I've written about this before. We had houseguests and plants and a trip to Washington for Will's grandmother's 90th birthday.  I had my first paid freelance writing job (more on that when I'm legally allowed to disclose information - the product hasn't been released yet).  I fell behind on my unpaid freelance writing.  We still haven't finished unpacking.  I went to IKEA and ordered curtains from Cost Plus, and due to some sort of terrible measuring, I have to go return things to IKEA and re-order curtains from Cost Plus.  The fun, it never ends!

Life is as it is, though, right?  The good and the bad and the being fall-asleep bored and the being so busy you don't know what to do with yourself.  It all happens, and it all happens together.

For now, I make lists.  Of things I want to write, and of things I want to do, and of things I want to share.  I have so many recipes stacked up in my mind that if I just quit it all and did nothing but cook and bake every single day I'd have enough recipes to keep me going for at least a year.  I had this whole "when we move, I'll be better at making healthy food" thing going, except then we actually moved, and I was drowning in cardboard, and the last thing I wanted to do was shop and bring MORE into the house (or cook and make a bigger mess), so we've been eating out or ordering in a lot.  Much more frequently than we used to.  Not good for the body, not good for the wallet.  I also said that "once we move, I'll exercise more," except then I got tired from unpacking, and the gym was no longer on my way home, and I came up with all kinds of excuses to go home and sit on the couch.

All this is to say that sometimes we make goals for ourselves that we don't reach, even if they seem totally reasonable and achievable.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves, in public, online, that we had things we wanted to do.  Sometimes the goals need specific, attainable, trackable elements to them (ie: "I will exercise 3x per week every week"), but I find those goals to be a little hard in my real life.  If I am too specific, I put too much pressure on myself, and don't cut myself enough slack when life gets in the way.  There's something kind of reassuring about softer goals, goals that you set just to remind yourself of the path you're choosing to walk.  While there are definite benefits to concrete objectives, general lifestyle goals can be helpful too, I think.

Here are mine:

• Cook more.  Healthier, fresher, with more frequency.  Substitute white spelt flour for A/P flour the next time I buy (thanks, Shanna)
• Take a ballet class, starting Wednesday of next week (I miss ballet - it's exercise, and it makes me happy)
• Regularly go to yoga, starting Thursday of next week (good for the body, good for the mind)
• Share more recipes on the blog
• Post something about our patio garden and the weird white spots on the squash plant's leaves
• Knit, even though it's not cold yet (my next project is for charity)
• Finish unpacking, but don't stress out about it.  But finish soon, because it's time for Fall decorations.

So there you have it.  Some goals, and some brain-dump.  

It's French Week at The Kitchn, and they posted about
French-influenced kitchen design. Beautiful. 

One more pretty French  kitchen from TheKitchn

Too hot for an original post topic. So here are some pretty kitchens.

In case you didn't know, it's really hot today.  Where I am, at least.  And where all my Los Angeles people are, at least.  Lordy, lordy, it's hot.

Beat the heat by looking at some pretty kitchens?  Sure.  This recent post from Young House Love has so many wonderful pictures, I figured I'd just link you to the post.  Check it out, because they are some crisp, white, lovely kitchens! Ok fine, I'll show you one.

See? So pretty!

via The Kitchen, and check out the link because the other
pictures are just as gorgeous.

via The Kitchn, Latin American kitchens

via The Kitchn, this one's in San Francisco!
Covet covet covet...

via The Kitchn,
Martha Stewart cabinets from Home Depot.
Y'all know I love a good organized cabinet.

My friend Gabe was right; I absolutely tend to love photos with loads of natural light.  I'm a California girl, to be sure.  And growing up in the San Fernando Valley has taught me to embrace today's 90 degree weather...because at least it's not 113 up here in San Francisco!

What are you doing to beat the heat?  Do you have any kitchen renovation or redecoration plans underway? Do you love to peek into pretty kitchens too?

Delightful

Emily posts beautiful pictures over at Emmaterial; these are a few of my recent favorites.  They just make me feel like sunshine, you know?