I'm leavin' on a jet plane

My bags are packed.
My boarding pass is printed and ready to go.
And most importanly, a quicky, easy weekend knitting project is ready to be cast on once I get through security and make my way to the over priced airport bar. But it's a Friday and it's been a long week so there is a gin and tonic with my name on it.

I'm off to Boise this weekend for a quick visit with family and friends. Hopefully some good knitting will be done in the process!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend as well!

Ice Cream for breakfast

Yes, you read that correctly, ice cream for breakfast. And I’m not talking the eat-it-straight-out-a-carton-because-there’s-nothing-else-to-eat kind of ice cream for breakfast.


I’m talking the Molly Moon’s way of ice cream for breakfast. Molly Moon’s is this fabulous homemade ice cream shop in Wallingford and Capitol Hill. Every winter they offer their sweet treat on top of steaming bowl of steel-cut oatmeal. You can have any scoop of ice cream they offer: balsamic vinegar & strawberry, maple bacon, or my personal favorite salted caramel.

(note the chocolate chunks in my dish)

Once you get your bowl of oatmeal and ice cream, you can help yourself to their toppings bar: chunks of chocolate (not sprinkles or shavings, I mean chunks of chocolate), cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins and all sorts of nuts.


The best thing about this treat (well, one of the best because really there are so many ways this is delightful) is that there are often time no lines for their breakfast special. As anyone has driven, walked or bussed by a Molly Moon’s location on the weekends or evenings, there’s always a line down the block. This isn’t your normal ice cream people.


Their winter breakfast special runs through March. Now you don’t need to wait for summertime to have some ice cream. And plus, with the oatmeal, it’s really a health breakfast. Ok, that may be a stretch, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Some of my favorite things

The wind and rain has returned to Seattle. Gone are the recent unseasonably warm sunny days we’ve had recently. It was just what I needed to help snap me out of my February funk.

 (I snapped this pic on my camera phone while out for a walk along Alki on Sunday morning. The snow capped mountains in the background are the Olympics.)

So as I reach once again for the rain coat (really, this is Seattle so it’s never that far away), I’m going to try and think about some of the things that have made me happy these past few, warm sunny days. I thought I’d share them with you:


500 Days of Summer – I recently saw this movie. And I loved it! Seriously loved it. It was such a good story of love, friendship, heartbreak and the hope that there is love out there. I’ll admit it left me crushin’ a bit on Joseph Gordon-Levit.


The Guernsey Literary and Sweet Potato Pie Society – I’m about halfway through this book and I feel like I’m right there on Guernsey with the crew. I don’t think I want this book to end.


Seeing a movie by myself – I don’t get to do this often but I recently had the opportunity when the hubby was out of town. I love going to the movies by myself because I can watch whatever I want. And I don’t have to share my movie popcorn with anyone. In case you’re wondering, I saw New Moon (and loved it!)


Roasted Vegetables – I haven’t been doing a lot cooking lately (the hubby is doing it for a while these days) but I recently tried a new recipe for roasted butternut squash, onion and garlic. When they were done roasting the recipe called for squeezing half of an orange over the veggies. I can’t even begin to describe how good it tasted. I ate the hunks of butternut squash and onion with my hand as I stood over the stove, it was that good.


So there you go. A few things that are making me happy as we slip back into the gloomy dark days of late spring. What makes you happy these days?

Shot through the heart - since the 4th grade

It all started simple enough. A good song on the radio. Sung by a cute guy with great hair (it was the 80's afterall). And that was pretty much all it took to get me hooked. I was a Bon Jovi fan for life.

Friday night was the opening night for their U.S. tour. And the hubby, my friend Darcy and I went. It was fabulous. I cheered, I sang, I danced, it was great!

It was like Bon Jovi was singing right to me. Me, and several hundred other women who've loved him over the years as well.

Livin' on a Prayer

That's right baby, it's here. Opening night of Bon Jovi's U.S. World Tour here in Seattle. And I will be there.

What's that? Wish you could be there too? Well, thanks to the generosity of Bon Jovi, and modern technology, you can. The first three songs of Friday's concert will be streamed live.

Enjoy. Because I will.

Oh, and expect a follow report on the concert this weekend.

Moral of the story: There is safety in numbers

This past weekend a few friends and I headed to Tacoma for the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival. It was a gray, rainy February day but we were all looking forward to a little knitting, a little yarn shopping and hanging out with friends.

After a quick trip around the market place, I was pretty proud of myself for showing some serious restraint. I had a shopping plan. I wanted to pick up some Socks that Rock to make another clapotis. I have one, but I don't love and I don't wear it. I want to love it. And I want to wear it. I've learned a lot from my last one so I'm going to make another one.
After we all purchased a few things, it was time for lunch. We hopped on the light rail and headed into town for some beer, burgers and knitting. It was fun. Our waitress was just learning to knit so she was thrilled we were all sitting at her table.

Back at the retreat, we visited with more friends, chatted about books, podcast, movies and just generally enjoyed a rainy Saturday without thinking about things that needed to be cleaned, cooked or whatever back home. But then it was time to load up and head back to Seattle. Before that, however, Katie decided she needed one more trip to market place to check on some yarn. Not wanting to abandon our friend, we all decided to accompany her.

And that's when it happened. In less than 5 minutes into the marketplace, we all split up, ran around and fell down. A lot. We all fell onto lots of piles of soft, lovely yarn with our credit cards slipping through the card machines as we went down. And then we got up, laughed and ran to another booth where the same thing happened.

(So pretty. I was drawn to lots of pinks and reds for some reason. They were all very Meg like colors.)

When it was all said and done, we decided there was safety in numbers. But it sure was fun to split up. Now, to go play with my new yarn.

Nothing says I love you like handknit socks

The first sock for the Hubby took me nearly a year to knit. I was bored with it. There were lots of other knitting projects that kept pushing these socks to the bottom of the knitting bag. But then, I decided, enough was enough. I was tired of always looking at them. I wanted them done. So I set a deadline and then knit like a mad woman on a mission. A mission for handknit socks for Valentine's Day. And it worked.

Pattern: Simple Socks by Cat Bordi
Yarn: I started these things so freakin' long ago I don't remember.

I've been working on these socks for so long that the first one actually went to France with me last March. Here it is at the beach in Nice. I'm happy to report I wasn't the only woman knitting at the beach that day. Just more proof that I could easily live in France.

February Blahs....

I was hoping to avoid these this year. But I'm pretty sure the February Blahs have set it. I seem to be doing a lot of hibernating lately. No blogging, no surfing my favorite blogs, just a lot of taking it easy. Which is nice and all, but I'd like to be a little more productive and creative.

So I'm hoping Saturday's trip to Tacoma for the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat will help! I'm not signed up for any classes but I'm ready to buy some yarn and be inspired by all the creative knitters who will be there!

I can't wait for a little show and tell!

P.S. Another reason I've been anti-the blog lately is because I'm frantically trying to knit up the hubby's socks for his Valentine's Day gift. Yes, those socks. The socks that I started nearly a year ago! Oh, and I'm still sucked into the Twilight series.

Oh Boy!

I decided that 2009 was the year of the girl. Last year I whipped up projects for Emery, Sloane, Macie and Diya. Soren was the token male of the group.

And so far, 2010 is shaping up to be year of the boy. Taylor arrived not long ago. My coworker will have her baby boy in mid-April. A dear friend is having her second baby. And while it's too early to find out if she's having a boy or a girl, she does already have an adorable little boy! And my stalker, er, I mean friend from Purly Girls, Abby just announced she too is having a boy!

Now it's time to start looking for some adorable boy projects. I've got some ideas, but if you have any sugesstions, I'd love to hear them!

Sucked in

I have a confession. I’ve recently started reading the Twilight series. And while they aren’t works of literary genius, they are quite addicting. I don’t remember the last time I blew through 500 plus pages in a weekend.

(This picture is completly and totally ripped off from Sara's site & her Twlight entry)

I will say this: my inner 15 year-old-girl is so loving it! While she can’t decide if she’s on Team Jacob or Team Edward (it flips pretty much with each chapter), one thing is for sure, neither of them are quite like Gilbert*. And my inner 15 year-old-girl will always be on Team Gilbert.

(*You get bonus points if you know what I’m referring too. That is anyone, except Sara!)