For a Sweet Little Somebody

Our friends Molly and Eddie are having a baby! This little sweater is in the mail to them in Missoula...

It's a super soft washable wool (Cascade 220 Superwash). I hope it keeps Jr. warm and toasty!

Chocolate Walk!

Last weekend, some friends and I went on a Chocolate Walk. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?



The Chocolate Walk was a fundraiser for the local zoo. We each bought a ticket for $12, and in return, we got cute gift bags and lists of participating businesses. At each business, we were given a sweet treat.



Gelato at the pizza place (that's a wood-fired pizza oven in the back!)...

A mini chocolate sundae at the ice cream shop...

And delectable truffles (wrapped, thank goodness, so we could take them with us) at this sweet photography studio

and this shop full of shiny goodies

and even the library!

It was so much fun, and now my treat drawer is full of gourmet treats. Not for long...

Cinco de Mayo Give-Away

I'm having a Cinco de Mayo give-away, but there's no entering this time. I'm going to make it even easier than that. If you have ever posted a comment on our blog, you're automatically entered! So just sit back and relax, and have a happy Cinco de Mayo. The give-away prize is a vintage dish towel with a Mexican motif (pictured above), a Dulce de Lece flavored treat, and perhaps some other little goodies. Oh, and if you are the winner and I already have your address, I'm just going to mail this to you... you won't even know it's coming! If I don't have your address, I'll have to ruin the surprise and ask you. Ole!

Yogathon

As of today, I have completed 9 yoga classes in 9 days. That means I'm halfway to my goal of 18 classes in 21 days. And I cannot believe my unstoppableness!

If you've never done yoga, you might think it is soft music, gentle stretching, and maybe some chanting. And maybe it is, somewhere. But at the studio where I go, the rooms are heated to around 94 degrees, and the workouts are intense. Basically, it's hard, and getting up at 5am to get to class at 6 is hard, but it's worth it. I feel stronger, calmer, and more focused.

I'm not bragging. I'm just saying that I love yoga, and I'm amazed at what my flabtastic body can do when I put my mind to something!

In the Kitchen

I've wanted to have chickens for a long time, but now that we have our own house, we don't need chickens. That's because so many of our friends have chickens and have more eggs than they can possibly use. Karl and I were on a walk last week and our neighbor stopped us to give us these. We also got to meet his chickens. He's got a rooster, too, which isn't allowed, but we're not telling.

Speaking of chickens, on Sunday I made this chicken pot pie. I've made pot pie once before, when Karl and I were dating and I was trying to secretly convince him to propose. Because good wives make pot pie, right?

Those are our seedling hopefuls in the background...

Streeeetch!

This morning I went to yoga at 6am. It was awesome. And it was my third day in a row going to yoga class. I'm trying to go 18 times in the next 3 weeks.

The place I go has heated studios, so it is really hot (90-something degrees) and I get really sweaty. So I will also be washing a lot of yoga clothes over the next three weeks.

After yoga, I walk to the bus stop to go to work. I found a nice little shortcut today.

The only thing is, I feel like after three straight days of yoga classes, I should be super strong and bendy. But I'm not. Maybe tomorrow I will be.

I love finishing things.

I'd like to introduce my latest creation, the not-supposed-to-be-short-sleeved short sleeved baby sweater. It's knit in a soft, hand-dyed washable wool. Because of my (lack of) photography skills, this photo doesn't really do it justice.

The pattern is here; I substituted seed stitch for the garter stitch edging, eliminated the hood, and (ahem) shortened the sleeves.

Forsythia

Last week, I was riding my bike to work one morning. While I was stopped at a stoplight, the lady next to me rolled down her car window and shouted, "Ma'am?! What's the name of that yellow shrub? You know, the one with the yellow leaves?" I didn't know, but of course the moment I posted about my experience on Facebook, one of my know-it-all librarian friends commented, "Forsythia!"


Yesterday Karl and I went to the Arboretum. It was nice and sunny, and we both had the afternoon off. We found a spot next to a grove of lovely yellow bushes and laid out our blanket. I read an entire book, and Karl studied. As we were getting ready to go, I took a look at the tag on one of the bushes... Forsythia. Of course.

Tee hee hee hee

I'm not sure when my blog became a place to make fun of ridiculous yard decorations, but seriously people, this one takes the cake. And I see it every day on my way to work.

Ten on Ten: April

Oh wait. I mean Six on Ten.

My husband, who crashed at 8am after getting home from his overnight work shift.

Repotted basil seedlings. You have to turn your head to see this one the right way; for some reason, I cannot figure out how to make some pictures go the right direction!

Yard sale finds

Getting ready to try my hand at homemade pizza dough...

A little knitting (soon to be a baby cardigan)

Bits and Pieces

• A while back, I brought the first sweater I ever made to work to show the kids in my knitting club. It's freezing today, so I put it on. I had forgotten what a train wreck it is. I used up all of my leftovers on it, so it's a mishmash of colors and textures. I had the brilliant idea to knit a row of dancing grannies around the bottom edge of the sweater; those grannies may be the garment's one redeeming quality.
  

• I'm thinking about a blog makeover. Like, paying someone to actually make it look nice, and not totally dumpy/like a million other blogs in the world. Some of the blogs I follow are so darling, but I haven't got the first clue how to do that. So if you know of a good blog maker-overer, let me know!
  

• For the past few weeks, I've been eating a big salad for lunch every day, in an effort to eat more vegetables. Sometimes I pick up my fork to dig into the salad, and I feel physically nauseous. My old pb&j never did that to me.
  

• Meal planning is my new hobby. Next week we are having homemade pizza and chickpea ragout. And I'll be having a million salads for lunch.

Four Years Ago

Four years ago today, Karl and I met for the first time. I never ever ever would have guessed that this would happen...

Easter At Our House

That guilty-looking dog belongs to my older brother, who does not believe in obedience training.

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

Here are a few reasons why I love riding my bike to and from work:

• It's super cheap. I got my bike 18 years ago, and I take it in for a tune-up once every two or three years. Super. Cheap.
• It's nice to be outside.
• It's good exercise.
• It doesn't have an exhaust pipe.
• It's highly maneuverable, which is really helpful when I see a noteable yard ornament. I can easily slow down, stop, or turn around and ride by a second or third time. Yesterday I noticed a pastel Winnie-the-Pooh yard ornament that needed a second look.
• It's eye-opening. Yesterday, for example, I learned that there are people in this world that actually choose to own pastel Winnie-the-Pooh yard ornaments.