Goodbye 2010

Something I've been wanting for the longest time now has been a crock pot/slow cooker. This Christmas, I got one and love it! I'm probably the last person on earth to own one, but better late than never, I say.

Anyway, lately, southern California has been experiencing a lot of cold nights and days. Not sure what's going on?! I know it's winter, but come on man, it's southern California!
Ugh! Okay, moving on. :-)
To comfort my cold bitter heart and frozen toes, I made some tasty chili in my new crock pot. I followed the recipe that came with my new toy combined with the one on the back of the chili seasoning packet and ta-da!
Yumminess in a bowl on New Year's Eve.

As 2010 comes to a close, I wish I could say it had been a great year, but it was just so-so.
Personally, there were many challenges in my life: ailing parents, hoping for a better job, finding out who is a true friend and who is not, and my car. Unfortunately, I tend to absorb all this dark energy and it really brings me down...lots of depression going on around here.

But never one to be a full-time downer, the bright side is, 2011 will be the beginning of a new decade. I absolutely know who my true friends are and will remain this way for the rest of my life, including the great people I've befriended through blogging. I look forward to greater personal growth and the hope of prosperity in all areas of my life.
This year I won't be making New Year's resolutions because honestly, I don't follow through. I can vow to lose weight only so many times. Who am I trying to kid? I finally caught on to my scheme and I no longer take myself seriously. :-)

Sooo, with that said, I say goodbye 2010, don't let the door hit ya on your way out, and hello 2011!

One thing I am certain of in 2011... new knitting patterns!

BTW, After it stopped raining for 40 days and 40 nights, I finally went to see Black Swan and all I have to say is WOW, this was a GREAT movie. Natalie Portman is amazing in this role, especially in the final scene of the movie. Black Swan is fiction at its finest.
Lastly, this movie left me thinking...
~There are times when life can be a mental game and as human beings we become vulnerable when we start questioning our sanity and lose faith in ourselves.~ (keep believing in yourself)
They don't call the Black Swan a psychological thriller for nothin'. ;-)
ETA: I do not recommed this movie for children.

I hope everyone has a safe and warm New Year's Eve!!

Wordless Wednesday

Ho, Ho, Ho!

May your Christmas be filled with lots of

good food (comfort) and good company (joy) and...

May your new year be filled with

HOPE and HAPPINESS.

I thought I would spread some

holiday cheer with a little bit of humor.

Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël

Late Night Post

Since I'm still wide awake during the wee hours of the night or early morning, whichever way you want to look at it, I thought I would finally post something about... anything.
My Dashing arm warmers are done! Yay! Actually, I finished them a few days ago, but never got around to writing a post.
Here they are, my purple Dashing arm warmers. What is it with me and the color purple? Not sure, but I love it.
If you'd like the knitting stats for this project, please click on the word Dashing and it should take you to my Ravelry page.
FYI, I made a few modifications with the cables. I wanted the cable design to mirror each other, so after almost finishing the second arm warmer and noticed it wasn't turning out that way, I frogged it, started over around the 18th row, and knit it in reverse. If that makes any sense.

On my Christmas things-to-knit list, there are a pair of arm warmers for my niece, just like my purple pair aka Dashing, but in blue to match her cheerleading outfit. A fashionista already. Girl after my own heart.
My nephew on the other hand would like a black hat. That's it.
Black hat. I think I'm going to throw in some color. Solid black is too goth for a little boy, at least in my eyes...unless it has cables. Hmm, cables.
I welcome any suggestions. :-)

What I really want to knit for my nephew is the Ralph Lauren Olympic Reindeer Hat.
Someone at Clever Knits charted the design during the 2010 Winter Olympics and generously shared it with the knitting world. Amazing. And, thank you.

In other really "happening" events in my life (sarcasm, gotta love it), this coming Monday, a dear friend and I are going to see the movie The Black Swan. You don't know how long I've been waiting for the release of this movie. Natalie Portman is an extraordinary actor and the fact it has to do with the performing arts, i.e. ballet, makes it worth the wait. I'm really hoping she wins a Golden Globe for this role.

photo credit

Until the next post. Goodnight friends :-)

First Try

I made myself a pie tonight!
My first attempt at making a pumpkin pie, and it was more or less successful.
Please don't look at the crust too closely. I totally cheated and used the Pillsbury Rolled Refrigerated Pie Crust and it wasn't completely at room temperature like they suggest on the box. So, as I rolled the edges around the pie plate I had to wet my fingers to soften the dough a bit, but it turned out just as tasty.

For the filling, I followed the recipe on the can of Libby's Pure Pumpkin. For some reason it taste like I used too much evaporated milk. Not sure why? I'll be trying another recipe very soon.

Here it is. Happy pie with a wonky crust. :-)

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Two days ago, I decided to reknit my green scarf.

Back in April, I knit the scarf in a k1, p1 rib. At first, I loved how it turned out but after a while I wasn't able to wrap it the way I liked, it was too thick for my liking.
This time I reknit the scarf using Jen Reilly's pattern, Super-Fast, Ultra-Cozy Scarf. The scarf turned out much more relaxed. I'm loving it!

Extreme close-up!

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Here's hoping your baked goods turn out tasty and your knitting turns out lovely. :-)

Holiday Cheer

'Tis the season!
Last year I added a Christmas countdown to my sidebar and this year I decided to do it again. ~~~~~~~~>
I figured a cheery reminder till the big day never hurt anyone. It adds a little stress, yes, but hopefully you thrive under pressure.

I wanted to share a Holiday Sugar Cookie recipe from my 2010 calendar. For the moment, I can only share a snapshot of the yummy delights.

I bought the calendar with the intention of trying out the monthly recipes, but life got in the way. AND, I had every intention of sharing some of the recipes, but... you know the drill.

Actually, I was about to post the recipe but it turned out to be your basic sugar cookie recipe found in most cookie recipe books... and I'm running the risk of overstepping some copyright boundaries. :-)

To help you out with some Christmas treats, here are some websites you can find delicious holiday cookie recipes.

bettycrocker.com

kraftrecipes.com

verybestbaking.com

allrecipes.com

As of now, there are 23 days and 4 hours to go till Christmas!

This makes me feel like the Target lady racing towards the big day.

Ready, Set, Bake!

:-)