Today's Postcard Message

This is a scanned postcard I found at Banana Republic ages ago.
I really like the scattered notes and messages, but I especially like the one that says to

Fall in love.

How can someone not fall in love with the story of Prince William and soon-to-be Princess Kate Middleton?
I, along with a billion or more people, will be watching The Royal Wedding early tomorrow morning and loving every minute of it.

On a more serious note, I also want to send my
love and prayers to everyone affected by yesterday's tornadoes in the south.
Especially in Ringgold, Georgia, where my blogfriend Val's family and friends survived Mother Nature's fury. Unfortunately, her uncle's furniture business was completely destroyed.

Join me in sending everyone impacted by the tornadoes a loving prayer.

Just a reminder to...

Wishing you and your family a ...

Happy Earth Day!!

On this great day when everyone is celebrating planet earth, some of us are trying to fill up our gas tanks with fuel that may or may not be good for the environment.
Just take a look at these crazy prices!
$4.41 for Supreme, $4.31 for Plus and $4.25 for Regular. Ugh!
Someone is pocketing a lot of dollars.

I remember back in the day when $18.00 used to fill up my car's gas tank.
Today, I'm lucky if I get more than half a tank. My poor little car.

After a day of running a few errands and a big Starbucks to get over the shock of the insanely high gas prices, I came home to put away groceries.
Little did I know a slippery bag of pasta was going to seal my knitting fate in a matter of seconds.
Racing to put things away, (not sure why) a bag of pasta was trying to escape my grip. Attempting a mid-air catch, I slammed my pinkie on the counter and the outcome was painful and so not pretty.
I've never had a purple puffy pinkie before.
Boy, purple and puffy sure does hurt.

This is what my pinkie should look like: slender and flexible.

Until the butterfingers incident - OUCH! - I was making good progress on my sweater.
I'm almost finished with the knitting, but the final steps/seaming will come at a sloooooooower pace.

So much for my knitting goal of Spring Break 2011.

I hope everyone is enjoying a little bit of sunshine and fresh air in their part of the world right now.
Happy Earth Day! :-)

My Prediction

Lauren Alaina is the next American Idol!
She has a fantastic voice and is cute as a button. I love her!
And, to think it all started with a little encouragement from her cousin Holly to audition in Nashville.
Enjoy her video. :-)

Amazing

I found out about the eagle's live broadcast from afriendtoknitwith when she shared the link on her blog.
Thank you, Leslie!
This is amazing.
Enjoy!



*Please excuse the commercials, I don't know how to get rid of them yet.

Humbling Moment

I am so not proud of this (because I'm exposing the contents of my bag), but I regret to share and acknowledge (because I'm in denial) that...
my good ol' trusty, sturdy, reliable, sometimes-overloaded, willstandthetestoftime L.L.Bean tote has seen better days and it's time for a new one.

Since I am a huge coffee drinker, I take a tumbler of coffee to work with me everyday. I've learned from past experience and mishaps, to place my tumbler in a plastic zip-lock bag. In my rush to get out the door one day, I carelessly left the lid slightly open. My route to work isn't exactly on the smoothest roads and on this particular day my coffee spilled all over my bag, soaking my wallet, phone, camera, lunch and the inside of my LV toiletry pouch/cosmetic bag (circa early 1990's). I had a puddle of java at the bottom of my bag. Wah!

I have to take a second and give kudos to LV. There was little to no damage to my toiletry pouch/cosmetic bag. And, trust me, they don't make them like this anymore, I've seen and touched the new bags.

So, back to my bag disaster...
When I noticed my bag dripping out of the bottom corner, it was pretty much too late to save it or anything inside. It was heartbreaking seeing my belongings swimming in a puddle of coffee. My LL bean tote has been with me for years and the worn out corners are a sure sign of its heavy usage. I wonder if L.L.Bean replaces the bottoms of their totes?

In my desperate time of need, I decided to use a garden bag I found last year at Home Depot for the bargain price of $7!

Truth be told, I do not garden and far from having a green thumb or the like, but take a look at this bag and all its compartments. LOVE! I couldn't pass it up.

Today, I'm hoping to purchase my new L.L.Bean tote. Wish me luck. There are so many colors and styles to choose from. Now if only Home Depot sold L.L.Bean totes. (sigh)

I hope everyone is having a spill-free Tuesday! :-)

Sunny Sunday

Happy Sunday to everyone!
Finally, a day for some much needed R&R.
Spring break has officially begun and it's time to indulge in some of my favorite past times such as knitting and sleeping. :-) ***************************************************
And now, it's time for some knit chat.
Hey there, remember the hooded cardi I started, oh let's say, two years ago? Well, it bit the dust. I couldn't handle the wonky armholes and decided to release it from the confines of my yarn bag.
My comfy cardi went from being a grand idea...

to many hours of stockinette knitting...
onto the dreaded construction process. The end.

It's safe to say, hope abandoned me and the cardi never made it to completion. A froggin' it went. Ribbit.
No need to waste good fiber, I say. Time to move onto bigger and better things and put the yarn to good use.
So, my latest creation is a sweater that is simple and easy, just the way I like it.
The pattern is called Pretty in Pink by Josée Paquin. You can find it on Ravelry as a free download. Her web page has several pictures of the cardi in pink. Very cute.
My progress? This is what I have so far. The project started about a month ago. Yup, that's right an entire month has gone by since I started cardi 2.0. This time around, determination won't let me give in to doubt or procrastination. :-)

Since TV watching is one of my methods of relaxation, I get hooked on certain shows. My latest TV obsession is a show on the ABC Family channel called Pretty Little Liars. Love it, but mostly for the trendy clothes. Though I have to admit, I don't care much for Aria's teen crush/relationship with her English teacher. What in the world are we teaching our children when they write stories about inappropriate relations at school? We see enough of it in real life. Just terrible.
Anywho, back to trendy knit talk. I've noticed the girls wearing several cute knitted hats and sweaters. Very Anthropolgie-like, too. Here are two hats the girls have worn, cute and simple. The first - a stylish, simple beret.

The second - a moss stitched crown beret.
Looks warm and probably easy to make.
The edge/brim reminds me of the felicity hat.

All pictures were taken from my downloaded episodes of Pretty Little Liars I purchased from Amazon.com.I highly recommend Amazon for tv series purchases over iTunes. Better service and easier to use.
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and that spring has sprung in your part of the country.
Have a great week! :-)

Generosity

When I got home yesterday, I found this bundle of malabrigo lace softness waiting for me. I wanted to share a picture of this beautiful lace yarn, but most importantly, I wanted to take this time to thank "C" at Two Cables n' A Frapp for the generous gift. Who would have thought answering a few questions would help you win a skein of soft yarn? If you haven't visited Two Cables n' A Frap's blog, jump on over. She makes the most beautiful and colorful shawls east of the Mississippi. :-)

Throughout my blog I've posted many knitted projects, most of them in one particular color...purple. For some reason I hold a strong affinity for all things purple, which is odd since my favorite color is blue. No matter. Life is good, especially when you have a skein of gorgeousness to cuddle. I'm not sure what it will become yet, but for time being, it will just sit here...it's just too pretty to disturb.
Thanks again, C!! I love it!!

Have a great week!

One Wish

... to be on vacay.
or
... to be laying on a sunny beach while watching Kelly Slater ride the waves.
or
... to be sipping on a fruity drink.

One out of three ain't so bad.

Back to reality!

Enjoy!