In the Months Gone By

I feel as though the last couple months have been a whirlwind, and yet I look back and wonder what makes it feel so. There hasn't been any one thing particularly exciting, but maybe it's all the little things that makes time fly.

 

We love having our friends over for a formal party around Valentines Day. It's a night of scrumptious food, laughing and dancing.

Back in December, I chopped my hair short! Well, it's short for me. I cut off a braid that measured 15" and then cut about 4 more inches off so it came just above my shoulders. I do this every couple years so I can donate it to Locks Of Love which makes great wigs for kids going through chemo.

 

Last year I helped the local florist make boutonnieres for the prom, which was lots of fun (I got to see my corsage ahead of time too) and this year I was asked to come back and help again with the corsages which are more complex and time consuming. We had a little refresher course a couple weeks ago and I made one that was lighter and smaller than most of them. They really are rather bulky and heavy sometimes, it makes it awkward to wear them when they are slipping and sliding all over your wrist. I do like the combination of the spray roses, carnations and daisies though.

Ohhh my! Have I discovered the most wonderful chocolate meringue recipe! I shall have to share it with you all once it is perfected! (yes, these are the things I get excited over!)

 

I woke up on the first day of spring to several inches of fresh snow on the world. While everyone at work was complaining that it should be warm by now I couldn't help but love how beautiful it looked sparkling in the sun that afternoon.

 

Have you ever chased the sunset?

 

It makes for such a beautiful past time.

 

Last night we celebrated Seder with some good friends.

It is amazing to think of how this tradition has been carefully carried out over so many hundreds of years.

 

Maybe you've heard of the Jane Austen stamps that are being made in the UK to honor the 200th birthday of Pride & Prejudice. I couldn't resist ordering some because while I obviously can't use them here, I love stamps and keep my favorites in a stamp collectors book my Opa gave me years ago.

 

Now since I bought my stamps, The Royal Mail service is mailing fliers to advertise new collections. The newest one coming it Doctor Who stamps. I don't know if my bank would like me to keep ordering them though, I accidentally froze my account trying to order the Jane Austen stamps!

 

Speaking of the UK and whatnot, look at my new tea tin! I know its terribly cliche, but I do love it!

 

I've been reading a textbook from the Culinary Institute of America. It's quite fascinating too. Though it makes me rather hungry.

Oh look, I've officially been accepted into a small college about an hour away. I'm now getting the paper work taken care of, dreading the placement test, lost in the mess of financial aid, and so excited to be enrolled in the Culinary Arts program!

 

 

I recently did my own taxes too, but there is nothing exciting to say about that, nor a picture that adequately describes my feelings on the subject. So I shall close this post.

 

Have a happy day!



A walk through the park

The other day was one of those days where everything seems to go wrong, work was crazy and all I wanted to do after work was go home, have some tea and watch Gilmore Girls til I fell asleep. But as I walked towards my car, I looked over to the park and was instantly drawn to it.

I love this section of the park. There are nymph statues and a sun dial.

A lovely model posing in a beautiful dress for a group of artists.

Needless to say, this cheered me up immensely.

Chocolate milk and spandex and bells, oh my!

Last weekend my little town hosted the largest bike race in North America, The Tour of the Battenkill. Can you believe it? My tiny little town with one traffic light in the center of the village has been the hosting this event for several years. Friday is the main set up day for many of the vendors of the expo, and Saturday numerous bike races in many categories take place. There are official races for kids around 8 or 10 years old to races for adult men and women, and then on Sunday they bring in the pros. Professional bikers from all over the world come the this Tour because of the level of difficulty it provides. One lap is 62 miles and the challenge is that nearly all the roads are curvy back roads, with lots of steep hills, and they alternate between paved and dirt roads. The Pros race this course not once like everyone else, but loop around it twice!

This year I worked at my family's maple booth for the weekend. The best part was watching the kids faces as I made their maple cotton candy.

Here are the winners from one of the races on Saturday. One of the things they are given at the podium is a bottle of chocolate milk, but not just any chocolate milk, it Battenkill Creamery Chocolate milk. You can't understand why people get so excited about it until you try some, so if you are ever around the Washington County area of New York, you've got to try it...apparently, it's also a good recovery drink for the bikers.

Speaking if chocolate milk, my little brother and his friend were given shirts as a thank you for "helping" at the milk booth.

And then my little guy came racing in, placing 7th in the kids race!

Here he is with helmet hair, his medal and wearing and holding new shirts that were given to him. He came home with about 5 new shirts after that weekend!

These two little girls are getting their picture taken with a famous racer Greg Lamond.

There were around 200 pros when the race started, by the time it ended, there were only about 50 left. Also, if you think you hear cow bells in the video clip, you are not mistaken! One of the big sellers over the weekend were little cowbells with the race logo on it. The kids ring them like crazy when the riders come through.

Seconds after he came through the finish line as the winner of 2012, this biker from Spain was surrounded by the press. I couldn't even get a picture of all the camera crews and reporters after this cause they came out of nowhere and took over the space.

Despite the chaos and overwhelming amount of spandex that invaded the local area, it made for a very exciting, topsy-turvy weekend in my sleepy little town. There were 3,000 registered racers this year, so I don't even have any idea how many more will come next year!

Summer came during spring break!

I had my lovely holiday from classes a couple weeks ago in March (which shows how dreadfully overdue this is) and I had everything planned out. Though I feel I should know by now that things never go as planned for me! My plan was this: to have a happy week of reading and sewing or baking something everyday. The weather suddenly turned absolutely gorgeous! it was high 70's and low 80's the entire week! As my sewing nook is in the basement and the kitchen doesn't have very many windows, I didn't want to be cooped up. So it was out to bask in the sunny yard and read my ever growing pile of books. Here are some things of that week of sun-shinning bliss.

I'm one of those people who buys things off the clearance rack even if they don't fit because I say "oh, well I sew, so I'll just take it in and make it fit."...but then I never do.

These are the skirts I was supposed to work on over break

My little brother was very excited because he finally lost his first tooth!

I ate so pancakes with our fresh maple syrup...yumm!

This little guy knows how to clean his plate after pancakes

I finally got the papers I needed to graduate this spring. Yay!

Some of the books I was reading over break. I was happy to find "Mandy" on my little sister's book shelf. I've been wanting to read it since I was 10 or 12 and for some reason never did. Such a cute little book.

I'll have a real post sometime soon, I promise...hopefully :)

URL change

Just a quick update to say that I changed my URL. Still the same blog and whatnot, but it's easier to have the blog title and URL be the same. Just so you know. Have a happy day :)

Date a Girl Who Reads

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes." -- Rosemarie Urquico (via Monica Bird)


This was something I saw on a friend's super awesome blog (http://headdeskforwriters.blogspot.com/) and I thought it was adorable, beautiful and true.

15 Reasons to buy fabric

Here are 15 reasons to buy fabrics (Just incase you realy need them)
From http://deckthehalls-christmas.blogspot.com/

1. It insulates the closet where it is kept.

2. It helps keep the economy going.

3. It is our patriotic duty to support cotton farmers, textile mills and quilt shops.

4. It is less expensive and more FUN than psychiatric care.

5. Because it's ON SALE.

6. I'm participating in a contest...the one who dies with the most fabric wins.

7. It keeps without refrigeration, you don't have to cook it to enjoy it, you never have to feed it, change it, wipe its nose, or walk it.

8. I need extra weight in the trunk of my car for traction on snowy icy roads. This is important, even in Florida, Southern California and ARIZONA...you never know when the weather will change.

9. Because I'm worth it.

10. Like dust, it's good for protecting previously empty spaces in the house, like the ironing board, the laundry hamper and the dining room table.

11. When the Big Earthquake comes, all the quilt shops might be swallowed into the ground and never be seen again.

12. Stress from dealing with the Fabric Control Officer (my husband) made me do it.

13. It's not immoral or fattening. It calms the nerves, gratifies the soul, and makes me feel
good.

14. Buy it now, before your husband retires and goes with you on all your shopping expeditions.

15. A yard a day is all the quilt shops of America ask.

One place where I read this added these two:
16. You have to buy twice the fabric so you can make a wearable muslin.

17. Your nearest fabric shop is quite far away so you have to buy everything while you're there to save on travel costs.