Craftylilly

A meme and exercise, Oh My!

Today is my last day where I have both kids at school for a couple of hours, so I plan to make the most of it, by getting out a little by myself.  I do have to do a little birthday shopping for PQL, but I'm thinking some window shopping by myself might be quite nice!  I still don't have any WIP pictures yet, but I do have a meme, and an exercise-a-long to share!  First the meme.  Feel free to play along on your own blog if you haven't already!

Here’s how it works:

* Type your answers to each of the questions below into Flickr Search
* Using only the first page, pick an image
* Copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker

Questions:

1. What is your first name? Jennifer
2. What is your favorite food? Noodle Soup (Asian style)
3. What high school did you go to? Northgate High
4. What is your favorite color? Purple
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Ok, this is difficult.  I guess right now it's Christian Bale.
6. Favorite drink? Iced Tea
7. Dream vacation? Secluded one, beach, mountain, doesn't matter.
8. Favorite dessert? Creme Brulee
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher, oh wait, I already am!
10. What do you love most in life? my family
11. One word to describe you. Honest
12. Your Flickr name. Craftylilly

1. Jennifer, 2. Asian Chicken Noodle Soup, 3. Untitled, 4. Just an Orchid, 5. christan bale wallpaper, 6. quench your bokeh thirst, 7. Sanibel Evening, 8. open sesame, 9. My habitat, 10. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 'tiz the Season! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ What have we here? ~ Christmas Kitty, Good Cheer! Happy Holidays, Everyone ! ! !, 11. Speak Up for Peace, 12. March Postcard

So, the exercise challenge...  I was reading Carrie's blog and saw that she was going to do a six week push-up program to work on her core and arms.  I took the initial test (only got 5 pushups so will start on the lowest tier), and thought that exercising along with friends would be a good idea!  Carrie is asking for people to join her and post before and after pics for a chance at a prize.  The prize is a side point, the bigger idea is for people to exercise together.  So, if you're interested, leave a comment over at her blog and join us!

Gifties and a new camera!

My mailperson has been very good to me lately.  First, for being one of the three people who completed the Celebration shawl by the end of June, Anni, sent me a gorgeous skein of merino laceweight.  It's a lovely shade of pink in a colorway called Antique.  Not sure what shawl it's destined to be, as right now it's sitting on my desk being pet and loved as a skein. 

Also, Sarah (Knittingarch over on Ravelry) sent me a perfect pair of socks for my birthday.  They fit perfectly and are so snuggly.  She dubs them Spanish Dancer socks, and I will get much wear and dancing out of them.  Thank you Sarah!

I also got a new camera recently.  I had been using a Canon Powershot SD10.  We have a fancy Nikon, but I found that the little Canon was perfect for taking out with me, and really handy and uncomplicated for taking blog and etsy photos.  However, after getting our Nikon, I started to notice that the pictures I was getting out of the Canon were a little lacking.  Plus, the battery and the replacement batteries were not lasting as long as I really would have liked.  So, we picked up the Canon Powershot SD1100.  It's a nice little camera.  I still have the portability and the ease of use, but the pictures are better.  I know I'm not the best picture taker, but no longer can I blame it on the camera.

Hopefully the next post will include some knitting pics!  That's the plan anyway, but you know what they say about best laid plans...   

A small Meme break

I've been tagged by Iris and also saw an interesting meme on the Loopy Girls blog, and so since I don't have anything of note to share, I thought I'd participate. 

So here's the first one.

1. What was I doing ten years ago?
I had just gotten married to RM, just graduated from graduate school, and found a teaching job at an all girl's Catholic High school.  I was spending the summer preparing for my first year of teaching, and resting after a very busy year planning a wedding, and working on a Master's thesis.

2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today?
1) Drop off and pick up RR from summer school.
2) Keep a routine doctor's appointment.

3) Take the kids to Soccer Clinic.
4) Drop a package off at UPS.  RM's Xbox 360 got the red ring of death and had to be sent by to Microsoft for repair.
5) Call a friend back.

3. What are your favorite things to snack on?
Lately I've been loving Trio bars.  They are very yummy and healthy. 

4. Where are some places you've lived?
I've lived in Davis, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Vallejo, other random places around the Bay Area, CA.

5. What would you do if you were a billionaire.
Hmm, well I'd give a lot to charities, pay off debts, set up trust funds for my kid's education, start a business with the hubby.

6. What jobs have you done?
I worked at a Deli, was a night receptionist at a local church, substitute teacher, High school teacher, mom.

7. Which other people would you like to know more about?  I'd like to know more about anyone who'd like to play.

And the second one is a book meme:

1. One book that made you laugh: Lamb:  The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore.  Hey, I was/am a religion teacher, so any satire/humor novel amuses me.  This one is fairly clever too without being condescending.

2. One book that made you cry:  Where the Red Fern Grows.  I've actually cried due to many other books, but this is the first one that made me cry as a child.  I still tear up as an adult just thinking about it.

3. One book that you loved as a child: The Westing Game, I loved this book.  It started my lifelong love of mysteries.

4. One book you’ve read more than once: Wuthering Heights.  Yes, the characters aren't that sympathetic, but the dark, gothic nature of this story gets me every time.  I love it.

5. One book you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it: Hmm, this is a tough one.  I'm not that embarassed by any book that I've truly loved.

6. One book you hated: I don't usually hate books.  A book that I didn't enjoy reading at all is Lolita by Nabokov.  Reading the book for me was the equivalent of feeling slimed.

7. One book that scared you: I also don't get scared reading books.  One book that I found very creepy was The Turn of the Screw.

8. One book that bored you:  100 Years of Solitude.  To me, it felt like reading it took 100 years.

9. One book that made you happy: I'm thoroughly enjoying the book that I just finished called Hood by Stephen Lawhead.  It's a retelling of the Robin Hood story, but it's set years earlier, in Wales.  Robin Hood is a Welsh freedom fighter.  Great book, and the first of a trilogy.  I'm currently reading the second book in the series, Scarlet.

10. One book that made you miserable: The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver.  I loved this book, but there are parts that are just heart breaking and frustrating.  I don't know if I'll ever read it again.

11. One book that you weren’t brave enough to read: I'm not afraid to read anything.  Should I be?

12. One book character you’ve fallen in love with:  I've loved many a character in a book, but the first character I remember falling in love with as a child as Laura Ingalls from the Little House on the Praire books.  What a wonderful character.  I loved her from childhood to her adulthood.

13. The last book you read: Hood by Stephen Lawhead

14. The next book you hope to read: Once I'm done with Scarlet, I'm considering taking up Anna Karenina.  It's been on my "to read" list for far too long.

Let me know if you do either of these memes on your blog!

An answer to a question

I'm not quite sure what's going on with all the fires, but the air has been much clearer this week.  My sinuses are so much happier, and so are the kids as we've been able to spend much more time outside at the pool, parks, and playing in the yard.  I can only hope that the fires are being contained, but I fear that fires will be a worry all summer due to the extremely dry spring we had this year.

A few blog posts ago I showed a picture of a big blue bag and asked you all what new crafting toy was inside.  Many of you guessed a small loom.  Yes, I did get a loom for my birthday!  I got a 24" Kromski Harp which is a rigid heddle loom.  Fiber has officially taken over my life, my friends.  I haven't had a chance to do anything with the loom yet, as I haven't had a spare couple of hours to play around with warping it.  PQL is starting summer school next week, so I'm thinking I'll get some time soon.  I did start a subscription to Handwoven though, and have enjoyed perusing the pages. 

While RM has been at summer school, PQL and I have had a chance to explore a new fun place nearby.  In the brand new shopping area in Lafayette, a brand new retro candy shop has opened.  The store is called Powell's and it's such a fun place. They sell an amazing array of candy, and toy/joke shop items.  We found a couple of different candy to try, and I picked up a cute little pouch shaped like a Hostess cupcake.  Cute, no?

After finishing up the stole, I've been splitting time between a few different small knitting projects.  I really wanted a quick crafting project though, so I took out the sewing machine and whipped up two aprons out of two tea/dish towels I had on hand.  I used this tutorial.  I liked how they came out!  I'm going to give them as gifts to two friends of my kids.  Every kid needs a cool apron, no? 

We're going to have a family barbecue tomorrow for the 4th.  If I don't get to the blog tomorrow, let me wish all of you fellow Americans a happy and safe 4th of July.  I wish all my blog readers/friends have a restful and crafty weekend! 

What's a good way to spend one's birthday?

Heading down to the local Peet's in the afternoon and scoring a Berry Pomagranate Freddo.  Yummy!  Yep, I'm a year older today, and you know what?  Thirty-four feels a lot like thirty-three.  It feels a lot different than twenty-four though.  Overall though, I have to say that I've enjoyed my 30's much more than my 20's.  Is that strange?  I feel more in control of my life and feelings than I did when I was younger.

Oh, and the picture?  That's the Mom art and writing that the Red Ranger did for his school.  Click on it to embiggen.  Check out how old RR thinks I am.  Yep, that's my boy!   

"Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car."

We've been hunkering down, hermit-style this weekend.  We are in the eye of the celebration storm, and trying to enjoy having nothing particular to do.  RM promised the kids to take down some boxes from our loft to get out a couple of things for them.  In the process of doing this, both of us went through some boxes of keepsakes.  I found some strange things that I have no idea why I saved them. (a plastic TV Guide cover?  Seriously, what was I thinking.)  I did however find my photo box with my pictures going back to grade school.  I thought I'd share a little 20 year old gem with you.

Yep, that's a fourteen year old me.  Now, there's several things that make me chuckle about this school picture.  First, take a look at the sheer size of my glasses.  Throughout my childhood I didn't have many choices for glasses.  I've been wearing glasses since I was 2 years old.  Around the time of this picture I actually had some choices in glasses as my face was finally adult sized.  I'm guessing in 1988, big glasses were in.  Second, what is up with my hair.  Around 13 my hair started to go curly.  I remember thinking that short hair would control my curly hair.  Of course my hair style here is a  little Brigitte Nielsen.  Scary.  Oh and then there's the 80's style sweatshirt with the tank top underneath.  Oh yeah, I was stylin'!  There's nothing like seeing a picture of yourself in the awkward years that can bring on the laughter.

RM also found an unused leather wallet that belonged to his grandfather.  This wallet is in mint condition.  It's an interesting little wallet as there's places for keys, a really small credit card section compared to today's standards, and even a card to put all of your personal information, including Social Securty Card number.  We also found a sample photo in the billfold picture section of the wallet.  The picture cracked us up!  Look at this 50's era guy working it at the tennis court!  Interesting stuff, no?

So, have any of you come across fun/interesting things that you've saved over the years? Oh, and bonus question, does anyone know what movie this post's title comes from?

Of Bacon and Bibs

I had fun reading all of your traumatizing film scenes.  Many of them I had forgotten about.  If any of you are interested in a good scary movie, RM and I just saw El Orfanato (The Orphanage).  It's a decidedly creepy movie in the vein of The Others or The Haunting. 

Speaking of things slightly left of center, take a look at the summer tote I bought at Target last week.  Who wouldn't want a pool tote with a bacon and eggs applique?  Just looking at it makes me chuckle.  The kidlets have swim lessons this summer, and this tote is the perfect size for some knitting, sunscreen and pool cover-ups.  Ah summer knitting, I'm beginning to anticipate the possibilities.  I'm thinking lots of lace, and perhaps a Cece.

And to go back to bacon for a second, have you all seen the latest Anticraft?  It's a bacon issue.  Check out this bacon scarf.  I started laughing out loud when I saw it.  I think I want one.  I've never tried double knitting.  Perhaps knitting myself a bacon scarf will be a good way to try it out and get a laugh at the same time.

In all seriousness, I finished up a couple of bibs for a friend's new baby.  This baby has been kept in the NICU for a week now due to birth complications.  My family, as well as PQL's whole preschool community have been very concerned.  I've been focusing prayers and positive energy into the knitting of the bibs.  I'm a firm believer in the power of positive thought and prayer, so if you are willing, send a little to this family.   

A plug for a podcast

If you haven't already found it, I'd like to introduce you to an awesome crafting podcast, Craftypod!  Sister Diane covers all sorts of crafts and has wonderful interviews with all sorts of creative and crafty people.  I've gotten inspired by many of the episodes.  The latest episode's theme is "Men Who Craft" and includes my own cousin, Adam.  Adam's wife, Kayte is also an extremely crafty person with her own craft blog, Love Forever.

Check it out!

How I spent Holy Saturday

Believe it or not, we are actually experiencing a relatively quiet weekend.  Little League just started up, and it seems like we've had a ton of things to do every weekend for the past month or so.  It hasn't helped that one or all of us have been sick all month.  I'm still congested, but now I'm thinking it more has to do with the blossoms that are covering the trees in our area.  They are pretty flowers, and smell very sweet, but boy do they do a number on my sinuses.

Today, we ran a couple of errands, and spent much of the day relaxing at home.  The kids and I broke out the easter egg dye and hardboiled some eggs.  Here are the results.  My kids like to mix up the colors together, over-dying the eggs to make new colors.  I'm especially enamored of the dark green one.  She combined purple, green and blue to make it.  I'm wondering if that would work with yarn.  Hmm....

I've also been knitting almost solely on a Branching Out Scarf.  I'm using some gorgeous green Blue Sky Alpaca Melange, which is 100% alpaca yarn and is so soft.  Knittymama sent it to me as part of a Fiberflix swap.  (Speaking about a Fiberflix swap, I'm thinking of starting another one of those too.  Details to come soon.) The lace pattern is interesting but not so hard that I lose my spot.  It's coming along quite quickly as I've only been working on it.  I am feeling the itch to cast on for some other projects though.  We'll see if I give into the urge this weekend.  I am planning on attending my cousin's baby shower in a couple of weeks, and have been toying with the idea of knitting a Two-Tone Shrug by Stephanie Japel.  I wonder if I can finish it in time?  It may be worth it, as I think it's a perfect spring sweater.

I thought I'd share with you a picture I took today of Ranger.  He's captivated by the play of light on the wall in my bedroom. You can see that his tail is moving so fast, the camera couldn't capture it.  And yep, that's a big figure of Ash from Army of Darkness, and Evil Dead.  On the shelf right below this we also have a figure of King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  We do like our movie memoribilia here at Chez Craftylilly.   

Those of you who celebrate, have a peaceful Easter Vigil, and joyous Easter Sunday.  And I wish a restful weekend to you all.   

Movie Quote Meme answers

So here are the answers to my movie meme.  Scroll down to the previous entry to see the quotes.  I think I stumped some people on a few of them.  Actually, I have tons of favorite movies, and these ten are only a few of them.  You can see my preference for darker stories and comedies though. 

1. Best in Show Wendee got this right!  I love, love this movie.  Another favorite quote is "We have so much in common, we both love soup and snow peas, we love the outdoors, and talking and not talking. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about."
2. No one got this one.  It's from Rear Window.  Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite director.
3. Fargo.  Christie you got this one right.  I like the Coen brothers quite a lot too.  I've got No Country for Old Men on it's way to me from Netflix right now.
4. Fight Club.  Christie again!
5. Silence of the Lambs.  Christie one more time!
6. Army of Darkness.  Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi, an army of undead, hilarious dark humor, what's not to like?
7. Gattaca.  Very interesting story with good acting.  I used to use parts of it when I taught high school ethics class.
8. Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Stephanie got this one.  So how many of you will watch this movie through the credits just to have Ferris tell you to go ahead and leave as the movie's over?
9. Say Anything. Karen got this one.  There are so many good quotes from this movie, plus I love John Cusack.  Still do, actually.
10. Young Guns.  Guilty pleasure here.  Love this movie, and loved the sequel.

Next post will have some crafting goodness, I promise!