Trophy

This past weekend, Scott and I headed over to Trophy for some afternoon cupcakes and coffee.



I love this cupcake place. Their cupcakes are just sweet enough to be delicious, just moist enough to melt in your mouth and just the right size to make your tummy happy.



We sat within view of the cupcake kitchen and were able to watch the snowballs being frosted. They looked delicious!



So skip over Cupcake Royale and head over to Trophy Cupcakes. If they are good enough for Martha Stewart, they ware good enough for me!



Trophy Cupcakes at Wallingford Center
http://www.trophycupcakes.com/
1815 N 45th St Suite 209 (between N Burke Ave & N Wallingford Ave)
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-7020

Monday Favorites

1. crosses quilt: layout expansion, 2. Karen Hemingway - Le tricot en 300 points, 3. Tapestry Cowl!, 4. the longer you sit there, 5. Untitled, 6. sunny, 7. quilting: process, 8. Sweet Caroline Front and Back, 9. sprout's quilt on a clothesline, 10. Para não esquecer!, 11. Hurro Mistah, 12. How Cute Am I......, 13. New Coat!!, 14. Whatever gets you through the day.., 15. polaroid*tattoo, 16. kwyo and pdgibson, 17. delicious, 18. ..., 19. and above all else, don't drop your camera, 20. She left pieces of her life behind her everywhere she went. It's easier to feel the sunlight without them, she said., 21. Untitled, 22. Untitled, 23. More Colors: ready for final blocking (C365:295), 24. standing s t i l l, 25. I miss these !!!!

Zebre

I finished up Tyler's sweater this weekend by adding the cutest patch right over where I joined two skeins of yarn. I think it adds a cute little feature to an otherwise plain sweater.



I got a sweet little patch for his sister's sweater but I need to finish that one up first.

Beans, Beans, The Magical Food!

A few weeks ago, I read about a couple who decided to try to eat all their meals on $1 a day each and blog about it. I was enthralled by their blog and quickly began thinking about how much we spend on food.



I am pretty thrifty with the grocery bill and we often eat at home BUT I know that I could do better. They included a recipe for refried beans made in the crock pot. This intrigued me and I decided to give their recipe a try but with a few adjustments. This couple is vegan and I'm a carnivore. I knew the beans would need some animal fat and meat to make me happy.



Refried Beans (ala ReeBeckiSupergirl)
makes 8 servings

1 cup dry pinto beans (.54 cents)
1 cup black beans (.86 cents)
3 cloves garlic (.12 cents)
1 tsp. chili flakes (.08 cents)
salt to taste (.04 cents)
2 oz salted pork ($.49)
3 cups water (free!)
3 cups chicken broth ($1.20)

1. Rinse the pinto beans and soak them overnight. Rinse well.
2. In a crock pot, add pinto beans, 3 cups water, 3 cups chicken broth, garlic, chili, salt and salted pork.
3. Cook on high heat for approximately 8 hours.
4. When beans are very soft, pour off water as necessary to drain beans.
5. Use a potato masher to mash beans to desired consistency.

Cost:
Whole batch: $3.33
Serving: $0.42

While my recipe is a bit more costly than the original one, it is quite tasty and still really cheap!



I'm also pretty psyched that I found a great use for these jars! Bean storage!

Christmas Knitting

I started my Christmas knitting back in June and quickly finished socks for my Dad, Brother and Sister-in-Law. However I decided that it would be nice to learn how to make 2-Socks-on-2-Circs. Since this is a new technique for me, it's really slowed me down. That and I had some problems with sizing and started the socks more than once.

However I believe that I'll be able to get these socks knitted in time and I'll get that sweater down as another present. I just need to keep myself away from the Endpaper Mitts!

The Obsession Continues

I really like how the colors are working together.

Due to a fit of startistis last night, I cast on for the Endpaper Mitts. I had a bit of a situation with the tubular cast-on (yea that Italian one was a bit too much for me) but once I got that sorted out, I was on my way to a new obsession! Now I must go, I need to knit on those mitts a bit more.

Tuesday Favorites

1. I miss these !!!!, 2. untitled, 3. 291/365, 4. macaroons, 5. Selbu Modern, 6. it's the goggles, 7. Illo pretend, 8. {suspended}, 9. um, 10. 365.316 Bad-Ass Jinx!!, 11. Untitled, 12. I Am Bear, 13. Untitled, 14. big boy still loves his otter, 15. HBW EVERYONE <3, 16. Danboard Bokeh HBW!!, 17. selbu modern - done! now to block it, 18. First Self Developed Film, 19. meet the mini, 20. smug dance, 21. Odie and his cute little hat., 22. t h r e e, 23. Untitled, 24. inlet

One Down, One to Go!

Over the weekend, I finally finished the Child's Placket Sweater. All in all, it took me about 7 hours to complete this sweater and since I'm a fairy quick knitter, I have to say that I was disappointed. The book says that this sweater will take 4-6 hours to complete. I don't know if they only timed the project with the smallest size or how they gauged it but I made a sweater size right smack in the middle of the sizes and it took me more than 6 hours to complete it. That is disappointing! I wonder how long the second size will take?



I still need to add a small applique or something to the sweater for a finished touch.

Now I need to make one more Child's Placket Sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I started that one last night.

On Alki Beach

My running group meet up on Alki Beach today for a 13 mile run. It was a crisp, foggy Fall morning and I selected to only do 10 miles (which is still frickin' far) which was a great choice since my foot did not hurt much at all!

Then my friends and I headed out for breakfast the Alki Cafe for some re-fueling.




On the way home, I saw the most beautiful sight, Seattle floating in the foggy mist.

I had to pull over right away and snap a few shots.

Calla Lilly

We are having dinner with some friends tonight and while out and about today, I picked up a little thank you for them, these Calla Lilly flowers.

Calla Lilly flowers just happen to also be my favorite flower so I might be a little biased in how beautiful these are but seriously, look at them! They are gorgeous!

Placket Progress

The Child's Placket Sweater is coming along nicely. I've put in about 4 hours on knitting the moss sweater and am about half way through the second sleeve which means that I am still within the 4-6 hour time line in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.

Such a sweet little sweater! I'm enjoying making this pattern again which is good since I still have one more to make.

Living the Manifesto

I admit it, I'm obsessed with Lululemon. OBSESSED!

Their corporate culture and practices are so deeply aligned with my feelings on Yoga and life. They fully embrace what they preach and hey the free yoga classes I sometimes attend, don't hurt! Well they hurt my wallet when I walk out with more Lululemon goodness but hey, I love that stuff too.

They have this manifesto and I think it is just wonderful, so wonderful that I work hard to apply it to my life.

One of my favorite lines is, "Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks."

And yet another is, "Practice yoga so you can remain active in physical sports as you age."

So get out there, practice and embrace life!

Blog Re-Design

The ole blog has always been a bit of a mish-mash since I honestly can barely do some html coding and that can be messy.

After some prodding (A LOT of prodding), Scott was kind enough to collaborate with me on a new blog design.

Scott did the artwork a few weeks ago and tonight we hunkered down to implement the new code. I did the typing while Scott did the teaching so I can do the coding on my own next time. EEK!

We moved the column from the left to right-side of the page. Scott gave me a daily updating widget for my 365 project which I guess means that I'm supposed to continue it to next year. We added some vector icons and a "magic robot" along with some fancy new colors.

All in all, I'm quite happy with this!

And oh yea, Thank you Scott!

Christmas Knitting for Children

I'm busy making sweaters for Scott's Niece and Nephew right now. I'm so excited about them that I could just squeal.

I'm making the Child's Placket Sweater for both of them; one in burgandy and one is moss. I'm going to then add cute little appliques to them to dress up the sweaters and make them more appealing to the children.

I'm so taking time to check the timing on these sweaters. These are under the 4-6 hour gift section of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and I want to see if they really take 4-6 hours to complete. I'm currently at 3.5 hours for the body of the sweater and part of one sleeve.

Monday Favorites

1. There's nothing like a good soaking rain to help you appreciate the people you love, the roof over your head, and cable television., 2. first camera, 3. Fiddleheads #2, 4. The Boys, 5. Japanese Autumn, 6. Untitled, 7. beacon, 8. Carnival squash, 9. Carrots 2, 10. : hypnotically yours, 11. lace, 12. my new favorite square. (C365:282) [Nov 2, 08], 13. the swimmer, 14. on the line, 15. get down tonight now, 16. 1/30 days of gratitude: kindred spirits, 17. Gerbera, 18. Pris


I love finding great photos on Flickr and I love that I now have Lurvely to help me find them faster!

Knitting Projects Update

I've been fighting the good fight against startitis and trying to finish up some unfinished ones.

I'm close to finishing a pillow cover for the new couch!



I've been having a few fits and starts with my Mom's socks but I know they will be done in time for Christmas.



Last night I started the Hemlock Ring Blanket and I hear it is a quick knit!





And now back to the knitting!

The New Couch is Grand!

After much worrying, hand wringing and more worrying, our new couch arrived today and it fit! No problems at all!

I love our new couch!

The Watchmen

Ever since I saw The Watchmen preview, I've been a bit obsessed with the thought of reading the book BUT I was forced to wait until Scott finished reading it first. Finally he finished and I've been devouring this book like mad. I'm really liking it even with all the violence!

Hemlock Blanket Making

My yarn from WEBS arrived today. I'm planning on making the Hemlock Blanket with it and I can't wait since our new couch is scheduled to arrive on Saturday and this blanket will look so lovely on it.

Yes, We Can! Yes, We Did!

This election year was historic. The polls were crowded, the people's voices were heard and last night, my countrymen elected Obama into office. I sat there last night listening to his acceptance speech and now I hope he doesn't make me cry every time I hear one of his speeches but it was an amazing speech. A speech of unity, power and most importantly, HOPE.

One of the kids at the election party I attended asked his Mom which was more important, this election or the Olympics. All of the adults shouted, "This Election!" and then we told him why it was so important. I hope he can tell his kid's about this historic day when he is my age. A day that brought hope back to America, hope that we really need.

Today, Get Out And Vote!

Today, please get out and vote! I'll just be sitting here with my fingers crossed that the change we need as a country is voted into office since I voted last week with my absentee ballot.

Today is Definitely a Monday

A view from the Aurora Bridge, taken last year

I woke up to the drenching rain but I still decided took the bus because it is actually faster than driving when it is raining like it was this morning. As I leave, Scott gets up and complains about the helicopter overhead. I ponder what that means since we don't usually have helicopters overhead.

I walk briskly to my bus stop which is on the other side of the Fremont Bridge. As I approach Fremont Avenue, a policecar shoots past with its lights on. I begin to wonder if I am walking into something bad.

I notice that on the Aurora bridge that there are about 4 fire trucks, 3 ambulances, the Morgue bus and lots of people. Down below the Fremont bridge is the Police boat and lots of police cars.

I can see a blue something on the side of the bridget but decide that someone has unfortunately jumped. I hear later that he had not jumped at that time but did later. I also heard that he died. It's sad to hear of someone taking their life in such a way. I hear of the jumper's fate from the Seattle Times.

There has been talk of installing a fence on the bridge to prevent these deaths. I can only hope this death speeds up that process.

By the time I got to work, I was also soaked and quite cold.

11 Miles and Counting

I had an 11 mile training session today and it was both good and bad. My running partner had hurt her back earlier in the week so we ended up walking most of the run. I left her around mile 9.5 and ran the remainder of the course in. My running partner's husband was contacted and promised to pick her up. She was in a bit too much pain to finish the course. I hope she is resting right now with some good medication.

All in all, I still had a pretty good training time. It took me about 3 hours to do the 11 miles which is about how long it usually takes me to run a 13.1 mile Half Marathon course.

Next week we run 12 miles and I'll be running that session!

November Favorites

Here it is NaBloPoMo again and while I'm also attempting NaWriNoMo this year, I still wanted to do NaBloPoMo again.

Today, my November Favorites! I'm a bit obsessed with knitting and cakes right now.



1. Untitled, 2. thursday:a break, 3. Feltbeads, 4. sea smoke 1, 5. texture, 6. Miaoooow!, 7. Boba Fett Sad Trooper, 8. haunted house on a hill, 9. Dew drops as little gems, 10. El ajedrez olvidado / Forgotten chess, 11. { n e w ! } notions pouches for knitters., 12. Untitled, 13. On the other side, , 15. Black Monster Longies in Action!, 16. acorn rainbow, 17. silly peepers Mr. Owl, 18. vintage button bouquets in action, 19. Zum Dirndl - One Down, One To Go - My Own Pair, 20. a bowl of autumn, 21. deep in the forest mittens, 22. The Magnolia Project, 23. Hemlock Ring Chart, 24. journal page 51 - 52, 25. journal pages 55 - 56 :: maps, 26. Cookie Monster Cupcake 1, 27. Once Upon a Time...., 28. Um, Ouch. :), 29. Hats for a Sack, 30. autumn wool, 31. Cody, 32. New Kitten!, 33. Day 357: I never thought it would end like this, 34. noro socks, 35. Sara and Terce, 36. Un soplo de color

14 Carrots of Goodness

Last Saturday after I had a very nice 7-mile run, Scott and I headed to the 14 Carrot Cafe for breakfast



The 14 Carrot Cafe is a nice restaurant located in the Eastlake neighborhood. The menu has a slight Greek flair which I love but because I like to copy Scott, I ordered the Huevos Rancheros.





They were delicious! I loved that they placed the sour cream and the salsa in bowls on the side. It's those extra touches that I love.



The specials looked delicious too and made me crave something with pumpkin in them.



14 Carrot Cafe
2305 Eastlake Ave E
Seattle, WA 98102
(206) 324-1442