It's the Cheese!!

Kerfuffle

2012-02-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Flash mob hockey crowd surprises 2 rec hockey teams which made their night memorable!

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

Some friends gave us grandstand tickets to the Chinese New Year parade so we loaded up the family SUV and headed over to downtown LA where we caught the metro to Chinatown. It was a fun outing but way too warm for January...

Lots of lag time in between stuff; the kids lasted about 1.5 hours so we headed back to Union Station for a rest/snack break.

Slushies helped cool us off and the nice courtyard.

Time to catch a train and head home...

sunset at the beach

2012-01-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

Lately the skies have been gorgeous with the warmer weather and scattered clouds. I've been wanting to see the sunset at the beach for the longest time but the boys's homework and activities prevented that. Yesterday, everything came together...the boys finished their homework and we had nothing else scheduled so I rushed them out the door.

Of course, in my haste I forgot the memory card in the reader for my DSLR but I did have my little Fuji in my purse. So these are the pictures of the lovely sunset at Torrance beach.

Short but sweet time. I can't wait for the longer days at the beach.

Portait Session

2012-01-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

My friend V and I go out when we can and practice our photography. We usually shoot flowers, landscapes and whatnot but people portaits is what we've been avoiding. So last week, we headed over to the marsh to see what we could do...

It's a weird feeling to be in front of the camera instead of behind it but we had fun and these are the 2 photos I liked the best. I adjusted them in LR3 but I like the mood and look.

We are beginner level portait taking so it's a start.

I used Erik Kim's Lomo preset on LR3 to get this effect but I like how it's backlit and has that kind of dreamy quality to it.

Knitterly mood

2012-01-26T16:46:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to focus on my socks so instead I pick other things to knit. I have plenty of non-sock projects waiting to be finished but no, I have to start a completely new project. Yes, I admit that I have a problem.

First up is the Everdeen beanie from the book Weekend Hats. Lovely and stretchy, I think I will keep it for myself. :)

And the Infinitude scarf (although it's a cowl) which I have a like/dislike attitude. I like the idea of looping it around the neck up to 2-3 times without the ends coming undone or losing the scarf but it just doesn't feel right or comfortable to me so I set it aside for the gift pile.

Now I'm off to find more stuff to start so I ignore my socks...

Weekend update

2012-01-23T10:02:00.000-08:00

No ice hockey for Joshua, we didn't have any either to go to (I watched it on TV) but Tyler did get his blue belt in kenpo on Saturday. We're hoping he gets motivated and focused since Josh will soon start.

It was nice, chilly & rainy this weekend which brings up another favorite thing...a nice fire in my wood stove! After many years of lighting fires in the stove, I have come up my routine to start a fire. I used to have a difficult time getting enough kindling to get the logs to catch but one day, Hector & I happened to be at Lowes and found in the clearance section, these things called Lightning Nuggets. I can't remember if it was the box of 24 or 100 but it was marked down to $1 so we thought sure waht the heck we'll try it. There was another box that Hector said I should get but I said no, I'll try these first.

Well, these turned out to be awesome. Yes, Hector still reminds me of the time I missed out on the 2nd box I could have bought for $1 since I can find them online at $26 per 100 so I missed out on that. :) A box can last about a year or more...

I still use kindling but not nearly the amounts I did in the past. So when I want a fire, it's super easy and quick which makes me a happy girl...

On with the remodel

2012-01-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

I think it was in November when we helped a neighbor who wanted to do a backyard redo but couldn't get proper access with heavy equipment so they asked us. It worked out because we wanted to have our wall redone.

Well, that was complete and we have a nice yet ugly cinder block wall with the other 2 side fences falling down. Finally after consulting with more neighbors etc we have started demolishing the fences.

Now I can see what our neighbors yards look like! Nothing exciting.

My poor avocado tree is down to almost nothing and barely hanging in there. :(

Today is the concrete footing...everything is moving along.

Monday

2012-01-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

Since it was MLK day, Sherri and I decided to get the kids together for some time at the tidepools and look for whales at the Point Vicente center.

It was a nice cloudy day and the kids were excited to enjoy the day. Unfortunately, Tyler fell on some rocks, scraped both knees and hands. He sulked for a bit but he soon cheered up and had fun breaking rocks with the others.

Here are the pictures which explain much more than I ever can...

A great day and fun to be with good friends!

Weekend Antics

2012-01-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

First I have a video I shot on my phone because I was lame and forgot my camera. Josh is at his special needs ice hockey program skating and working on his stick handling. He loves to skate and seems to enjoy the program, especially the hot chocolate afterwards.

I started another hat and a cowl so those are my newest works in progress. On Sunday we went out to dinner and I got a text from a friend asking if our power was out. Huh? Through Facebook, I found out from neighbors that yes, our power was out and it was still out when we got back home.

The kids were happy to play in the dark with their flashlights while I dug out some candles and Hector busied himself with the generator (just in case). By this time the power is out for a couple of hours and we have no idea when it will come back on. Hector got the generator running (very very loud) and hooked up the fridge and a light. I made a fire in our wood stove and made ice cream sundaes for the kids. It was cute to have them sit by the fire eating their desserts even though we had a light on in the playroom. :)He went off to get more supplies like gasoline, batteries etc but while he was out, the power came back on at 9:15pm. Phew! I was relieved since I was not looking forward to sleeping (or trying to) while that generator was running.

All is back to normal, the kids are off today so we'll try for an outing with Sherri and her kids to see if we can spot some whales. Stay tuned...

hat trifecta

2012-01-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

I'm on a major roll with these hats which give me a kind of instant gratification high so now I feel a tad guilty neglecting my sock projects. I'm easily distracted by all these cool projects I see on Ravelry so my mind is constantly churning and spinning with ideas.

Anyway, here is the Capucine hat which is knit is bulky chunky yarn which only took a day. When I use Noro it fascinates me with its color so I keep on knitting and before I know it, I have a hat.

The hat is hood-like which I think is really cute and feminine (almost looks like I should be on a sleigh ride). It doesn't give me hat head although I have to wear it longer to fully test it out. :) Very unique so much that I want to knit more in all sorts of colors to use up all the yarn I have hoarded away.

Another Hat

2012-01-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

Last time I made a man hat so this is a woman hat. I went to the yarn store yesterday to pick out some Noro Iro which is a bulky yarn, came home and started knitting & finished that night.

I had to wait til today for some proper photos although I didn't bother prettify myself. Maybe later today....so just enjoy the hat. It is plenty colorful and interesting on its own.

2 hats done this month and 1 more hat to get a hat trick! :p

I Love this Sport

2012-01-06T08:30:00.001-08:00

This video pretty much sums up all the parts of NHL hockey...

I'm a Knitting Machine

2012-01-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

Ha ha, not really. I just have so many projects on the needles in various stages that it only seems like I knit like a maniac. :)

I used smaller needles = smaller hat. I always love the Noro yarn colors and this hat was modelled by Josh for effect to see how it would look on someone his age. I am so lucky that he is so accomodating and sweet! It'll look awesome on a young girl or someone with a small head. It will be the 1st to go in the gift pile this year.

This is the Welted Toque from Weekend Hats.

1st Pair of 2012

2012-01-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yay for the new year!! And a new pair of socks to boot! :) It was a first ofor me to knit a pair of sportweight yarn socks which is a heavier/thicker yarn but it sure knits up fast. I used some STR (Socks that Rock) club yarn from January 2011 (almost a year ago) that came in 2 colors for a pair of colorwork socks. I liked the patterns but that type of socks would be too warm/dense for our mild weather here so the yarn sat in its yarn bin.

I used the pattern Van Dyke socks from the book Socks from the Toe Up. That's a cool thing to knit from the toe up so if there are possible yarn shortage issues, the feet will be knit first then you can knit the leg as long as your yarn lasts.

This particular yarn wouldn't be able to get a regular calf type sock so they became short ankle socks. These are so cute. I wore them all day yesterday and the thicker yarn was really cushy and comfy. Even though the weather has been warming up lately, my feet were cold so the socks came in handy. :)

I used the gusset heel per the pattern which is a nice and tidy heel that doesn't add any extra bulkiness. I ran out to get take out for dinner and the socks were comfortable inside my Chucks. :)

Now I have the other sportweight club yarn waiting to become another pair of socks soon...

New Years Eve

2012-01-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

We actually went out! Well, we went to a hockey game then out afterwards for some food and drinks but it's been forever since we've done that! :)

Here's a nice pic of Hector and me posing out on our porch when we accidently got locked out! Not to worry, luckily a friend with a spare key was nearby and rescued us so we could go on our merry way.

okay, back to the important stuff, hockey! :) The Canucks were in town and they're a tough, high scoring team but The Kings answered the call to play and boy, it was a great game.

The Canucks scored on their first shot but after that, the Kings shut them down and Quick was awesome plus add in some scoring > 2 goals makes it fun and exicting.

It was even better to have that win and head out afterwards for some drinks with Julie and her friends. Really nice ladies and we had fun talking about all sorts of things.
A nice pleasant New Years eve that wasn't super crowded or rowdy. :)

All these pics were taken with my new little point & shoot camera H got me for Christmas. I still love my DSLR so much but there are times when I do not want to carry that beast around. Plus, Staples Center balks when I bring my long lens into the games so the little Fuji works pretty well.

Last Pair of 2011

2011-12-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

I had to squeak in one last pair for 2011. Okay, I got a bit lazy and made them shorties but they're still socks. Plus living in SoCal, I like to wear socks but traditional calf length socks are not so practical. In addtion, they can look kind of dorky with my athletic shoes so this solves that problem. Also, I can be pretty dorky on my own, thank you very much! :)

This pair will be given to my dear childhood friend Kathy that I've known since the 2nd grade ( a very long time) and since she has princess feet that can feel any little bump (design element) on her sensitive footsies, these will be perfect for her. Cute stripes in holiday colors that she can enjoy year round.

I think I have to knit more since I have lots of leftover sock yarn waiting to be used. :)

Knitted Toy

2011-12-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

I finished this cute toy earlier this month but forgot to take pictures until today. It's a perfect project to use up those sock yarn leftovers and this time I used up the yarn I used for Josh's socks. It is a self striping yarn which makes it so cute and fun to look at.

This is for Curly, Carol & Buddy's little dog and we'll see if he likes it or not.

Josh sure does. He is automatically drawn to it by squishing, tossing and catching it. I still have enough of that sock yarn to make another one for Josh.

2011 is winding down and both Hector & I have a nasty cold that knocked us on our butts. We are much better but we're hoping the kids will have escaped the icky cold. Not fun. At all.

So I leave this year, thankful for my loved ones, family, friends and to those who I know in the blogosphere. Here's to 2012! May it be healthy, prosperous and happy! :)
And lots of knitting...

Hockey and Hats

2011-12-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

As Christmas approaches swiftly, I start knitting hats to 'pad' the Christmas gift pile. Over the course of this year, I still knit mostly socks which almost always start off as mine but for whatever reason, sometimes the socks don't fit me...too big, too small or not my taste so I throw them into the gift pile.

It works and I've a good selection going but since the women/girls benefit for the most part, I feel bad and knit a couple of hats. Okay, if you follow my most recent completed hats, they were for women/girls. I knit a hat for Josh too although that doesn't count. There is another hat I finished a long time ago (frisky reindeer hat) that I will give to Alex. That isn't much on the guys' side of the family. I will say this that some of the guys in the family are pretty darn picky. One teen won't wear hats because it will mess up his hair. Okay, he's off the list. Another male only wants a black plain hat which will kill me with boredom and blindness. Okay, I did buy some black wool but here it is, December 21, and no hat. So he loses out again this year. I knit a nephew a striped hat several years ago and he's moving to Sacramento area at the end of the year so I could knit him a hat and mail it to him.

I guess I'm saying, I'm done knitting hats. :)

Saying that, I did finish this Lucky 7 Hat and who knows who will grab it. I will find out if my nephew from above will want it since he is a black hat kind of guy too. I just managed to squeak out his striped hat with black and muted shades of Noro.

Tyler models Lucky 7.

So that leads to hockey...such a traumatic month ( I sorta kid). My team (LA Kings) starts losing, not scoring and then their head coach gets fired. Another one is hired and today he takes over. Kat and I head over to watch their first practice together. I will pause and ask...is there any other professional sport that have practices open to the public? It's great. :)

New head coach Darryl Sutter

Trio

The players looked upbeat and eager. Tomorrow will be the beginning, we play the Ducks our cross town rivals.

Hector and I will be there cheering on the Kings!!

New Hats

2011-12-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

this is the Escargot Hat from Knitty.com. I had to felt the hat because it was HUGE! And see even after shrinkage, it still fits my bighead. Ha! It is kind of cute and I didn't think that I could pull this style off but not too shabby. :)

I added the cute rose buttons to the flyer cap but it's not for me as shown in the pic below. I think it will look cute on a young girl. Well, it was never for me anyway! :)

Oh, much better model although still big for A...

Wanderer

2011-12-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Josh is growing up. He refuses to use his Curious George umbrella and shuns his cool earflap hat that I knit for him because one kid commented on it, said it looked funny. Josh, of course, can't totally figure out the context but takes it at face value so now he won't wear the hat.

Time to knit something more grownup and mature to suit my little guy. Enter the Wanderer Cap featured in Weekend Hats. I love hats although not all of them suit me. They are the perfect gift to knit during the Christmas season and pretty fast. I still have 2 other hats that are done but need some finishing touches. :)

More photos later on those but here is the Wanderer.

Hopefully, Josh stays close by home and won't wander off any time soon!

Monday

2011-12-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

It's raining and even though I knew it was going to happen, I procrastinated grocery shopping until this morning so that was an experience. Maybe in the back of my mind, when I hear rain I think/hope it's more like scattered showers but no, it's a constant steady rain since 8 am.

We're not made for that kind of rain so the storm drains get seriously backed up and last weeks winds created more debris that causes more problems. I'm home now, grocery shopping done and making turkey soup and Chinese porridge jook that smells really good and I'm starving. Won't be ready until later today so I have to wait.

Finished this Escargot hat over the weekend but it's terribly big so I felted it and it fits better but still big. I think it will still look cute but felted. I must knit looser than I thought so major adjustments will have to be made for the next one. When it dries, I take pics of it and I hadn't thought of taking before pictures... Oh well.

It's really cute and unique but not really my style. I wish I could carry off the vintage look but no, I don't think I ever could. Into the gift pile, it goes! :0

Weekend Post

2011-12-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

Nice low key weekend. I didn't do much of anything but lounge around the house watching Hector / Tyler play the new Zelda Skyward Sword knitting until it was time to head over to Staples Center with the whole family for the Kings game.

Great view of the entire ice but at times, I felt disconnected from the actual game playing but it was nice and made me appreciate our usual seats. :)

View from the upper seats.

Nice view of our usual seats way down there.

Josh enjoyed some TV in bed with me. I wanted to capture his 'purdy eyes'. :) I finished another project and maybe I won't post those pictures just yet. But I did get my final installment of my sock yarn club with happy colors perfect for the season.

I'm roasting another turkey in our rotisserie and it smells wonderful. Just in time for the next couple of days that are going to be rainy and cold. I think I will attempt turkey soup too!

Round Up

2011-12-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm doing better keeping up with my 365 Project but my regular blog is being neglected so here is some of what I've been up to.

My mom had the crazy idea of eating chestnuts but didn't realize how to cook/roast them. Since she never uses her oven nor wants to, she gave them to me to make & give some to her. I had to look up how to roast them and there are several ways, some of which doesn't require an oven but I tried the oven method.

They came out okay although if my mom springs the idea again next winter, I'll try the boil first then broil method that I read the street vendors use to get their chestnuts perfect.

Kat and I went to the Kings game last night and short story, the LA Kings lost 4-2. :(
The fans were frustrated and not happy with the Kings play but still managed to entertain and have a good time.

Before (with beer)

After (beer)

Bailey

Bud Man

Wild celebrate their win

Another game Saturday and our family of four will be going so that should be fun!!

Flyer Cap

2011-12-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

Another quick hat project that used up my leftover yarn from my Vortex hat. I followed the pattern as written which is a tad short for me but it will fit smaller heads fine. I still need to find buttons to sew on along with the front flap which will complete the aviator look.

As usual, Josh was very compliant in modelling. I might have to include a warning to all the young girls to not look directly into Josh's eyes or instant swooning might occur. :)

I love Noro's bright colors and in the future I would knit the hat longer to fit me but that's just me! :) I'm thinking of gifting this to our friend's daughter in San Diego who is in her teen years so hopefully she'll like it.

Recap

2011-12-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

Recently, I went through my project page on Ravelry and counted 40 pairs of socks since 2008! Yikes! That's really cool and true when I heard that sock knitting was addictive! Even though the weather is much colder than usual, I don't get to wearing much knitwear as I'd like but socks are perfect and so is sock weight (fingering) yarn.

So I thought since I've been told that I'm difficult to shop for gifts, here are my favorite yarn websites.

The Loopy Ewe

Knitpicks

I'm also thinking of joining a sock knitting club like I did last year. It was really fun to get a package with some nice sock yarn and a couple of patterns to go along with it. The gift that keeps on giving. :)

For your amusement...

2011-12-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

or not but this sums up a typical day at the pharmacy. I've been out of the 'biz' for about 5+ years but this article brought me right back to those crazy times at the pharmacy.

Why it take so long to fill your Rx at the pharmacy...

And while humorous and slightly snarky, this really DOES happen more frequently and I thank the Lord that I don't work in retail pharmacy any more!

Thanks Hector!! :)

Green Waffel

2011-12-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

This morning, the hat was still unfinished but a few hours later, it's complete!! :) Made smaller (as in shorter) to fit a youth but very stretchy so that it will grow with the person.
I used a green yarn that I got in the hockey playoff pools earlier this year and I finally found a the right project for it.

I was thinking whether I should add a pom pom but it looks nice as is and not everyone likes pom poms. I plan of gifting this to our friend's daughter so I need to knit another hat ASAP for her sister although not the same hat since I got bored with this on the 2nd time around.

So here are the pictures... modelled by A.

Cool Socks

2011-11-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

I cast off on Joshua's socks and they really look cool.

Self striping yarn makes it look like I put a lot of work into them when I really didn't. :)
I love the colors and Josh seems pretty happy with them too. He said he wants to wear them to school tomorrow. I'm going to make sure he wears them a lot since they fit perfectly now and I didn't allow for any growing room.

I made them shorties so he won't look a total dork wearing them with his shorts. :)

New Things

2011-11-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

I'm venturing into another project. This is a 365 project and even though I have a plan, I've already bent my rules. Anyway, please take a look.

Taking the Plunge.

Food Food Food

2011-11-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving weekend was the time for cooking and eating. Lots of it. We spent Thanksgiving Day at my cousin's new home where we had a potluck. Nothing like turkey and Chinese food. The day after, I made our own turkey in the rotisserie which was awesome and I'm not lying either.

On Saturday, I made a rib roast...again awesome! Saturday night I used turkey leftovers to make a pot pie/shepherds pis of sorts. I used cornbread stuffing as the crust and filled it with turkey, gravy, peas, carrots, corn topped with cheesy mashed potatoes & french fried onions. Freakin awesome.

Sunday I didn't make anything but I went to brunch at Marie Callendars by LACMA with Kat and her family which was delicious. Oh my, every day was filled with great food and I still have leftovers.

And of course, I don't have pictures because I was eating...

Finished Goodies

2011-11-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

Yay, more projects to show off!

First, I will present my Dead Simple Lace Socks. I used some mystery yarn that I remember buying in Victoria, BC and lost the label (very annoying) but the socks are very pretty.

I used my remote shutter for pics propping the camera up on the floor with a video game to level the lens. I probably could have elevated it a bit more but still the socks look good. :)

Next up we have the Waffel Hat. Again using the remote shutter with the camera on the dining table. Very stretchy hat which is kind of big on me but doesn't slide down past my eyes. I'll make mods the next time I knit this to fit normal people heads. :)

Time to celebrate Thanksgiving and enjoy/appreciate all that we have. Give thanks and hugs to those around you! :)

Fall Tuesday

2011-11-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

It's chilly for SoCal and we also got our 1st storm. I don't really know if it's our first one of the season but I'll just say first for November. It rained for about 8 hrs off and on and stopped in time for the MLS championship soccer game. Yay for the Galaxy!!

Took a couple of photos, still trying to work out the logistics of my 365 project. For me, I'll still post a pic a day although I'm still batting around the taking a photo a day which is a huge difference.

Anyway, ignore my internal struggles...

It's a leafy kind of day...

Friday

2011-11-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates...Tyler was sick for 2 days, and I've been kind of blaise about the whole posting thing. I have been knitting and finally finished a pair of socks that I started in July(?). It's already November and I really need to find my gift pile and figure if I have enough items.

I also was busy making my 2012 photo calendar which I've been doing for about 4-5 years and it's actually done. I've been holding off on it from sending the order button to make sure I order the correct number since I usually have 2 or so leftover. At least if I need more, I can order it since it's saved on my Costco account.

I was also contemplating some photography ideas to challenge myself in 2012. I'm toying with the idea of a 365 project which I've started a couple of times that never took so I just need to commit and do it. I don't know if I should add another blog just focussing on the 365 project, what do you think?

Kindle Fire

2011-11-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hector bought this as an anniversary gift and it arrived this morning. :) Josh spotted it on the porch as we were leaving for school. I think he thought it might be his LEGO package but I could see the Amazon Kindle labelled on it. Joshua said he expected dad to give me yarn which was really cute.

Simple packaging that is the Kindle and the charging cord. That's it.

Fits comfortably in my hand too. Kind of hard to take a photo of it while holding it though.

Turned on right away and everything was simple after that. It was already loaded with our Amazon info, asked for wifi connection and registered itself right away. A few more minutes and all my books are on here.

Web browsing is easy and I already practiced downloading a knitting pattern on here so I can access it easily. Cool.

Even videos are nice looking and easy to access. So far my impression is that this will be a great tool/plaything for me. I wanted to store my knitting patterns on something so I don't need to keep printing them out which I tend to misplace eventually. Patterns don't take up much room so I can try uploading them to the Cloud and see how that works.

I haven't read any books yet but I might stick to my original Kindle as it will be easier on my eyes but the potential for travel worthiness is wonderful. I know it's geared to Amazon content but that works for me. I'll have to re-evaluate again in a month...

This n That

2011-11-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Nice to have a long holiday weekend and give a special thanks to my veteren hubby and to all who serve our country(past, present and future)! Our weekend was filled with hockey themed events. A great hockey game Saturday night and then Tip A King on Sunday.

Pictures later but I feel really tired lately...T-guy got sick last night so I kept him home from school. He is pushing hard for the Xbox 360 but he's been told that he needs to earn the $ from his grades and whatever he can scrape up either by gift cards or extra chores. He is trying to find loopholes in our agreement so today I drew up a contract explaining in written terms how this is to be done. So far he has calculated about $208 towards the system. If he does manage to pay for it early, the actual play time on it is really restricted to more good grades etc and I can adjest that accordingly. :0

!5+ years of Tru Wuv

2011-11-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

15 years ago, Hector and I were married. We met in 1991, dated for 5 years and got married in 1996. Hector proposed March 20, 1996 (funny how that date sticks in my mind) and I put the wedding plans in motion. Time has flown by as it always has with us and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with this wonderful man! :)

Chilly

2011-11-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

Here is SoCal, the weather drastically changed in a matter of a day. Hot one day and then a drop of about 40* along with rain for good measure. It was nice to have that cooler temp and of course I had to add to it by visiting a couple of ice rinks. One was to watch the Kings practice on Friday & on Staurday to take Josh to his ice hockey session. :)

On our way back, Josh sees a package on our porch. Hmmm, Hector was expecting a package but it's addressed to both of us. A mystery since it's from the Vermont Company. I open it up and this is what is revealed....

Whu-uuuut?? A commemorative tin of shortbread cookies with the Royal Couple. Okkkaay. Oh, my mom sent it to us. Known for her unusual and often quirky gifts, I didn't know what to make of it. Why?

It turns out that she sent that for our anniversary (November 9th) which is kind of funny. And sweet in her own weird way. :) My friend Kat already claimed the tin since she totally digs this kind of stuff. I guess I'll have cookies with my tea...

quickie

2011-11-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I knit a cute little baby hat called Aviatrix. The yarn is a mystery since I lost the ball band long ago that my cousin gifted to me. A nice multi-colored yarn with a soft feel to it.

The pattern is super easy and cute. I really need to find a doll to be a model for my babywear although Torchic is very cute, he doesn't fill the bill. But you get the idea...

I need to find some cute buttons to attach the strap. Fun project!

Patchwork

2011-11-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Finished another project that was started a while back, picked up again where I saw glaring mistakes so I ripped it back to my first panel and restarted. Much better.

The completed project is so cute. Too bad I didn't knit when my kids were babies, I probably would have kept having more to get my baby item fix. :) Um, okay maybe not but I have friends & cousins (much younger than me) that can benefit from baby knitwear. :)

The yarn was perfect for California winters too, a cotton blend with nice pastels. I found some really cute kitty cat buttons to sew on and just need a real baby to model it.

As you can see, I had to come up with a way to photograph the sweater and here is when your kids old craft projects can be very handy. Josh decorated a photo frame for Father's Day a while back and it worked pretty well as a hanger. :)

Too cute.

Josh got the likeness of Hector down pat. :)

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

I was seriously lagging with Halloween decorations this year along everything else that goes with it but I did manage to do all that I wanted to do, just scaled back a tad.

I made 1/4 of Josh's costume and ordered the rest online. I can't believe how much a simple kids' Yoshi costume cost and it wasn't even well-made. So I found a Yoshi hat which is really cute along with a green sweatsuit (that can be worn later) and bought some green felt which I hot glued together & stuffed with polyfill for the tail. Josh really was happy with it even though it didn't have all the details on it, he was perfectly fine with it.

He got to march in the parade at school and then have a fun Halloween party in class. Tyler didn't get really involved so much but wore a skeleton T shirt with some skeleton gloves & Jack Skellington mask for trick n treating. I only managed 1 blurry pic of Tyler so you have to make do with Josh's.

Projects Galore

2011-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

I finally got some photos of latest projects so have a look and maybe you'll be inspired.

First up is the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf which really takes advantage of the long colorways of Noro. Usually I don't enjoy knitting scarves because I get bored or tired but this one was lots of fun. I think the anticipation of seeing how the colors play out kept me going.

pretty colors

Visually interesting.

I think I will gift this to my SIL for the holidays...she doesn't wear lots of brights so the colors in the scarf should be a nice pop.

Next up is the Snelle Annabelle cowl. This is for Josh's teacher who loves pink. This was another fun knit and only took one day. I like the leaves that go all around.

Hot pink.

Last, but not least is the Vilai socks. I joined a sock yarn club this year and this is the first pair that I knit with particular brand of yarn.

The colors are gorgeous and the pattern was challenging for me. I had to pay close attention to the chart and it sure paid off. The only think I didn't care for the pooling of colors in the foot portion. The leg chart broke that up but the pooling will be hidden by shoes so not a big deal. I also knit it a tad short so I will give them to Hannah who has smaller feet.

Vilai socks

So that brings up the next question, what shall I knit up next?

Okay really behind

2011-10-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

I even finished a couple of knitting projects and haven't posted anything on them or photographed them. Sigh. I completed a multi-directional scarf (Noro) which was really fun and un-boring so I see more in my future. I also knit a Vortex hat, a cowl and my Vilai socks. Oh, that's more than a couple and I am really further behind than I thought.

I like to use real people for my handknits so that's my excuse. More on that later when I have more time....

Behind

2011-10-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

I'm still here, just working behind the scenes volunteering at Josh's school, dealing with Tyler's middle school angst and getting ready for Halloween! I was caught a tad flat footed when I realized Halloween is Monday! Yikes! Yes, Josh has been mentioning (a lot) that we need to decorate (hint, hint Mom) but I've been engrossed in hockey (Kings and fantasy) so it's time to work on other things.

Oh yeah, work has finally begin on our backyard too. Lots of dirt, rocks and junk thrown around with my avocado tree is reduced to a small stick out of the ground. :(
This morning I opened our front door to find a sign taped to it that We've Been Boo'd. What is this? It turns out to be a neighborly gift from someone and to keep it going...
Okay, so I had to run to Joann's anyway and found some little items although I was limited to the cash onhand since their register system was down. Good thing, my mind was functioning as I remembered that I needed to make a tail for Joshua's Yoshi outfit. I also hit Vons for items (pumpkin for Josh's class) & Party City for Tyler's Halloween costume (skeleton) & blue hair spray (tomorrow is spirit day).

Tonight I will be heading to Staples Center with Kathy for some hockey action and maybe I can get caught up by tomorrow. :) I think I need more caffeine.

Yosemite

2011-10-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

The last part of our October weekend trip was the journey home via Yosemite (Tioga Pass). We got the gamut of weather there which ranged from low, gray clouds with snow on the mountains to rain/drizzle to partial sun. I think we spent approximately 5 hours driving along to the stunning scenery with lots of stops along the way. :)

There is just so much to see and we still saw lots of tents/campers taking their camping trips before winter. I lost track of the all the lakes, creeks etc we saw but Olmstead Point was memorable. We stopped to take pictures and the boys even climbed down to the lower area.

On the other side of the lookout, there is a trail to another area and Tyler opted out. That's why he is not in the next photos. The path is just rock which still had lots of snow is places which made the walk a tad treacherous but we kept going.

The view was totally worth the hike.

Onwards we go toward Bridalveil Falls and the valley. By then, it began raining and the falls adds it own spray to my pictures. There was no way I could avoid the spray/rain but that just adds to our experience! :)

By the middle of the afternoon, the kids and I were just tired of being in the car and the road started getting winding that always gets to Tyler. That part was the least enjoyable but it certainly was a great time.

Mono Lake and South Tufas

2011-10-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

Continuing our jam packed day, I left you with our time in Bodie but wait, there's more ! We passed Mono Lake on our way so that was the next stop. First, we grabbed lunch at Mono Cone, a little walk-up hamburger/hot dog joint with ice cream shakes/malts. It was a nice, satisfying and tasty lunch after Bodie.

But on the Mono Lake, we went back north a mile to the Mono Lake Intrepretive Center where there is a nice exhibit and great view of the lake with the 2 islands, Negit and Paoha islands in the middle of it. There are some nice trails that lead to the shore but I didn't do that although I think Tyler and Hector walked along some of it.

Now time to hop in the car and drive about 8-10 miles south to head for the South Tufas. Another short 1/2 mile walk to the shoreline to see the spectacular tufas. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have (it was a long day). I also have to remember to check my lens for dust since there are lots of dust specks on this batch of photos. They look okay but it's a tad distracting and I have to read up on Photoshop on how to remove them.

The kids seem to have the most fun chasing the alkali flies that rest on the ground near the shore and cause them to swarm away. :)

Anyway, here are some pics and enjoy!

Mono Lake Flickr set is here.

Brief food break

2011-10-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend so I'm behind on our Sierra adventure but I had to show something else that I've been up to. A while back, my one of Hector's coworkers gave some homemade kim-chi which was pretty awesome. Fast forward to present where I remembered the kim-chi and googled it. I found this kim chi recipe. Luckily we have a Korean market (good sized) that I found the right ingredients.

The recipe is not difficult and one Nappa cabbage (about 2 lbs) yielded about 3 good sized pasta sauce jars full. By Sunday, I was ready to taste my kim chi. We actually tried it ever since I made it the last 2 days but Hector was waiting for the right amount of sourness so I sent Hector off to buy some kalbi ribs to go with our kim chi and rice. Ahhh, it was delightful. :)

The kids love kalbi and rice and we adults thoroughly enjoyed my kim chi and cucumbers. Yum.
Now that I know how to make kim chi, I can impress my friend and family with my prowess. Ha!

Bodie Adventure

2011-10-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, my original plan of visiting Devils Postpile was scrapped because the recent 18+ inches of snow closed down the road. Argh! So we drove up north on Hwy 395 toward Mono Lake and Bodie.

The day was beautiful, sunny and no clouds at all. We followed the signs to Bodie where there is paved road until the last 3-4 miles and it's gravel/dirt road. Along the way, we saw sheep with their shepherd & sheep dogs, mules and beautiful scenery.

There was plenty of cars parked in the parking lot with lots of people but the town is actually bigger than I thought so we didn't have crowds of people clumped at any one place. The town of Bodie is a former mining town and you can read more about it here.

It really is a fascinating place and a photographer's dream. Hector could have spent all day here while I went off with the kids. If you haven't visited Bodie, you should definitely put it on your list.

So here are photos but you can check out the full set on my Flickr site.

Weekend Trip: Autumn

2011-10-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

The kids had a 3 day weekend so I though it would be nice to see Mammoth Lakes in the fall since the kids have only seen it covered in snow during winter/spring.

I had good intentions but the Tuesday to Thursday right before our trip brought 18 + inches of snow to Mammoth. Okay. We still drove up Saturday along Hwy 395 and we stopped at Fossil Falls for the first time. My friend Kerin told me about this before so we made a brief stop here.

It's only about 1/2 mile off the highway and another 0.2 mile easy hike amongst the volcanic rocks to Fossil Falls. The word falls is misleading since there is no waterfall which dried up long time ago and the falls is crevice/ravine 40 feet below ground level. It is very cool to see and the dark volcanic rocks contrast nicely against the golden brush and mountains.

Fossil Falls set of photos.

Winding Way mitts

2011-10-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

It's October and it hit me that I should start some of my Christmas knitting. Unfortunately, Tyler has 6 different teachers so I won't be able to knit for all of them but maybe I can make little ornaments instead just to keep my stress level down a bit.

I did finish a pair of Winding Way mitts that will go into the gift pile. I originally began these for Joshua's teacher but I found out her fave color is pink so maybe I can knit a pair for her in pink.

I used a very neutral colorway in Noro Silk Garden sock yarn with browns and grays that remind me of winter.

I really tried to photograph these with my remote trigger since I like to put my knitting into real life situations but it can get difficult. Kind of hard to get both mitts into the frame and look natural. :) This the best I came up with but maybe I can try again.

Thrills

2011-10-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last week, Hector called asking if he should get tickets to Magic Mountain for Saturday night for a special private event. I said sure but wasn't exactly sure what the kids would be interested in since Magic Mountain specializes in roller coasters and my kids aren't the extreme enthusiasts (yet). But I thought it would be a great chance for them to see what was available and they could make their own decisions.

The park is closed at 6pm to the general public and only the wristbanded people can stay after that. From that point on, the park is practically empty. I don't think we had to wait more than a few minutes. Josh was not eager for a majority of the rides but he was especially pumped up for the Sky Tower (weird, because he is afraid of heights) and the funicular. Add the bumper cars and he was done for the night.

Tyler on the other hand was starting to get more adventurous. He tried the Gold Rusher (even I loved that as a kid) and the Revolution. I don't have pictures to show since it was night and most are blurry. Since we avoided the extreme rides at the park, we went through the park in 2.5 hours. Yes, we are very efficient.

Friday Fun

2011-10-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hector got a rare day off and it was nice to spend some time together. He got some personal errands done in the morning then we took off to have some target practice.

Even on a weekday, the range was half full so there was enough room to spread out a bit. I really like the 38 special which is fun to shoot and easier to load. My wrist get tired after a short time. We then had a nice lunch at Sushimon.

A while ago, our nephew Anthony gave us some coupons for bowling and pizza at one our local alleys. We used a coupon that let us have bowling for 1 hour for 5 people, shoes, one large pizza & 5 medium sodas free. Since we invited Matt too, we also used a buy one, get one free large pizza that really worked out since we demolished 2 pizzas before bowling and Matt took the extra one for Tammy.

The kids wanted bumpers on the lane but that meant we all had to use the bumper too. Tyler is extremely competitive so he started to pout when he was in last place. Ugh, so that meant Hector antics to liven things up. He ended up throwing his ball into the adjacent lane (twice) and both kids busted up laughing. Comedy relief. But we had to ask the desk to release the ball and after the second time, Hector noticed his bowling ball was broken. It has a nice puncture in it.

Well, it's time for photos now....

Simple Fun

2011-09-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the kids wanted to ride their bikes so Hector hauled them out of the garage along with his bike and they went cruising around.

I told Josh to ride through the puddles and hold his legs up. After the first run, he did it over and over again. He had a nice splash mark on the back of his T-shirt from all his runs but he really enjoyed it. It funs to ride your bike and it's even more fun to ride it through puddles. :)

Oh, and Hector rode his bike too....

Being Neighborly

2011-09-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last week flew by mainly because we were busy and Hector worked late 4 out of 5 days then added a Saturday shift so that contributed to our week.

I was knitting consistently but have taken a small break to focus some more time on photography. I take my camera when I walk Josh to school and then I have a nice leisurely walk home while snapping away.

Well, on Friday my little routine changed. I was taking pictures of something and a lady popped out of her house to ask what I was photographing. We got to talking about various things (lots of topics) and she introduced herself as Ida. Before I knew it, it was 11:30am so we (mostly she) talked for 2.5 hours. I took some pictures of her cat that I've seen.

I might have to switch my walk home a bit so I don't get corraled too long by her but she was very nice and friendly.

So here are some photos that I took last week....

New Things

2011-09-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Still dealing with the middle school adjustment period but meanwhile, I have some better things to share.

First, is my new Kelly Moore B-hobo bag in muted teal. It holds my DLSR body, 2 lenses and my wallet, cellphone & keys. Perfect for daily use since it looks like a purse and I will always have my camera handy. No excuses. :)

I'm in a shawl/ scarf kind of mood lately. Here is a project that I started a few days ago using the yarn I got on sale (yay) and it's moving alond well. It is a cream/ oatmeal color with a gold strand woven in.

I'm not sure if I'll keep it for myself because it has mohair in it so there are fuzzy bits coming off and I might not like that around my face.

I still have 2 more skeins so I can still make something else too. :)

Hit on Drew Doughty

2011-09-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

Since my last post was a video, I'm gonna try linking the kids' Drew Doughty experience during Hockeyfest 2011.

Tyler's video.

Joshua's video.

Warning: Just in case, don't eat or drink in front of the computer while watching Joshua's video. :)

Classic Oldie

2011-09-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

I don't much to share...I have 2 back to school nights and I might be trying a fantasy hockey league with some knitters on Ravelry.

So I dug far back into my archives (ha) and pulled up a classic. Look at young my kids are....too cute. As Joshua would say, back when they were young! :)

Kusha kusha scarf

2011-09-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah! It's finally done!! I started this thing in May and did my best until I got bored with it and picked it up again in the last couple of weeks.

The journey was long and tiresome but the end result is very cool. A very light yet malleable scarf to bend, twist or smush into all sorts of interesting shapes. I'm supposed to felt it lightly in hot water but I'm afraid I will lose length and right now, it's perfect.

To add to this, I bought more of this kind of yarn/thread at a recent sale so I will be knitting this again. Torture into ectasy. Sigh.

Stray Cats

2011-09-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what is happening in our cul de sac but another mystery cat has appeared along with the earlier black kitty. I thought the black one was pretty big and yesterday Hector came in saying there was a HUGE cat over there. Grab your camera!

So that's what I did. We walked on the other side of the street since we didn't know how this cat would react to people and judging from the size of it, I don't think it was capable of running away. Maybe lumbering away but man, at first glance this cat was big. I knew it was a cat but I was thinking of a miniature lion with its orange fur.

The black kitty was sitting nearby too and as I approached the huge cat, it made this yowling sound then it hissed at me but was calm. I kept getting closer enough to take pictures and see that it had a large growth by its chin/jaw.

Pretty eyes and nice enough cat but dirty, scraggly and sick. I'm not sure what these 2 fat cats are eating but they're definitely well fed.

After the kids have left...

2011-09-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

for school, I have some time to myself. This is the first full week of school but I've done some errands and shopping for more shorts for Tyler. I do need to have the Pilot's oil changed , get my hair cut and eyes examined but that will get done when I feel like it.

This morning I felt like a short mini-photowalk after taking Josh to school.

Hockeyfest 2011

2011-09-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Woohoo, hockey is almost here!! Hockeyfest is the event that the LA Kings present to kickstart the season with introductions to the players, coaches etc with fun events like a funzone for kids/adults, family skate on Staples Center ice and autograph sessions.

My kids are not huge hockey fans but they still had fun. Josh got to ice skate, both kids made fun videos with Drew Doughty and players card. There were several Q & A sessions with players, former and current but the best one was the kids press conference asking questions to 4 players. Very entertaining.

This event just gets us amped up for the season and training camp begins this Saturday!! :)

Hector in the penalty box. Two minutes for poking.

Tyler showing his support.

Go Kings!

Riding the wild snowboard.

Ice skating.

Relief

2011-09-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

After almost a week of heat and humidity, our weather is nice and cool again.

The sky after the rain.

Pretty

This morning I woke to thunder and rain which was kind of nice. As I drank my coffee, another brief rain deluge came down and Josh was excited to go outside. By the time he got out, the rain had stopped and we were left with the just rained smell.
The clouds opened up just for a quick glimpse of sky and sun.

A glimpse of sky and sun.

Today was karate and instead of taking my usual knitting, I brought my camera and took some pics of the area.

school

2011-09-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's really nice that both boys' schools start on Thursday which may seem odd at first but it gives the kids a chance to ease into school. Go to school for 2 days and hey, it's the weekend!! :)

Tyler had some stress and anxiety in the weeks leading into school but thankfully, the first 2 days were non-eventful. Middle school seemed like such a huge obstacle but Tyler and his friends made it thru unscathed (for now). I didn't take pics of Tyler because I didn't want him to feel self conscious

Josh enters the 3rd grade and had no issues either. The homework for both kids will amp up so I'll be busy too. :)

So here is Josh before entering school and he looks confident.

Sunning

2011-09-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

Our last day of summer was yesterday so I thought since both kids enjoyed the ocean the day before, we could go swimming the next. They were all for it but after 40 minutes, Joshua had enough and was cold. He promptly asked for hot chocolate and mini marshmallows.

While I was preparing his hot chocolate, Josh found the the sunlight streaming in and lay right down to warm himself like a cat. :) I ran and got my camera to catch my little guy sunning himself. He's still so very adorable.

Photo Essay

2011-09-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna try something a bit different today. I shot a series of photos of this kid on the beach because I liked how he positioned himself among these piles of seaweed.

His parents sat about 5 feet back and were talking with their friends so I don't think they were keeping a sharp eye on the guy but he was definitely close by.

I was watching him Ihis back was to his parents and he would pull a piece of seaweed off & put it in his mouth, then throw it away. I saw him do this several times so I finally alerted his parents that he might be putting seaweed in his mouth.

They were really nice and kind of laughed about it saying he likes to pop the seaweed between his fingers to get that salty sea water spray. They made sure he wasn't eating it and thanked me anyway.

This little boy reminded me of the curly headed toddler son in the movie Parenthood that he did silly things throughout the movie ie. spinning, putting a bucket on his head and butting the wall. :)

Hot Flash

2011-09-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

After such a cool and nice Labor Day weekend, a heat wave descended upon us so I whisked the kids away to the beach. I noticed the temp gauge in the car was 83* and just a mere 3-4 miles later, it dropped to 77*. That made a big difference and it was a lovely day at the beach.

Perfect, actually with warm sun and a nice easy breeze to cool us down and the water was cool (at first) but great too. Josh usually can't last more than 30 minutes being wet but we stayed for 3 hours. :)

The kids romped in the waves while Tyler ventured out further into the waves to try his bodyboarding skills. They had a great time burrowing into the sand to make waterways, tunnels and bridges.

Joshua caught a massive sand crab too.

Tyler found a long 8 foot piece of seaweed attached to a rock to haul around.

It was a great way to end our summer although we have one more day before school starts.

Party time

2011-09-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

Tyler turned 12 on Sept 1st and we threw a BBQ birthday party on Saturday. Invited about 7 kids with their families and we all had a great time especially when you add a bounce house.

I didn't take many pictures but here's a couple...

Tyler with his best friend Arthur.

Wishing Tyler a very successful and happy year!! I can't believe that my little one is 12 already! Sniff.

Redondo Beach pier @ twilight

2011-09-06T10:08:00.001-07:00

Redondo Beach pier @ twilight, a photo by moodybq on Flickr.

I shot this as we were heading up the stairs to the car. I processed this in LR3 with Eric Kim's Lomo preset.

End of summer

2011-09-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

We had a blast celebrating Tyler's birthday (more on that later) but on Sunday night, I got a text from Sherri to go check out the rainbow outside. I saw it as soon as I went out the door but was more in awe of the skies and clouds to the west. It was too late to get to the beach but I grabbed my camera and shot what I could.

Gorgeous pink clouds everywhere. These photos are untouched and sooc (straight out of camera). The colors were really like this. :)

Under the Wire

2011-09-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

I was aiming to complete as many WIPs (works in progress) as I could for the month of August. Not too bad, considering my last entry was a scarf. Introducing the Baktus scarf. I had a couple of skeins of Noro Silk Garden sock yarn in my stash and while it's bright and colorful, the yarn is a tad too thick (for my tastes) for socks. That's where the beauty of having sock yarn is that is doesn't have to be socks.

Mindless knitting but it does take time so it took a long hibernation until I picked it back up and started knitting like crazy person. But it's done. 6 feet long and 17 inches at its widest point. Very warm, especially when I'm modelling it but it will come in useful at hockey games. :)

Zucchini and Cream Puffs

2011-08-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

As we are preparing for Tyler's birthday BBQ party on Saturday and our upcoming backyard renovation, I noticed a pair of massive zucchinis that have grown on our side of the fence from the neighbors yard. Hmmm. Yesterday I picked them and they really are quite large. Now, to figure out what to do with them...

Aaah, Josh is holding a vegetable!

Also from our Saturdays outing to Marukai and finding Beard Papa's location we decided to actually get some after our Kiraku dinner. I picked up a couple of chocolate fondant cake which is like a chocolate lava cake at Mortons and a vanilla custard cream puff & chocolate eclair. Technically, it's not really a cream puff since no whipped cream is used. Instead, the puffs are injected with vanilla custard after you order and other flavor custards are available depending on the day.

I didn't take pictures of Kat's fondant but Josh still has his so maybe later today. I did take photos of my vanilla puff (I ate the eclair last night) that I ate for breakfast and drizzled some chocolate sauce on it. Kat declared the fondant yummy & I agree too. The eclair was good but the chocolate was thick and I didn't care for that. I really did like the plain puff with my own addition of chocolate. :)

yummy

Ginormica

2011-08-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

That pretty much sums up the size of Matt's feet. Mens size 15. Yup. From toe to heel, his foot measures, well, a foot long. I had to paste 2 sheets of paper together to trace his foot as a template. For comparison, mu womens size 9 feet measures 9 inches toe to heel.

I began these almost 2 years ago, got tired of knitting them so I put them down and recently found them still on the needles. The foot was basically done so I thought I'd just keep going since that is almost to the halfway point for most socks.

In nice manly colors too.

I finished them but now the burning question, will they fit Matt?? I tend to knit socks a tad large so I was really careful with the foot length.

Bizkit approves!

On Sunday, I stopped by Matt's place to gift them and see how they fit. Yeah!! They fit. Phew! :) I told him this the first and last pair he will be receiving.

Jam Packed

2011-08-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we managed to cram a boatload of activities into one day singly and as a family.

Hector had a dentist appt at 8am.
Tyler has karate at 9:30am

Thanks to Tammy modelling this in the heat.

During this time, I take Josh to CVS to pick up some cough medicine for my mom, deliver it, head over to Matt and Tammy to do a quick photo shoot of the neckwarmer, pick some lemons and head back home around 12 noon.
Hector and Tyler grabbed some pozole for brunch and came back home. I found Hector asleep on the sofa when I arrived.
At 1pm we headed out to Anaheim (way out by Yorba Linda) to check out some hot tubs. Spent a lot of time climbing in/out, sitting/lounging in and getting info. I found a model that I liked that had the right configuration and size so we now have something to go on. Piled back into the car and checked out another hot tub/spa place in Santa Fe Springs and spent more time doing the same exact thing.

After 2 donuts.

Driving home, I get a hankering for donuts. It's probably due to the fact we were by Krispy Kreme. We stopped for a donut break. I have a sugar high.
As we are driving, I'm talking to Hector about Asain fast food chains making their way to the US. I mention Beard Papa and Hector knows where it is so we head over to Marukai in Gardena to check that out.

Waiting for meat on a stick.

Sure enough, it's there but I'm too loaded up on donuts to try one of their custard filled pastries. Still, buzzing, we see a Shinsengumi where the guy is cooking chicken meatballs. Tyler and I go, "Yum!" So we order some meatballs, chicken thighs/green onion and asparagus wrapped in bacon. Kind of pricy so don't try to make a meal of it.

Since we in Marukai, we start doing some shopping. As we head up and down the aisles, I add more to our cart. Well, I started gathering so much, we HAD to get a cart. Ramen, shave ice flavors, curry and miso. More on that another time. :)
Not done yet...drive to Hawthorne to order a bounce house for Tyler's birthday party. Okay he will be 12 but everyone is younger and they'll all have fun.
Finally, home but not finished. Hector calls the our guy who will be doing our new fence. Lots of talking and scheduling. We have to coordinate with them and the neighbors.
One last item, swimming at the neighbors pool....really hot today around 90 degrees + so the kids were happy to cool off.

Neck Warmer

2011-08-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Of course, I had to finish this neckwarmer/ cowl while in the midst of a heat wave her in SoCal. This is my continuation of getting my incomplete projects done and into the Christmas pile.

I really like the herringbone effect this particular pattern has and the best part is that I didn't have to make buttonholes. The knitted fabric has enough give to be worked over the button and look nice.

If I had knit this in plain stockinette (knit) then you would have seen lots of pooling but the criss cross effect kind of breaks it up and gives contrast. Scarves are nice but sometimes you don't want to deal with the loose ends and possible strangulation and this neckwarmer will lay nice and flat under a nice winter coat. Yes, even in SoCal we can get a tad cold.

Hopefully I can find someone to model it for me since it's difficult to take one's photo of my finished item. I didn't want to subject any of my kids to model it, they draw the line at hats and socks.

Spring Forward

2011-08-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

I finally finished another pair of socks. This pair was started in June and set down but August is the month to try and finish those SIPs (socks in progress). I'm pretty happy that I managed to complete 2 pair.

Spring Forward

I bought this yarn a while ago because I loved the colors and contrast but it was difficult to find the right pattern to complement it. I decided on Spring Forward and even though the pattern might be hard to see, I liked how the pattern broke up the colors and eliminated pooling for the most part.

Heel and leg.

Toe

Now I have several shawls/scarves to complete so we'll see how my sock knitting goes. :)
Now for a different topic...remember we were cleaning out our garage/closets a couple of weeks ago and I found a lot of wedding items. I have my fine china in rotation with our regular dishes along with the nice flatware. There is also a wedding themed platter/plate that I think we used for keys and whatnot when we lived in Brentwood then packed away never to be seen for almost 12 years.

I opened the cupboard and saw it again, thinking what am I going to do with this now? Should I sell it or re-gift it? I turned it over and noticed the brand. Villeroy & Boch. Okay, that's a start. I start searching for this pattern and dish and see it on a replacement type store for fine china etc listed for $199 !! Wow. It's like brand new in perfect condition too and I can't remember who gave this to us as a wedding gift.

That's cool, kind of like that show Cash in the Attic where people sell their stuff, some of which is valuable. People think certain items are worth lots and it's not or some little item they picked for $5 at a yard sale is worth thousands of $$. This was certainly unexpected. I can save it for when Tyler gets married. :) FYI: Joshua doesn't want to get married.

Move Your Feet

2011-08-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Like I said yesterday, not much to report. Tyler has a cold that he is milking for all its worth which is fine for me.

I finished my Spring Forward socks so more on that later.

In the meantime, another song to share that both kids LOVE to dance to. I played a portion of it on my iphone and Josh immediately went into the dance routine which was so fun and cute to watch.

Winding down

2011-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

August really hasn't been the most productive of months, knitwise because we are nearing the end of summer and beginning of school. To top it off, Tyler has come down with a cold and Josh has the sniffles so he can't be that far behind.

I'm happy that we did our school supply shopping yesterday so that part is done but we do need to turn in Tyler's registration packet either today or tomorrow. He can get his school schedule, books and locker assignment so maybe he will feel up to it later this morning. Otherwise, we'll be keeping everything low key today.

So maybe I can get some knitting done. After 2 years, I finished Matt's socks this week. I don't think I shared these yet but here there are. Knit toe up to get the maximum yardage from the yarn because Matt has whopping huge, ginormous feet. Size mens 15 feet. I traced an outline of his foot too. 12 inches from toe to heel. My foot is 9 inches and I'm a womens size 9. That's a lot more knitting!

I haven't officially gifted the socks to Matt yet. I started these so long ago, put them down for a longer time and found them when reorganizing my stash. The majority of the foot was knit so I figured I would continue on. I sure hope they fit. Simple stockinette foot, then K2, P2 ribbing on the leg. I knit about 8 inches of leg before binding off but I still have some yarn left that I could have added another 1-2 inches but honestly, I stopped because I was finished knitting on these boats.

The only pic I have are the lame kind of lay the socks on the dirty carpet photo. Hopefully I can get a proper photo of Matt wearing the socks soon.

I have another pair of socks almost complete, another 1-2 inches of foot left then the toes. Maybe this is the day!! :)

Not much going on...

2011-08-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

just getting Tyler's registration packet and school supplies. We don't find out his school schedule until Wednesday but I thought it would be best to get a head start on the shopping.

At his new middle school.

Joshua has been asking for LEGO master builder academy sets for a long time. There are 6 kits in all and I'm using them to motivate Tyler and Joshua this school year. They woke up early this morning to start building. Each set has 3 configurations and over the course of the day, both boys have built all 3. I managed to take pictures of the last ones so show you all.

Rocket with mini-figure.

All systems go.

Electrical tower.

The Getty Center

2011-08-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

In 5th grade, Tyler went on several field trips to museums ie. The Getty Center, Skirball and Gene Autry museum which seemed to pique his interest in culture and architecture. He came back with a free parking voucher for the Getty and free family admission for the Skirball. Summer has flown by and I had put our visit earlier due to carmegeddon and general timing so this week I was determined to go although I warned the kids if the parking was full we had to try again.

Entrance

Beautiful curves

Well, Josh slept in a bit yesterday so when he woke I hurriedly had him dress, packed him a pop tart and loaded them into the car. We left a little before 10am (opening time) and had to deal with the usual 405 congestion (carpool lanes help a lot). Surprisingly, we arrived at The Getty at 10:30am and our parking voucher was accepted. Yay! I really had no clue to how large the parking structure is but it can hold a lot more than I expected. Instead of going up we went down, down, down to P4, 4 levels down. There are even more levels further down we discovered in the elevator (P7 is the lowest).

The kids were genuinely excited which is nice to see and Josh exclaimed that the tram ride was awesome! :) We spent about 2 hours total touring the gardens and exhibits. The kids picked up the kids art detective and architecture brochures and we found all the clues that went along with it. Overall, we had a great time. The weather was perfect with a nice coastal breeze to enjoy. The Getty Center is gorgeous in every way with natural stone/ travertine/ marble and maybe when the kids are back in school, I'll come back.

Naturally, I took pictures. Lately, I've been processing them with some B & W and Lomo settings to make them pop a tad more. Let me know if you like them or they seem a tad too much. :)

Garden

Mercury and shadow.

David Hockney themed mirror self portrait.

West LA skyline.

Tram ride.

Mt. Soledad

2011-08-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

We made a stop here during our San Diego weekend. It is the highest point in SD and the time we drove up, the sun was peeking through the gloom but didn't seem to make a difference once at the top.

Hector took me here on our first date on his motorcycle. It was before the helmet law and I remember my hair being a snarled mess. :) In the following years, Hector would tell me of the legal battles over Mt. Soledad because it is a government property and there is a Christian cross on it. Separation of church and state. So this last time we were there, some significant changes were noted.

First, the property is now privately owned. Next, there is a memorial dedicated to veterens and those who contributed to the Armed Forces. Plaques of various sizes attached to the wall was a nice gesture but Hector thought it was poorly constructed ie. some of the plaques were not flush with the wall edge etc.

It still is a beautiful spot to see San Diego and reflect. :)

Simple

2011-08-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

I thought of making the move to change my blog to a black background to showcase my photographs better. I was concerned that all of my previous post might not show up but it looks like Blogger adjusts for that.

So let me what you think...

Wrapping up lunch.

Big Spider

This spider was spotted on our hike at Torrey Pines and I haven't seen a spider this size before in my life. The 1st spider was kind of difficult to shoot but someone (Tyler?) pointed out the 2nd spider that was at the next cactus and in much better position. :)

San Diego Weekend

2011-08-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Our weekend in San Diego was a great time to bond with the kids and hubby. Like usual, there was not enough time to do all the things we wanted to do but we still managed to get some new activities in.

I drove down with the kids Thursday where I reconnected with my childhood friend Kathy. We've known each other since 3rd grade and it's great to pick up like we've never stopped talking. She and her husband bought their home a year ago so while the kids watched a video, we chatted for 3 hours and I got the grand tour.

The weather was overcast and cool for most of the weekend so my photos reflect that although I've processed most of them shown to make them presentable. Enjoy!!

Tyler has been trying to convince Josh to try a Legoland ride called the Knight's Tournament. It is a robotic arm with 5 settings with 1 being the mildest and 5 being the extreme. Josh finally agreed to ride it with Tyler and chose 2=fun.

Beginning of ride. I love their expressions; Tyler is confident while Josh is unsure.

Midway through the ride. Imagine Josh screaming this portion of the ride.

Going sideways, I call this one Terror and Delight.

Hector took the Amtrak from Fullerton Friday night and we picked him up at the train station. On Saturday, we took a hike at Torrey Pines State Preserve.

Flock of pelicans.

Kids.

Coastline.

Trail View.

Now for Tyler..

2011-08-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

I can't neglect my oldest son so here is what he was into today.

Yes, posole. That yummy Mexican soup with hominy, pork with some lime, cabbage and tostadas. Yum.

I split the large portion with him but he probably could have eaten most of it by himself. He adds lime and cabbage and goes to town.

Here is my bowl...Joshua had a red tamale and he ate practically the whole thing so his eating spurt continues. My mom also brought some yogurt/fruit from Kings Hawaiian so Tyler and I enjoyed those.

There is one more left so it'll be a toss up to see who gets that. :)

Thanks to Hector for bringing the soup home last night. I know I said I would wait till tonight to eat it but Tyler wanted it for lunch and well, I was hungry. :)

Song 2

2011-08-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

This is Josh's current fave song. Of course, he only knows it from Dance Party: Summer edition or something like that. He can sing along to it with the correct head banging which is really funny to watch. Today we were in the car driving home and Song 2 came on so we cranked it up to sing along.

I tried to impress Tyler by saying I found my Blur concert t-shirt if he wanted it but he didn't seem too impressed. Josh, however, jumped in and asked me, "You saw them in concert?" Maybe I'll save it for Josh...in the meantime, here is the video.

Chocolate cake

2011-08-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

My mom stopped by and dropped some goodies for the kids. By the time I got downstairs, Tyler already devoured his fruit tart and Josh was busy working on his chocolate dubash cake.

Massive bite.

Enjoying the frosting.

He had a great time eating it but it was a pretty big piece.

All for me! :)

He then graciously left me the rest but he ate about 2/3rds of it. I think he is going through a serious growth spurt. He asks for something every 1-2 hours so hopefully he will put a few pounds on his slender frame.

Before & After

2011-08-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Putting off packing for our family trip and playing around with Lightroom 3. I really like how I can import my photo files while leaving the originals where they are, tweaking the photos without affecting my originals then exporting the ones I like back as another copy. I only have from the beginning of the year to go through because I want to get my calendar together soon. Hopefully, I will notice a huge difference in the results.

Above is a photo that I took of some plant which I like but that little bud is a tad too distracting. I tweak how I want the photo to look then open it in Photoshop Elements (can't afford the pro version) and try cloning out that bud.

Here is my crude attempt at cloning but you get the idea. I also darkened the photo a bit (maybe too much?) but I had fun learning. It was a fun exercise. :)

Below is another example: here is the marsh taken after all the rains we received. Not a bad photo on its own but kind of blah.

I think the after version is much more interesting visually but that is my preference.
I'm trying not to overdo the tweaking because I've seen some HDR photos that seem way over the top. My goal is to enhance my photos not make them strange and unnatural. What do you think? Critiques are welcome and appreciated.

Sayings

2011-08-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I splattered a little grease on my brand, new, OC Fair T-shirt. Since I was home, I took it off and applied detergent on it. Then I went back to the kitchen to fix the kids lunch and Tyler was giving me this weird look so I explained I had a stain so I took the shirt off.

Josh then looks up and asks me, "Did you use Oxyclean"? I replied, "Why, yes I did!" Joshua says in his best commercial voice, "Oxyclean gets the tough stains out!" I had to smile at that but wait, Joshua was full of surprises today.

At lunch, he was eating his turkey and rice and he asked, "Can I have some soy sauce for my rice? It is bland without it" :)

After commenting on the choice of words, Tyler says, "Oh, I told him that word the other day when I was telling him a story..."

OKay, so I can look forward to more unusual words and sayings in the future...

Wasp Nest Hat

2011-08-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to complete some projects that have been started and put aside. I think this is because we recently got a new, larger storage space and weeding out the trash/junk in our storage spot and the garage. It's given me the urge to take care of some business. :)

It's probably been close to a year when my Aunt Ruth asked me to knit her a hat with a rust colored yarn that Hannah used to knit her a cowl. On its own, it wasn't quite enough to make a hat but I just needed to find the right pattern and add some colors to it.

Here is the result and Tyler was gracious enough to model it for me. Close to 12 years old, Tyler has finally accepted the role of hat model for the past 5-6 years. He takes direction well and he is quite photogenic. :)

Front

Side

Close up

Overall, the hat came out fantastic. I think Aunt Ruth will like it a lot. :)

Ca Plane Pour Moi

2011-08-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

Kat sent me this video that Craig Ferguson did cuz we were talking about this song a couple of days ago that we didn't know the lyrics to. This is the French version so I definitely don't know what the lyrics mean. Craig Ferguson has some good moves..Kat said he was a former punk band member. :)

Here is the English version performed by The Damned.

The original by Plastic Bertrand.

OC Fair

2011-08-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

Thursday is the kids and my special outing day for the summer. It happened to coincide with the special the OC Fair has that kids 12 & younger get in free and unlimited rided wristbands (until 8pm) were sold for $25. Yeah, double rewards.

Le Grand Wheel.

I did plan on staying for a while so we ate lunch before the fair and spent $ mostly on snacks/drinks like the standard cotton candy and popcorn.

We did a lot more walking around this time and started at the Kid Zone but this year we noticed that Tyler was a tad too tall/big to go on some of the kiddy rides. Luckily they were kind of cheesy so Josh had no problem going on them in a short time. The kids were good about checking things that I wanted to see or they'd sit in the shade with a cold drink & talk. :)

Slide

We then went to the bigger rides and Josh won't do anything extreme so they were content to do the house of mirrors, funhouse etc until their wristbands ran out. We kept zigzagging back n forth and finally ended back at the kidzone where lots of cool insects were displayed along with several snakes. We even got to see the handler feeding the scorpion. Pretty cool.

While we were there, we heard the announcement for the eating contest and Tyler wanted to do it. He managed to squeak into the last spot and eat some strawberry shortcake. Tyler didn't win the contest but he was thrilled to have an extra dessert plus eat it with his hand. :)

Feeding Frenzy

All gone, just remnants of whipped cream left.

Overall, we had a super fun time at the fair. Hopefully, Kat's knee will be better when we go next time!! This time I shot in RAW and so far Lightroom imports it so I can view, tweak it if necessary and save as jpeg so I can upload to Flickr/blog. That's the kind of workflow I was looking for! It does take me longer than before but I'm still learning the ins and outs of Lightroom. :)

Computer

2011-08-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm having computer issues...yesterday I tried reloading my itunes library which seemed fine at first glance but trying to play my music I received lots of messages that the original file couldn't be found. Ugh. This may be because several song duplicates appeared and I may have deleted the wrong ones? I don't know...anyways, my iPod is fine the way it is so I won't sync it now otherwise I will lose my purchased music. I will eventually reload our CDs back onto my itunes library and most likely purchase my music with original CDs instead of digital versions.

There are more issues with dealing with my external hard drive but I'm figuring it out. I used to burn my photos onto DVDs but that is only a temporary medium for about 5-10 years. I bought Lightroom 3 and slowly organizing all my current photos.

So far, I really like Lightroom. I took advantage of Borders going-out-of-business sale and bought some books on Lightroom/Photoshop. I've been tweaking some of my old photos which is really fun, easy and quick. :)

Original photo of dying flower.

Post processing.

I may have overdid it on the tweaking but it sure can make the colors pop. So this will be interesting to see how I do so bear with me. :)

To get my mind off the computer, I will be taking the kids to the OC Fair and take lots of pictures. Now my next question is: should I attempt to shoot in RAW? If I remember, I will do half and half.

Red Posies

2011-08-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

I think I'm on a roll with my sock knitting. They seem to come off the needles on a somewhat steady flow although Matt's socks are my nemesis because of the large mens size 15. Ugh. So I avoid those by knitting other socks. Hee hee.

I challenged myself for July by knitting 2 pairs of socks. Shocking! I finished these pretty red socks last night which still made it under the July deadline. :)

I really enjoyed these socks, pattern was interesting but I think I might have been slightly off on one sock because my stitch count came out wrong several times so I had to fudge it a bit. Hopefully no one can see my oops because I sure can't.

I took photos last night and this morning. I'm trying to change my sock photos up a bit but it's hard to set them up by myself. Thats what fun with digital...experimentation. :)

Hector's motorcycle was outside so I tried posing the socks (on my feet) with it and this is the best one. Of course, the last 3 days we had overcast skies and today it is bright and sunny.

I might have to set up a studio wall so I can pose my stuff there. :) Just wishful thinking....

Memories

2011-07-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

We are switching our storage space and this is a good time as any to go through boxes of stuff that people accumulate over the years. I'm slowly separating items to go to Goodwill, trash or saved.

The best part are the photos. I admit, I am awful/horrible/just plain bad at keeping photos organized. I did find some cute ones to scan and share with you.

I did take the kids to get their photos done when they were young but like I said earlier, they are scattered throughout the house. Here are the boys first Halloween that they shared as Pooh Bear and Tigger. No explanations needed just enjoy the cuteness. :)

Here is Tyler on Sepulveda Blvd on some piece of heavy equipment. Hector threw Tyler on it and got a cute picture of him.

They used to go to the park a lot and Tyler always seemed to attract the girls. Here is proof. Tyler with 6 girls. It must be his purdy eyes. :)

This one looks like Tyler at 3 years old just before Josh was born. How much his life would change after that!! Lots of fun to look back and see how much has changed! Hopefully more tomorrow!!

Strangelove

2011-07-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Last night, Kat and I headed to the OC Fair to check out the fair and see Strangelove, the Depeche Mode tribute band. For some reason unknown to us at the time, the fair and parking lot was PACKED! No handicap parking to be found for Kat's lameness so I ended up dropping her off and circling around for 20 minutes trying to find a spot. I didn't have Hector's parking karma with me and ended up parking on the end of the aisle like many other cars on the wrong side of the fire lane.

Back to the show...it was held in The Hangar which is a nice-sized venue approx. 500 seats (?) and we were in the center section row I so we had a great view. The band came on and proceeded to kill it with awesome songs/performances. The 2 guys portraying Dave and Martin were spot on with their voices and looks. Lots of fun that kept the crowd dancing. Unfortunately, the girls behind us talked (yelled) amongst each other during the songs which was extremely annoying when we wanted to enjoy the music and sing along.
:(

Strangelove played a variety of DM songs ranging from the early years to the most recent. It was a fantastic show since DM has sooo many songs to cover and the concert went on for about 90 minutes non-stop. :)

We didn't want it to end but it did and the band said they would meet with fans after the show. Aww, that's nice of them. What a night and my car was fine where it was. :)

Full set of Strangelove photos.

Another Skew

2011-07-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

In June, my SKA group had self striping yarn challenge knit is a different way to break up the striping effect into ie. waves, diagonals and so many people were knitting Skew that I wanted to join in. I had already knit Skew twice before so I wasn't eligible for prizes but hey, I get a pair of socks from my efforts!

Slimming on the ankles.

The next issue was finding some self striping yarn in my stash. For a while I had way too many self striping but I've steered clear of them for some time but I dug deep into some bins and found some Regia self striping yarn with elastic. Perfect. From my past experience Skew can be rather tight across the heel/instep and it takes careful struggling to get them on but once they're on my feet, they are swesome socks.

The elastic seemed to help this issue although I am still careful when putting them on, mostly the construction of the sock is unusual and not stretchy like a typical sock.

Nifty.

For a time, these were languishing in a ziploc but I got motivated again to finish them off. They are really stunning with lovely beachy colors and I can't wait for the weather to get a bit colder to wear them! :)

The heels are the coolest feature!

Out with the old

2011-07-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Bye bye later today to Hector's 1956 Triumph. It is a very cool looking bike but boy, did it ride rough!! I rode behind Hector only ONCE and that was enough.

It seems that a British man will buy the bike and he is obsessed with them. He knows all about them and will restore and give it the proper attention.

We will now have some more room to accomodate the new 1978 Honda now. :)

Fan Cruise

2011-07-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

The day finally came! On Friday, Kat and I had our 3 day LA Kings Fan Cruise to Ensenada!! Long story short (because I'm lazy) the popular headliner Drew Doughty was a no-show (no contract signed yet) and Trevor Lewis was the only current Kings player on the ship. Daryl Evans (radio guy/former Kings player) and Ian Turnbull (Kings alumnus) were also on board along with Bailey and 2 Ice Girls.

It was disappointing that Drew wasn't on the ship but we will be given tickets to a catered luxury suite at a Kings game with a post-game meet n greet.

We had a cocktail party, dinner every evening with a Kings player/Kings affliate which made dinner enjoyable even though we had a couple of aggressive women taking over every question and conversation.

We got a great beach bag filled with cool Kings stuff, a Q & A session with the guys with more great prizes and a fun scavenger hunt. Overall, we had a great time and met some nice ladies, Julie & Melanie that we hung out with at dinner and late night.

Here is the full set of photos on Flickr.

LA Kings Cruise photos.

Back in the 'hood.

2011-07-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm an OC gal, born and raised. Sheltered until college and Hector. Heh. Today I arranged to drive to Corona Del Mar to pick up a yarn purchase and along the way, I took the kids on a little journey (through time and space). Not really.

First stop was Newport Beach but the Back Bay side. I used to hang in Newport as a kid, then later in college when my friend M lived out there and we spent many a weekend going out and getting into all sorts of adventures.

The kids and I took our cameras to see what we could find...Then it was off to Corona Del Mar which is an adorable little town with flowers as street names, has a little beach tucked away amongst very expensive homes.

For some reason the rest of my post disappeared...anyway, we went to Fullerton to see the apartment I grew up in which is really run-down and neglected. It was sad.

I enjoyed our time at the beach and it was a nice break.

Flip Mino Cozy

2011-07-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

My friend Kat's mom, Carol bought a new Flip for her upcoming vacation to New England next month. This prompts the request for a cozy...luckily it doesn't take much time amongst my sock knitting frenzy and side bunny trip.

Here it is:

Using my Diablo Flip as a template. It is nice little cozy that used up this leftover sock yarn perfectly. Knock out another little ball of leftover sock yarn out of my stash!! :)

Streaming

2011-07-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

We have Netflix but I'm pretty inconsistent with the DVDs. They arrive and if I don't watch them right away, they will sit for long periods of time before I remember to watch them or send them back because the movie is on HBO. Enter streaming...instant queue is the latest and greatest (for me). I can add what is available to my library and watch it whenever I want. It's like have another DVR but offers totally different things. I can watch documentaries, series and anime. Oh, the anime. I've tried watching them and it's hard to keep up with them on TV. A measley 30 minute episode and then wait another week for the next week. On instant queue I can watch 4 episodes and get way more satisfaction from it.

We originally began streaming with the Wii but that wasn't all that great. Enter the new TV, a Sony Bravia that has Netflix built into the TV. Just hook it up to the internet and your library is there! It keeps track of what I've watched so I never forget.

It started with Full Metal Alchemist which we have on DVD and I really like it but couldn't keep up or forget what episode I was on. A new version or retooling of this series is called Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood that has me interested again. I've already seen the first 2 parts and now part 3 is available ! Now I've added full seasons of anime that look interesting and there are tons. Hector and I watched Last Exile which was pretty good.

Hector recently got us a Ooooo-ray player (or Blu-ray) that does the same thing but this is for the master bedroom. Yeah, I can watch my shows upstairs because some of them aren't suitable for kids. :) I just need Hector to tell me how to hook it up to the internet and we're good to go.

Yes, I know Netflix is changing their fees but it can be worth it if I can have more to watch. Bye to HBO & Startz...

Now to watch True Grit....

Fall Fashion

2011-07-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Like department stores bringing out the fall/winter fashion in July, I am debuting Bunny Luv's winter look.

Add caption

For some reason, I call the cute new stuffie, Bunny Luv which I thought I pulled that clever name out of the air but I think I got it from a bunny rehab place that my cousin Hannah has taken a couple of rabbits to bond.

Add caption

Anywhooo, Bunny Luv seemed to need a ribbon, bow tie or something to give it that extra zing. To be honest again, I saw another Raveller's bunny pictured with a cute scarf so I did it too. :)

If you're interested in the pattern: Click here!