I have had a couple really great weeks of mail lately.  Did I ever tell you that when the postman delivers the mail, it is my favorite time of day (helps that I don’t pay the bills!).  Yep, it beats nap time most days.

One totally awesome thing that showed up in my mailbox (out of many) was this new hat…

I adore it.  It is a smidge too big, but that didn’t stop me from wearing it to knitting group on Saturday.  The colors are so me.  It was hand knit by my friend, Phoe.  I have come to realize that all of my handknits that I wear (minus socks) have come from Phoe.  She is an exceptionally kind and generous friend.

Another really cool thing that came in the mail are these..

Signed bookplates from Anne Rice. Yes, the Anne Rice.  I adore her Mayfair Witches series, The Witching Hour got me hook, line and sinker addicted to New Orleans.  I only have one of her books in hard cover (The Witching Hour, which I am overdue to re-read), so I am offering the other two up for anyone that may like them.  If there are more than two people, I will draw numbers.

Peace.

I am blogging from my iPod Touch! I was browsing through iTunes last night and found a WordPress app. This is incredible.

And it totally makes me want an iPhone now. That way I could have everything on one device instead of an iPod and a cell phone. A girl can dream can’t she?

I pinky swear that I will have knitting photos tomorrow. Or at least yarn. Now back to the app store to see what other snazzy new apps they have.

Peace.

With over 43 gb of music, I have to rotate my music selection (my iPod is 16gb) every now and then. Since we are in November now, I am working on my Christmas playlist…which needs serious updating.

In the meantime, these thoughts ran through my head as I flipped through my playlists:

1. I think that I know every word to every song on the Beastie Boys album “Paul’s Boutique”. For reals.

2. Ditto that for Carly Simon’s “Greatest Hits Live”.

3. Good gosh, we have a ton of Jimmy Buffet songs. 386 to be exact. I know, right?

4. I am sad that my Dave Matthews collection does not rival the Jimmy Buffet collection.

5. I have a secret crush on Kenny Chesney.

6. Where did this Mariah Carey album come from (“daydream”)? Not mine!

7. Meatloaf’s “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” will always remind me of my Aunt Jackie & Uncle Brian’s wedding reception. That was 20 years ago.

8. Metallica’s “One” still gives me goosebumps.

9. Where did all of this country music come from?

10. What happened to my Violent Femmes album?

11. I need more song suggestions for my “girl groups from Motown days” playlist.

12. The Dead’s “Shakedown Street” still gets me bopping in my seat.

13. I just found another 57 Jimmy Buffet songs. That makes 443 songs.

14. “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins still inspires me to do air drums.

15. Another Jimmy Buffet song tucked in with the Christmas songs. 444.

16. Here’s another 22 more Buffet songs. I really need to organize my library. 466.

Yeah. At least I got my Christmas playlist on there. Now to sort out the rest.

Peace.

Living on tropical islands for three years, this Midwestern girl really missed snow.  When I found out that we were moving to Alaska last year, I was excited because we were guaranteed to get some snow.

Did we ever!  In January 2009 alone, we got just over 75 inches of the white stuff.  Thankfully, I am not in charge of the shoveling, DH does that.  And he refuses to buy a snowblower (imagine that).

Conn and I have been watching our mountains out back for the snow to be coming down the mountain…as each day passes, the snow gets a little bit lower and lower.  So very exciting to an almost 3 year old and his snow loving Mama.

Imagine our surprise when we woke up on Saturday to a nice dusting of snow on the ground!!  Yippee!  It was a booo-tiful way to start our Halloween day.  Too bad it all melted by the end of the day.

Oh well, there is more on the way, that is for certain.

Peace.

Around this time of year, I start to go a little bit nuts.  Getting the house ready for winter, decorating for the seasons, planning vacations, holiday crafting, baking until my arms almost fall off, and just plain old celebrating.  I love fall holidays and feel like once Halloween hits, it is a non-stop party of sorts.

I have many personal & professional obligations that keep me hopping…I am so lucky to be able to do what I love every single day.  Lately I have been more mindful to offer up thanks at every chance possible.

There are times when I am busy photographing (I made a DIY lightbox!!) yarns, roving, or projects in progress and I need something to distract the wee-est one.

Lately I have been offering up extra thanks for the basket of Mardi Gras beads.

Peace.

I can still say that because my clock says it is 11:27 PM.  Dear blog, I miss you!

Just stopped in for a minute tonight to share some Halloween happiness with all of you.  Hope everyone had a safe evening!

When I saw these pumpkins at the grocery store, I knew I had to buy them.  I had never seen a conjoined pumpkin before, but had to revel in it’s freakish glory.  It has welcomed guests  to our home for the past few weeks…

Our contractor remarked one day that it looked like a “bottom”.  Viva la freaks!

We finally carved the pumpkins on Friday.  I bought one of those carving kits last year, the day after Halloween.  Best 99 cents I have ever spent in my life.  It was such a breeze to zip through the pumpkins.  I wish I had known how great they are 5 years ago…I would have paid full price rather than struggle with a paring knife!

The boys…hmm, the penguin costume looks oddly familiar doesn’t it?  Grandpa Mike sent Connor his leopard costume…he found it while out thrifting this summer.  Good thing Halloween wasn’t any later, the kid is growing rapidly!

Peace.

I have a friend.  Let’s call her Phoe.  She takes amazing pictures.  She knits (and designs) amazing things.  She makes amazing jewelry. She makes amazing food.

All of the picture taking, creating, and cooking send me further down the spiral as it were…my friend Phoe is an evil temptress.  Okay, so she really is not evil at all.  But she still is a temptress.

Originally, she got me hooked on Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock sock yarn.  Which in turn started my sock obsession.  Most recently, she posted a recipe link and amazing pictures of something she just baked…so of course I had to do a little clickety-clicking and found myself salivating at the keyboard.

Have a look-see over here.  I will wait.

I know, right?

And I don’t even like damn cheesecake!

But I couldn’t shake it.  I thought about those brownies for at least 24 hours.

Then I did it…I made them…

And to this non-cheesecake lover, they are phenomenal!  It is hard to put it in words how freakishly good they are.

I have to put cream cheese on my grocery list again *licking fingers*.

Peace.

There are secret societies out there in the world of yarn that I want to join.  Yarns that I covet but am unable to snag.  One such yarn is the ever fabled Wollmeise.  The yarn is hand dyed by a lady in Germany and is more rare and expensive than a Unicorn fart.  When the dyer updates her online shop, the yarn hounds descend and people go bananas.  Seriously freak out.  People don’t care what colors they get, as long as they get something.  The know full well that they can trade it for what they want or sell it for more than the original price.  Supply vs. demand and all that jazz.

I have been dreaming about this yarn.  Hearing the stories of the knock your socks off colors (ha ha, it’s sock yarn…get it?), and the intensity.  Oh, the intensity of the colors.

Now, since I have two wee ones that demand much of my time, I am unable to stalk said dyer’s online shop (or the shop in the US that now carries it).  My only hope was that we would win the lottery and I could buy a skein of it off ebay, or shamefully beg come holiday time.

Then I had a revelation.  I have some pretty decent yarns in my stash.  I decided to just throw out the idea to the world (read: Ravelry ISO & Destashing board) and see how it floats.  I figured I would get heckled within minutes.

Imagine my surprise when I had multiple offers within a few hours.  I was floored.  I wished I had more to trade…but alas it ended up working out so that I could trade with two people.

The other day I got my long awaited Wollmeise in the mail…

And while it is incredibly gorgeous (and smells nice too!), I don’t have the sudden urge to roll naked in it.  Is it because it is a very thin yarn, whilst I like heavier sock yarns?  Is it because I am scared of the Wollmeise and living up to the hype?

The color is Buxkranzl or “Box Wreath”. Clever packaging. Stay tuned to see what I decide.

Peace.

The other day was a very good day.  The kids napped decently.  The contractor showed up to finish his work (a feat onto itself).  I got a little knitting time in.  And while the rain tried to get me down, I happened to peer outside to check on said contractor and found this just outside my back windows…

Not one, but two. Plus, I was able to locate the camera and the batteries weren’t dead!

Yeah, it was a good day.

Peace.

Ok, so we aren’t playing Blackjack here.  I just wanted to say that.  Actually I have been saying it quite a bit since we watched 21 recently.  Haven’t seen it?  I highly recommend it.

Anyway…back to the issue at hand.  I finally had a minute to catch my breath and draw a winner for my giveaway.  Sorry for the delay, this was a bonkers weekend and on top of it, husband had yesterday off which really threw my schedule out the window.

Drumroll please……the winner of the hand dyed, hand spun “Second Base” yarn is Lisa from The Hem Line.  As drawn by the uber-scientific flashcard deck by the toddler…

Yes, he is usually this grumpy lately.  So, congratulations, Lisa! And stay tuned for another giveaway this week.

Oh, one more thing…I have put up a couple new yarns in my shop…check them out!

Peace.