casablynn

Redecorating Project

2008-04-12T14:48:00.005-04:00

Ahhh, what a difference a little redecoration makes. It was a small project that impacted my mood in such a big way. Last weekend I went to Staples, AC Moore and Burlington Coat Factory and then spent a Sunday afternoon in front of my computer printing 8.5 x 11 portraits of our vacation pictures, placing them in frames and *ta-da* we have a whole new entry way.

I scored big at Burlington, discovering three perfect matching mirrors for only $30 each. They were perfect for the wall I wanted to cover behind our bed.

Yes, that is a giant Led Zeppelin wall poster on the left. That whole wall was covered with posters but I wanted something a little less busy and more "mature". We're adults after all :P Anyways, I can't bring myself to pull that last one down, I'm trying to justify a new spot for it but it's so big that I'm having a hard time finding a new spot for the poster.

Oh yes, and why are the mirrors not on the wall? Right now, they're sitting on the floor because I didn't think about HOW I was going to secure them to the wall until I went to hang them and after my busy day of shopping, grocery shopping and decorating, I was not about to venture forth into another retail adventure!

One last addition was the Vietnam era anti draft poster I found months ago, finally framed and hung in it's new home, the bathroom.

Drop Spinning

2008-04-12T14:23:00.005-04:00

I treated myself to a new toy a few weeks ago and bought a drop spindle kit from mainewoodsyarn on etsy. I've never spinned at all but I love the idea of making my own products from beginning to end one day. I watched some videos on youtube to get an idea of how to spin using a drop spindle but the directions that came with the kit were simple and easy to understand.

The kit came with four rolls of roving. The first was an undyed bit of practice roving. By the time I finished that one I was hooked. It's going to take a lot of practice to get better, but then, doesn't everything?

Road Trip to Houston, Part 3

2008-04-12T14:03:00.005-04:00

The fourth day of our trip was sunny and beautiful. It was the perfect day to hit downtown. We ate lunch at Ninfas, our favorite TexMex restaurant, first and then headed downtown.

As we walked around looking for a high rise building with an observation deck, I snapped these shots of the reflections of the sky scrapers on sky scrapers.

Finding an observation deck turned out to be as easy as walking into a building and asking the security guard who pointed us in the right direction: up.

Snapshots of the seemingly endless sprawl of Houston.

An empty Minute Maid Park with an open roof.

Road Trip to Houston Part 2

2008-04-12T13:45:00.004-04:00

The second day of our visit in Houston, the weather was gloomy and rainy; a typical March day in Houston. We were staying with my grandfather in Deer Park near the San Jacinto Monument. We decided to visit the monument and give Carl a crash course in Texas history. It was here the Texas rebels defeated Santa Anna and became an independent nation in 1836.

We went to the top floor of the monument after looking at the relics of the long ago war and had a great view of the surrounding oil refineries.

The USS Texas battleship is docked in the bay here as well. You can take a tour of it but it was raining pretty hard at that point and neither one of us felt like getting out of the car and taking a walk in the rain to board the ship. This picture was taken from the top of the monument.

Road Trip to Houston

2008-04-12T13:07:00.006-04:00

Carl and I hit the road on March 8th at 7am and headed down 66 through the pouring rain on our way to Houston for a weeklong visit. Once we hit the Tennessee border, the rain abated and we made our first driver switch at a rest stop across from a giant guitar just as the snow started. Thankfully, we drove over the border into Georgia then on into Alabama and the bad weather was over. Nothing but blue skies and rays of sun. The rest of our drive was blissfully uneventful. We made our way down to Mississippi and stayed overnight in Meridian.

Back on the road early in the morning, we were both excited when we crossed the border into Louisiana. Okay, I was probably more excited than Carl to be so close to my home, but I know he was ready to get to our destination and out of our tiny car. In the picture below you can see the continuous 18 mile stretch of I-10 that runs through the Atchafalaya Basin through the reflection of Carls book.

By the time we made it to the Texas border, I was exhausted from driving but too excited to nap. We were only hours from my city and I could hardly wait to get there. We were fairly giddy as we drove through the rice fields and crawdaddy farms barreling on towards Houston.

Summer Memories

2008-02-28T20:11:00.003-05:00

I was searching for some old photos and stumbled upon this small set of pictures I took last summer of Tinkerbell who had wandered onto the patio while I was tending the garden. She was so suspicious of the plants, at first she wouldn't walk directly up to the plants. Then she discovered that they weren't going to attack her and so she came closer for a better look.
Eventually she determined that they tasted pretty good too.

Luckily, she didn't discover this little guy hanging out in the wet shade.
All of these pictures are causing me to recall all the fond and more importantly warm memories of last summer. I am so ready for this winter to be done!

Experimenting with Gloves

2008-02-18T19:38:00.005-05:00

I'm experimenting with fingerless mittens this week. I've never made mittens before though I once attempted gloves. The gloves, however, were a fiasco and I swore off crocheting gloves forever. Fingerless mittens sounded like it would be a breeze because you get to leave the most complicated part out: the fingers. And it is a breeze. The problem is, I love this yarn so much I don't want to list the mittens on my etsy page! And while it's still a work in progress, I'm almost certain I will be wearing these this spring and I'll just have to make another pair to list for sale later!

A Truly D'oh! Moment

2008-01-03T19:40:00.001-05:00

I'm one of those young women you see crocheting on the train, the subway, the passenger seat of my boyfriends car, in the waiting room at the mechanics, just about anywhere I can get away with it. So of course, I was busily hooking it on the metro today, hooking as in crocheting, not the other hooking, when a man sitting next to me just could not stop coughing. As I was envisioning his cough germs invading my air space and being inhaled into my lungs, he suddenly took a break from coughing to remark that he'd never seen anyone knitting on the Metro before. I didn't correct him, I smiled politely and said, Oh I do it all the time, it's a nice way to pass the time. Then directly put my eyes back on my project hoping he wouldn't talk to me again. But he did. He asked if I made the hat I was wearing and I replied that I had and he said it looked very nice. I replied with a polite smile and a thank you and directly put my eyes back on my project and he continued with his coughing attack and reading his book. As I reflected on this exchange it occured to me that such an instance was the reason I had just printed out a hundred business cards and stored them in my new business card holder from www.sweetheartsinner.etsy.com and that I had just let an opportunity to promote my shop to a complete stranger slip through my fingers! D'oh!

Candy, Candy, Candy

2007-12-31T15:21:00.001-05:00

Uck, I think I gained ten pounds this Christmas and it's mostly my own fault. I can feel my hips and bootie expanding just thinking about all the candy I made, and taste tested of course, the last two weeks.

My mom usually makes the christmas candy but after 35 years, she grew tired. I now know why of course. I made six batches of this candy for Christmas day, and office potlucks and to give as general gifts. Six batches is about 560 pieces of candy. Five hundred and sixty pieces that I dunked into melted chocolate chips, with a toothpick, one piece at a time!

I have no idea how she did this all those years with two kids but now I know why she looked so tired as she did it! It was fun, I enjoyed it and the best part is delivering it to a friend who enjoys eating the candy, but it was a lot of work. Of course, I'm already planning on making even more batches next year.

My love affair with the Outlander series

2007-12-06T19:57:00.000-05:00

Rereading a favorite book is like visiting with an old friend. Which is why I've begun rereading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I read the first three books of the Outlander series in 1995 and loved them so much, I reread the three immediately upon completion. I was thrilled a few years later to stumble upon the fourth and fifth books in a bookstore. I'd no idea the books were a continuing series. Now that a seventh book is in the works, I thought now would be a good time to re familiarize myself with the story and characters I so love. With any luck, I will finish rereading the sixth just as the seventh is published and it will be one seamless story. Then I can cry when I finish it. I hope the seventh book will not end the Outlander series, but it will surely be the last book for awhile.

I am an Amtrak employee

2007-11-21T10:49:00.000-05:00

I'm really not an Amtrak employee but I must look like one because every time I buy a ticket at their automated machine I get questions from strangers like how do I buy a ticket or how do I use this automatic ticket machine? But today I was asked the best question from a stranger I have ever heard: Which train do I get on to go to BWI?

Mind you, I am standing in line in the middle of the terminal with a purse, two duffel bags and wearing my winter coat, hat and scarf waiting to purchase a ticket. I am not wearing the little red vest the Amtrak employees wear nor am I standing by a sign that says Ask Me for Directions.

Okay. I do NOT work for Amtrak. This is what I do:

I make hats and I sell them on Etsy. I have no idea how to get to Baltimore Washington International Airport on an Amtrak train from Washington DC's Union Station. I am more than willing to show anyone that asks how to use the ticket machines to purchase a ticket regardless of the fact that the machine walks you right through the process, but I really can't help you if you can't even get it together enough to know which train line you need to board to get to the airport!

I mean really? You bought a plane ticket, left your house, got yourself to the train station and your next step is to ask a complete and total stranger, where to now?

Peace

2007-11-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

I heard tonight the first Christmas song I've heard yet this season. Luckily, not being a big fan of Christmas music, it was my favorite, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Happy Xmas (War is Over).

I remember the first time I heard this song. I was young and I had no real idea of who John Lennon was or even The Beatles really. My father was driving us home from the YMCA, just he and I and there was a sense of peace and calmness in the car.

As I listened to the refrain, the children singing war is over if you want it, I believed.

I believed the children and the man singing and I believed this man could end all wars if we all wanted it enough. I though peace could be as simple as that. I couldn't fathom then and I still forget now that there are people in this world who clamor for war.

Hair

2007-11-13T19:55:00.000-05:00

I love my new haircut; some people do not. Like my parents. And my boyfriend.

I think it looks awesome though. I love it, love it, love it. This is one of those haircuts that gives you a new perspective on your day. Every morning seemed dull and slightly gray and definitely boring but now it's fresh and fun cause my hair is brand new.