Chevron Scarf

Today I finished my Chevron Scarf from Do Stuff!, one of my favorite blogs. I used some yarn I had laying around, including a color-changing yarn, and I think I like the way it turned out. It's pretty quick and easy, a good knit if you're pressed for time. However, it was very frustrating the way the 3 colors tended to tangle if I didn't unravel them every few rows or so. If you like the way this one looks, there's a free download for the scarf on Ravelry or on Do Stuff's blog.

WTF college?!

Midterms are fast approaching (no joke, they start the day after tomorrow) and everyone says this is the most important year with regards to college. UGH! I'm sick of the constant reminder that college is just waiting around the bend for you. 

It's waiting for you to spend hours racking your mind for anything remotely exciting you've done in the past four years, for you to visit and interview, to mingle and attempt to impress, just so someone behind a desk can decide from a few sheets of paper if they like you or not. If you took that AP test or spent a few extra nights out to dinner with your family. If you were in that club or did that sport or had that job. 

And also, what did people talk to me about before junior year? I really can't remember the last conversation I had with an adult that didn't include my college plans. Not that they really care. It's more of a way to categorize us when they have no other way to relate to anyone under 30. Are we an ivy leaguer? Or a state schooler? A city dweller? Or a college towner? Are we set on staying close to home? Or eager to get the hell out of here?

Which brings me to my next point... Holy crap. (Or holy crow if you just read the Twilight series.) But seriously. We're leaving in less than two years. What if we don't make friends? What if we go too far and miss our mommies? What if we don't go far enough and 

our families visit way too often? 

Basically, I have no idea what I want from college. My plans stretch from Rhode Island to Florida to California and back again to New York and Boston. But I'm trying not to limit myself because, in the end, you really don't want to be your own worst enemy. It sucks when you only have yourself to blame. All I know is I'm way behind on my studying... And I think this postcard is pretty legit.

Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies

I could sadly never be a chef because I refuse to cook animal meat but I can try at least. And bake. And relax. When the pressures of school or parents loom over my head like impending thunder clouds, I turn to the stove. I don't do much, but one recipe I always come back to - anytime someone asks for a dessert or something for their party, or my friends and I are having a bake-off - is for chocolate chip espresso cookies.

The following recipe is from CosmoGirl. I know. Shocking that they have recipes, but they're always like, "Chad Michael Murray loves these!" Or "Make these for your boyfriend." But the picture was so mouth-watering, I had to try them.

Note: These require being frozen over-night, but if you put in freezer for 1 hour, they will be fine.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground espresso or other finely ground dark-roast coffee beans

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a pot. Lower to a simmer. Put a glass bowl over the pot; melt 1 3/4 cups of the chocolate chips and all the butter in it, stirring constantly until all is melted. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the espresso, then mix in the chocolate mixture. Let it cool. Stir in the flour mixture and the remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Put bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the dough firm up. Make tablespoon-sized dough balls. Put on cookie sheet or wax paper-covered plates and freeze overnight.
To bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Completely grease a new cookie sheet or use non-stick. Don't thaw dough. Arrange dough balls 2 inches apart on the pan. Bake 7-10 minutes, checking to see if they're done by sticking a toothpick in (the old trick.) If it mostly comes out clean, they're ready! If not, bake longer and repeat toothpick method. Enjoy with milk!

While this recipe calls for 7-10 minutes, sometimes mine take longer, but many of my friends like the insides to be on the chewy side.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.

What now?

I'm sitting here in a state of complete frustration. I feel the need to make something. Something really nice. I have a huge shelf full of fabric just waiting, calling out really, to be made into something. I have giraffes, and elephants, flowers and dots. They're DYING for me to craft them into something cool. Yet, for some reason, I have NO idea what to make. It's making me crazy. I've made bags. I've made a quilt. Once, I made a dress. However, I don't have buttons for bags, batting for quilts or zippers for dresses. Nor do I have enough fabric to make anything too large. It's ridiculously frustrating. And so, I surf. Looking everywhere for just the right thing to strike my fancy. Make me get up, wipe the dust off the machine, start ignoring everything that's going on around me because I'm so focused on the project. It will come, it always does. Until then, I leave you with Alexander Henry's Traffic Jam

Inauguration

We watched the inauguration in school today, as I'm sure you have gathered from Alex and Lilia. My math teacher asked us if we thought the school would broadcast the ceremony if Senator McCain had won, and to tell you the truth, they probably wouldn't. There are too many democrats for that, even though it would still be a historical event with Sarah Palin as the vice-president.
While the girls behind me were thoroughly bored by the speeches, especially the quartet, I enjoyed seeing how things went down (I was an inauguration virgin). One of my favorite parts was Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction and his poetic words, "We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right."

If you hadn't a chance to watch, I suggest you read Obama's transcript or simply find a replay of the ceremony. It's something you won't want to miss.

"The world has changed, and we must change with it."
-President Barack Obama

The Adventures of Shark Boy (is our car brooken) and (I) Lava (you) Girl

[Toasties I made this weekend]

Well. Today was quite an adventure. If it wasn't slipping on the bottom of the driveway while taking the dog for a walk, it was starving in the middle of the woods, or having our car break down. In a nutshell, today was a mess. But looking back, none of it really seems that bad. The day started off as any other, and the slipping wasn't really a big thing either. However, after spending approximately 20 minutes at the trail-head of the ski place, waiting for the keeper of the keys (Momma) I should have known that things were gonna start going downhill. and soon. After what seemed like years of waiting for the keys, and my route to nourishment not showing up I figured she might be doing the same thing I was. Waiting. So, despite my stomach screaming at me not to do anymore skiing, I made a quick loop, on the lookout for my latent mother, and upon not finding her, was completely dismayed. I thought that if she was in the woods, she would be looking for me, making it incredibly stupid to go up to the parking lot, but eventually my stomach won the argument against me head, and I started the trek upward. Of course, there she was, my mother, waiting in the car. The. Whole. Time. It was ridiculously frustrating. However, I got in the car, grabbed the granola and yogurt I had packed and chowed down. From here, things only got worse. We're driving along, when all of a sudden, there's a noise and persistent thudding coming from the engine-area. A belt had slipped. We turned off all the electricity in the car, but it was getting dark, and making it home without any lights seemed like quite a challenge. But, we are strong women, and momma pulled through, getting us back to the car shop just after dark. Now all we need is a new belt and a good nights sleep. I hope your days were slightly less fraught with crazyness!

"I'm glad you're cool."

I'm excited, don't worry, Alex. I really am. 

Throughout the whole election process I never really understood the response "I don't really care," to the ever-present question of "If you could, who would you vote for?" Granted, we live in a liberal state and Obama shirts were aplenty in our high school's

 hallways, but our peers were still staying, "It doesn't really make a difference to me." 

We'll be twenty when the next presidential election comes along. What if there were a draft between now and then? Gay marriage outlawed nationally? Abortion prohibited? It's time to get involved, to start to care, to speak out and to protest. 

So, yes, I'm glad we're watching the inauguration in school. It's historical, it's inspiring and watching it after the fact just wouldn't be the same. Besides, the computers would crash if we didn't because too many teachers would be trying to see it anyways.

These elementary schoolers are pretty jazzed. Couldn't we rustle up some enthusiasm as well?

Where's the excitement?

The inauguration is in 6 days, and I, for one, am incredibly excited. Not just the fact that it's Barack Obama, or that he's the first black president, although both are equally exciting. What I'm really excited for is change. Our country has become very stagnant, and this rut we've become caught in is not a good place to be. But enough of my political views. This is about the inauguration. Why aren't people more excited? I can't wait to watch the speech that will go down in history, either as great, or as a major disappointment. However, today, on at least two occasions, I noticed a huge lack of enthusiasm from my peers. It really upset me. We're part of a major event in history, and no one seems to really care. When Obama was elected, that's all anyone could talk about, but now, when he's actually taking office, no one seems to give a shit. I was thrilled to find out that on the 20th, school is being put on hold for an hour or two and tv's are being set up so that we can Obama's acceptance speech live. Upon mentioning this at least twice to my peers, they seemed confused, asking, "why are they doing that?" why? Because one of the most important events in history is about to occur, and we want to see it happen. That's why. Maybe I'm just too enthused? No matter, on Tuesday, history will be made, and I, for one, will be there to watch it.

Keep talkin' that...

Apparently, gossip is unavoidable. My dad teaches 7th grade and at least once a week he reiterates how much the girls love drama. While I fully reject the idea that only girls or all girls like gossip, or that liking gossip has anything related to being female, I will say that people love talkin' that ish! 

I would like to think that I avoid gossiping and I really can't think of the last time I told a secret that wasn't mine to tell. But that's not to say I'm above it all. 

Honestly, following the latest bit of juicy drama does make the day go by ridiculously fast. 

That said, I really do not understand talking about someone you've. never. met. Really? You seriously need to find something productive to do with your time if you're going around talking about someone you don't know to their friends. Can you start a fight any faster? 

I believe Kelis said it best. 

Represent that world town!

Chloe Boots

I love them. I like the whole edgy, rocker vibe they give off. Kind of a I-do-what-I-want attitude. And I bet they could crush a pair of Uggs. I'm thinking of studding some boots... a DIY project. We'll see.

image via the selby



The lines in these hands are g.r.e.a.t. Box-y and angular, yet with movement.
image via Chow Martin

Hello!

Whats the best part of being grounded you ask? Being ungrounded afterwards! I'm back from 4 days of crappyness and better than ever!

Silence Please

Talking is overrated. I'm fed up with talking to people. Do you ever have those days when you wish people would just leave you alone with your ipod on full blast and your favorite magazine? I don't know if I'm the only one who has noticed this, and I'm probably not, but it seems to me that half the time, people only talk because they can't stand the silence or they enjoy the sound of their own voice. I know that I do it too. Sometimes it can't be helped. I don't enjoy the sound of my own voice so much as I think that if someone I know is sitting near me, wouldn't it be polite to make small talk? But some talk mindlessly about things like the weather and whatnot, without a direction to the conversation, a point to their never ending thoughts. Would a conversation be better used to talk about taste in music or literature? Anything worth something?
So, today, in honor of not talking to people, I will crank the volume on the stereo and drown out needless conversation with the sound of silence. If that even makes any sense..

Sultan- What Made Milwaukee Famous

A friend-of-a-friend's music blog

Surprise

So you know when you're going along with your daily routine, and then all of a sudden something out of the blue hits you? For example, a few months ago, my dad, who I haven't seen since I was three, and have no memory of tried to contact me on Facebook, it knocked the wind out of me, and I panicked like I've never panicked before. Something similar happened to me today, and it threw me. My grandma used to say to me, always expect the unexpected. I've grown so used to not expecting it that every once in a while, something like this happens, and I'm caught completely off guard. I had forgotten what it was like to be surprised, since it seems like as I've gotten older, the unexpected has become less frequent. At the same time, while I was at yoga yesterday, the teacher was talking about how we should be greatful for the little, seemingly insignificant things we have in our life, and grudgingly, I thanked my lucky stars for having a house and food on my table. However, today, with this weird, unexpected, fairly insignificant, yet surprising thing hanging over me, I realized how greatful I am for the little things. I like being able to count on something when life seems to pop out of your hand. It's nice to get some weird news, and then say oh well everything's okay because the house is still standing, and we have heat. The unexpected spiced things up, got my heart racing, and I thoroughly look forward to the next time this happens, however, the expected, left me feeling a little bit more greatful for what I already have.

The Year of Doing

Along with the end of 2008, the end of winter vacation is fast approaching, and I am less than thrilled. I expected to do so much more this week. But then I realized that I always talk about wanting to have time to myself just for doing nothing. Finally after many belabored months, I have gotten my week of nothing... and not to complain, but it's definitely much more fun to be doing something. I love watching Monk on DVD, and reading for almost 12 hours straight, but after all that, I look back on my week and wonder how it slipped past me so fast, after all, one day of reading doesn't constitute a whole week gone by... Still, I've concluded, finally, that all these months of wishing to have nothing to do have been a waste. Doing stuff is fun: skiing, sewing, knitting, anything, and although I feel afterward as though all my time has been wasted just doing, it leaves me with a much more satisfied feeling than doing nothing has brought. Therefore, in order to end my vacation with a bang and get the year of doing off to a good start, I will indeed be going out for some quality ski time in Vermont. 5 days of sitting was just enough to get me completely thrilled for a little ski adventure and visit to the Brattleboro Co-op. Enjoy the rest of your weekends!

My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
these are a few of my favorite things.

These bring a smile to my face:

Forest paths with swatches of light

The dresses I wore as a little girl

Crisp, clean sheets

A good book that you can't put down
Lying in the sunshine
Unexpected mail
Wearing a daisy tucked behind one ear
A mug full of steaming tea
Tons of temporary tattoos at once
Frolicking in bare feet
Rolling down hills
The laziness of Sunday mornings



picture-loveology