50

Today is my 50th birthday. I am not sure how I feel about this. I mean I love birthdays, but I wasn't happy about receiving an invitation to join AARP. I am officially a Golden Girl. I somehow don't feel like I am old enough to be 50. Does that make sense? It's just a number, right? So bring on the birthday cake! I think I can handle 50 candles.

I've been thinking about some of the things I would like to do or accomplish during the next year, so I thought I would see if I come up with 50 things. Here it goes.

Walk everyday for exercise.
Be positive.
Find a job I love.
Spend lots of time with my family.
Be a better cook.
Figure out how to bake the perfect brownie.
Be more loving.
Paint.
Plant hydrangea bushes.
Drink more water.
Take more road trips.
Learn yoga.
Stop procrastinating.
Be grateful.
Make a difference in people's lives.
Live in the moment.
Do something creative everyday.
Take a dance class.
Master Photoshop.
Take more photos.
Give more hugs.
Live in the moment.
Decorate the house for every holiday.


Make every day a special day.
I think if I can just do this each day, I will be a happy girl.

October Delights

 Pumpkins. I absolutely adore pumpkins. To me they are THE symbol of October. Especially when accompanied by hay bales, mums and cute hand made scarecrows.

 Candy Corn.  Not really for how they taste, but for the cute color combination. Thank you to the candy maker who first combined these colors. Oh, and by the way, have you ever eaten "ghetto" Snickers? You eat a candy corn and a roasted peanut at the same time and it tastes like a Snicker candy bar. Dare you to try it.

 Sweaters, or should I say cardigans. They sit so patiently all summer waiting for the first cold front to come through. Can you tell I love Halloween colors :)

Chick Flicks. Cold and rainy weekends are no match for watching chick flicks while knitting. Hot cocoa and popcorn optional.

What things make you happy during the fall?

Hello October!

October 1st is always the start of the holiday season for me. This is absolutely my favorite time of the year. My birthday is in October. Halloween and my parents' anniversary is on October 31st (yes, they got married on Halloween!). Next is our very traditional Thanksgiving, and then we get to officially listen to Christmas music and start the countdown!

 

I love dragging the boxes up from the basement and deciding what I am going to use to decorate with for this year's holiday. Becky loves decorating along with me which makes it even more fun! Everything you see in these photos came from Target. I cannot go into Target without coming out with something cute and adorable (see the reference to Becky). The tins are actually luminarias which we light almost every night during October.

It must be the little kid in me that doesn't like the scary and creepy Halloween decorations. I can't wait for the next nice weather weekend to go to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins, go for a hayride and drink apple cider. Keeping fingers crossed.

Fall Treats

Fall is officially here.

The weekend was spent indoors with one sick girlie and rain and gray skies. I did get to make some soup, and made quite a bit of progress on my shawl.

Yesterday after work I was inspired by her to make Macaroni and Cheese for dinner. I even had all the ingredients on hand. No last minute dashes to the grocery store. The mac n cheese was tasty and filling. Then my sweet tooth kicked in and I made these

I don't think anything says fall more than caramel apples! And if that weren't enough I needed to dip pretzels in chocolate, drizzle them in colored chocolate and cover them in sprinkles.

Perfect way to cheer up a cold and dreary day.

Happy Yarn

This yarn has been in my knitting basket since last summer. I had started a project with it, but the results were less than thrilling. One of the things I love about knitting is that if a pattern isn’t working out, you can frog what you’ve knitted, rewind the yarn, and start knitting something completely different.

You all have been reading about my recent knitting obsession and my love of all things shawl related. Bingo. That’s what this yarn wants to be. But what shawl? I logged into Ravelry and started searching the shawl patterns. I knew I wanted something that wasn’t a lace pattern so the yarn would really shine.

I decided on a pattern called Mara by Madeline Tosh. It is similar to the Citron shawl that I made earlier this month. This shawl is knit entirely in garter stitch, with a really cool ribbed ruffle on the edge. I am going to knit until I basically run out of the rainbow yarn, and do the ruffle in a solid color.

I know many knitters would be bored with rows of garter stitch, but I find it very relaxing.There is something very calming and peaceful with the back and forth and click of the needles. I love being able to have a conversation or watch TV while I am knitting. I like being able to stop mid-row, come back an hour later and just start knitting again. I have tried knitting intricate patterns, but found that even minor interruptions would make me irritable. Who wants to be cranky while doing something they enjoy? Not me.

I {Heart} Soup

Soup. Stew. Chowder. Chili. I love them all. I miss them so much during the summer months.

Soup is my favorite thing to cook. I love the idea of taking 15 minutes to prep my ingredients, put them in a pot, and let them simmer til done. No split second timing required. One pot for the entire meal. I especially adore soups that take the afternoon to cook. A cool and rainy Sunday afternoon. Soup simmering on the stove. Snuggled on my chair knitting while watching a chick flick. Going into the kitchen every so often to give the soup a stir. This is even more enjoyable if I bake bread at the same time. Heaven on earth.

Depending on my mood, I use two different recipes for corn chowder. My favorite is Ina Garten's Cheddar Corn Chowder. I love Ina. Ina's cookbooks make me look like I know what I'm doing in the kitchen (I see a whole other post coming about cooking with The Barefoot Contessa).

If I want my corn chowder in a hurry, I use this recipe.

EASY Corn Chowder

1 16 oz. bag frozen hash browns
1 15 oz. can whole corn, undrained
1 15 oz. can cream style corn
1 1/2 cups milk (your choice, half and half is over the top!)
1 medium onion, chopped
8 slices bacon
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. black pepper

Cook bacon until crisp in a dutch oven or large saucepan, remove to a plate. Drain bacon fat, reserving 1 T. cook chopped onion in reserved bacon fat until translucent.
Add the potatoes, corn, milk, salt, pepper and worcestershire sauce to the dutch oven and simmer over medium-low heat for about 25-30 minutes. Do not bring to a rolling boil. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and reserved bacon, crumbled.

Happy Little Quilt

I really wanted to make another quilt after finishing my other one, but my budget was saying no. I went to Joann Fabrics with Becky the other day and started looking through the clearance bin and found bolts and bolts of the cutest fabrics for $2.00 a yard. I now have the fabric for my next quilt, also known as Happy Little Quilt :)

These colors are so much fun that I could hardly wait to get started. I am cutting 4" squares and am going to make a basic patchwork quilt. Please remind me to hand tie this quilt. My sewing machine can handle the patchwork, but not the quilting.

I am not sure when I'll actually start sewing this, what with the knitting mania happening at the moment. But knowing these fabric squares are waiting on my cutting table makes me happy.