A real post with actual content is in the works (aren't they always) but until then, check out the Phat fiber Quaere Fibre sock yarn giveaway.
I found out about Phat Fiber on one of the Ravelry boards (I think for Knitting Go's green-a-long kal going on now) and it turns out they do lots of giveaways on their blog.
The blurb from their website:
The Phat Fiber Sampler box is a way for independent fiber, yarn and
related needlecraft companies and artisans to promote their products
through a tactile goodie box that goes on sale once monthly. Our
contributors get exposure while the consumers get to handle and
experiment with products before making larger purchases.
Pretty cool huh?
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
It's Time to READ!!!
I have recently finished American
Gods by Neil Gaiman, and I think the completion of that book has started a
veritable book binge. I just listened to an entire audiobook I download a
couple months ago, The Tao of Martha by Jen Lancaster. In preparation for my
upcoming vacation, I have requested 11 books from the library, downloaded 2
e-books and 2 audiobooks (all from the library) and mined my own shelves for 3
more books. Something tells me I can cross 'reading material' off my list.
From the library:
From the library:
- Mort by Terry Pratchett [ebook]
- Equal Rites by same [ebook]
- Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick (possible baby sweater)
- More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (possible baby sweater)
- It starts with food by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig
- The spectacular now [sound recording] / Tim Tharp
- Dyer consequences / Maggie Sefton
- Everything I needed to know about being a girl I learned from Judy Blume / edited by Jennifer O'Connell
- Forever ... / Judy Blume
- The chessmen of doom / John Bellairs ; frontispiece by Edward Gorey
- The happiness project : or, Why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle and generally have more fun / by Gretchen Rubin.
- Chapter & hearse / Lorna Barrett.
- Needled to death / Maggie Sefton.
Advance Reader Copy of REMOVED
by S.J. Pajonas
My books to read that I own:
My books to read that I own:
- Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer(in progress)
Quick check-in
I'm working on a few posts, and I'm cramming a lot of work in this week in preparation for my VACATION that starts tomorrow, so I shouldn't even be on here typing this post, but I had to share a link to a super cute Dr. Horrible costume. And if you don't read SewTara's blog, well, you should! I don't sew and I find her very entertaining. Read on!
Monday, August 5, 2013
False starts
I've been experiencing a lack of focus on all fronts for months now - blogging, dating, fitness, organization, blah blah blah. It's not important - there are too many to name.
In terms of blogging, I have 10 draft posts sitting behind the scenes that span the last year and half. I start writing a post and then get all perfectionist about it, save it for later, and never return to review it. Most of them are 80-90% finished. A few are one liners on topics I thought I wanted to write about here.
This blog is really for my own thoughts anyway, so what does it matter if it's organized? I think I struggle with wanting to have a blog and also wanting a written journal, filled with art and momentos. It's hard to include the content I want in a virtual format - my ticket stub from the Neil Gaiman reading is a tangible thing. I suppose I could scan it in and toss it, but that added level of work just won't fit in to the limited free time I have. Besides, I love paging through overstuff books, seeing my handwriting in different inks and with things sticking out of the pages.
Perhaps I should keep a physical journal and then scan and upload the pages here. But how much of that journal is private? The struggle continues.
For the meantime, here's what I'm doing lately:
In terms of blogging, I have 10 draft posts sitting behind the scenes that span the last year and half. I start writing a post and then get all perfectionist about it, save it for later, and never return to review it. Most of them are 80-90% finished. A few are one liners on topics I thought I wanted to write about here.
This blog is really for my own thoughts anyway, so what does it matter if it's organized? I think I struggle with wanting to have a blog and also wanting a written journal, filled with art and momentos. It's hard to include the content I want in a virtual format - my ticket stub from the Neil Gaiman reading is a tangible thing. I suppose I could scan it in and toss it, but that added level of work just won't fit in to the limited free time I have. Besides, I love paging through overstuff books, seeing my handwriting in different inks and with things sticking out of the pages.
Perhaps I should keep a physical journal and then scan and upload the pages here. But how much of that journal is private? The struggle continues.
For the meantime, here's what I'm doing lately:
- I joined Boston Sports Club - I go back and forth with gyms, but this one is a BLOCK from me and I did a trial 30 day pass last summer and loved it. I have been thinking of joining since then, and last week I took the plunge
- I've started running. I haven't run lately, since I was without an indoor space to run, and it was hot and humid, but now that I've got the gym it's time to start up run/walk intervals again.
- Penpals - I joined The League of Extraordinary Penpals to try and reconnect with letter writing
- I participated in Tour de Fleece, a spinning competition/motivation event and spun a little over half of the fiber I started with, 2.2 of 4 ounces.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Get into that cooking groove
I've never been much of a cook, I think mainly because I don't take the time to plan, shop, or actually cook the meals!
My big sis is my inspiration for cooking. She has a stack of recipes she wants to make and sets aside Sundays to cook up a storm. I often call her to catch up and she's making a giant batch of chili.
During my last visit in January, things were a bit different as she is a new mom - isn't my nephew John cute? He will be three months old this week!
So this time, she made her stack of recipes, 6 in all some tried and true, some new. She ordered groceries from a delivery service. And then I took over the kitchen and set to work. I made two quiches, chocolate chip cookies, meatloaf, green bean casserole, and plowed through the prep of ingredients for a few other things. It was great cooking in her kitchen with so much counter space, a big oven and room to move around. I felt accomplished in my day, even if we polished off a quiche a few hours after the making.
I really want to start this practice in my own life. Make time for cooking, and maybe set aside one evening, or a weekend day, to cook healthy recipes in preparation for the week.
Last week Boston was expecting another snow storm and I prepped by ordering groceries from Peapod.com, only this time I based my order on three recipes I want to try, not on past orders or whatever I had a craving to eat.
Lat night during The Oscars I managed to cook a Kale and Butternut Squash Saute. Yum! I halved the oil, and I would leave out the lemon entirely - it eliminated the sweetness of the squash. I ate it with some apple chicken sausages and it was a great winter meal. I have a few others saved in my Pinterest that I hope to try by the end of next weekend.
And here, a parting shot of Adela performing Skyfall at The Oscars last night. Beautiful!
During my last visit in January, things were a bit different as she is a new mom - isn't my nephew John cute? He will be three months old this week!
So this time, she made her stack of recipes, 6 in all some tried and true, some new. She ordered groceries from a delivery service. And then I took over the kitchen and set to work. I made two quiches, chocolate chip cookies, meatloaf, green bean casserole, and plowed through the prep of ingredients for a few other things. It was great cooking in her kitchen with so much counter space, a big oven and room to move around. I felt accomplished in my day, even if we polished off a quiche a few hours after the making.
I really want to start this practice in my own life. Make time for cooking, and maybe set aside one evening, or a weekend day, to cook healthy recipes in preparation for the week.
Last week Boston was expecting another snow storm and I prepped by ordering groceries from Peapod.com, only this time I based my order on three recipes I want to try, not on past orders or whatever I had a craving to eat.
Lat night during The Oscars I managed to cook a Kale and Butternut Squash Saute. Yum! I halved the oil, and I would leave out the lemon entirely - it eliminated the sweetness of the squash. I ate it with some apple chicken sausages and it was a great winter meal. I have a few others saved in my Pinterest that I hope to try by the end of next weekend.
And here, a parting shot of Adela performing Skyfall at The Oscars last night. Beautiful!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Nutribullet dreams
I bought a Nutribullet yesterday and I can't wait to try it out!!!
Lat year right around New years I saw a documentary called Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead. Joe Cross decided to take his health matters into his own hands and try juicing, and ended up starting a whole Reboot movement. Well, he was so inspiring that I went out and bought a juicer and started adding fresh juices in to my own diet. I did try a juice fast, I think I lasted one weekend. I did make juice every day for a while, but the challenge of getting all the veg in the dead of winter, the noise and cleanup up of the machine didn't boost my desire to pull it out and make juice.
I've learned to adapt the recipes to what I like - I will NEVER like celery. In a juice, stew, as a snack, it tastes terrible, and it ruins anything you add it to, so why add it at all? It is in juices mainly for extra volume.
One thing that bothers me about juicing is that we are stripping out the fiber. I understand that we are making a super concentrated glass of nutrients, but it's hard to get enough fiber in a day. I recently lowered my daily target from 30 grams to 25 grams a day, so I can stop feeling like a failure.
Now imagine if I was pureeing some of those same vegetables - well I'd be keeping the fiber content and more of the nutrients in those foods.
I was also experimenting with additions to the juice, such as spirulina (blue algae), flax seeds, and chia seeds. Even using my stick blender I couldn't get the fine spirulina powder completely incorporated.
I had been on the fence about buying a Magic bullet for a while and decided that I would buy one with part of my year end bonus. Then I heard about the Nutribullet - more power, more benefits, and double the price. I've done about a month of research - reading reviews, checking prices, watching user videos on YouTube, and when I saw a saw at Target (it rarely goes on sale) I leapt up and got one for myself.
I'm hoping that I can make some more nutritious and satisfying drinks with the Nutribullet.
Concerns about using the Nutribullet:
Lat year right around New years I saw a documentary called Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead. Joe Cross decided to take his health matters into his own hands and try juicing, and ended up starting a whole Reboot movement. Well, he was so inspiring that I went out and bought a juicer and started adding fresh juices in to my own diet. I did try a juice fast, I think I lasted one weekend. I did make juice every day for a while, but the challenge of getting all the veg in the dead of winter, the noise and cleanup up of the machine didn't boost my desire to pull it out and make juice.
I've learned to adapt the recipes to what I like - I will NEVER like celery. In a juice, stew, as a snack, it tastes terrible, and it ruins anything you add it to, so why add it at all? It is in juices mainly for extra volume.
One thing that bothers me about juicing is that we are stripping out the fiber. I understand that we are making a super concentrated glass of nutrients, but it's hard to get enough fiber in a day. I recently lowered my daily target from 30 grams to 25 grams a day, so I can stop feeling like a failure.
Now imagine if I was pureeing some of those same vegetables - well I'd be keeping the fiber content and more of the nutrients in those foods.
I was also experimenting with additions to the juice, such as spirulina (blue algae), flax seeds, and chia seeds. Even using my stick blender I couldn't get the fine spirulina powder completely incorporated.
I had been on the fence about buying a Magic bullet for a while and decided that I would buy one with part of my year end bonus. Then I heard about the Nutribullet - more power, more benefits, and double the price. I've done about a month of research - reading reviews, checking prices, watching user videos on YouTube, and when I saw a saw at Target (it rarely goes on sale) I leapt up and got one for myself.
I'm hoping that I can make some more nutritious and satisfying drinks with the Nutribullet.
Concerns about using the Nutribullet:
- having to add liquid - I am concerned that in the infomercial, user You Tube videos, and recipe list coconut water or almond milk into the mix. If you're blending the same vegetables you were juicing, wouldn't you have enough liquid? A cucumber is mostly water. I don't want to add extra calories or sugars to my drinks. Searching for Almond milk yesterday (I'm going to try it before I rail against it) I noticed that may brands have added sweeteners and filler ingredients.
- additional prep - I need to cut things up more to fit them into the cup for processing, no more leaving carrots whole. I don't think this will take a lot of extra time, but I'll keep track and see.
- Will I actually use it? I plan to keep on the counter in place of my juicer, which will go into my outbox (see Apartment Therapy's awesome January Cure). That should keep it at the ready and in my thoughts when I go to the kitchen for a snack.
- Will it hold up? Only time will tell. I've read a lot of reviews that say it leaks, stops working, etc., but I read all those warnings about my juicer too, and it's going strong after a year. I bought it at Target and also bought their 2-year replacement plan for $7. What a steal! I need to read the fine print this week and make sure I keep whatever paperwork is required together with the policy.
- Will the noise make me not want to use it? I didn't find many reviews that mentioned the noise level. Hopefully that's a good sign, and this will be answered pretty quickly once I use the machine.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Merry merry, happy snow, and all that
Another year slips in while I'm weighed down with a cold, and suddenly I'm behind again. What is it about the change of the calendar that prompts such a flurry of resolute promises that I wear myself out. The nature of my job means that every year end is a race of figures to justify and balance the books without ignoring the day to day tasks.
It's tempting to scurry along to catch up, make my lists, revise old lists, and accomplish, accomplish, accomplish. Then I found a post by Robert Krulwich on the NPR blog, and took a breath. Read
Another Year And I'm Still Here: A New Year's Meditation and take a breath with me.
The lists will be there, the unfinished improvement projects, knitting projects vibrating in the wings, piles of books beckoning to me to curl up in bed and read. There will be time enough for it all, and for this little blog too.
It's tempting to scurry along to catch up, make my lists, revise old lists, and accomplish, accomplish, accomplish. Then I found a post by Robert Krulwich on the NPR blog, and took a breath. Read
Another Year And I'm Still Here: A New Year's Meditation and take a breath with me.
The lists will be there, the unfinished improvement projects, knitting projects vibrating in the wings, piles of books beckoning to me to curl up in bed and read. There will be time enough for it all, and for this little blog too.
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