moving over...

To wordpress I think.

At least that's the plan for now. Take a look over there - More to come soon.

www.Seattleknitchick.wordpress.com

Sunshiny goodness!

Today was a beautiful day in Seattle! The sun came out and it warmed up to about 80 degrees. I found myself smiling just from feeling the sun shine down on my face. I was able to drive through the arboretum and over the floating bridge with my sunroof open and it was just spectacular! As one of my office mates said - it was a day that makes us all want to live here! I noticed the beauty in even small things - the bush as you walk to my office was filled with white flowers - they reminded me of when I was a kid and would pick the flowers in our back yard and pull out the pollen covered part on the inside and make them into little boats to float down the creek behind our house. That's a memory I haven't had in a long time.

There are other memories and thoughts I really want to share here - but blogger doesn't allow users to password protect just particular posts - It's all or nothing. This frustrates me and makes me think I may have to move to password protecting the whole thing. Blah!

Calliope is working on a new header for my blog and I am SO.EXCITED! Stay tuned!!!

Mmmm Breakfast!

Today we stopped on by the Blue Onion Bistro for some breakfast.  It's a great place with yummy food and so cute.  The coffee is strong (Studly boyfriend really likes this but I could go either way).  We both had chicken fried steak with scrambled eggs, hash browns and toast.  Umm and we started with a yummy cinnamon roll to split!  :O

It was super good... and I still have half mine in the fridge for some later time!!!

Seattle Snow In April

Can you believe it? This wasn't even when it was at the worst!!!

A cool website

Free Grocery List Maker has me hooked! I was searching for somewhere that would let me check off the groceries I wanted to buy and print a list and happened to find them. The coolest thing is that you can have your partner/roommate/kid/etc set up to create a list that automatically syncs with yours. Then if you are the one going to shop you know what everyone needs/wants. Even if you double up (say both people check they want eggs) it is smart- it knows this and only enters them once! Pretty cool!

One good thing about Starbucks

I like that the Starbucks near my work really represents the neighborhood.  Ok, they do have the same menu and stuff - but the artwork is pretty unique and the employees and customers really are part of the neighborhood.  It's not often that I walk into a coffee shop in Seattle and I am in the minority ethnicity wise - and having such a diverse coffee place that I know employs the people around here is important to me.  Plus that honey latte was good!  Rock on Starbucks! 

Blah

It really sucks when you are trying to do your best - especially for someone else - and they get upset or disappointed by your attempts. Sometimes when this happens it chips away at my faith in humanity.

Lately I have been working hard to try to regain a positive attitude about things - work especially but things in general. Today's little bump in the road didn't help much...

Sometimes my Profession has it's Disadvantages...

Overall I really like my job- sure there are things like annoying paperwork, difficult things you hear from clients and huge student loans to pay off, but overall I have a good gig. However, one of the down sides is that I have to be somewhat careful at times about personal things - if I bump into a client at the store I can't just say hello and introduce them to my boyfriend, mom etc. as some professions could do (would you really feel odd if your real estate agent or hair stylist did that- I think not!).

The other thing that has been on my mind for some time is blogging. I know the internet is big. I don't put tons of pictures of myself or my family up here. I don't say where I work or what part of the city I live in. I am pretty careful to keep some details out of my blogging. BUT I really feel like this limits what I can say. I want to be able to share lots of details when my mind tells me to. I want to talk about my thoughts on issues that come up on some of the blogs I read - to say that I am having a cruddy day and maybe share more details why or to talk about some major life events in general. I feel like I can't do that though. It isn't appropriate for a client to be able to find these things out about my life. Yeah I could write another totally anonymous blog or I suppose I could put the blog on some type of feature where only certain people could read it but I hate that idea too. I just want to be able to write whatever I want and have no fear that the "wrong" people will read it. But the adult in me knows sometimes we can't have it that way. Blah!

It's Not Everyday

That you walk outside and notice something large flying through the air above you only to look closer and see that it is a quite large Thomas the Tank Engine balloon. Hmm.

50(?) Places for Breakfast

So Seattle Metropolitan Magazine had a cover that we couldn't resist - a yummy pile of Blueberry pancakes and the claim that they were listing the 50 best breakfast spots in Seattle (However for some very bizarre reason they only list 48 not 50). The Studly Boyfriend realized that we had been to quite a few... so I thought I would list those out that we have visited and where we still want to go. We tend to get stuck in a rut with places and go back to the same ones over and over. This should give us easy inspiration to try something new! Maybe I will add some of our other faves too!

Been There Done That:
Atlas Foods
Chace's Pancake Corral
Coastal Kitchen
Crave
Endolyne Joe's
5-Spot
Glo's
The Hi-Life
Hi Spot Cafe
The Hurricane Cafe
Jade Garden
Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe
Maltby Cafe
Original Pancake House
Portage Bay Cafe
Salish Lodge
Salty's Seafood Grill (Seattle)

Hmmm that only adds up to 17... It seemed like we had been to more than that.

Still to Visit:
Boat Street Kitchen
Cafe Besalu
Cafe Champagne
Cafe Flora
Cafe Presse
Calcutta Grill
Cyclops
Cyndy's House of Pancakes
The Dish Cafe
Eats Market Cafe
El Greco*
The Georgian Fairmont Olympic Hotel*
Geraldine's Counter*
Library Bistro and Bar
Linda's Tavern*
Lola
Luna Park Cafe
Macrina Bakery
Madison Park Cafe
Mioposta
Monsoon
0/8 Seafood Grill
Peso's Kitchen and Lounge
Senor Moose Cafe
Serafina
Skillet Street Food
Sweet and Savory
35th Street Bistro
Tilth
Veil
Volunteer Park Cafe and Marketplace
*Been to these - but not for Breakfast

Our Other Seattle Area Breakfast Favorites:
Patty's Eggnest (Lynnwood and Seattle)
St. Cloud's
Blue Onion Bistro
Sunflower Bakery Cafe
Easy Street Records and Cafe
The Bay Cafe
Salmon Bay Cafe
Egg Cetera Blue Star Cafe and Pub

The plan is to try one of the "new to us" ones tomorrow... I wonder how long it would take us to get through them all! Any of them that you have been to that you think we should move to the top of the Must Eat At list???

PS - I found the knitting :)

New Style...

Hmmmm I am digging this format in comparison to the old one... but I am not sure if I got it totally right. The colors are interesting. Anyone have other ideas?

Where the heck is my knitting???

It's totally lost... somewhere I have a finished pair of striped socks (a valentine's day color scheme that I didn't knit in time to wear for V-Day last year), an almost finished pair of striped socks in Mariners colors, the yarn for a red scarf, and the knitting needles that go along with these projects. I am so irritated that I let myself not keep better track of this stuff... I know it is in a box as we have been trying to organize things around here and somewhere there is a box of random knitting things we found around the house... but do I know where that box is????? NOOOOO!!!! Blah! I have been thinking for days now that this is the perfect excuse to order me some of those knitpicks interchangeable needles... Should I do it?

The Bliss of Green Water

That is if it is a bubble bath filled with lovely smells and more bubbles than you could imagine from Lush! I just spent the last 90 min or so soaking in the bath! It was bliss! I was going to read but I was just enjoying the experience of being in there too much - and that is a very nice thing for me who tends to have issues enjoying the here and now!

I realized today how much more energy/time I would likely have if I wasn't working more than a full time job. Don't get me wrong - there are perks to the current work situation I have set up.... but I got off a little early, had dinner before it was late into the evening and then even had time to get a few household chores done before my lovely bath! I have to figure out how to accomplish this one more often!

PS - I am trying to decide if I should get another tattoo when I return to NOLA later this month... I so want one but haven't yet thought of the perfect thing or place to have it done!

Two Lovely Days....

Well it's been a long time since I have written anything - a VERY long time. I think that the pressure of having to write the "right" thing and busy life has kept me away - but I decided today - to hell with it. I can just write whatever I want here knitting or not knitting related, personal or not so personal. Anyway...

It has been a lovely two days. Christmas was wonderful - one of the best ones I have had in my adult life! I spent the morning opening gifts, having yummy homemade waffles, hanging out in front of the Christmas tree and the fireplace chatting, laughing and napping with the Studly Boyfriend and his sister. The off to mom's for a yummy dinner, some more gifts and time hanging out. Overall the day was just so nice because it was so laid back. People were in a good mood, enjoying one another, having good food and the nice gifts didn't help. :) It was just a great day!

Then today - another lovely day! I slept in, did some day after Christmas shopping (just a little gift wrap for next year), relaxed a bit more and then went for a lovely evening at the Spa. It was so nice! I had a fabulous hour long massage and then soaked for over two hours! I went all by myself and really enjoyed my company! (something that I would not always have been so keen on doing). I was there till almost midnight and then headed home. So relaxed.

Tomorrow is easing back into the grind of things... easing being the key word!

That's my Cousin!!!

Take a look at THIS! It's my cousin! She rocks!

You Go Girl!

Secret Pal Angel

My Secret Pal Angel is the nicest pal ever!

Last night I got home from work SUPER LATE (as is the trend lately) to find a box for me sitting outside....

When I opened it after dinner I found all sorts of goodies inside- patterns, needles, candy, a handknit bag, a cute soap shaped like a moose, hot chocolate, magnets, and LOTS OF YARN! (and other stuff too!!!)

I PROMISE I will share more about it later.... and that I WILL share a picture. But I am getting sleepy.... very sleepy....

Bad Blogger....

Ok, I admit it (maybe again) I am a bad blogger.

I need to post about so many things - my vacation to New Orleans, my latest knitting, my haircut/donation and

The WONDERFUL things my secret pal angel sent me in the mail.

But I keep putting it off because I feel like I need to have pictures. And they are in the camera... on the memory card... that I am always too tired/lazy to get when I am finally home and finally have a moment to myself.

Maybe I should resign myself to becoming a picture-less blogger.....

more to share in a bit....

I HEART The House on Bayou Road!!!

We made it! After a LONG day of traveling we've arrived in New Orleans. We actually got to our B&B around 3 AM last night. There were good and bad parts to the travel - good part: we voluntarily gave up our seats on the plane and got travel vouchers we can put toward another trip; Bad part: the new plane we were on broke - literally - the electric system went haywire and of course they left us all sitting there for awhile and then we all had to get off the plane and go to a different gate where we got a new plane and eventually took off. That ordeal made us get in a couple hours later than we had hoped - but when we got to the airport it turned out all of the itsy bitsy cars like the one I had reserved were out so we got a free upgrade! :)

We used the Studly Boyfriend's laptop GPS system to safely (and enjoyably) guide us to the drugstore and then to our residence for the week. I was a bit unsure when we started to drive through the mid city neighborhood as it is still pretty messed up from Katrina- but we pulled up in front of an oh-so-cute house and got directions to our room.

I think I squealed as I walked in - it was SO CUTE!!! I'm not sure that I've ever stayed on vacation in a room with 15 foot ceilings. The room is lovely with a hallway as you walk in complete with an antique hall tree for hanging your coat (I should have brought a warmer one - it's FREEZING here) and assorted other antique furniture. The four poster bed is comfy with a feather bed and oh-so-soft cotton sheets. The artwork is beautiful, the gold paint on the walls is beautiful and I LOVE the fireplace!!!!

Oh yah - then there's the bathroom! You open the cute little double doors to a pedestal sink and a vanity table complete with bench and place to apply your lotions and potions. There was a rubber ducky sitting on the bathtub cheerfully greeting us, the towels are fluffy and large and even smell good! Plus - how often do you get to take a shower in a room with 15 foot ceilings and where you can look up at the chandelier! I LOVE IT!!!! We aren't even in the fanciest room (I asked to see a couple others this morning just cause I was curious). Some of the others are even bigger with huge sitting rooms or soaking tubs.

But wait! There's more! This isn't just a regular hotel - it's a Bed & BREAKFAST right?! Um OK I was thinking maybe we would get a little continental buffet breakfast thing... but nope! Wrong! Not at The House on Bayou Road! This morning we wandered over to the main house - past the pool and hot tub and pond to a lavish and delicious cooked just for us breakfast! We sipped coffee and OJ while eating grapefruit garnished with a decoratively cut strawberry as we listened to jazz and I could hear sounds of the lovely chef - MAKING OUR OMELETTE'S! She then brought out the main course consisting of ham, English muffin and pepper and cheese omelette's. SO GOOD! We enjoyed every bite and had the pleasure of meeting the Manager who filled us in on the in's and outs of HOBR and offered us general tourist info.

Then we went back and took a nap!

So far I LOVE The House on Bayou Road and WILL stay here again!

Bye y'all! We gotta get ready for some parades!!!

Magic Loop and Duet Sock Yarn!

I am LOVING my latest purchase! My duet sock yarn arrived a bit ago from a swell yarn shop and I wanted to save it to knit on my trip but I figured I HAD to cast on and try to figure out the pattern so I wouldn't run into problems on the plane.....

So anyway.... I picked up a copy of The Magic Loop at my LYS and knit a little to get the hang of the technique (It was a snap! Why didn't I try this earlier!?!) Then after a few tries I figured Knitty's Magic Cast On for toe up socks (I hated it at first but when I realized it really is.that.simple I liked it a lot). The socks are going great (ok yah somewhere I dropped a stitch and kind of made up the fix) and are a blast to knit so far!

I'll update you on my progress as I continue - and if you haven't tried the Magic Loop - JUST DO IT!

Note To Self -

Get a flu shot next year.

At least I seem to get getting back to the land of the living a little bit.....