Another FO! Window Pane Scarf!

I bought this yarn from my momma's & my favorite LYS in Indy back when I was home for 2 weeks in May.  Ok, fine.  My momma bought it for me.  One skein for me to make something for my cousin Megan, and one for me to make something for me :).

I finished Megan's window pane scarf a while ago...I just haven't gotten in mailed yet.  Her birthday was this week, though, so I think I should probably get it sent...

The middle picture was taken with flash & is more true to the color of this yarn.  Anyone who knows me (and my cousin), knows that everything I own is blue.

I'm Alive, and I have a New Job!

Wow...it's been a while.  Things have been pretty crazy, but at the same time, I haven't had much to blog about.  I was home in Indy, mom & I visited g-ma & family for Mother's Day, back to Indy, then the following weekend in a wedding the wedding in Cinci, then back to Chicago a few days later to start back at work right away.  My new show is open & running, and I have to say that this is one of the most talented casts I've worked with so far.  I love listening to them tell their story every night.  (I listen b/c from where I am backstage, I can't see them.)

But there is one big thing to report...I have a new job!  This past year, I did some stage managing for a group here in Chicago called Fifth-House Ensemble.  They're a chamber orchestra (10 musicians), who specialize in innovative, mixed media performances. This season, they put together a series (3) shows that used actors to tell fairy tales with movement set to their music.  The shows were directed by a director I worked with my two years at ISF; she's brilliant, and I love her, so I agreed to do the work for free.  Obviously, the shows turned out amazingly.

While in Indy, I got a phone call from their Executive Director.  The person who had been helping with their Operations & Marketing was leaving, and she was curious if it was something I'd be interested in doing.  Long story short, I'm the new Operations & Marketing Director for Fifth-House Ensemble!!!

I started my training this week, and am super excited to get going!  Today was my first staff meeting, and I already had some ideas & thoughts to share.  One of my current tasks is brainstorming ways to boost their social media use.  Obviously, an exciting task for me, the Twitter & Facebook obsessive!  I think my work with their blog, twitter, and facebook will be my favorite part of my job!  I will also be helping a little with their education & outreach programs.  Mostly scheduling, I imagine.  Bringing the arts to children is something I believe in very strongly; I think children experiencing the arts is crucial to their development & growth as humans, even if they don't end up pursuing the arts as a profession or hobby.  So, obviously, I'm super excited about this part of my job too.

The pictures I've dispersed throughout this post are from my time in Oberlin visiting my g-ma and from the wedding in Cinci.

Wedding Crochet & New Yarn!

I finished 2, count them TWO, more projects last night for the wedding this weekend.  The first was the ripple shawl I made to keep me warm while bridesmaid-ing.  My dress is strapless AND cocktail length (and super pretty!), so there's a pretty good chance I'll get chilly in the cathedral style church or at the reception.  I used Caron's Simply Soft, an I/9 hook, and the Sarah London Ripple Chevron pattern (modified in length & width for my purposes).  I used three colors: purple, turquoise, and a really light cream.  I alternated them 2P, 1T, 2C, 1P, 2T, 1C three times to make some cool stripes.

in progress last night on my parents' porch

finished & folded!

My mom and I went to Oberlin, OH this past weekend to visit my Grandma.  When I agreed to go, I said "ONLY IF THERE'S A YARN STORE IN OBERLIN!"  This was my first trip back to Oberlin (where my mom grew up) since I learned to knit & crochet; and yes, I still would have gone had they not had a yarn store.  Luckily though, Oberlin has a LYS!  It's a generations old Furniture & Floor Covering store that the current owners brought yarn into.  The front half of the store is FULL of yarn & notions & stuffs, and the back half is floor covers, etc.  Pretty awesome!  I got some Sidar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK weight yarn in light blue, turquoise, and bright peach.  It's 80% bamboo & 20% wool and SUPER SOFT.  Sure it's "baby" yarn, but I fell in love with its texture and the colors, so whatever!  It was my first time crocheting with bamboo yarn, too.  I loved every step of this scarf. 

It took me a while to figure out exactly what to do with it, but I knew I wanted a springy, open weave scarf.  I finally remembered a pattern I had seen on the CRAFT blog for a Window Pane Scarf.  Perfection.  I used my H/8 hook for this guy.  I plan on wearing this one with my dress for the rehearsal dinner on Friday. 

And last but not least, mom and I visited our favorite Indy LYS last night.  We got some yarn for family members for some super secret projects.  But I love the yarn so much, I have to share it!

Birthday!!!

Wednesday was my birthday!  25!  Whoa!  Mom came up Tuesday night & stayed with me through Thursday.  Then Dad joined us on Friday & they stayed downtown & left this morning.  Mom and I had wonderful Birthday Brunch, went to my favorite yarn store, saw a photo exhibit at the Cultural Center that I'd been dying to see, bought new makeup at Macy's, and had dinner at Potbelly's.  Here are some photos from the week:

Thirsty Thursday

Oh Boy am I tired.  I got up at 7:45 this morning to get dressed and meet my mom downtown.  She took a bus trip up with her bank for the day -- Hooray for Bank Holidays!  We did all sorts of awesome things, which include, but are not limited to, buying expensive makeup at Neiman Marcus and going to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. 

After I put Momma safely back on the bus at Water Tower, I headed down to the Loop-ish area to wait for Mikey.  We met Wych and had a drink at Elephant & Castle (cannot wait to go back with the family for dinner!) and then headed to see a staged reading that Mikey did the lighting design for.  No Big Deal, but the show was on the stage of the Pritzker Pavillion at Millennium Park.  There's a big glass door at the edge of the stage that they closed, and the audience sat facing that.  So basically the backdrop was Millennium Park & the Skyline.  Awesome.  I mean, check this shit out. 

Back to the Thirst Thursday part.  Mikey and I had the BEST drinks EVER.  She had a Blueberry Collins (basically gin & blueberries), and I had a Caramel Apple Sour.  OOOOOOOOOH geeeez.  It was delicious.  However, drinking out of a martini glass makes me nervous. 

Also, the new to me digital camera I inherited from Daddy Deeter takes GREAT shots at night!  Yay for free, good quality point and shoot camera!!!

Finished Object #4! Half-FO #5!

I just finished those orange mittens I blogged about a few days ago!  They turned out great, and now I just have to figure out how to get them to Abby (she lives in Chicago, but is currently teaching at Ball State in Indiana).

I also bought some black yarn while my Momma was here to make some for me to wear backstage...you'd be surprised at how cold it can get.  I finished one last night--usually I knit both, and then stitch them together, but this time I knit one & stitched it.  They are UNREAL soft!

I'm also making those dirty cookies again.  I went to the store and got some real butter this time. 

Also, I have a cold, and apparently you can't buy Sudafed or Tylenol at Jewel-Osco right now...something about some sort of manufacturing problem...so THAT's annoying. 

And lastly, I decided I wanted a grilled cheese w/ some tomato soup today...I used the Aldi brand singles that I got recently.  Holy Cow...they are all sorts of gooey and salty and NOT GOOD.  I haven't had a Kraft Single in a while, but I remember them being much, MUCH better.

CookiesCookiesCookies!

I went on a little bit of a baking extravaganza last week.  I made brownies one day, but they changed the mix that I always use, so it made way fewer brownies.

I've been wanting to try making my Mom's from scratch oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe for a while, so I got the stuff to do that.  I've never been able to get them JUST LIKE MOM'S.  I followed the recipe to a T, and the cookies deflated and turned out super flat...the sugar/chips in some of them had caramelized.  Mikey was around to supervise/babysit me (you never know what happens when I get in the kitchen).  I was really upset and called my mom...the only thing we could figure out that was off was our oven temperature.  It's my first time having a gas oven/stove, and it's super old, so we guessed that the temp. was inaccurate.  I bought an oven thermometer at Target for the next go around.  Luckily, my woes were relieved...the cookies were DELICIOUS...it was crazy.  They stayed just a little bit chewy.  These cookies (when made by my Momma, and this way) are amazing...you can taste a hint of the salt in them, and I like to use white chocolate (my fave way!) or butterscotch.  Amazing I say!

Turns out that it was probably the margarine I used instead of butter (what, it was like $2.50 cheaper!) that made them come out differently.  Looks like I have an excuse to try again!  My roommates call a lot of things "dirty"--for example, the super, spicy Doritoes are "dirty chips"--so we called the deflated cookies "dirty cookies."

And then after Saturday's shows, the actors threw us a little pizza/beer party, so I made some "slice n bake" Halloween cookies to contribute.  Only "slice n bake" aren't slice and bake anymore!  They came in a package pre-cut and everything (with cute black cats and pumpkins!), so all I had to do was put them on a cookie sheet and bake them. 

 

Now I want a cookie...