Wordless Wednesday

Are you playing??? Link up here ....

Happy Wednesday!!!!!

:o)

Saturday 9 - I Call Your Name

If you're playing along today, be sure and link up with Samantha!

1. If you could have named yourself, which name would you have chosen, and why?

I think I would pick something exotic... Yasmin 



2. If you could relive a year in your life, what age would it be, and why?


I think I would relive the year I was 18-19, I made a lot of stupid choices that year and given the chance I would so do things differently.


3. If you could go back and change one friendship in your past, who would it have been, and why?

I wouldn't change any of them... the friends I have are long time friends that I enjoy talking to and spending time with.... the ones I no longer talk to have all given me good memories and lessons.


4. If you could have dated one person in your past that you did not date, who would it be, and why?


Javier... big highschool crush and we were always just really good friends.  Although I think that if we had dated, it would have ruined the freindship.

5. Apparently #5 is not that important of a question.....


6. If you had the opportunity to live in another country, which one would it be, and why? If you choose NOT to live in another country, why do you want to stay in your current country?

I would love to live in Italy, I think that it has a beautiful history and culture and I would love to experience it more than just on vacation.


7. If you could choose your dream job, what would it be, and why?

I would love to be a lawyer and work for myself... and hopefully within the next year I'll take the LSATs and apply to law school...




8. If you could wish a wish and it be guaranteed to come true (other than riches) what would it be, and why?


That my family could be financially stable and have all we need without excess, this includes my mother, father, sister and my mother-in-law.

9. If you could meet two blogger friends (you may choose more, if you wish) who would they be?


Melanie from Smellyann Strikes Again because I think we would get a long great, and Melanie from Big Mama, she always makes me laugh.
 
:0)

Six Word Saturday

Link up to here if you are playing along...

My six words are-

Apple picking to my hearts delight!!!

I love the fall in New England.

:o)

I won!!!! At least that's what they tell me...

I was just reading my emails, and I came across an email from Caron with the re: Yarn Habits and Usage Survey... I vaguely remember completing a survey on the Caron website not too long ago.  So I opened it up to see if maybe its another survey.

WELL... this is what the email read:

Hello,


We are happy to announce that you have been selected as a winner in the Caron Yarn Habits & Usage Survey drawing.

Via postal mail, you will shortly receive a $25 gift card for the retailer you indicated in your survey response.

Thank you for participating.
Caron Web Support
editor@caron-connections.com

COULD IT BE??!!  Did I really win $25 to MICHAELS?!  Because that would be a great birthday present to me from the wonderful folks at Caron... my birthday is next week you know!  Oh! you didn't know???  Well jot it down, October 2nd is my day!

I'll let you know if I actually get the gift card.  Yes, I am really excited because I never win anything!

;o)

bakery fresh goodness...

This is a short post, but I figure I should post it before I forget to later!

Ok, so I am on this baking kick right now, where I feel the need to bake something every single day!  And since I can't really make a cake a day, well I could but who the hell is gonna eat that much cake!!!  So I decided to bake some bread yesterday, oh me oh my do I love me some fresh baked bread.

I have a recipe for some cheese bread that's fairly easy to make, and I made up a batch (4 loaves), well they lasted all of 5 minutes.  My husband was half way through the first loaf about 10 minutes after I took it out of the oven!  The second one survived only because I made it for someone that paid me for it! 

Don't they look yummy???  This is the second batch of bread I made, the first one was much more aesthetically pleasing, but like usual I forgot to take a picture!!!

So I have been asked if I would bake the bread with ham and cheese in the middle... I'm gonna try it today.  I was paid $5 per loaf, not much, but not bad either if you ask me... I could at least make some yarn money with this deal!

:o)

Aloha Friday

Feel like playing along? Link up at An Island Life - hurry, go!

My question for you this week is:

If you were scheduled for execution, what would you choose for your last meal on Earth?

Oh my... this would be a tough one.   I would want NY style pizza from a pizzeria in the Bronx, some lobster tail, a bandeja paisa (my fav colombian dish) and some fresh baked bread! 

Hell... if I'm gonna die, I'm going with a F U L L stomache!!!

:0)


As an added bonus, I'm making this a double dose of Aloha Friday....

Next question to you...

If you were a circus performer, who would you be?

I think I would be the Lion Tamer, I'm an adventurous risk taker!   or a crazy clown running around the big top!!

:0)

Wordless Wednesday

Are you playing?  Link up here if you are!!! 

Happy Wednesday!!!!

:o) 

Cakes, cakes, cakes....

Last night was week 3 of my four week cake decorating class at Michaels. This week I learned how to make drop flowers, shells, shells for borders, shapes that I can put together to make faces, and frosting clowns.  (interesting mix when you read it!)

So I made a butter cake (from scratch) with buttercream frosting (with real butter for the cake) and I went all out and made home made vanilla pudding and added pureed raspberries to it for a filing on the cake!  Whoa baby, whoa baby.... this cake is D E L I C I O U S! 

So in class after practicing the above techniques, I decided to put some drop flowers on the side of the cake...

Apparently when I mixed the color into the frosting, I forgot that the teacher had told us the previous week that dark colors tend to get darker over time.  So when mixing colors, start light and wait, then add more color if you want.  So my "purple" looked almost black by the time I decorated my cake!  Oh well...

and yes, I realize that the cake is slightly slanted... the top was shifting when I iced it last night due to the filling.  I gotta work on that, but who cares!  its was yummy! Nothing a few toothpicks can't fix.

I had some left over batter that I made into cupcakes, and the few that made it to class with me on monday night were my practice canvas for my drop swirl flowers.

Then I figured what the hell... since I went buck wild with the flowers and with no particular flow, why not throw a clown on top?  Besides, the clowns I had made during practice were coming out really cute.  So up went Bozo... and isn't he darling???  Isabel and Tyler particularly liked the clown. 

He looks cute just lounging on top of the cake, next to my funeralesque flowers... or maybe they are halloweeny? 

Here's a shot of the filling... very yummy.  Besides, regardless of how awful my flowers look the cake is to die for!  I guess then the nearly black flowers are appropriate then.... right?

Hmmm... anyways, next week we are finishing working on the icing roses, so I'll have a cake with roses to show off.

Any suggestions on the type of cake I should bake? 

;0)

What I'm doing now...

Since I haven't posted about anything knit or crochet related in a while, I figured I'd post a little update on what I am trying to get accomplished right now by way of needle crafting.

I just decided I and going to do this crochet along from LionBrand because I love warm blankets in the fall/winter, and I have a "vision" of how this afghan will look when I am done.  I'm envisioning maybe shades of browns or maybe a black/gray/white combo.... I'm not sure yet.

On my needles right now I have the Baby Poonam sweater from Berroco Knits website, I am knitting this one as a challenge to myself as I wanted to see if I could handle the pattern.  I CAN!!! I'm so proud of myself, so I am bragging here so you can be proud of me too!

I'm working this up using Bernat Baby Jacquards in I'm a Big Boy  colorway.... I love it!  So far I have the back completed, the front about 1/2 way completed.  Not too shabby seeing as  I just never seem to have time to knit and when I do have time, I just want to sleep!

The back and front together...

Upclose of the back...

This is the front...

 

A better shot of the details on the cables...

Nice right??  I like it, and I absolutely love the way the yarn works up in the pattern of greens and blues.  The pattern is actually not as difficult as I thought it would be, although you do have to pay attention and finish each row, because each row is comprised of three different parts worked up twice... in case you didn't understand the rows work like this:   knit or purl 2; texture pattern (9stitches); cable A; cable B; cable A; texture pattern (9stitches); knit or purl 2.

I should be able to finish this sweater by this weekend... or at least that is my goal!

A few weeks ago I received a wonderfully unexpected present in the mail!  My good friend Darcie made this beautifully warm sweater for Carlos Sebastian and mailed it to me without warning.  I love surprises!  Isn't it beautiful?  And you can see the warmth in the stitches, I can't wait to put it on Carlos!

THANK YOU Darcie!!!!

That's it for now.....

:0)

The Last Time - meme

I love these, and I just saw this one on Melanie's blog at so I decided to borrow it...

Link up with Samantha if you're playing along today!





1. When was the last time you bought something for someone else, and what was it?


I bought Isabel and Tyler their back packs and school supplies for the new school year... that was about 3 weeks ago!


2. When was the last time you complimented someone, and what was their reaction?


I can't remember! How sad is that...  but I think the last compliment was to Isabel about looking beautiful, and she smiled her biggest smile and told me "Thanks mama!!"


3. When was the last time you had to return a purchase to the store? What was it and why?


I returned some skinny jeans I bought last week, because since I hate to try on clothes when I buy them, I just grabbed them off the rack and paid for them.  Of course... they didn't fit so I brought them back and got the right size.

4. When was the last time you had an ice cream cone?


That would have to be this summer in early July, before Carlos Sebastian was born.


5. When was the last time you had to go to the doctor's office?


I went for my post-partum check up two weeks ago.



6. When was the last time you were embarrassed by something you did? What was it and what happened?


That would have to be the last time I got stupid drunk and decided that taking a nap in the bathroom was a good idea!  Dear Lord... thank God I don't drink like that anymore!


7. When was the last time a stranger was kind to you?


Yesterday a pair of nice ladies held open the doors for me as I came into a building with Carlos Sebastian in his car seat.





8. When was the last time you locked yourself out of your home? What did you do?


I rarely do that anymore as my house keys are on my key chain with my car keys, but I used to do it all the time when I owned my house, so I climbed in through a window or pushed Isabel through the window to open the door! 


9. When was the last time you thought about cheating (on anything, a test or a person)?


I'm not a cheater (with other people)... but I'm certain I cheated on one of the last tests I took in school.
 
 
:o)

Day at the Fair

Saturday, September 12, 2009

We headed to the Sterling Fair after Tyler got out of his soccer game, for the first time in at least two weeks it was sunny, warm and not a rain cloud in sight!  Can't pass up an opportunity like that!

I personally love this fair, not because its huge or anything, but because it has a country feel to it.  There are animal on display that are in competition, there are ox pulls, horse pulls, baked goods competitions, vegetable competitions, fruit/garden competitons and of course arts and crafts competitions.  Its what I have always imagined a genuine county fair to be like.

So of course we got there and the kids are already pointing out what rides they want to ride on, and what they want to eat and what they want to see... OK.. off we go.

My favorite part of the fair is the competitions of grown vegetables, baking goods and arts and crafts... I love to see what other people can do... it inspires me to try new things. For example, the ginormous pumpkin in the first picture!  This thing was as big as Tyler I think!  WOW!

I wish these would have come out a little clearer, but my flash refused to work!  But I had visions of zuchinni bread flashing in my mind... yummmy!

On the same display table were these huge sunflower heads...

Seriously... these are some huge flowers!  I would have loved to have seem then all abloom.

So after we walked all through the expo hall, we headed towards some airplanes on display that the kids could sit inside of... one was an ultra light and the other a little cesna type plane. 

This is Tyler and Isabel in the ultralight...

They were both completely enthralled in learning what all the dials and knobs were for!  Can you see Tyler staring intently at the man explaining everything!!

I think both of my children will be avid flyers... or at least good air passengers when the get older. So not like me!  I hate planes!!!  but that's a whole other post...

I love this picture... while we stood in line for the cesna, I looked at Isabel and noticed this little guy hitching a ride in line.  Isabel of course freaked, and couldn't flick it off her leg... I told her to wait, and leave it alone as it wouldn't do anything to her.  So Tyler came to her rescue and said "hold on Belle, I'll push it off for you!" and flicked it as hard as he could and sent the poor dragonfly flying off her leg!  It was too cute.

After the airplains we decided to get some food, so we grabbed some dogs and sat for a bit.  Tyler is too funny when he eats hot dogs, he will take his time up until he has about 1/4 of the hot dog left...

Then he decides he needs to finish NOW...  and tries to cramm the WHOLE thing into his mouth and chew and swallow it as fast as humanly possible!

I was going to take a picture of him with a mouth full, but I panicked because he looked like he was going to choke!  Needless to say the carni dogs were yummy... we ate in under 5 minutes. 

While I waited for Tyler to finish, he pointed out this cute little guy on our table....

I was all of a sudden obsessed with getting a good picture of the lady bug and subsequently took about 20 pictures... no lie!  Since I don't want to completely bore you here is the two I like the best.

I would like to say I planned this picture with Carlos Sebastian blurred out in the background, but it was totally a luck shot that worked out well.

Carlos Sebastian seemed to like the lady bug (well I really don't think it was that but it seemed like it was!)

Next, we were off to see the animals, there were all kinds of cows, and pigs and this GIGANTIC hog...

This hog is only 8 months old and weighs like a ton!  I can't remember his weight, but look at it!  He is easily 7 feet long!!  I have never seen an animal this size in my entire life!

Tyler was amazed as well at the size of these animals!  This piggy is a femal that is two and a half years old.

Tyler was telling Isabel how he just "loved this little guy" because he's so cute!

I loved this little burro, their owner told me that at about 300 lbs, they can haul 1000 lbs!!! That's a strong little burro!

I had never seen a pheasant before, and they are really colorful!  From far away they looked fake because their colors are so bright.

Isabel and Tyler both sat inside this National Guard Hummer and put on a beret to look the part.  I think they look darling... although it scares me to think either might be partial to the military.  I love our countries soldiers that defend our country and our rights, but I couldn't bear to think of my babies in harms way!!  I know, I'm very selfish... but as a mother its my right!

After the hummer, we were off to the carnival rides... I'm not going to describe the pics... I think they speak for themselves.....

(this one is super scary... not only does it swing from side to side, but it spins as well!)

So after the giant potato sack slide... it was time to call it a day... 

And since this has turned into a ridiculously long post... I'll leave you with this beautiful sky that we had as we left the fair.

:o)