Random Snapshots

I'm melting

It's been really hot here this weekend.  And by hot I mean hot for this area and too hot not to have air conditioning.  I know I have some Arizona readers and I'm definitely not comparing to their heat.  :)

I hate to even complain because I love the sun.  We barely get sun in Western Washington.  In fact, we typically only get about 75 days of sun in one whole year.  That's definitely on my "cons of living in Seattle" list. 

I also happen to be on an antibiotic right now.  For the second time in 2 months.  And I shouldn't be out in the sun for very long while I'm on it. 

Our two story condo occupies the second and third floor of the building.  Our second story is where the bedrooms are and it's brutal up here.  It's like a sauna...I think we might have to break down and buy an air conditioner today. 

Anyways, there is really no point to this post.  Except complaining I guess.  :) 

I'm taking a break from the mountain of homework I have to finish today and thought I'd write a quick post.  I'm playing around with some new Photoshop actions that I downloaded here.  I snapped a few fresh photos of my desk to play with and I like how this one turned out with the actions.

A diet Coke with lime and some blackberries are my homework-doing-snacks today.

Hope your all staying cool!  Adam just asked me if I wanted to go drive around in our truck with the air conditioning on.  It's not a bad idea - even if gas is over $4/gallon.  :)

One sock down + Outfit remix

I finished the first Spring Forward sock yesterday and made a little progress on the second.  The yarn is a little darker than it shows in this picture.

I was able to make it to knit night last night.  It was really good to get out and catch up with everyone.  I even got a little knitting done.  :) 

I worked on my Rusted Root - started the shaping under the bust.  I'm hoping to finish up the shaping tonight and snap a photo. 

Speaking of going to knit night...I remixed my work outfit into a casual night outfit last night.  I've been making an effort to mix up my outfits lately using the current pieces in my closet.  I'm such a creature of habit.  I tend to wear the same outfits over and over instead of having fun and trying to create new ones.  That's definitely something that I'm working on changing.

Here's my easy day to night remix:

Day: Sweater - Forever 21, Tank - Old Navy, Black Pants - NY&Co, Peep Toe Wedges - MaxStudio, Earrings - Bitten

Night: Sweater - Forever 21, Tank - Old Navy, Jeans - Ann Taylor Loft, Peep Toes - Bandolino, Earrings - Bitten

Those blue peep toes are quickly becoming my favorite pair of shoes.  They have the perfect little kitten heel and are very comfortable. 

And lastly, since this is turning out to be a random post I'll share my happy lunch from yesterday.

Yesterday morning I was running late (what else is new) so my cutie husband made my lunch.  I was craving a PB&J and he even let me use his Wonder Bread sandwich holder.  This lunch just made me happy when I opened it up.  :)   

Mosaic Monday + J,K,L

I'm catching up on the ABC-Along again. 

J is for jewelry and jeweled flip flops.

K is for knitting needles (my vintage collection) and knitting.

L is for lemon and lens.

Here is the photostream of all my ABC-Along photos so far :: ABC-Along.

Happy Monday - enjoy your day!

FO: Noro Clapotis

I finally finished my Noro Sock Yarn Clapotis this past weekend. 

• Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
• Noro Sock Yarn - 1 skein - Colorway 164
• Size US 5 needle
• Ravelry Link

This has always been one of my favorite Noro colorways and when I bought the sock yarn I wanted to do something different with it.  I've also wanted to knit the Clapotis forever, but never got around to it.  When I saw a smaller version of the scarf on Ravelry in this yarn I was sold. 

The only modification I made was to make it smaller.  I think I only increased to 77 stitches.  That made it less wide and not as long.  I really love how it turned out.  It just wraps around once and kind of sits on my neck and shoulders.  Perfect for an accessory. 

Mosaic Monday

Just some random inspiration for the mosaic today.  Found exploring Flickr this morning. 

1. let 'em roll, 2. golden g bridge, 3. Choose Your Destiny, 4. Untitled, 5. TrioCupcakes, 6. Untitled, 7. my boys & me/week 23 - everyone but the cats, 8. Amendment...., 9. shells of the world, 10. "Broken Wings" Dragonfly bracelet, 11. Day after day paper art, 12. it's a girl thing, 13. 46/365, 14. Green on Red, 15. green dress s t i l l, 16. 123\365 there is no better thing than sculping your print in the History

I was not ready for Monday this morning.  I woke up late, I didn't make it to the gym, we hit heavy traffic and Starbucks was extremely slow this morning.  I'm hoping that the rest of the day goes a lot more quickly because I'd rather just be at home.  :)

I have a lot of work to catch up on today as well.  I was off Friday because I had 2 wisdom teeth out.  Adam had 1 out as well.  Most of our weekend was spent loafing around which for some reason just made me more tired!  I'm ready for another weekend and Monday isn't even over yet!

FO: Jeweled Steps

These are the socks I made for my Mom for Mother's Day.  She says that they fit really well. 

I used the same skein for both - pulling from each end since I did two at a time, magic loop - but they look like they came from two different skeins.  You can see the left sock is a lot darker than the right sock.

Either way, I really love this colorway.  Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock is one of my favorite yarns.  This is my second time using it and I find that it creates a nice sturdy, but soft sock when knitting the right gauge.

I love the reinforced heel used in this pattern.  The texture looks so rich in person. 

And the whirlpool toes are really pretty as well.

But, my absolute favorite part of the socks are the Jeweled Steps.  Little jewels are created by wrapping a few stitches together and they trail all the way up the sock.  They really stand out in person and look like jewels.  Because I used a variagated yarn mine stand out really well.  The jewels are solid since just a little bit of the yarn shows.  As you knit it is interesting to see what color or tone in this case will be shown on the next jewel.

     

• Jeweled Steps by Cat Bordhi - New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One
• Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock - Grass
• US 1 2.25mm KP Circ (32")
• Took about 1 month start to finish
• Ravelry Link

These are definitely my favorite socks that I've ever knit.  I've had the Cat Bordhi book for a while, but was a little intimidated by Cat's language and instructions.  These took me a bit because I needed to really get the hang of her methods.  Once I got past the interpretation though the knitting flew by.

Cat's method involves creating a custom fit with various measurements of the foot.  I didn't really believe it would work until I was finished.  My Mom's foot is longer than mine, but the rest of our measurements are the same so I was able to see how these fit on my own feet (the photos above show the socks on me).  I have to say that I can't wait to make my own because the fit is amazing.  The arch expansion that Cat uses is genius and I'm not sure why I'd want to knit a sock without it ever again!  I have really high arches and love tight socks so this custom fit approach is really appealing to me.

In other knitting news...I have a few rows left on my Noro sock yarn Clapotis as well as some seaming to do on my niece's cardigan (which she now won't be able to wear until fall since it's about 95* back home!).  I also have started a Rusted Root, but put it down a couple of months ago so I could finish the Mother's Day socks.  Maybe I'll pick that up again. 

We're home.

We arrived back in Seattle around 5pm today and have just been unwinding ever since.  I'm dreading unpacking - that's the worst part of travelling for me!  It's good to be back in our own space and I'm looking forward to my bed and Tempurpedic pillow tonight!

We had an AMAZING time over the past 5 days - seriously - I can't even describe.  We had so much fun with all the events going on.  It was so busy, but so worth it.  Julianne and Mark really have an amazing network of friends and they welcomed us in right away. 

The wedding was beautiful and everything went perfectly.  Everyone looks so pretty (and the guys were handsome)!!  Julianne looked especially stunning!  The hair, makeup, dress, big smile - all gorgeous!

We got to spend some good quality time with our family and that was really nice.  Good chats and just hanging out.  The weather was awesome and we got a little beach time in as well.  Of course we came back to rainy and in the 50s.  :)

I have many, many, many photos to share - I hope to get around to editing sometime this week.  The photo above is the view from the Portofino which is where the reception was held.  Big Dan and I went out just in time to catch a gorgeous sunset and snap a few shots.  The lighting was perfect. 

I will be back with an update this week.  In the meantime check out my Daily Outfit album.  I remembered to take photos of my outfits over the weekend and just added them to the album on the left.

H is for, I is for...

I got a little behind in the ABC-along over the past month so I'm catching up with two letters today - H & I.  For all of the letters so far I've tried to use photos from recent outings, but I haven't had much play time lately.  I really wanted to catch up anyways so I decided to take some photos around the house.  It was a lot of fun to do it this way.  Gives you a chance to see your "stuff" in a different way.  It challenged me to be a little more creative interpreting the letters.  Especially the letter I - that was a toughie!

I also like to use my ABC-along photos for playing around in Photoshop (I use CS3).  Running different actions, finding new ways of adjusting everything and using different frames.  Since these photos are just for fun this is the perfect opportunity to brush up on my Photoshop skills.

H is for Hottie Husband ;) - Playing some Xbox

 

H is for Home Defense System :)

H is for Handspun Yarn - made by me!

H is for High Heels - my favorite thing ever! 

H is for Heart Rate Monitor - keeps me on track at the gym

I is for Inches

I is for Ink - my favorite paper crafting item

I is for Inspiration and Ideas - I started a Home Decor Inspiration book the other day.  I'm using a pretty photo album and adhering magazine rip-outs with staples or glue.  I'm also writing notes, drawing, etc.

    

Mosaic Monday

Today is the last day of my current class.  I've scheduled a much-needed-one-week-break for myself before the next class starts.  (In case you're confused - I take one class at a time and each class lasts 5 weeks).

Needless to say I'm very happy to have a week off.  We're leaving for California on Thursday and we'll be back next Monday.  It's going to be a great little mini-vacation.  More on that later.

For my mosaic this week I'm going to play THE GAME:

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

  

1. Elizabeth Taylor caught by Paparazzi, 2. Asparagus Ravioli, 3. Untitled, 4. Gizmo, 5. Red on Black, 6. Tanqueray, 7. Milan Train Station at Midnight, 8. Sweet Cherry Pie, 9. Portofino a favorite of wealthy yachters, 10. 2 women running from mad cows at Campo Imperatore, 11. spotted or striped anywhy..fashion!, 12. _DSC0131

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?  Elizabeth
2. What is your favorite food?  Ravioli
3. What high school did you go to?  Lockport High School
4. What is your favorite color?  Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush?  John Mayer
6. Favorite drink?  Tanqueray & Tonic
7. Dream vacation?  Italy
8. Favorite dessert?  Cherry Pie
9. What you want to be when you grow up?  Independantly Wealthy
10. What do you love most in life?  Laughing
11. One word to describe you.  Creative
12. Your flickr name  bienaseliz

Mosaic Monday

1. travelling, 2. Rhubarb and Raspberry Yogurt Ice Pops, 3. Red Shoes vs Green Grass, 4. True colors are beautiful like a rainbow, 5. Salute to summer, 6. The Fingers of Summer, 7. Chillin', 8. I'll go sailing no more, 9. Untitled, 10. Summer, 11. Kuwait Jet ski Championship, 12. Shecloud, 13. Summer, 14. Smile!, 15. Evening Rain Dance, 16. 09.05.08

Here's a summer-themed mosaic for this Monday.  It was in the 80s and 90s here all weekend so we were able to get a little taste of summer. 

We had a good weekend.  I was able to check a lot of things off my to-do list and I'm feeling a little more caught up for the time being. 

• Cleaned out our closet and donated a huge bag of clothes
• Caught up on some long-neglected chores, simplified a bit
• Got a great haircut & color, some new product and a nice visit with my stylist
• Refreshed our wardrobes a bit with some shopping
• Bought new bedding and finally decided on a color palette for our bedroom (Now we just need to pick our some paint and furniture)
• Spent some time outside in the sun and had a couple of great meals out

I'd love to hear how you spent your weekend too! 

Happy Monday!