toy cam thurs: I see a red door and I want it painted black

{] I’m loving this photo, it almost seems like it should be on the cover of the film box for advertising the red tinted film
{] went to the fiber festival up by parents last weekend. 
{] R did excellent in the car rides but we’re glad to be home for a while
{] the festival was small, maybe even half the size of last years (according to mom)
{] there was lots of hand dyed beautiful yarn
{] most of it was sock weight yarn too, which I’m totally a sucker for hand dyed sock weight yarn
{] I was strong and didn’t buy any, mostly b/c I don’t have a project in mind that needed it.
{] and because I started a bunch of other projects over the weekend
{] Mom and I are starting a quilt project together using batik fabrics…I’m so excited for this and will post on it soon
{] Mom also fixed my error in my block I’ve been knitting so I hope to finish the block and start another soon
{] I have some scrap Noro yarn from my afghan that I’ve thought of an idea for.  I’ve been knitting some up to try and felt!
{] must never waste Noro yarn!
{] and I’m plugging away at my afghan, about half done with block number 5
{] I’ve also been working on my list of “to dos” before my birthday which is about a month away.  There’s 5 or 6 things left on this years list that at this point in time really probably won’t get finished. 
{] I’ve accepted it and some of them are making it onto next years list. 
{] holiday weekend plans include dinners and hanging out with friends and my bro and SIL
{] we bought R a kiddie pool and plan to spend the hot weekend around the pool with some fun drinks
{] I’m so very much looking forward to it!!!!

toy camera thursday-color me red

> I’m having a frustrating day
> cleaned sink at work and got bleach all over my clothes
> having sushi for dinner tonight with a large glass of wine
> very excited about that
> I finally got some pics developed, not my holga pics but from my blue slim
> two rolls were developed, one was from the red tinted film by lomography, the other was color film
> the color film didn’t turn out so great, most pics from the Toast of the Town from last weekend.  It was too dark inside and they were all underexposed.
> I’m very plesantly surprised by the red tinted film.  I’ll be posting a lot of red the next few weeks to show it off.  The shadows turned out really cool.
> This is a self portrait from a couple weeks ago.  Self portrait/up the nose shot =)
> I’m real excited to try other roll of red film.  Also thinking about putting some 35mm in my holga and seeing what happens
> M posted my obesessions on her blog this week, check her out
> heading to the Midwest Fiber Festival this weekend w/ R and Mom
> not really sure what I’m looking for but I’m excited to look at all the pretty yarn
> been shopping around for some fun kid fabric for some quilt ideas I have.
> I haven’t committed to one idea yet but loving a monkey themed quilt and a car themed quilt
> I’ve been steadily working on the fifth block to my afghan
> we had an amazing time in Chicago last week at Toast of the Town
> over 500 wines were available to try and I didn’t come close to getting them all
> I did find some that I will look for again in the future
> I enjoyed trying all the food from the 30 something local restaurants as much as I enjoyed trying the wine
> I was sooo full it was really fun

skipping holga again Thursday

:p I’m low on holgas to show but I have lots of b-day pics so those will have to do
:p haven’t mentioned it to M yet but when she’s in town next week we need to plan a holga snapping adventure
:p I haven’t mentioned it here yet but she’s coming in town to go w/ C, me, MW and K to Wine Enthusiats Toast of the Town
:p A wine tasting event at the Field Museum in Chicago
:p I discovered this two years ago and knew I had to go at least once (although if its cool they have on in San Fransisco so that may be an excuse to make M go again)
:p I have officially subbed out number 25 on my list Kayak Chicago with this event
:p C and I have been having little fashion shows for each other in our new clothes trying to pick out what we’ll wear to the event
:p We splurged and got VIP tickets, which means we get to go an hour early and get to taste the fancy reserve wines
:p Food will be catered by 35 local restaurants
:p I’m almost as excited for the food as I am for the wine

:p R’s party was a blast
:p It was hot but people did ok outside, we had about 40 people show up
:p R did really well, he was over tired but didn’t fuss
:p He only really cried while eating cake b/c 40 people in my kitchen/dining area is a lot and it was loud
:p He got over it and enjoyed the cake though
:p I think he enjoyed his popsicle later in the evening even more though
:p Thanks to everyone for showing, we had a fun time and R loved celebrating with everyone
:p This completes number 23 on my list…throw R a birthday party

:p Since the mad dash to finish the birthday banner and monsters I haven’t been sure what to do next
:p My brain keeps coming up with ideas for quilts
:p I literally have 4 quilt ideas doodled in my notepad
:p Not big quilts, baby sized or for playing on
:p He’s quite big now I wonder if I should rethink my sizing
:p I’m going to attempt to not start a new quilt until I’ve finished the border on two of my unbordered blocks to my afghan, and get another block completed
:p I half think this is possible since I don’t have all the equipment I need for any of the quilts I have doodled
:p but thats never stopped me before!

no holga loving this week

>> my lil bubba turns 1 on Saturday
>> no holga this week, but lots of pics of what I’ve been up to
>> I’m quickly running out of holga pics to share
>> I’m hoping to get inspired to take photographs soon
>> M is coming to town soon maybe we can do another photo hike
>> or we could take R up to Starved Rock for a day
>> last night I got my first harvest out of my garden this year…lettuce!  Completing number 7 of my 29 plus 1 list!!!
>> I also have tomato plants and tons zucchini, butternut squash, pumpkins and gourds planted in the garden
>> all the squash seeds have germinated this year and things look promising
>> had a nice holiday weekend with family in the Chicago area
>> some crazy storms and hot sun

>> everything else going on has been centered around planning and prepping for R’s birthday party (number 23 on my list)
>> its monster themed
>> I made some fun monsters out of felt for party decorations, they are now connected by a bright orange ribbon
>> I also finished the Happy Birthday banner

>> I love it!  it turned out so perfect and we’ll be able to use it every year
>> I finished them late last night so these are in progress pics
>> we’re expecting between 40 and 50 peeps for the party
>> lots of cooking, cleaning, and setting up needs to be done
>> weatherman is calling for hot and sunny near 95F on Saturday
>> I baked the monster cookies yesterday before the heat comes

>> it’s been quite the crazy year
>> I can say it’s gone by fast but there were many times that were slow as well
>> R’s not walking yet but he’s climbing stairs and pulling up to standing on everything
>> he’ll be a lil monkey all over everything soon

holga loving happy week

~ I’m running out of holgas for my weekly post
~ hoping to find time to take some at R’s party next weekend
~ maybe I’ll bring it up to Chicago this weekend just in case
~ I bought a 4lb box of strawberries yesterday and ate half of them
~ they were delish
~ had chicago friends visit this weekend it was loads of fun
~ also watched lots of harry potter reruns too
~ I’ve decided what quilt to make next
~ before I start need to finish my monster decorations for the party
~ I’m also making a happy birthday banner inspired by this for the party
~ then I want to complete another square on the afghan before I start something new
~ R now climbs stairs
~ he’s going through a stage where he’s frustrated he’s not quite a toddler and too independent to be a baby
~ I suppose this is one of the many phases he’ll enter
~ today he was copying C making booming noises it was quite entertaining
~ I’m wanting to make a fruit salad similar to this for the party as well
~ I’m totally loving the monster theme
~ off to go sew holiday weekend

holga loving zombie

z: had an annual conference at work today and I helped prepare food and snacks for attendees
z: it was a very long day of nonstop everything
z: it’s nice to do something different at work now and then though
z: R’s bday party plans are in full swing
z: not sure there will be enough time to get everything done
z: chicago friends are coming down for a visit this weekend, super excited
z: hoping for good weather
z: figured out the next quilt I want to make and I already have the fabric
z: before I work on that I want to make some banners for R’s party
z: LOVED the Good Wife season finale
z: been watching season 2 of Lost w/ C
z: I think he’s been enjoying it, at least we both hate Jack
z: my feet are aching, gonna go curl up on the couch and probably fall asleep

Jammin

When I think of this title it makes me think of Bob Marley then of course Jamaica.  And Jamaica makes me think of the cocktails we had on the beach, coconut blossoms, purple rain, and the dirty bananas….yum!  But I digress…

Number 8 on my list of 29 plus 1 is to learn to can.  I’d been thinking about canning for a while now and this I actually over whelmed myself with different recipes to try.  Finally in March and April I picked a raspberry jalapeno recipe and tried it out.  Making jam itself is super easy.  And I’m now officially addicted to raspberry jalapeno jam.  I’ve put it on sandwiches, I’ve mixed it with cream cheese and used it for a dip for crackers or pretzels.  I’ve put it on english muffins.  I want to use it as a glaze on a ham or maybe some pork chops, or chicken breasts.  I used one and a half jalapenos, which when I was making the jam seems very hot and spicy for my wussy taste.  But now that it’s sat and the pectin set its barely spicy at all.  In fact I’ll put in at least two peppers next time.  I actually fancied up the jars a bit and sent a couple to a few friends.
I used the hot water bath method to process the jars and seal them.  It took a while for me to realize what a rolling boil is, it takes forever to get to that stage.  But once I got the hang of that I was under control.  The jam should be good for at least a year.  But right now I shouldn’t have any issues with jam lasting a year.  C is even enjoying it.

The other jam I made was in April.  I had a couple weeks of rhubarb obsession and found this recipe for rhubarb jam.  It’s really more of a rhubarb sauce since you don’t add in any pectin to firm things up.  I love rhubarb but I actually not loving this jam.  The color of mine is more a mauve color since I didn’t have super red rhubarb, I had to use frozen.  But I think its the rosemary. I have a love hate relationship with rosemary, I really love it in some instances.  Like in bread or in spice mixes on chicken and pork.  I really liked the combination of rhubarb and vanilla.  So now I’m thinking I should try this sauce on ice cream, maybe the sweet with the savory rosemary flavor will lighten it up a bit.  Otherwise I need to make some strawberry rhubarb vanilla jam.  I also found a recipe for some cranberry blackberry pink grapefruit preserves that I think sounds intriguing. 

hogla loving summer time

][ out of the blue summer has come to IL in full force
][ haven’t gotten in the garden since I planted the lettuce
][ lettuce is starting to come up though
][ plans to get some zucchini seeds planted in the next few days
][ watching season 2 of Lost and I’m in love all over again
][ I’ve not once whined aloud about how much I miss that show
][ at least the Good Wife is on
][ next few weeks are going to be busy
][ been working on the afghan lately
][ picked up my knitted block and dropped a stitch, now I need to unknit
][ been putting that off
][ its supposed to have stormed the last few days and its missed us each time
][ R had more ear infections but is finally getting better
][ he’s been pulling up to his feet the last two days
][ he’s super tall
][ Michelle Rodriguez just made her first appearance in Lost

rock quilt finished!

Back in the summer of 2009 C was cleaning out his closet and made a pile of his metal t shirts that he wasn’t wearing anymore.  They were shirts that were close to new and others that he’d gotten nearly 10 years ago and were close to thread bare.  I believe he was even wearing one of these shirts on the day we met.  They have lots of memories for him.  The pile was intended to be given to goodwill but out of somewhere the quilting bug came out and bit me.  I have never quilted before.  I didn’t buy any books or do any reading on how to go about it.  What I wanted was random squares and rectangles put together with no order or pattern.  What I learned is this might be more work than actually creating a pattern. 

I finished the piecing part of this project sometime in early 2010 but couldn’t finish the rest b/c I was too pregnant to sit on the floor comfortably to work on it.  Fast forward to a few months ago where I learned to baste, and then I started the quilting process.  I used a large cotton thread and decided to do large stitches around random blocks through out the quilt.  For the binding I used the large cotton thread again to quilt.  I actually pinned the edge down but that sure didn’t help my cutting skills.  You can definitely see that the border tends to get thicker and narrower in different areas.  It may not be square and it is anything but perfect.  I didn’t used a ruler once to make a straight edge or measure a square.  This quilt is still very perfect. 

It’s super warm and soft and comfy.  And I love that C doesn’t loose his concert shirts.  In the future I hope to do this again for him with his old Bears shirts.  And I’m saving all of R’s pj’s to maybe use them for a blanket sometime too.  This officially crosses of number 18 on my 29 plus 1 list. 

holga loving zildjian

<> beautiful day today and fun day w/ R
<> think we decided to stay put for a while, happy about that
<> excited for nice weather this weekend, I want to spend time in the garden
<> spent some fun time shopping in the dollar bins
<> had a fashion show for friends this week
<> R has been getting stronger and stronger this week, crawling on hands and knees now
<> need to start planning his bday party…one month from today
<> its going to be a monster party
<> holga this week are a friend’s drums, from the gig in March
<> I really loved shooting the drums, I got one of him playing but I wish it were closer up
<> I think May and June are going to be very busy months
<> I wish gas prices would go back down
<> Rock Quilt is finished!!!!!
<> haven’t worked on anything else lately