Flashin' my stashin'

PS it is flash your stash day... you asked, you get..... want some more???

Photobooth Friday--

Friday isn't over yet...
13th birthday a mess of hair and silly faces. We were at the ice skating rink.
I love how we all crammed in there. I can hear the giggles...

More Friday-boothiness
here
here
here
here

And check it out... Andrea is getting press for her photobooth stir....

New fringe... And OUCH!~

So the other day I had a hair apt. And came home lookin' like this.

I dig it . no wait, I LOVE IT- since it is "things I love thursdays" and all...I like my bangs, even if they are really short- that's the point, duh. I like the blond, even if it is really un-natural, um yeah?... It is good.

Next time I am doing BLUE- serious- I can't wait.

And this is what I have been dealing with at home, and that I don't love so much (love the cat, hate the cone)...

Do you know how hard it is not to laugh when I look at her??? I love her to death, but come on- it is silly. look at her! she keeps running into the walls with that thing on- it doesn't hurt since it sticks out so far, just silly. Poor girl... she has been stalking the birds through the window and barking at them non-stop...I can't wait until next week when we can take the cone off-

No knitting, no yoga... This is what happens when you come home from vacation- work is crazy, I realize I have a ton of stuff to do- homework, plan my mom's birthday/retirement party, sell our house, apply for a new job... And so and so forth....

life is good. I love my hubby, he makes me smile and is a sweetie. I love my girlfriends, they make me laugh. My job could be better, but yoga is there to make me happy... I have photography and my craftiness to fill the voids. Can't complain...

I am home!~

Wow! I had a great time off. It felt wonderful to unplug and just relax.
not kinda relax, but REALLY relax.

Here is a link to a slide show to see more pictures~


We had an AWESOME time. Traveling with friends who make you laugh non-stop is the best. Calistoga, through the wine country, and on over to the coast. We played, we slept in, we saw music, we drove, we tasted wine, we tasted beer, we laughed some more... It was awesome. THANKS GUYS! For making it such a wonderful time.
I must say that I have gotten several of my guy friends in trouble with their girls.. Or should I say, my husband made those guys look like SLACKERS! Because he did this for me. I can't tell you how great it was.

I even got a bit of knitting done in the car. It was a good chance to practice knitting without looking since I get car sick. I am almost done with the other sock.

F is for...

F is for forsythia...

Pronunciation (hee I like this part. Go click. If yo do it lots of times in a row it is funny)
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, genus name, from WilliaForsythiath died 1804 British botanist: any of a genus (Forsythia) of ornamental shrubs of the olive family with opposite leaves and yellow bell-shaped flowers appearing before the leaves in early spring

Look! They are blooming. I love this time of year. (by the way HAPPY SPRING).

UPDATED: this is what they looked like tonight at 6pm- booo!! It is snowing and cold now. Oh-well, we need thprecipitationon, right? Um, Happy Spring...

The color starts to come back into the world. For a brief second the Nevada hills are FULL of green, although not quite yet- they are still covered with snow.. But soon.

I love how the bright yellow contrasts with the red deck. I can see the bush of yellow from my kitchen and I know that not long until the plum and apricot trees out back will start to become beautiful with blossoms as well. Soon we will be in our short sleeve shirts and shorts, and flippees and eating outside on the patio at dinner time. There will be sprinklers to turn on and run through, and the little Christmas twinkle lights in the trees for atmosphere. I love the spring time.

F is also for flowers... These little purple beauties are popping their heads out right now too.

F is also for Finished object~ a sock. I will cast on today sometime for the mate. I LOVE the way this yarn knit up and the colors are fabulous. I still haven't decided who will get these....


I leave on Wed. For my Mystery vacation destination. Hubby or ratherCaptianpt. Vacation, as he is also know by friends, is planning something. He hasn't told me much, just to pack warm, and bring a bathing suite...hmmmm. I will have to wait and see. Lots of pictures to come.

Hey, maybe we will even find photo boothth, or a yarn shop?!? hee hee.

I *heart* getting mail

All I can say is that I don't think the USPS will go out of business any time soon... Not with all the swaps and exchanges- packages and post cards flying around the world sent by crazy crafters and knitter who blog....

Yesterday was a day of weirdness. I have had a ton of mixed emotions flying around my body the past week. There are some really joyful things going on and some really sad things going on in my life right now and it sends me on a rollercoaster of emotions.
Last night was my late yoga class for the month and I was in class until around 9:30pm. When I got home there was a package for me.
here is what is inside...

sock yarn from knit picks in a crazy color combo, some really suppppper soft Debbie Bliss yarn (I think I will make a hat out of it) a cute note pad, soap with a rubber duckie (hey how'dya know I had ducks in my bathroom??) and my favorite part.... Two knit mice.

I think my favorite part are the little mice for the kratins- Thanks FSP! For thinking of my fur babies.

Gertie, as you can see, LOVED the mice and was racing around the house all night... I can't find the blue mouse, she has hidden it in a safe place I am sure.
A BIG BIG BIG thank you to my surrogate FSP!!! Thanks for making this swap so great~
I am off to yogasize all day! Have a great weekend.

PS I will be gone next week on vacation- YIPEEEEEE so don't expect any posts. I promise lots of pictures upon my return~

Photo Booth Friday...

Over at Hula Seventy there is a weekly post called Friday Photo Booth. I loved this idea, but didn't think I had any photo booth pictures. As I was cleaning out stuff, I found quite a few strips of photobooth goodness. And I have inspiration to locate a photo booth when ever I go somewhere....

I found this set of shots while digging through pictures that we used in a slide show at our wedding.

I love this set. Not only because MIL and DIL are laughing and smiling the same way they do now as they did then, but also because of A's reaction to the photo booth... confusion, uncertainty, complete melt down.
I can just hear them giggling about the whole thing. Aren't they adorable?

Seeing red (and pink)

Lots of pictures to catch you all up on. I got my camera back- hubby had a great time in Portland despite the weather. He also caught a few really good shots on the camera, so now I don't feel so bad about 'sharing' it with him.

Project Spectrum is in full swing....
Post card swap to my post card pal Dee:
(also included in this picture is my yarn from Roxanne. Psst, she has new colors for spring, they are wonderful!)

and look what I got from her! All the way from London- Love that it is "Royal Mail" hee hee....
Didn't Dee do a great job? And look a proverb! Right up my fortune cookie/quote a-holic alley! I love it Dee thank you!

And lets see... What else, Oh I know! Look at what the yarn that Lu sent me is doing??? Hey looks like a sock! Yup, a sock. I love the way the colors are working out on this so far....


I did a mini version of the Project Spectrum meme ... Here are a few (there are sooo many more) of the red/pink things in my house:
Cosmos from the garden this summer, books about pirates, trim in the spare room, match books from casinos, toiletry box, drinking glass and yarn, crafting goodness, throw pillows on bed, back deck, cactus (again, not at my house, but fit the theme), more crafty goodness, yarn, tricycle (not at my house, but I love this picture), back deck again, me and my favorite kicks, new yarn from Lu, bathroom candle and makeup bag, tea, canister, more crafty goodness, vintage steel desk that hubby and I re-painted, postcards, antibiotics for the Gerts (she had a HUGE absess on her side due to a new cat in the 'hood), and curtains in the spare/yoga room.

And I decided my stars must all be in a line right now because on Monday I won TWO contests. One was at work- (We have a wellness program that sets up games and the like to help motivate people to stay healthy, and therefore save money on their insurance, not take as much sick leave and all that jazz....). Well, this month they were giving away $100 dollars to a few luck participants, and guess who won?? lil-ol me!

I haven't decided what I am going to do with the cash. I have been eyeing the D-LUX yoga mat that is sold at the studio, it is a CADILLAC of yoga mats I tell you so cushy and so skid free (some mats are so slickery it is just not fun to even attempt a pose). But I would also like an I-pod, so I was thinking the money could go towards that. An then there is always yarn, but I have so much in my stash right now that is being neglected that I feel guilty doing that.

The other contest I won was over at the Felted Secret Pal. I got drawn out and will be getting the Yarns to Dye For : Creating Self-Patterning Yarns for Knitting book. I am so excited because I have been eying this book for a few weeks now and really really want to try my hand at dyeing some yarn.

Givin' Props!

This is a quick little post to give props to one jewel of a lady. As you might now, I am participating in the Felted Secret Pal. This started in January, first present had to be out by February 10th.... well, the days ticked by and no sign of a secret pal, "Boy, is she SECRET!" I thought to myself. I sent out a package to my pal and waited, and waited and waited. I started to think that the post person had offed with my present, a knitter at heart he could smell the yummy fiber and decided to keep it.... Still more time passed, and all the sudden it is March and the second package is supposed to be at my door step- nope.
So I contacted the Felted Secret Pal hostess to let her know what was up. She tried with out luck to contact the missing swappper- and finally decided to re-assign me. I have been contacted by my new pal - Hi! new pal, are you there??? And to make things even better, yesterday I found a little present in the mail from the hostess herself, the fabulous Lu.
Inside were THREE skiens of Brilla, colorway 103 (which have magically jumped onto the needles and started to form themselves into a sock...wow, htat yarn has some talent!) as well as
a skien ofFilatura Di Crosa, Pixel. I had been checking out this yarn over on Lu's Flickr page so she new that I loved it... What a doll.
Thanks Lu, you have brought the magic back into the secret pal swap for me.

I will post pictures when I get my camera back from Portland, OR on Sunday. :)

E is for....

I had a really hard time coming up with something for this letter. But I finally realized that I have quite a few E's to choose from. Here is what "E" means to me...

E is for my best friend....

We have known each other since we were itty bitty little things. We are known as the "Giggle Twins" by our mothers because when ever we are together we are constantly laughing... As you can tell by the pictures, there is plenty to laugh about. Love you E~~~

E is for Elk, CA
This is one magical place in the world. It is about 20 minutes away from where my sisters live. It is where my dear friend A and E got married and also the place where we met up with A and E for Christmas of 2004.

E is for England and Edinburgh

I really wanted to post pictures of this trip , but all my photos are packed away and I can't get to them right now to scan in. If you all remind me in a few months that you want to see Europe pictures then I will dig them out for everyone. There are some goodies in there~
About 6 years ago I spent a month in Spain. Before I headed back to the states I flew to meet up with two of my dear high school friends to tour around England/Ireland/Scotland. It was really awesome. I fully enjoyed Edinburgh despite the cold and damp and I like England outside of the big old city of London. (We DROVE from London to Edinburgh it was amazing... So American to drive that far, but it was worth it.)

So there you have it folks... "E" ... Enjoy!

Brought to you by the ABC Along

She's crafty...

Last night I met up with my friend T after work and we headed out to the craft store- this was a two fold even as we haven't hung out in awhile and we had some catching up to do. Nothing like craft stores and gossip to make a girls smile.
I picked up some supplies to make my card for the Project Spectrum Postcard Swap. While at the craft store I also picked up stuff to make these. I am not sure who they will be for, but I have a few birthdays coming up and I think this could be really fun to give.

When I returned home from my little outing I found my Zen Yarn Garden yarn in the mail box. The color of the yarn is even more be-you-tee-full in person then it is on the web. I am so excited to start a pair of socks with it. I think this weekend I will spend a bit of time doing that.
YEAH!!! KNITTING!!!
Once I had changed into comfy non-work clothes (read as: sweats and slippers) and made myself a cup of tea I started to hunt around for my crafty supplies.... I had a bit of a tough start since I realized that all my crafty goodness had been packed away in the heat of the clean last week... Our house shows "like a model home" right now, so the flyer says. That means no crafty-mess around. Ah the joys of selling your house. At least it is clean clean clean... But I digress....
I dug around in my stationary drawer and realized I had a ton of old greeting cards that people had sent me over the past year. I decided that I needed recycle these and give them new life. Once I got going I had a blast putting together a card for my swappee, Dee , and actually made two others while I was at it for upcoming birthdays and the like.
I took a picture but hubby has the camera and he is headed to Portland for a "boys weekend". Pictures will have to wait until he returns on Sunday.

I am really looking forward to getting some knitting time in between study sessions this weekend. I think it will feel really good to get my hands among the fiber again. I just need to find a pattern for the socks. I am thinking this one (and changing them to "tech girl") or the jaywalkers (not sure if the variegated color will show the design here though) does anyone else have any other suggestions?? The yarn uses size 4-6 needles....

Backyard Field Trip

I was visiting Becky's site and she had a link to the other Knitting Interrupted who wanted to start a "backyard field trip project".
Here is a little trip through my yard... (for more details of each photo go here)

Looking out towards Mount Rose down to our patio (the dining room in the summer time) to the bbq and benches (see our chime, I love the sounds it makes), our Forsythe that is trying its best to bloom despite the snow and cold and back to the mountains. I love this view. I didn't include it, but you can also see down town Reno from our deck- the green glow of the Silver Legacy and a hint of the lights from Circus Circus. I love our little yard. There is a plum tree, an apricot tree, all sorts of wild flowers, raspberry bush (yummy!) lilacs, chick and hens, strawberries, all sorts of herbs including prolific amounts of catnip (every cat comes to our house to get doped up.. It is bad). We have a compost pile that makes magical dirt. ....

Hope you enjoyed your little tour~

2 weeks down...

Today was the second class of the six week yoga class I am teaching. I think things went pretty well. I felt much more at ease today then the first day. This could have something to do with the fact that the first Saturday I had TWENTY EIGHT people show up! It was so crowded in there it was scary to look out over that big ol sea of people.
Today about 20 people were there. It was much easier. I really liked the practice that I taught today better than the first week and I think that made all the difference. There are all shapes and sizes of people. All ages (my youngest student is 7 years old and the oldest is probably in her late 50's). I have people who have never ever done yoga and a few who do it all the time. I have one guy who shows up in his Levi's ever time, I am not sure how he moves in those darn things, but he seems to be fine- and he really gets into it.
To be quite honest I wasn't sure if I was going to like this teaching thing. I knew that I really wanted to better understand the practice of yoga. The history and the other aspects besides just asana (postures/poses). But I didn't know if I was really going to like to teach once it was time. Today really felt good. I got lost a couple of time and it sure is hard to be purposely dyslexic, I just kept looking at my wedding ring and thinking, "okay that is my left but the classes right." and then down at my second toe on my right foot where I wear a toe ring and thinking, "okay, that is my right and their left." I am sure it is all in time.
Today I turned down the lights in the class during final relaxation and did a bit of a guided relaxation. Last week I was so overwhelmed that I just let them all hang out there, assuming they knew what to do.
The best part about all this teaching stuff is that I am really motivated to learn more so I can share it all. Funny how that works.

On that note, I am off to do some reading...

What's the deal-e-o??

So you may be wondering where the heck I have been, why the heck have I been so busy and where is the KNITTING? After all, isn't this a knitting blog???

Here it is-
For the past 2 and 1/2 weeks hubby and I have been busily getting the Noodle House cleaned up and shiny.
We did some amazing amounts of "de-cluttering" (read as, Vanessa had to pack up ALL her knick-knacks, personal photos, and organize her crafting goodies-waaaaa!!!).
We also did some major spring cleaning (although it is snowing today, spring-shming) and some final touches on the house (trim that never got put up, painting scuff marks, fixing squeaky doors).
All because... Drum roll please..........
We are buying a NEW HOUSE!! I am so excited. Only I don't want to get to excited because the purchase is contingent on us selling our place by April 15th. (Anyone want to buy a house???)
The new house is about .5 miles away from the current one is just south of a VERY nice park here in town that includes an arboretum, a museum, a kiddy park, a play ground, dog play area and is also home of the Reno Hot Air Ballon Races, the Chautauqua, Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza and many many many other events.
The house is much bigger (about 2000 square feet bigger)!! than our current house, has a 3 car "man-landia", er I mean garage, as well as a real dining room. We are still close to my mom and to hubby's parents as well as quite a few of our friends- in other words, we are in the 'hood still. And that make me happy. We are still close to the University, to down town, to I-80 and to our jobs. Plus there is a park, oh yeah, I already said that. But it is like, in our back yard practicaly.. I can't stop.

Any whooo... I am hoping this weekend lends itself to a bit of knitting. I am anxiously awaiting my order from Roxanne over at Zen Yarn Garden for Project Spectrum (I am going with this color, isn't it yummy? and will knit up som fabu socks!). And need to get on my Project Spectrum Post card swap too- I have been doing a bit of research on my swapee's blog and I think I have a few really good ideas.
I am also plotting my next giftee for the Felted Secret Pal present.
I am really looking forward to some creativity time!

I almost forgot two other things going down in the world of knitting and blogs...
1. Tickets are being purchased for the Pitch 'n' Stitch SF Giants game this summer. It is going to be a blast. I am hoping to organize a "yarn crawl" while we are all there. I think I have a few yarn connections in the Bay Area and it would be so fun to get to meet you all and go yarnin' around the City.
2. There is some "Fugly" going on over at PennyKarma. Go and read her HYSTERICAL POST and egg her on. Nothing says fugly like a Grover Skin Poncho.

Lovely, jus lovely....