It's snowy in DC today

So, I wasn't at the Inauguration a week ago. In the end, we decided to avoid the craziness and hang with some friends whilst watching everything on tv. And, it was such an experience, just watching it, as I'm sure you all know. Above is a picture from the Prince of Petworth Inauguration photo pool on Flickr. Here's another one posted by Prince of Petworth (a GREAT DC blog) that I love.

Sorry about the lack of posts. I've been knitting here and there, but mostly packing to move, which happens in a week and a half!!!! I'll be busy until after I move, and once I set up the craft desk/organizational system I've got planned, I'll be up and running again creatively.

Something else, aside from packing has also distracted me lately....

yes. the Wii. God bless it.

If any of the rest of you have Wiis, I hereby challenge you to a Mario Kart duel. It's ON.

January is for decorating

So work is stressful right now. I'm getting all my stuff organized and done, but this week I'm feeling a little over work. Oh well.

Here's something fun...do you guys want to see a few decorative things that I'm buying for the apartment? Maybe you'll get a few sweet ideas to share with me? Alrighty!


Modern Japanese-esque shower curtain from Urban Outfitters for $36.

Cotton rug from Urban Outfitters : $15. I think it looks very art deco meets Space Invaders, don't you?

Deer lamp from Urban Outfitters: $20. I would far prefer this in white, yellow, or red. Pink isn't really my thing.

Branch coat hooks from Urban Outfitters: 2 for $15. I love these. So simple and pretty.

Aneboda bedside tables from Ikea: $40 each. I'm getting two for the bedroom.


Ikea Desk. This is one of those "create your own tables" where you mix and match legs and tops. This particular one I'm buying from a seller on craigslist, and she hand stained the legs yellow. I think it's way cool.

End table from Ikea. I'm buying this from someone on craigslist for $15. Blake thinks I like it because it looks like the letter "C". Maybe he's right.


Someone made this cat bed from an old iMac computer monitor....and I want one! I love recycled items, and you can find these old monitors for nothing...Make magazine mentioned someone who sells these on Etsy. I'd love to do it, but I worry about getting everything out and the lead content in monitors. Still though, it's pretty cool.
Shelf from The Container Store: $32. Ok, so my mom and I have been talking about an efficient way to store my yarn stash, and my mom suggested a shelf like this wall mounted above my craft desk. I'm terrible with power tools, so when my mom visits me in February, she's going to help me pick out a drill and mount stuff. Finally, the yarn will be out of the plastic bags next to my bed!
Umbra Vases at Target: $17 - $20. I love these. The non-black part is actually clear, and I want flowers (silk or real) all over the apartment.

I've got my eye on a thousand other things as well, but above is a taste. Can you tell I like white alot? The couch I may be getting is beige-ish, so I'm pretty excited about that too.You guys should know, if you are looking to refurnish your apartment, scouting craigslist everyday seriously pays off if you're quick enough!

August is for Melody scarf still slowly moving along. About 12 rows left! I still need to buy that Knit.1 issue that features patterns from all my favorite bloggers....

You Spoony Bard!

So far, I'm not recovering well from the holiday.

I mean, I didn't really party or do anything too crazy, I just went home, came back, worked for a day and a half, and then had 5 days off. During which I chilllllled, looked for furniture, played FFIV on the DS (which is amazing) and watched some movies.

So you see, coming back to work after this down time seems ridiculous to me. This morning I sat down at my desk at stared at my very long list of things to do, and exhaled heavily. Work? Let us all give a collective "booooo".

In truth it's good to be back, because I go a little crazy without goals/tasks, and when I'm working I'm not over analyzing and thinking about things that piss me off. I prefer to be positive, therfore I stay busy.

My mom sent me some interesting pictures of her and her friend Michael modeling the Branching Out scarf that I made her for Xmas.

Kind of crappy since I made her take them with her Blackberry while she was in Gatlinburg, but oh well. The color of the scarf is of course, not bluish-white, but more like a pale lavendar-gray, as shown in previous posts. I of course added a simple fringe, which I think makes the overall effect very prim and clean. Then , I wet-blocked it, which added about a foot and a half to the length. She loved it.

Although you would not be able to tell by my packing progress, I'm so excited to move. I bought a sweet new cookware set on Amazon! It's a 10 pc. Farberware set, and it's so nice in its non-stick goodness. I know....so mundane, right? But seriously, it's amazing to read so many reviews on home goods and finally (FINALLY) land on something that won't explode on contact. Next stop: vaccuum. Listen to me. I'm boring myself. I think I'll go to the store today and pick up a life while I'm there....Ha.

That aside, I'm slowly progressing on the August is for Melody scarf. Then, I can finish the nieces' gifts and FedEx them down to KY. I'll hopefully have some pictures up by this weekend.

How was your holiday, doods?

Long weekends + Unsolved Mysteries

So it's been a while....holidays, right? I OF COURSE didn't get done with the gifts, but I was able to give my mom her scarf, Lauren her mitts, and Katie her hat....the rest will have to be shipped. Sigh.

So, the SECRET project is now finally revealed!
I loved making these mittens...and they were my first attempt at stranded knitting. I think they turned out well! Now, onto Katie's hat...the lovely Foliage pattern on Knitty that I have been wanting to make since FOREVER.
Katie wouldn't let me take a picture of her in it....but it looks perfect on her. I love lace knitting. Quick, and just the right amount of concentration.

So I still have stuff to finish, but that's ok.

Constance (my little sister) left for Tokyo the day after Christmas! And on the first day she was there, her boy proposed, so now she's engaged! Crazy! Things like this make me feel both extremely young and extremely old at the same time. It's weird. I've been feeling a little weird about growing up lately...sometimes I wonder what I should be doing instead of figuring out what I want to be doing. Weird.

However! I've been focusing all of my energies into planning things to buy for the new apartment. I've been scouting craigslist everyday for cute Ikea stuff, and planning how much money i need to spend of cooking knives, cookware, a vacuum, furniture, etc. Not to mention the Wii that I'm going to buy in Feb/Mar. i'm pretty excited about it. Our small little apartment is going to be quite cute. I hope my fam and friends come visit lots!

Here's a picture that my sister sent from Tokyo!
She's adorable. Aren't you jealous? I am. I hope she visits me soon. Maybe I can convince her and Kevin to move to DC....maybe.

change is good/bad

So, somehow, at the same time, it is both an incredibly sad and happy day today.

Sad news first: my boss, Carl Huff, passed away today. He had been sick with bronchitis for the past couple months, and he wasn't a young guy, and it escalated. He actually has been in the hospital all week with his family, and I am thankful that he did not suffer for an extended period of time.

This, of course, makes me Manna's permitting specialist extraordinaire, which is scary

Good news: WE GOT A NEW APARTMENT. Oh yes. Just me and Blake and the kitties. And in the city! Petworth, to be exact, in the NW. It's a really cute neighborhood, and within walking distance from Columbia Heights and a short drive to Adams Morgan. We're moving in Feb. 6th. I am so stoked. It's going to be swank and awesome. I get to go on Friday and bring paint chips for the owner, as he's letting me pick out the new colors for him to paint before we move in. Since it's a basement apartment, averything is going to be painted light and airy. In summation, my new apartment with Blake is going to be FLY. And sans crazy, messy roommates.

So I've been knitting up a storm and I FINALLY finished something. The Branching Out scarf fot my mom.

I took this before finishing the last repeat and adding the fringe, but last night I got all that done. Now I just need to block it and sew the labels in. And it's a terrible picture, mostly because I DESPERATELY need a haircut. Must find time for that this week. I'll post a better picture of the scarf tonight, promise. Myoshi, my mascot, has been helping me get all my knitting done.

Yeah, she's cute.

Last week, these came in the mail:
Yeah, I know, all these are crappy pictures. What can I say, my camera battery was dead, so I had to use le phone. Anyway, these are clothing care labels from Namemaker.com. Katie got me custom labels from them last Christmas, and I decided to order ones that specify to my recipients whether or not their gifts can be hand or machine washed. Very nifty. If you want some, click on the above link and pay $12.00 for each packet of 100. Mine say "Machine Washable, Tumble Dry" and "Hand Washable, Drip Dry". I like to avoid disasters with my knitted goods.

So, now I need to finish the Little Gems Mitts for Constance. Maybe I can get it done by...Friday? Ugh! I need to SERIOUSLY pump out the knitting this weekend and hold off on packing until after Christmas. Even though I want to pack up NOW. No really, I could not get out of there soon enough.

Mr. Carl Huff, you will be missed.

MENTAL MELTDOWN...licious

Ok guys, so I'm freaking out! I have so so much more to do knitting-wise and not a ton of time to do it. I was planning on getting some progress done this weekend but umm...suffice to say that a lot of dramatic bullshit happened between us and our roommates, and once again, anything leisurely took the backburner....ug. So, in the interest of organization, here's what I HAVE to get done as far as gifts go and what can be given to the recipients late (although I HATE giving gifts to people late!)

Gifts that neeeed to get done:

-Mom's Branching Out scarf (it's not too far from being done, so I'm not worried about this one)
-Dustin's fingerless gloves
-Emilie's Pencil Scarf (I'm worried about this one, it'll take some time)
-Katie's Endpaper Mitts (I may change this project into a hat and make her mitts later...as her hat from last year got stolen and I just HAPPEN to have some black Cascade 220 left over from Lala's SECRET gift)
-Little C's Little Gems Mitts (Also, not too far from being done)

Gifts that can be sent out later:

-Melody's scarf (This is the first project I started, and it's the slowest thing EVVVVVER. However, since I gave her a cweet hat for her birthday, I'm sure she won't be toooo disappointed to get her xmas gift late)
-Lauren's second gift (I've got something cute planned that I'm going to send her later...maybe for a bday gift?)
-Little C's Kittyville Hat (I may be able to whip this one out since it's a hat, but since Constance is getting the mitts for ther bday on Dec 23rd, I'll send out her xmas gift later)
-Mom's bday gloves (my mom is understanding and awesome, and I'm sure she'll be pleased to recieve gloves later)
-Doug's Eraserhead Pillow
-I was also supposed to knit a mega-cabled scarf for Melissa.....but I still need to get the yarn...it's such a quick and fun knit. My only concern is getting that monster of a scarf into a package to send out! I'll need a refrigerator box to ship that thing!

And the Stripey hat? Nope. Now that hand-picked (and quite pricey) O-Wool will be a hat for me. Sorry, but my handmade items are reserved for only the most awesome of people, and she is not on that list. No, I'm not a total bitch, I've just had a rough weekend (and so has poor Blake). And in case you're wondering, YES, I have a lot of people in my life with birthdays right next to Christmas. And YES, it sucks kinda. And YES, I like to type in caps....kind of a lot.

I started the Artist's Way on Saturday, and it has made me feel so much more positively about everything. Also, the Morning Pages have been helpful in letting me get all my bitching out onto a page so I can move on and be amazing (as usual :).

Sorry for the lack of pictures! Here's a little something to quench your visual thirst, doods:
Oh my Hugh! Shameless....I know...I'm embarrassed now. But seriously, YOU CANNOT DENY THAT SWAGGER. It's enough to make a girl add "-licious" to the ends of all her words...

How do you solve a problem like Cecilia?

Ok, so today was eventful.

First, some of the design team (it's fun to say team, isn't it? MY TEAM. I like it.) and I went on a site visit to an AIDS hospice which needs to be turned into a (mostly) accessible space...and while the existing plans are nightmare-ish and a lot needs to be done in terms of drawing and planning which makes me anxious, it was a pretty moving experience. And the thing is, most of the people I work with have been working non-profit for years and have seen the most destitute, poor, and sickly situations that DC unfortunately contains (as do all big cities); therefore, the emotional toll that such visits take on a little ol' Kentucky gal like myself tend to be much greater than those of my collegues....in short, I'm green. And although I don't believe any member of my company to be totally jaded to such situations, the fact is, most of what Manna does is this kind of stuff, so they see it and know it. Anyway, we came in and the residents of this hospice were literally singing at the top of their lungs...you could hear it from outside. I don't know, what I'm trying to say is that I feel lucky to be alive, and I feel lucky to belong in a world/city that has people to open hospices for the sickly and to build houses for the not-so-fortunate. I realize it's cheesy, but there you have it.

Another thing! Carl, the much older (and much wiser) boss of me, permit specialist extraordinaire, is retiring pretty soon I think. Here's how the conversation went with us in the car on the way to the above mentioned site:

Bob: Carl, it sounds like you could use a trip to the Mexican Riviera soon....maybe passing on the torch would make your health in better condition (Carl's been a bit sick lately).

Carl: I was just thinking the same thing this morning.

Bob: So Cecilia, you about ready to take up the reins?

Me: Umm...can I have a trip to the Mexican Riviera before I do that?

Bob: Well, you know what they say...sometimes you're born into greatness, sometimes it's bred into you, and sometimes it's thrust upon you forcefully....

Me: Yep. Whatever works, Bob. (*laughs all around on the outside, long deep siiiiiiigh in my head*)

I would of course welcome the pay raise that would eventually come with the position, but man, do I have a lot more to learn. Scary! I do love Manna, though. Everyone is so nice and awesome that I take them for granted sometimes. I guess I won't really be able to say that work is boring once I have Carl's job....yikes.

Speaking of which, there's a work holiday party tonight that I want to go to in a way, but it doesn't start for another 2 hours, so it may be skipped. I'm way more awesome and ambitious than I'm making myself sound today. Oh well. In the next post, I'll go back to the regularly scheduled knitting/reading/crafty-ness banter. Cil ouuuut.

P.S. Who wants to watch The Sound of Music right now aside from me? Anyone? Anyone?