Christmas crafting

There are six (SIX!) days until Christmas, and I'm beginning to feel the crafting pressure.

I've never done this many handmade gifts before - now that I'm out of school I have *so* much more free time to knit and sew. I really love the idea of going as handmade as possible, but since I only started in November (and have a huge family), concessions had to be made. In any case, here's the status update...

...fingerless gloves for sister R - DONE! Although I may steam-block them as suggested in the pattern because the tops are a bit wonky.

...aprons for sister B and bestie E - not even started. :/ They should be fast to sew up, although I did want to add a bib to E's...we'll see.

...lavender aromatherapy heat pack and chocolates for secret santa at work - DONE and gifted.

...fuzzy shawl for sister H - 90% done. Still needs to be a little longer.

...socks for mom - DONE. Granted, these were supposed to be for her birthday in June, but too bad.

...scrapbooky Christmas cards - mostly done and mailed. Still have a few more that have been waiting on addresses.

...potential project for sister A - not started. I've been toying with the idea of legwarmers for my aspiring ballerina youngest sister, but I'm not sure if those are actually going to happen.

Check back after the holidays for the final report!

Christmas surprise

I think Improv Everywhere is just about the coolest, and check out their most recent joy-spreading prank - Guerrilla Handbell Strikeforce. Members with their own hand bells walked up to join a surprised Salvation Army bell ringer, and ended with an entire bell choir playing Joy to the World.

So cool!

For other Improv Everywhere highlights, check out

Frozen Grand Central

Spontaneous Musicals

The Human Mirror

Giving thanks

This year, my family had 16 people for Thanksgiving, ranging in age from 8 to 90 years old. The oldest attendee, my great-great-aunt, is the most vibrant old lady you'll ever meet (my little sister described her as "cheerful for her age"). Every week, she "looks in on the old folks", bringing seniors - sometimes 30 years her junior - home-baked goodies, gossip and company. She's quite the character!

After dinner, she said something that stuck with me. She said she was thankful for electric lights because when she was a girl, growing up in a very rural area, they would have to scrub the chimneys on the kerosene lanterns every day before they were refilled.

That blew me away! Do we ever think to be grateful for electricity, let alone dishwashers, microwave ovens, the internet, washing machines, cell phones, refrigerators and all the other conveniences of modern daily life?

It's remarkable to think that not only did our relatives and ancestors live without these conveniences in the not-so-distant past, but that millions of people still live without them today. One of my favorite blogs is written by Maggie Doyne, who runs a children's home for orphans in Nepal. She often writes about the struggles she faces just to provide a safe, healthy home for her children in an area with high poverty and illiteracy rates, limited medical care and little contact with the outside world.

In a society where Blackberries are practically glued to our bodies at all times and we feel isolated if we can't check Facebook or Gmail for a day (I'm definitely guilty of this as well!), I think it's important to remember to appreciate what we have - from running water to the internet - especially in the upcoming holiday season when consumerism is king.

This weekend, I am...

...venturing out in the storm to attend a mandatory training. My shoes were soaked through within the first 5 minutes of standing on the train platform...not a great start to the day.

...enjoying myself at that training despite soggy feet - I ran into a college friend unexpectedly, which was lovely. Also, the promised free pizza at said training turned out to be from Bertucci's and utterly delicious!

...cozying up in bed with a package of double-stuff oreos, which I love even though my co-workers tease me about it.

...devouring several new books. I bought The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last weekend, and it's turning out to be delightful so far. I also got The Mists of Avalon out of the library this week, and I'm going to try to read the whole thing. I'm a little daunted by the size as well as the number of people I know who have given up partway through, but I'll do my best and report back!

...eagerly awaiting the arrival of several packages in the mail containing Christmas presents and, more importantly, the materials to make more Christmas presents. How, I ask you, am I supposed to start my gift knitting without the yarn???

I won!

I am very excited to have won a giveaway on the lovely blog kind over matter! The drawing was for a print by the incredibly talented Lori Portka - I chose "lift her to the sky", although it was very hard to pick.

My new apartment is so empty and bare, I'm so excited to have some new art to hang up!

Thank you very much to the ladies at kind over matter and to Lori for the giveaway!

The most frustrating thing ever...

...I have run out of yarn while doing the picot binding on the shawl I'm knitting.

I'll report back when I figure out a solution. :(

Wildly awesome

The webcomic Cowbirds in Love is generally pretty awesome, but this particular drawing had me in stitches. It's now my desktop background and it makes me smile every time!

Tricks and Treats.

Tricks:

...I went home for the weekend, and had to leave today. :(

...My train was 45 minutes late, so it took me a grand total of 6 1/2 hours to get back from my trip home. Driving, it would only have taken 3 hours!

...My allergies have been acting up like crazy. My nose is like a leaking faucet, with a constant slow drip.

Treats:

...I got to relax at home and see my family for the first time in three months! Wahoo!

...When my alarm goes off early tomorrow morning, it won't feel as early because we turned the clocks back. An extra hour of sleep!

...I brought back my winter clothes from home. I finally have all my fuzzy socks and cozy sweaters!

Happy Halloween!

Thursday awesome.

Today's awesome: this scene from Love Actually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05nXkNxKkW4

Cooking for one

So, I'm still having trouble with this cooking for one business. I come from a huge family where I'm both the oldest and the "junior mom", which roughly translates to She Who Settles Arguments And Bakes Cookies When Mom's Not Around in your tongue. When I cook and bake at home (which I do, a lot), I cook or bake for at least 10 people. So it's been very hard for me to figure out how much just one person can eat. How much spaghetti should I cook just for myself? Can I eat that whole package of chicken before it goes bad?

However, there are some definite benefits to cooking for myself, which I have compiled into a handy list in case anyone cares!

-I can use the same spoon to taste sauces over and over - nobody else will get my germs!

-If I'm feeling particularly ravenous, I can polish off a whole batch of whatever without having to share.

-I can eat my patented Super Random Meals whenever I want! Today I had spaghetti and meatballs with applesauce for dinner. Normal people might pair pasta with a salad and garlic bread, but I DEFY CONVENTION! And defiance tastes good!

-There are no vegetarians or food allergies to worry about, so I can cross-contaminate things whenever I want.

-No picky eaters to accommodate except for moi!

So even though I miss my family and I miss my big, well-supplied kitchen at home...I guess this is not so bad after all. :)

a beautiful weekend

View out my window on Columbus Day

It was a beautiful long weekend here in New England! My Very Best Friend In The Whole Wide World came to visit, and we had the apartment to ourselves, as both my roommates went away. It's the very peak of leaf-peeping season, and all three days were sunny, blue-skied and slightly chilly.

Saturday we went into the city to meet up with another college friend. I had Vietnamese food for the first time and I vote it yummy! We went to see Julie & Julia, which I've been wanting to see for forever, and sat in a theater full of extremely old people. One particularly charming old man fell asleep during the movie and proceeded to let out earth-shaking snores periodically. Clearly, this demographic identified more with Julia Child's 1950's story than modern, disillusioned twenty-something Julie. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around window-shopping, and we ended up in an extremely high-end mall. Although we were slightly afraid of being kicked out for wearing jeans and sneakers, we browsed, snickered behind our hands and planned out what our lives would be like if we had gobs of money to blow. Do you realize that there are sheet sets at Bloomingdales that cost $3000???

Sunday was another gorgeous blustery fall day. My Very Best Friend In The Whole Wide World (MVBFITWWW? Let's just call her Z) and I grabbed lunch at our very favorite adorable cafe/sandwich shop and went apple picking. The orchard was swarming with people, mostly families with kids - some of the adorable variety, some more the obnoxious and poorly supervised type. We had fun, but the best part was really the drive there and back - we got to see several quaint old New England towns, and some truly spectacular foliage (at one point, the trees arched all the way over the road like a red and orange tunnel).

It was so nice to see college friends this weekend. Both of these two are very much like me in that most people would consider us "boring". We all knit, drink tea, love babies, go to bed early, read lots and love to cook. I think we're pretty cool people, but it was fabulous to have an entire weekend to remind us!

Hope your long weekend was wonderful, too!

A dose of AWESOME

Here's a little awesome for your Thursday!

I have been completely addicted to this song for awhile now. It's perky, cheerful, gets stuck in your head, and is about a suicidal vampire. Really!

Blue Sunny Day by Jonathan Coulton

And, in case that wasn't enough awesome for you, his work is Creative Commons licensed, meaning most of it is free and un-copyrighted. Enjoy!

Introducing Finding Twenty-Something

Real life is hard. Many of us twenty-somethings were overachievers in high school and college, always reaching to excel at the next step, only to find ourselves totally lost once we graduated and there was no "next step". Or is that just me?

There was no Real Life 101 offered at my college. I was mercilessly thrown out of my comfortable haven of academia, diploma in hand, forced to navigate the unknown waters of job applications, apartment hunting, paying bills, grocery shopping, student loans, and understanding health insurance. On top of the basic tasks necessary for survival, I find myself trying to create the life I want while on my own for the first time. I want to live a balanced life;

to be healthy
to be successful at my job
to make friends
to have positive relationships with my roommates
to be thrifty
to be environmentally conscious
to live life out loud
and most of all to be happy and fulfilled.

This blog will chronicle some of my journey, and hopefully provide insight and advice for others in the same situation. I'd love to have you along for the ride!