So much

Brothers
Originally uploaded by LittleOliveBranch

Lots going on lately! Sorry for the lack of frequent posting. Need to get back into the swing of it.

Happenings:
- Wedding planning (date set, venue booked, photographer booked, band booked, wedding dress shopping for the first time this weekend!)
- Crafting: projects for 2 littles (one special boy who will be turning 1 and one soon-to-be-hatched little girl)
- Diving into the world of garment sewing: after getting this from my sis for my birthday, I'm ready to take the plunge! Ordered this and will be making this for myself! Wish me luck.
- Getting back into running. Slowly.
- NEW BLOG! My sister and I are starting a style blog! Stay tuned for more details...

Sewing!

Where has February gone? I know this always happens but still. It doesn't help that I was sick for 2 weeks, just now feeling better (the usual cold, that turned into a sinus infection, that still lingers a bit and causes me to *gasp* snore).

Anyway...

My sweetie and I have made great progress in terms of wedding planning. We've now nailed down the venue, photographer, and band. Yay! I'm really glad that we have sooo much time - it allows us to enjoy this process. My mom is coming down next weekend and we'll be doing the first round of bridal dress shopping - I'm so excited!

I feel like it's a been a while since I made any major progress on crafty projects. Since my sweetie had some work to do this morning, I spent the time sewing and managed to finish this:
It's a SUPER snuggly lap quilt (for us to keep) made of Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi in flannel. Seriously, if you haven't gotten your hands on some of this, you must. It's sooooo soft and cozy. Louie jumped at the chance to be the first one in our house to test it out, fresh out of the dryer.

I also pulled out all of my unfinished quilts (there are so many...) and decided that the first one I'd tackle would be the one below, which I plan for us to use as a bed quilt. We have no fewer than 4 lap/couch quilts in our apartment but not one that's big enough for the bed. I'm not sure if I'll tackle the actual quilting of this since I have a pretty small machine and this quilt will be queen size but we'll see. I typically don't do complicated quilting on my quilts (I prefer to let the fabric be the focus) so I may just go ahead and try.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We're having a date night at a new-to-us bistro near my office and then off to watch basketball with some friends.

Also, on a random note, I've become totally obsessed with Pinterest!

Yarn fail

So I was wrong. I STILL ordered the wrong yarn. GUH.

And I'm still feeling awful. I have this going in the crock pot right now and I can barely smell it. And one of my dearest friends is celebrating her birthday by getting a van to take a whole bunch of us around wine country tomorrow and I think that's probably not in the cards for me seeing as how every time I stand up the pressure in my head makes me want to just lie back down.

Boooooooo.

(I promise I won't be quite so mopey soon. I'm overly dramatic when I'm sick. Obviously.)

Caught the bug(s)

I've finally caught that mid-winter cold that I always get around this time of year. Fortunately, it's not unbearable and since things are relatively quiet at work (for the moment), I ended up coming home early today and am thinking I'll take it easy tomorrow too to get rid of this bug.

I've also caught another bug, so to speak - the Honey Cowl bug! This adorable knit has been popping up all over the crafty community and I decided to make one using some super soft jade green Mission Falls superwash merino wool.


Speaking of honey...another unfinished project is coming back to life. I finally decided to order the remaining wool needed to finish my Honey Comb sweater (and yes, now is the first time I'm realizing the honey theme!) and it should be arriving tomorrow. I'm bad about getting rid of yarn labels and had accidentally put the label from ANOTHER black Debbie Bliss wool in the bag with this sweater, ordered 3 skeins, and then realized once it arrived that I ordered the wrong weight. Thankfully, I was able to return it and order the correct one.

Glad that I'm not feeling too sick to knit and quilt. Hopefully will have some fun stuff to show soon.

Knits

Clearly my whole attempt at a 365 project failed miserably. I think I lasted about a week, haha. Oh well - since most of my time is spent at the office, not too many terribly exciting things to take pictures of.

I did finally get around to organizing my knitting - unfinished projects, supplies, etc. - and have some pics for you. First, I have 2 unfinished sweaters for myself. The black one is this funky Teva Durham pattern with these random honeycomb cable patches throughout. The tweedy one will be an open cardigan by Jo Sharp. I'm determined to finish them both (they're more than halfway done!) by spring.

Also, I finally finished my cashmere scarf. Waaaaay back when Purl moved to their new digs, my sweetie won this in the raffle (of course we both entered and of course he won - thankfully, purple is more my color than his!). It's worth over $100 and is SO COZY!

Where has January gone?! Eeesh. Work has been busy, busy, busy and last weekend my sweetie and I headed to check out wedding venues. We think we found the place and have decided to wait until Summer 2013 - plenty of time to plan and make it awesome. :-)

Have a good week!!!

29

When I was little, I always asked my parents to sneak into my room the night before my birthday and leave my presents next to my bed so that when I woke up, I'd see the pretty wrapped boxes right away.

But I grew out of that (but it was definitely fun). Now my presents come in other forms - sweet doggie kisses when I come in my apartment door, nice messages from friends, and my sweetie who will soon be meeting me at a lovely little restaurant for a quiet birthday dinner, just the 2 of us. All day today, this day that is my 29th birthday and marks the start of my 30 year (whoa!), I've been reflecting on how happy and lucky I am. It's important to mark milestones this way, I think.

I plan on ushering in this 30th year by doing a 365 (366!) photo project. We'll see how long it lasts but I'll try, probably mostly using my iPhone.

And it begins with sparkly tights, and black patent pumps...

More celebrating

Who wants to clean the kitchen, work on finances, or do laundry? Not me. Which is why I've been poking around on Pinterest, figuring out what to bake myself for my birthday (ahem, tomorrow!), and doing other unproductive things. Our sweet friends came over so we could finally give them their wedding quilt (which I finished about 5 months after they got married...oh well) and of course that got me in the mood to sew. Life has been really hectic since Thanksgiving so I'm not even sure which projects I'd dive back into. And of course, I could always start a new one...

But back to Pinterest for a second - I love it! For those of you who haven't checked it out, it's like a virtual bulletin board (actually many bulletin boards - divided up however you'd like). I love it particularly for wedding ideas (wee!), crafty inspiration, and recipes. You can follow me here! Check out some of my picks below:



With practically spring-like weather here, I'm off to walk Louie with another Westie friend. The cleaning will just have to wait.

The year ahead

I think that this photo is sort of a microcosm of the year ahead for me. Focusing on crafting, eating well, and planning my wedding! Weee!

It's back to work tomorrow and back to reality. It's my birthday a week from today so the all the fun that comes with the holidays always spills over a bit into January for me each year and keeps the post-holiday blues away just a bit longer. No big birthday plans since it was quite and eventful holiday season, except eating out with my sweetie here. Yum!

Happy New Year!

I always look forward to a new year. I mean, who doesn't? I rang in 2012 with my sweetie (and for those of you who missed it, MY FIANCE!), my future brother-in-law (whoa!) and his GF. We spent the day on the National Mall. With spring-like temps, it didn't feel like December 31st but definitely a great way to round out one of the craziest year's I've ever had. One of the highlights from yesterday was visiting the new MLK Jr. Memorial. It's gorgeous! A few pics from the day - it was fun to play tourist, as now that I've lived in DC for a sum total of 2.5 years (split), I realized I don't have that many pictures of this place. Sad, considering who my neighbors are!...

No explanation needed - though it's usual occupants are in Hawaii right now!

Washington Monument

Part of the Korean War Memorial

The MLK Jr. Memorial

Check out my Flickr stream for some more pics of a few of the quotes from the memorial.

I feel like I have so much to say about this year. At the start 2011, I was feeling very unsure of where I was going. I had been underemployed for a year and was heading down to DC to explore job opportunities. Fast forward to today and I'm happily employed in a job I enjoy, living with my sweetie (and Louie!), planning for a busy exciting year including a wedding! I made new friends, read interesting books, continued to grow as a quilter, and started working on living a healthier lifestyle (which, let's be honest, took a backseat for the past 2 weeks but is getting full attention again starting tomorrow). I definitely like to set goals in a new year (call them resolutions or whatever) but this year I'm keeping it simple: stay healthy, stay happy, spend time with loved ones, and keep life in perspective. Last year I proved to myself that I'm strong, can persevere through difficult times, and am creative beyond my own expectations. I hope to have yet another year filled with fun, surprises, and progress. I finished 12 quilts this year and read 24 books. Below is a mosaic of all my quilts from 2011.This year:
- Make more quilts!
- Learn to sew clothes
- Get back into knitting more frequently
- Run a 10K
- GET HITCHED!

Happy 2012 everyone! I plan to try to be in this space more often. Hope to see you around here. :-)

The happiest

Happy Holidays!We're engaged!

Much love, joy, and peace to you and yours this holiday season.

Craft happens

Presents! (More details to come...)

Winding down - for a fresh start

I'm here. Life has been so busy. I've been working, crafting (so many things to show you all!), settling in to DC with my sweetie and Louie, etc. All is well and I can't believe that 2011 is almost done. Seriously! My birthday is fast approaching in less than a month (that would be 29 - eek!) and so many wonderful things on the horizon.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I promise I'll be back more, hopefully very soon.

xo

In the works

I'm not sure why I've been gone for so long - clearly I've been busier settling into my life here in DC with Louie and my sweetie that I realized.

I recently took stock of my WIPs - and I'm almost ashamed to admit that there are seriously too many. I'm obviously the kind of crafter who likes to have MANY projects going at once. But aren't we all?

This weekend my sweetie is going to a wedding in Florida. I opted to sit this one out as it's kind of pricey to get there and stay there and we didn't want have to find someone to watch Louie. I love going to weddings but I'm definitely looking forward to not traveling this weekend. I plan to hang out with Louie and do lots of sewing, knitting, and movie watching.

A few sneak peeks of some of my projects. This one below is the Jelly Stars quilt pattern - it looks much more complicated than it is! I'm going to be doing vibrant stars with probably a linen background and a yummy flannel backing. This one will be living with us!


These Swoon blocks are complicated (LOTS of pressing) but look so lovely! These ones are being made into a present for a friend. More details to come...


I'll post more pictures and more updates this weekend!

The shop is back!

My Etsy shop has reopened so check it out! New items will be added soon...

I'm here!

Well, as you can imagine, life has been a little hectic. Our move went great and we're settling in nicely. We've been busy almost every weekend since we moved, though and have yet to get a few crucial pieces for our new place. Thankfully, this weekend we'll be able to take care of it!

My crafting has obviously been on hold. I'm anxious to get behind the sewing machine again, especially since I need to finish 2 gifts for friends!

Stay tuned...I'll be back on a more regular basis soon. :-)

P.S. My dear friend, Brooke, is in the process of re-opening her fabulous Etsy shop. Check it out here!

10

Ten is a lovely number. Ten is the number of days until my sweetie arrives and we move into our new place!

Yep, we've made it. The past month has been a whirlwind - busy job stuff, vacation to Maine, apartment searching/finding/reviewing the lease, back and forth to NYC to pack... I can't believe it's finally happening!

We spent another glorious week in Maine where we played on the beach, met up with friends, read a ton, and ate a lot of lobster. As always, it was too short but I'm thankful we managed to go at all, considering how busy things have been!

I'll leave you with some pictures from vacation. Next time I'll check in here will be after we're in our new place!!!

Finally

Well, hello there! Yes, I'm still here. Are any of you?

As you can tell from the silence around here, things have been BUSY. Work is good, DC is hot (hottest on record - total insanity), and so many exciting things lie ahead.

After months of working hard, planning, waiting, and all other difficult tests of patience and perseverance, I have big news: my sweetie will be moving down here! He has a job (within the same company, just transferring to the DC office) and we will be back to our glorious cohabitation around Labor Day. Apartment details coming soon...

I am beyond happy. This giddy girl is ESPECIALLY happy because today I'm leaving for a week-long vacation to beautiful, relaxing Maine. There will be long beach days, plenty of reading and games, and a long-awaited face-to-face with Brooke (we've been blogging buddies for a year now!). The serene pic below is of my two favorite boys strolling the beach last summer.

I'll be back real soon. :)

Wow

It's been almost 2 years since I started this blog. A LOT has happened since Post #1 and I'm sort of in shock that it's been that long. If you had asked me where I'd be 2 years from starting this, I don't think I would have even come close to describing the crazy path that led me to where I am today. But that's how this whole "life" thing goes, right?! ;-)

I've now officially been in DC for more than a month. Summer is in full swing (yes, I know I said that last time but now I'm serious - not to mention we're approaching the longest day of the year) but every now and then we get a respite from the truly sweltering temps. On those days, we turn off the the AC, open the windows and turn on the ceiling fans. I'm sitting here in my pj's enjoying the breeze right now, in fact. My sleeping has been erratic here so I'm up early (and have been waking up throughout the nights) - I blame it on the small bed and lack of snuggle buddy. Oh well.

I'm learning more and more each day at work and loving getting to know my colleagues. Our office is just outside the District in a cute neighborhood with lots of shops, restaurants, etc. so it's nice to take a break away from my desk and have yummy food and cute places to pop into just around the corner.

I'm missing my sewing machine more and more. Now that I'm feeling more settled, I'm definitely craving some semblance of familiarity of life before which includes crafty time. One of my roommates actually has a sewing machine which she kindly offered for me to use but you know me - none of my own scissors, fabric, thread, etc. is here. I may just take her up on the offer anyway... I have a few cuts of fabric so we'll see. I'm trying to figure out a way to get my machine/stuff here. Not an easy taks considering its weight and the fact that I usually go back and forth to NYC by bus. Hm, we'll see.

Not much planned for the weekend. Some of you cat-lovers have been asking for pics of my roommate's cats so I'll oblige you. I'm not really a cat person but these rascals are a constant source of entertainment (except when Fitch whines for breakfast really in the morning when my roommate is out of town...). Example: Rigby (named for Eleanor Rigby) is not very good at being a cat - last night we were watching a movie and she suddenly just slid off the ottoman! My roommate and I couldn't stop laughing. Like I said, very entertaining.

I took some other pics since this space has been feeling kind of empty. Happy weekend, all!

Playing with fun nail polish!

Crazy, whiny Fitch

Rigby, the princess (and clumsy cat)

Skylight in the bathroom

Bowl

Awesome vintage cabinet (belong to roommate's grandma!)

In the kitchen

Coasters

One of the best seats in the house

Front door

In the dining room

One pj-clad DC girl

Summer

Hellllloooooo out there! Anyone still there? Haha, sorry for the lack of posting but as I warned, it's going to be quiet around here for a while. Thought I'd drop in and say hello and give some updates! Hope everyone is doing well.

I've been here almost a month now which seems crazy. Some moments I feel like I just got here, while at other times I feel like I've been here forever. Life here in swampy DC is going pretty well - I'm really enjoying work (just got my first paycheck this past Friday and MAN DID THAT FEEL GOOD!) and getting to know everyone there. As I said before, they're all friendly and welcoming and even though it's a big organization, it doesn't really feel that way. We're sort of in a calm period right now but things will pick up and get crazy busy before we know it. I'm trying to enjoy the down time and make sure that I learn as much as I can so when the real work comes down, I'll be ready to just jump in. My office is just outside DC and the whole area is pretty cute with lots of places to eat, bars, shops, etc. Always helps knowing that a fun lunch is just around the corner. :)

My roommates are great (I knew one of them before and am having a blast getting to know the other 2). The general living situation is going very well - especially considering I came from a pretty different one (living in a one bedroom apartment with my sweetie and dog for the past year and a half). Don't get me wrong, I'm so ready to be back with my boys in our own place but I'm really lucky to have such a nice place to live with fun, friendly, considerate people. We all get along and also really respect each other. Not to mention, we have a good time whether it's playing late-night Cranium (last Friday night), watching trashy TV together (The Voice on Tuesday nights), or sharing food (one of my roomies is going to make lemon meringue pie today!!!).

I went back to NYC last weekend to see my sweetie and it was wonderful. It felt totally normal to be back in my apartment though pretty quiet without Louie, since he's still with my folks. My sweetie and I plan to head to Upstate, NY where our folks live for the 4th, which is actually the weekend that my younger sister will be moving to NYC (she starts HER new job in a month!) so my sweetie and I will be dogsitting Louie and Winston (my parents' Westie). It'll be nice to have a whole big house to ourselves, not to mention plenty of dog time. :)

My sewing machine is still having its own summer break back in NYC. While I get the craft itch practically every day, I'm certainly occupied with enough stuff that I don't feel too craft-deprived (well, most of the time). There have been some amazing fabric line releases this summer and many more that I'm anxious to get my hands on! I've still been living vicariously though all my Flickr and bloggy friends. Keep up the creative work all! I know that once I get my sewing machine back, I'll have lots of stuff to make.

Off to enjoy Sunday - paper reading, festival-going, grocery shopping, etc.

Flying by

Wow, I can't believe that I've already been here 2 weeks! Thank you for all the checking in emails. I miss all my crafty activities and while I don't really have any progress to report, I wanted to post and say hello.

Work has been great. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Even though it's a large company, it definitely doesn't feel that way. While the majority of the employees are scattered across the globe, in the HQ (where I work) we have a few hundred but you'd never know it. People are always introducing themselves so I'm meeting a lot of new faces. It's great since I'm such a people-person.

I'm settling into a routine too. My room is starting to feel like mine (thanks to Brooke for providing some fabulous pictures that now live on my wall!) I'm even making peace with my roommate's cats - well, except when they whine early in the morning! ;-)

Summer has definitely arrived here in the District. During the time I was a student here, I managed to avoid the "real" summer, as I arrived in the early fall, was abroad in between my first and second years of grad school, and then left before it got really hot. I know I'm in for a doozy - thank goodness for ceiling fans, central A/C, and summer dresses!

I've got a somewhat lengthy commute so I've gotten a lot of reading done (which I love, especially having my Kindle!) and am satisfying my crafty craving (well, sorta...) with a little embroidery. After seeing all the photos people took at Quilt Market, I'm itching to get some new fabric and have my sewing machine. ::sigh:: I'll be back in NYC next weekend and hope to get a little stitching time in. I'm crushing hard on Anna Maria Horner's "Loulouthi" and a number of prints from Tula Pink's "Prince Charming." So happy to still be reading crafty blogs and perusing flickr often. I'm living vicariously through all of you!

Well, off to do laundry, groceries, etc. Have a great long weekend everyone! :)