Recent additions

New scarves made from the gorgeous hand painted yarn I purchased at the Fiber Festival. I'm struggling with myself not to keep them.

Thank goodness my arthritis is only a little bit bad at this stage in my life. I've been crocheting like a madwoman, and man are my hands killing me. Still, scarves are flying out of here faster than I can make them. I'll keep on keepin' on.

Oh, and for you Stern fans out there, did you get this yet? I picked up my copy at the bookstore this morning (courtesy of Nabua via the leftovers from my birthday present...thanks again, Nab!) and made it through the first few chapters. I've cried twice already. What an amazing storyteller. He holds a special place in my heart.

It's the little things...

This little girl melts my icy cold heart.

A message from Keith

This was stolen from Matt because, well, it's too good not to share:



Keith goes on a rant about this being an issue of love, but if you're cynical like me, love doesn't always come into consideration when it comes to issues like this. To me, this is about basic civil rights. Rights that we ALL have, regardless of what we do behind closed doors. Why is everyone so afraid?

Lazy days

I feel a bit guilty about this past weekend. I barely did a thing. I normally stay active on the weekends, but this one, well, I took a bit of time off and apparently it was much needed. I feel refreshed.

We celebrated Gary's birthday on Saturday night over a gigantic burrito bar in my kitchen (at Gary's request), and of course there was chocolate death cake.

He asked for some sort of chocolatey peanut buttery goodness, so I made Barefoot Contessa's chocolate cake and added crushed peanut butter cups in the middle layer. Whole cups on the top were an obvious necessity.

Serve it up with some peanut butter cup ice cream and you've got a winner.

I highly recommend this cake to anyone who loves to bake. You'll surprise people...it's an impressive cake, believe me. It's simple to make, really, but it's a tad bit time consuming. If you're afraid to try it yourself, let me know and I'll make you one. Maybe.

I think Gary liked it. As a matter of fact, I think we all liked it. The cake was gone.

And as if we didn't get enough sugar in our systems on Saturday, Mike and I cranked out a gigantic batch of snickerdoodles this afternoon. My mom gave me this book for Christmas a few years ago, right around the time I got married. Her grandmother gave her a copy when she got married and she still has it. The recipes, like this one, are a bit outdated, but a little creativity and good ingredients can make them go from amazing to fan-freakin'-tastic. Let me know if you want the recipe. These are so good.

Infiltrate, educate and stop hate.

You can go here for more information. There's a chapter already set up in Albany for those of you in this neck of the woods, and that link will also get you to the information you'll need to find the closest rally to you. Let me know if you want to go. I'd like to do my part.

More love for The Paper Sparrow

Very cool. Go here to read it.

I've drawn a blank

My head is completely empty today and I have nothing to say here. Instead I've decided to participate in another meme, and I totally apologize if this bores you to tears. If you'd like to play along, the rules are simple: Copy and paste this list into your blog and fire your answers off at will. There's only one catch, though...you can only use one word answers. Good luck.

Where is your mobile phone? nonexistent

Where is your significant other? driving?
Your hair color? natural

Your mother? courageous
Your father? strong
Your favorite thing? friendship
Your dream last night? bizarro
Your dream goal? happiness
The room you're in? plentiful
Your hobby? hoarding
Your fear? dental
Where do you want to be in 6 years? insane
Where were you last night? dreamland
What you're not? hot
One of your wish-list items? this (is that cheating?)
Where you grew up? home
The last thing you did? sew
What are you wearing? cotton
Your TV? EVIL
Your pets? Snugglebunnies
Your computer? EVILER
Your mood? blase
Missing someone? always

Your car? deathtrap

Something you're not wearing? makeup

Favorite shop? Pier1
Your summer? sweaty
Love someone? many
Your favorite color? Greens
When is the last time you laughed? Wednesday
When is the last time you cried? yesterday