12 more days

i'm back in town from my trek to erie, and we've had a busy 2 weeks since then. between errands, working, and house stuff we managed to find some time last weekend to go ice skating at the PPG rink with our friends matt + kerry. it was surprisingly crowded, but we still had fun. i definitely want to go back in the evening... it would really be beautiful. after that, we headed over to harris grill for some dinner and were not disappointed. i highly recommend the ebony + ivory brownie dessert :) we also found time to hang out with gary + ann and many other friends at a tree-trimming party over the weekend. much fun was had by all [along with some yummy lasagne and chocolate fondue!]

we missed burger night for the 2nd week in a row to visit joey3shirts. the first week it was to see his newly purchased home; last week... ian schooled joe in the art of plumbing and gas lines, and hooked up his washer and dryer so joe can get to work on his 18+ bags of dirty laundry. ahh... the joys of being a homeowner.

speaking of, i've hit day 4 of bathroom remodeling. all the tile surrounding the tub is out and the kneewalls are out. we still need to remove some of the crumbling drywall and get the old vanity, toilet, and medicine cabinet out of there. next step will be getting the old tub out of there and purchasing a new tub to replace it with, while ian will be working on the built-in storage units that will go in the kneewalls. bit. this is going to go on hold for another week as i'm busy with some freelance work. in the meantime, i'm hoping to get all of the before & after photos up on flickr.

that should mean.... photos in the next post, including house stuffs, knitted FOs, and more!

now if only i had time to finish up my xmas shopping....

updates.

time for a quick post. i made the trek up to erie today to play nursemaid to my sister ;) she's having some medical type tests done tomorrow and being the sweet sister i am, i am driving her to and fro, and waiting on her tomorrow while she recuperates. on the plus side, she made brownies tonight :)

its been a busy week since thanksgiving. i won't be able to post photos until i get back home, as i don't have my camera connector on me. i managed to get some more work done on the bathroom. all of the tile, tileboard, and old insulation is removed from the tub surround; i just need to remove all of that from the ceiling above the tub, and then we can get the old tub out. we're planning on installing a jacuzzi style bathtub... i think it will be a nice, yet affordable luxury. we've narrowed down our tile and paint choices, and have a good idea of what we're going to do. i still need to demo out the knee walls... we're going to build in some storage space where those are now.

we've been discussing starting the remodel of the master bedroom as well. that will be a slighter larger project as we're going to be knocking down a wall and combining 2 rooms to have a large master bedroom. currently our house is a 4 bedroom, so we'll still have a very marketable 3 bedroom / 2 bath house to sell when the times comes ;)

in knitting news, i finished the baby hoodie in the round protoype. i'll post photos this weekend. its cute, was much easier to knit, and came together pretty quickly. the hood itself is a little too big i think, but that can easily be modified on the next one. i've also made alot of progress on the swallowtail shawl. i'm really enjoying working on this one. its very easy to follow, but looks intricate. i have also ordered the valley yarns longmeadow to start my raglan sweater i mentioned in a previous post. it shipped today, so i'll be able to start that once i get home. i'm also starting work on the much blogged about central park hoodie. this is going to be another recycled knit... i'm using a thrift store l.l. bean mans sweater in a light grey. i think it'll be a fun quick knit, and will replace a favorite wool hoodie i have that is showing its signs of wear. and yes, i know ... its wool. if i wear long sleeves underneath it doesn't touch my skin :) . maybe i'm not allergic to wool. i'm not sure. i know some of it irritates me, some does not. oh well!

i also received a package from my "secret" SP ;) she sent some nice blue scarf yarn, and the redwood knitting needles to make it with, and some yummy dark chocolate. mmm... thanks!!!

i think thats it for the updates. time to hang with penny for a bit, enjoy some brownies and watch tv. more this weekend....

turkeys and such

not much thanksgiving news to talk about... ian and i went up to erie to visit my family and have thanksgiving dinner. luckily it wasn't too chilly and we had a good time. my dad seemed to be feeling alot better which was also good :) when we got back into town, we met up with ians friend mike who was visiting from japan. the monkey hoodie turned out to be a great gift... here's the finished pic:




it was a quick knit and fun to do except for the seaming. i hate it so much that i have started on a prototype for a baby hoodie knit in the round. we'll see how that goes. i don't have any progress to show on my other sweater as i still need to seam it. :\ i have started on the swallowtail shawl from interweave knits... not much to really show until its blocked to show the lace, but here it is:




before the holidays, i was able to get a little more demo work done on the bathroom; here it is, day 2 of renovations:



i will probably get back to work on this tomorrow or thursday. even wearing a mask and gloves, i still need to take a few days in between because of all the black dust. we've got a ways to go...

not much else is really going on. we're settling into married life, updating all the paperwork for name changes, and just trying to relax. i know i always say it, but i'm really hoping to get back to the gym this week. its been way too long. its just hard to find the motivation when its dark at 5pm. wish me luck :)

coziness and knitting [now with photos!]

maybe i was wrong in the last post. it looks like fall returned for a short spell :) the bad news is that meant we had to catch up on our yardwork this past weekend with raking all the leaves and mowing the grass one last time. the good news is that the leaves have been beautiful and the weather has been nice enough for us to want to be outside. and of course, its the perfect time of year to knit, bake, and enjoy a cup of tea.

so what are my current projects? i finished the baby sweater trellis; this shot isn't so great, but i don't have any babies accessible for the shoot, soo.... this is what you get.




i'm working on another baby sweater... a friend of ian's moved to japan a few years ago and will be coming home for thanksgiving, so i need to finish this by then! its a cute hoodie that i put an anime monkey on :) the monkey chart is from the stich n bitch books, and i thought it would be perfect on the hoodie :)




i'm about 75% finished with a sweater i'm knitting for myself, the looking glass top from interweave knits summer issue. i'm using recycled yarn for that top. i'm finished with all the knitting, i just need to graft the top and bottom front halves together and seam up the rest. here's a pic of the top 1/2...




i do have some projects lined up. i'm going to do a little lace knitting and work on the swalltail shawl [also from interweave knits], after seeing and falling in love with jared's version. i'm doing it in the same yarn and color scheme, because i really like the simplicity of the ivory, and it will go with most colors.

i ordered a few samples from webs as well, and i am coveting their longmeadow yarn in olive. its beautiful! i even started working on a design for a new sweater in it. here's a sketch of what i'm thinking...



its going to be a top-down or bottom-up raglan in the round... but with the front left seam left open. i'm going to try to find some interesting closures for it. i also want to incorporate some sort of lace/open work pattern down the middle. thoughts?

i have promised myself i won't order the yarn until i have finished my current sweater and have made a little progress on the shawl. i'm also loving the jaeger trinity in 445 [or 449 :/] and the elsebeth lavold silky tweed, but... i'm not sure what i'd use them for, so i should wait til i decide on that. :) i think the trinity would make a great deconstructed hourglass sweater... with some on purpose runs/snags, and more exposed raglan seams. * mental note to start on sketch of that.

but anyways... i'm sure on boring my non-knitting readers :) and i know i promised that wedding post, but... not yet. it is in progress, just not finished. in the meantime, enjoy the wedding and honemoon photos.

other than knitting, this week is going to involve a lot of cleaning and organizing. depending on how long that takes, we may officially start the main bathroom remodel. we're still working on the plans for that, but i can start the demo work as we finalize what we're doing. then, on to the bedrooms... before you know it, we'll be ready to sell!

*updated*... we have officially started the bathroom remodel, because i can't have less than 12 projects going on at once :)



time to make some tea...

brrr.

i love autumn and the changing leave, except that it is way too short of a season. pennsylvania has beautiful foliage, but its over before you know it. ian and i traveled up to erie this weekend, and the drive up was beautiful. the changing leaves, the scenery... a warm coffee, it felt warm and cozy. then we hit meadville. snow. and lots of it. as we arrived in erie, i'd guess there was at least 5 inches? i'm not ready for it! luckily, it had pretty much melted by sunday when we left... but it was a sad reminder of whats to come in the next week or two. time to get my knitting into gear and start on my list of cold weather knits.

it was nice to see my family again, and we brought up our wedding album to show everyone. [post coming soon!]. sadly, when we got back into pittsburgh last night, i received a call from my sister saying my dad had been taken to the hospital by ambulance... he is in intensive care now, with a bad case of pneumonia. my dad has emphysema and asbestosis and is on oxygen, so when he gets pneumonia, its a little more risky for him. everyone who met him at the wedding knows thats he's a fighter, but lets all cross our fingers and pray that he'll be out of ICU soon.

now its time for me to get back to my freelance project and try to concentrate. once i'm finished with that, i've got another long to-do list of post-wedding business to take care of, namely finishing the thank you notes and finalizing the rest of my name changes. who knew there was so much work *after* the wedding? maybe i'll even find some time to get back to work on my weekender bag.

one more dirty banana, please

as i'm still sorting thru all the wedding pics, its time for me to finally post about the honeymoon in st. lucia.

it started off with a 4am ride to the airport, then waiting around til 5 for the delta booth to open :( and then, having to check my knitting stuff [i wanted something to do on the 6+ hour plane ride]. the flight wasn't too bad, other than it being at 6:30 in the morning. flying into st. lucia was just amazing... we could already see the pitons in the south from the plane [we would be staying in the northern end of the island for the 1st half of the trip].



after departing and making our way thru customs, we were greeted by a driver holding a "mr. and mrs. aimee sanford" sign. i was laughing so hard, i didn't get a photo :) we had a 1.5 hour drive up to the north of the island, through banana plantations, rainforests, and beautiful scenery. we arrived at our hotel and were presented with a bottle of wine and a welcome card. we unpacked, freshened up and took a little walk to see what was nearby and ended up taking an early dinner, followed by a stop at an ice cream stand for some chocolate rum icecream. yummy :)

after catching up on our sleep, we had breakfast on the patio of our hotel [delicious banana bread, fresh fruit, coffees, etc.... perfect], then made our way to the hotel pool for a nice swim and an early afternoon drink. at the hotel, i *always* had the dirty banana... a wonderful concoction of banana, light + dark rum, creme de cacao and coconut milk. i could live on these.

while swimming, a staff photographer was around taking photos of the couples and then came over to shoot us. apparently, he wanted us to be models for a brochure they were doing, and asked if we could stop back that afternoon for a photo shoot! we're awaiting the photos in the mail, and once they arrive, i'll post 'em.

during the days we would usually walk to the nearby reduit beach [voted 2nd most beautiful beach in the caribbean], and did alot of snorkeling, swimming, and relaxing. it was beautiful :)





the 2nd half of our honeymoon, we decided to stay in the southern part of the island. while the northern end was a little more lively, we wanted to relax for the remainder. we stayed in a beautiful resort, where we had our own private villa. when we arrived, the driver took our bags to our villa, and we were shown to the outdoor restaurant to have a light lunch, and were in awe of the view:



it was beyond beautiful. every morning we'd come have breakfast here, occasionally an afternoon swim + drink to watch the sunset, and dinners. every night was a different theme, so eating at the same place every night wasn't so bad. after lunch, we were escorted to our villa, and once again, it was perfect. this was our front porch :



the view was amazing, and we also had a hammock to the right of the table + chairs. having our own privacy pool was great, and we could take a dip whenever we wanted. we also had an outdoor shower which was suprisingly relaxing.

we did a few excursions, visiting a volcano and then a botanical garden and waterfall:



we also visited a few beaches, and did more snorkeling. i still need to get the underwater shots developed and hopefull those will turn out :)



we went horseback riding thu a cocoa plantation, shortly after a light rainfall, so of course there was a rainbow. how silly is this photo?



but here we are, our first times riding:



here we are our last night, after watching the sunset, with a little bit of a sunburn. the food was amazing, i think i had fresh seafood every night :)




all in all, we had an incredible time. i'm so happy we chose a smaller resort, and not an all-inclusive sandals-type vacation. [i think that would have drove me crazy]. our honeymoon was active yet relaxing. the weather was perfect, everyone was friendly. i can't wait to go back :)




wedding recap next week?

SP9

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
hmm.... i do not use 100% wool too much. its itchy and makes my skin blotchy. i wonder if its certain types or all types? i'm not a big fan of novelty yarns or acrylics.... i've been using alot of cotton/rayon/microfibre-y blends from my past SPs; i think i'm ready to venture out and try some new stuff.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
i have an interchangeable needle set that came with a case; i store other needles in a mason jar for easy access.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
15+ years; intermediate bordering on advanced

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
amazon, not entirely knitting-related, which is on the sidebar. i need to update that.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
raspberry, vanilla, coffee

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
i *love* chocolate... dark especially. oh, and french martinis. :)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
i'm trying everything. currently remodeling/renovating my house that was a foreclosure; also an accomplished seamstress: hoping to get that website up and running soon; i'm a designer by day, that must be where all the DIY-ing comes from :) i just finished DIY-ing more or less my whole wedding..... dresses, flowers, invitations, etc...

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
ipod, computer + car stereo play mp3s. usually on rotation... dashboard confessional, r.e.m., death cab, alkaline trio, shins, postal service, mates of state, cake. currently enjoying say hi to your mom, arcade fire, rogue wave, hot hot heat, inxs, nada surf, say anything etc...

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
i love blues, greys, black, olive/basil-y greens, burgundys; i really do not like yellow, red, purple, bright primaries.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
i can now say i am happily married [2 weeks!], living in our house with our deaf dog sydney, our 2 cats black & tan, and a handful of fish.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
yes on scarves + mittens/gloves, occasionally hats. i kind of like ponchos but they do not like me. they overwhelm my small frame and i just look silly :P

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
hmm... just finished up a handful of summer tanks; i want to make a few sets of fingerless gloves; some winter sweaters...

13. What are you knitting right now?
working on a simple sweater from IK summer 06

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
only if they're super cool and unique :) hehe.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
aluminum over plastic. i use circular alot for knitting in round, or fronts + backs at same time, but use straight for smaller projects.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
yarn winder & meter.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
hmm.. prolly over a year or 2.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
i don't really have a favorite holiday...they're all important for one reason or another. i *love* fall tho.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
hmm... not really...

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
i love alot of the new phildar patterns, but haven't found in the states. i just started an IK subscription. i'll try to think of some others!

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
can't think of any right now.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
knit a pair last fall but it took so long.. a little tedious for me knitting on #2/3 needles. maybe i'll do a bulky pair next. i'm a size 6.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
06/01

we are back...

... from paradise :)



i will be posting shortly with more photos, stories and more from our honeymoon to st. lucia, and of course, the wedding :). but wouldn't you know it, i have a freelance project waiting for me that i need to finish up :(

but i'll leave you with this, and *many* thanks to everyone who helped us out, came to the wedding, and enjoyed themselves. we had an amazing time because of all of our friends and family who shared our day with us. thank you!!



its official :)

this is it...!

... off to the hotel for the night... wish us luck!
check back on the 16th for all the good news :)

its about time

for an update, isn't it? it seems that the month of september [along with summer weather] flew by overnight. i'm sitting here working on a freelance project i need to finish up, i've got a dog sleeping directly behind my chair, and a nosy black cat exploring the office. wrapped up in a sweater with a nice cup of tea, its suprisingly stress-free. well, for the moment, at least ;) i've got an endless to-do list this week, [with the exception of finishing this project] the main item being finishing the wedding dress. i know, i know... 2 weeks!

let's see.. skimming over the past month, what do i have to recap on? we went to a friends wedding early this month; had my 2nd shower in pittsburgh, a lovely high tea; made a quick trip to erie to grap my parents cake topper and serving knife; finished up my tivoli sweater + trellis [just need to seam]; received a great package from my sp8; had our bachelor/bachelorette parties this past weekend. phew! its been a busy month. see for yourself...

fancy high tea, where yes, hats where required:

[this is for ian, right??]

girls night out:

[and while i look both pregnant *and* drunk in this photo, i assure you i am neither! just being all slouchy and mid-blink :)]


we've also managed to get work done on the house as well, but we didn't do all the work. we broke down and hired someone to finish painting the outside of the house; it needed to be done, and we really had no time to spare. on the plus side, it looks *really* great. now we just need to either re-paint or tile the front porch....




in other news... we have a great new addition to the household. and no, its not the cute little kitten i keep seeing in the backyard. we got this lovely ipod hi-fi as a shower [!] gift.



its currently housing my old ipod mini, which i have recently replaced with a black nano. which also has a new partner.... i finally bought the macbook pro i've been coveting :) with the amount of freelance work i have, and the traveling that i do, it made perfect sense.



here it is on my new desk in front of the window. i promise.... office photos *will* be coming... sometime.


hmm... what happened to that stress-free feeling? i've just made a mental list of all the things that need to be done before next friday, and i'm realizing i am a little stressed ;) i just need to focus and remember that in 2 weeks we'll be lounging at our private plunge pool at our villa right next to the pitons on st. lucia.



ahhhh.......

best week ever?

i don't think so! after a very productive yet relaxing labor day weekend, the week has just gone quickly downhill :( over the weekend, i made some progress on the bridesmaid dresses while ian did a little work at his parents house. on monday, we finally tackled our "storage" room, since ian will be moving his computer and instruments into it. [so we can tear down a wall and expand the master bedroom]. we divided everything into piles of keep, donate to goodwill, trash or sell on craigslist. that was an undertaking! i now have a pile of stuff to put away in my office, which is still not ready for photos. maybe next week...

ian brought home some extra cabinets from a job, so we hung a few in his new 'office' and he put a few in the.. hmm... i guess i will call it the mudroom. [previous owners had built an addition off the back of the house, and this is now our outdoor tool room]. he's going to put a counter on top of it and i can use that for my gardening tools and planting, since there is a nice big window above it. maybe next year i will actually have time to pay attention to my garden ;)

where does the bad week come in? i guess its more busy/frustrating. this week i am working "on site" instead of at home, so thats always an adjustment, and im finding i don't have time for alot of the day to day stuff that i'm used to. because of limited day-time hours, we scheduled a meeting withour caterer on tuesday night after work. it didn't help that i took a wrong turn on the way to his house which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but the meeting seemed to take about 10 hours. at least we have our tables situated now. unfortunately, when we got home that night, we found out that our hot water tank had burst. guess what ian got to do last night? i was surprised we were able to maneuever the new one into the house and down 2 flights of stairs, but at least we are able to take warm showers now.

thinking that the rest of the week could only get better, i was mistaken when i was ran off the road this morning. yep, on smallman street no less! i think the speed limit is maybe 30, and i had turned onto it to go 3 blocks before turning into my destination. in those short 3 blocks, some a**hole in an suv comes blasting up behind me, probably going around 60mph and comes within inches of hitting me, and starts swerving back and forth, slowing down then speeding up acting like he is going to hit me... all the while screaming at me and shaking his fist. i should point out that i am *not* a slow driver, so thats what makes this even more crazy! anyways, after realizing that he would very well hit me if he kept it up [and if i didn't get out of the way] i was basically forced off the road into the oncoming traffic lane [!], as he flew by me screaming. what a great way to start the day!!

this weekend ian and i are going to a wedding, then heading back for my shower sunday morning. i can only hope that things will start looking up! [knitting news in my next post... with photos!]

busy busy busy

things are, as usual, very busy. now i understand why there are actual "wedding planners" who do that as their full time job. it seems like i have a never ending list of things to do in the next 6 weeks before the wedding. and yes, i'd say about 80% of that is my fault, for deciding to make my dress, 3 bridesmaid dresses, the invitations, and the flowers. oh, and don't forget the yet-to-be-determined centerpieces! as long as i have the dresses finished by mid-september i will be able to relax a bit.

with this week being another busy freelancing week, i may have to postpone uploading photos of the new office. why? well, i still need to finish putting everything away. after countless trips to ikea, i think i finally have enough storage boxes to start. the real problems will start when i make the transition of moving my sewing area into the office [after the wedding], so that the previous office can be remodeled into a guest room. confused yet?

on the sewing front, i haven't had much time for anything outside of wedding dresses. once those are finished, i'm hoping to start on the amy butler weekender bag. i ordered the pattern a few weeks ago, and need to pick out some cool fabric. it would be a nice honeymoon carryall, but i don't see that happening. knitting wise, its stop and go. lately, the only time i have to catch up is during an hour or two of nighttime tv, if i find the time. between all the other things on our to-do lists, tv watching isn't that high anymore. [thank you tivo.] that is until next week when nip tuck starts again ;) i'm still working away on my tivoli top, and again, am getting slightly bored with the stockinette stitch. so, i started a small cabled project, the trellis baby sweater on knitty. its a quick knit, and pretty easy to do. and with so many people having babies, you can never go wrong with baby sweaters. and this, by the way, is another recycled knit.... i think i'd be able to make 3 of these out of one adult sweater :) it looks like i could be done with both by the weekend, so i won't bother taking in-progress shots. no time, no time!

i have a few knits in mind for my next projects, 3 to be exact :) this cable-y sweater from adrienne vittadini, this hopefully not-too-boring-slouchy-hoody-cardy from knit cafe, and... well, now i can't remember what the other one. if only i could find my list....

what else is going on? ian and i went up to erie this weekend for some family-visiting and some bridal shower action. it was [obviously], my first where i was the guest of honor and it was a lot of fun. thank you penny, you did a great job! we had some good food, good company, and i got quite a few lovely gifts. surprisingly, only one lingerie item [thanks again to penny ;) ]. i'm definitely looking forward to the pittsburgh family & friends shower next weekend. its really making the wedding seem more "real" and thats very exciting :)

time for me to get back to coding a site i'm working on, and running out to buy some milk for my desperately needed coffee.

flying by

its as if the summer is just passing us by, its already 'back to school' season. in the past, this time of year would always make me sad, and i'd reminisce and i'd yearn to be back at school.. as sort of a late new years resolution. but right now, i can't wait for that time of year :) its the perfect time of my life, everything has fallen into place, and i am really truly happy about every aspect of it. i enjoy my work and the fact that i'm doing it on my own; we're making great progress on the house and its turning out beautifully, [and we'll have no problem selling it when the time comes!]; i'm healthier than i've ever been and [hopefully] i will make a strong commitment to the gym in the coming year; i'm very impressed with my knitting and sewing skills as of late... the wedding dress certainly was a challenge; and of course, the wedding, or i should say, marriage. everything is, simply put, perfect.

ok, enough of this sappy shit ;) time to finish cleaning up my office and get a little knitting done. speaking of knitting, i will be posting photos soon. i have a few in-progress projects that i need to snap some pics of, and quite a few projects on a waiting list to be started. sigh. if only this wedding planning wasn't taking up so much of my time ;)

a very good week

lets see... 2 concerts, our first wedding gifts, no housework, and a finished office. what more could i want? :)

this summer is going by so quickly, its hard to find the time to post. we've finished the office, ian built me a new desk, and most of last weekend and the week were spent moving stuff into it and setting up. i still need to put stuff away and move more stuff, but i had to take a break to work on some freelance projects. once everything is nice and tidy, i will post photos.

finally getting into the habit of going to the gym and went a few times last week. hoping to head there tonight as well. gym vs. burger night is always a dilemma. we skipped it last week to head to mr. smalls to see the lovehammers. that was a great show, and a good venue for it.

mid-week, we received our first wedding gift in the mail! it was really exciting, and made me all giddy and girl-like :)

friday night we made it out to yokoso for some sushi and hibachi-ing, then headed to the movies to see pirates of the caribbean 2. it was pretty good, but about an hour too long. saturday morning consisted of fitting a bridesmaid dress for ian's sister and having a lovely breakfast he prepared for us. my sister penny came down later in the day to help with more wedding stuff, and then we went to the dashboard confessional show. it was great. it was my 6th[?] show, and it was at the top of the list. of course nothing will top the LA birthday intimate show with him playing acoustically, and meeting after the show :)

sunday was spent mostly napping on the couch with ian, watching too many episodes of we love the 90s, and then some more napping. it was a busy week, what can i say? :)

[and this is another one, therefore there are no links or photos in this post!]

phew...

its been a long week! and a tiring one at that. most of the time was spent putting the finishing touches on my new office. here are a few more photos today of the finished office, as i've started to unpack. i'll be posting more in the next few days as i get stuff set up on the new desk that ian built for me yesterday :)


[fireplace still needs to be painted]




[look at the nice cedar lined closets with chalkboard + magnetic paint!]


its going to take a few days to move things down 2 flights of stairs, and set it up, but i can't wait to start on my next project in my new space. it also frees up the current office to finish up the wedding dress :)

speaking of wedding stuff, the paper supplies for the invitations arrived on friday, and i was able to start mocking up some test invites.




luckily, i have some great friends and ann offered some time and came over today to help me assemble all [!] of the invites. tomorrow i'm off to buy some stamps, stuff some envelopes, and get these things labeled for mailing. with 10 weeks and counting, they'll need to be in the mail in the next 2 weeks. its crazy how quickly time is flying. i'm looking forward to all the fun extras like bridal showers and bachelorette parties, but its more that i really can't wait to marry ian. well, that and going to st lucia :) hehe, just kidding sweetie!

last night we finally went to silk elephant in squirrel hill to try out their thai tapas. i highly recommend this place! i was pretty irritated when zyng closed and this opened in its space, but i'm already over that! yummy food, strong drinks, and a nice atmosphere. i'm sure we will be back sometime soon :)

thats it for now, i'm ready to crash and its only 8:34. i think its time for some mindless tv and knitting to relax me for the night. oh, and maybe a foot massage....

more photos and house stuff, as usual :)

i finally have a few photo updates to post. not many, but its something :) first, we have the semi-finished walkway that ian and i worked on a few weekends ago:



i still need to plant a few hostas in the shade, and we may need to put a little more sand around the pavers, but its finished enough for now :) it will be nice to have a place to relax once it cools off a bit. once we pick up some more mulch, i'll be able to post photos of the rest of the landscaping in the backyard... not too much to show now.

next up, we have a few office-progress shots.






we have a new ceiling, new light/fan, we've painted the walls, and ian made a built in shelving spot in one wall, and installed 2 new windows [thankfully replacing a glass block one]. he's started putting down the floor, which should be finished this weekend and then we can install the baseboards. before i know it, i'll be able to start buying the new furnishings :) speaking of, anyone interested in buying an industrial vintage steelcase-type desk? i'm in the market for a more streamlined desk for the office, so i've got to sell the one i have.

on the knitting front, i received a lovely package from my SP8 today... it was a nice surprise while taking a break from mowing the back yard. she sent 3[!] skeins of knitpicks shimmer alpaca/silk lace yarn, 4 bars of yummy scented soaps, and a great debbie bliss book. once i finish up the picovoli t i'm working on, i think i may make one of these.

hmm... what else? keeping on track with the wedding planning, dress making, invite designing, etc. also keeping busy on the work front, with a few websites in the design stages and a press check tomorrow. looks like i'll have some time to work on picovoli :)

the 4th + seven

ahhh... finally a minute to post, sort of. its been a busy week, as usual. ian had an extended 4th of july holiday weekend, so we spent the time getting a lot done on the house. he took over inside renovations while i tackled more yardwork, in hopes of getting a bit of a tan. the progress on my new office is exciting... we'll be picking paint colors and hopefully painting an evening this week... [ hmm painting vs. burger night? ]. here's the status: i drywalled a bit during the week, and updated the electrical outlets/switches. ian finished up drywalling, plastered, and finished the cedar lined closets. he also installed the ceiling over the weekend and the new fan. next steps are caulking, painting, installing the floor, and trim work. yes, i'm glossing over alot of the specifics, but this gives me hope that i'll be moving into the space over the weekend :) [can't wait til ian reads this.. hehe]

as for yardwork... wow, alot of progess there as well. we finished the walkway with the pavers, sand and gravel. we mulched the torn-up grass between the walkway and fence, and we now have a nice sitting area to relax in. i see many days spent sipping a cool beverage and reading/knitting/sleeping.... :) i also managed to start edging the lawn and preparing for a small landscaping/butterfly/flower "space" to mask an ugly area in the corner. i'll be planting around the perimeter of the fence as well, so i've got about 50 more feet to edge. yay! [i'll post photos when i get home tonight.]

what else... we made it up to erie over the weekend for some family time; ian took my dad to get fitted for his tux, while my sister and i went dress shopping with our mom. it was a nice weekend, great weather, i just wish we had a little more time to relax. next time i'm hoping we'll find time for a short trek out to the peninsula, which is one of the things i really miss about home.

this week i'm freelancing "on-site" so its something to get used to. mostly the traffic. i haven't had any problems getting into work, but the drive home last night was not fun. but i did manage to make it home in time for ian and i to get to the gym a little after 6. had a good workout and hope to get back a few nights this week. its nice to see that bally's has opened up their outdoor pool. that will be nice next week while i'm working at home :)

its good to relax...

after a very productive weekend, the evening is ours to relax, grill and enjoy :) more tomorrow, hopefully with pictures.

short update

how has june flown by so quickly?? it seems like just yesterday i was unwrapping gifts, and now its almost the 4th of july. things have been really busy lately, so this may be a short post :)

ian and i went up to erie the weekend before fathers day to celebrate my dad's 79th birthday, and to have our first "pre-marital" counseling session with my pastor. that involved taking a long standardized test to measure our compatibility and views on a long list of stuff. i bet he's just entering our answers on match.com. :) we've also started going thru all of my belongings that are still at my parents house. that is going to be a huge task, since i haven't really "lived" there since the summers between college years. i won't even say how long ago that was. my parents have been discussing moving into a smaller home this fall. i'll admit a six bedroom house is a little too big for 2 people, but its also sad since i grew up in the house, and my dad + grandfather built it. anyone interested in a huge house in erie? :)

my sister that lives in erie called on tuesday night to let me know my mom was in the hospital overnight for observation. her blood pressure was really off, and there were some issues with her heart. they did a few tests yesterday and everything seemed ok, so she was sent home to rest. pittsburgh isn't that far away from erie, but sometimes it seems too far, especially when family is concerned.

in other news, freelancing has been pretty busy the past few weeks. ian and i have gotten a lot done on my new office. [photos will come later as the camera is charging now.] last night he started building a closet/bookshelf system in there, as it will be a "bedroom" when it comes time to sell the house. landscaping was put on hold for a bit due to the rain we've been getting, but i hope to plant some groundcover this weekend on the strip of dirt on the side of the house. still need to finish the stepping stone walkway, but we haven't had a chance to pick up the rest of the supplies for that.

wedding plans are coming along. i've started work on my dress [yay!!], but i can't really talk about that or upload photos. so you will just have to wait until the wedding. speaking of, i designed a quick site for the wedding, so if everyone wants to send us gifts, its all on there. jk :) i also want this, but its not at target, and we're still debating adding an amazon wedding registry.

i haven't been knitting much lately, since i've been too busy with other things. you know... work, life, etc. i'm hoping to get back into some new projects soon, esp since my SP sent me some lovely yarn and chocolate for my birthday. [i'll have to post that photo later too.] speaking of projects, i think its time for me to get back to work!

the countdown begins.

4 months + 2 days is close enough for a countdown right? this week is the official start of our 'lets hit the gym hardcore so we are in prime shape for the wedding and honeymoon adventure'. yay, lucky us! nah, seriously, its a good thing... i actually enjoy going to the gym, but sometimes its hard to find the time to make the trek out to ballys. [and by trek, i mean a 10 min drive in traffic.] its a little irritating that they got rid of their pilates class for now, and don't offer yoga... hmm... may have to try out the new schoolhouse yoga in squirrel hill.

i promised photos, so here they are.... photos of my latest FOs. the first is 'lelah', a nice summery top perfect for getting rid of tanlines. this was made out of a recycled gap thrift store sweater... totaling maybe $2? i still have 1/2 the sweater left...




next, we have 'sexie' from the stitch+bitch series, and yes, thats what they call it, not me. i substituted yarn on this one, and made it from some gifted berroco cotton twist. [thank you donna!] and it took less than 2 skeins! i also modified the straps so they don't tie at the neck. this was a super easy and quick knit.... i'm liking this one. but if i make another, i'll probably make it a few inches longer, and more snug, to show off the back lace work. this will be perfect in st lucia :)




here's an 'in progress' shot of my latest project... another tank. i just need to knit the straps. i'll post a finished pic in a few days, hopefully. i love this yarn! it is so soft and easy to work with; i may have to order another color [silver grey?] and make a lightweight hourglass sweater. plus, i am only on the 2nd skein... this is another great pattern :)




tomorrow i'll take some photos of the current state of my new office: walls are scraped and primed, and we need to patch in some drywall in spots then skip trowel. we decided to paint the brick wall white due to the difficulties we were having cleaning the brick and time constraints. this week we'll be installing 2 new windows and hopefully the ceiling. well, more than likely that will happen next week ;)

ian also started installing a new walkway in the back yard.. using some huge ass paving stones. so far its looking pretty good... we need to pick up some sand and gravel and fill everything in. normally, i love yardwork, but seeing how the stones weighed more than i did, i had to opt out. we're lining the walkway with inverted beer bottles... thoughts?




yes, the photo is taken out the kitchen window, i'll take some "outside" ones tomorrow :)

old

what's been keeping me so busy? celebrating my birthday of course! lots of parties, gift-unwrapping and yummy boston creme pies. enough to keep me slightly distracted from turning 33. no time to dwell on that tho... i've got a never-ending list of "to do's" that i need to tackle. i can cross one of the list tho... [drumroll please....] the honeymoon is booked! we finally settled on st. lucia [thank goodness for travel insurance in case of hurricanes]; hurricane or not, we'll have a great time! we're staying at a small hotel in the north end of the island the first few days, then traveling south to round out the week. we'll be staying in a private villa overlooking the ocean, and with our own private pool + garden shower, plus prime views of the pitons. jealous yet? :) photos will definitely be coming soon.

speaking of photos, i'll be uploading some this week, so much to show! we did some landscaping to the front and back yards and much progress has been made on my new office. i've also started on the bridesmaid dresses and fitted the first dress yesterday... things are looking great. the fabric i ordered for my dress arrived today and i'll hopefully be starting on it within the next week or 2. :D i've also been working on a few knit items and will be posting those pics soon, as soon as i finish my latest project, a cute little grey tanktop.

its been a long week, so time for a little relaxation, and finishing the last of my birthday beers. thanks sweetie ;)

house stuffs

so that never-ending bathroom renovation? almost finished. here are some photos! you'll notice all thats left to do is for me to switch out the old light switches with some new ones, along with cover plates. we ran into quite a few problems with this one... about a month ago [?] i finally finished tiling the walls and the floor, and finished painting the walls. ian grouted. we installed the toilet and started hooking up all the plumbing fixtures. thats odd... the toilet is all warm and steamy. [could be nice on a cold winter night; not so much in the basement in the summer]. but the shower was right. turns out, the plumber hooked the toilet up wrong, and we'd have to bust all the new work to see what he did wrong. grrr.... so ian switches the pipes on the outside going into the toilet and sink. well, the plumber had tied everything in together, so now the shower is backwards. we can live with it :) so, we've got a few photos of the overall bathroom, a nice shot of the tile, and some great recessed wall boxes and some found art. i'm loving it.










with all the house painting that went on last summer, we've realized we weren't happy with the green that we chose, and decided to go blue. its a nice smokey blue grey, and it looks great. its hard to tell from the pics because its been so dreary out lately, but heres an overall shot, plus a closeup showing the old green as well. we still need to paint the front trim and railings and tile the porch, but we are on our way.






the new project that will now be taking up alot of my time is my new office. my current one just isn't working out, so i am moving into a larger room in the house, and turning current office into a guest room. the new office is on the bottom floor, and will look out on the back yard, which will be a pleasant change. first, here are some shots of the room when i bought the house:








a little blah, right? well, first thing to go was the paneling. which revealed crumbling plasterwork, and then the brick wall on the exterior facing walls. we've decided to go with it and have an exposed brick wall. i need to finish up removing the plaster in a few areas, then we'll be cleaning and sealing the brick. next steps would be patching drywall and fixing the other walls, installing new windows and getting the nasty carpet out of there and laying a laminate floor. we're still figuring out the ceiling + lighting, but we've got a good start on the room. here's how its looking now:










looking good, right? i'm hoping to get back on that project later in the week, but with all the freelance work and wedding plans/dress making, it may be on hold for another week. but now its time for a lunch break, then back on a freelance project. busy busy aimee!