Excuse me, imperial guard?

Okay guys, the appointed day is here. Jury duty begins!

I'm not planning to do this, though I sure hope someone else does! 

Easter Brunch

Easter Brunch by marvelousminnie on polyvore.com

Here's a little polyvore set that I did in honor of this weekend's holiday. Wishing you and yours a very Happy Easter!

A little necklace

A couple of weeks ago, Ginny's daughter, Miss I, turned 5 years old. I can't believe it! I met Miss I on the day she was born, and it's been so wonderful to watch her grow into this (comparatively) huge person who talks and walks and tells jokes and loves to pick out her own clothes. When I made Ginny a necklace for her birthday, Miss I saw it and asked if I would make one for her too. I decided that I would, though I knew I wanted it to be beaded - rather than strings of bead and strings of chain, like Ginny's. I learned the technique for using crimping beads when I made this necklace for myself. So, all I had to do was look at my beads and get inspired. I decided to use some of the extras from Ginny's necklace, partly to economize and partly so they'd look at least a little similar. This is what I came up with:

I did some internet research before making it that suggested an appropriate length for a 5 year old kid was 12 to 14 inches. As I saw down with my beads and put them in pattern, I realized that getting to 12 inches exactly was going to be very difficult, and I figured it was better to go over than under. The total length was just about 14 inches, and I added the growth chain, so hopefully it will last for a while. When I got to the party and put it on the birthday girl, I realized that 12 inches would have been way too short.

I think this shot gives a better idea of the colors of the beads.

I also got her a box to put the necklace in. I'm not sure whether she has a jewelry box, but I thought it might be nice for her to have a place to store it.

Then, I decorated the outside of the box with her name on the top and polka dots along the sides before tying the whole thing up with a yellow ribbon. It was a hit!

30 Rock

Lately, I've been watching episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix. I know it's been on for years - which is particularly apparent when you watch the episodes filmed in 2007 in 2012 - but I've never really been into it. I've been devoted to Grey's Anatomy for a long time, which I think conflicts with 30 Rock and I just never got into it. I've been missing out! I love everything about it. Here are a couple of clips for your enjoyment!

Finally, a work place almost as kooky as my own!

Sashay

I recently discovered Sashay yarn.

Looking at the skein, it looks a little like fabric tape. But, the model in the picture above is wearing a ruffled scarf. I always wondered if you could make one like that with knitting and it turns out you can! I used the pattern put out by the company that makes the yarn, Red Heart. The pattern also links to a video that I found super helpful. Once you get the hang of it, which takes a couple of rows, knitting with this is barely more difficult than knitting with regular yarn. No fancy stitches required - not even purling! I highly recommend it. Plus, these are the results!

I think the pattern tells us the "narrow" scarf (which is six stitches across) will be 60" long. I think mine appears to be that length. The only tricky part for me was the ends, which the pattern recommends be "stitched" with a sewing needle and thread. I don't have those supplies, nor would I have any idea how to approach that, so I outsourced it to the sewer-in-chief in my family, Mom.

This is another shot of the scarf in the color called Salsa.

I also made one in the color called Tango, which was the skein pictured in the first photo.

And here's a shot of the two together:

These were such a neat and easy project. No wonder the craft stores seem to be having trouble keeping this yarn in stock!

Weekend Recap

This weekend included both highs and lows. It started with a low: TAXES!

Yikes! I spent a couple of hours at the computer on Saturday afternoon going through all the records and filling everything out. Thankfully, it was simpler than it has been in years past - no new job, no Kansas taxes, nothing weird. Glad that's over.

Then, I got to do a little shopping! I had the chance to hit up two of my faves:

Marshall's, where I found this darling plate...

which I am using for my perfume bottles!

 And my other fave, Michaels, where I found these fun note cards!

Then, finally, it was time for the weekend's main event: The Hunger Games!

I went with two friends from my book club - Daisy and Magnolia, along with Magnolia's husband, Larch. We went to the site of the South Metro's best matinee movie deal.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at the mall and debriefed the movie and a very public April Fools prank, then called it a night after a whirlwind weekend!

I did it!

At the very end of 2011, I received a gift subscription to a magazine called The Week. I hadn't even heard of this publication until sometime in 2011, when my boss explained to me that she is a devoted reader. She gave me the subscription for Christmas and I've enjoyed it a lot. I was initially somewhat unsure as to whether I would like it. The magazine provides news shorts from all over the world with very few in-depth articles. While that allows you to pick it up and put it down pretty easily, it can also be frustrating not to get much depth. That said, I've gotten used to it and really grown to appreciate the broad scan over lots of different news stories.

The Week also includes a crossword puzzle. Score! This was totally unexpected. I'm not that great at these, but I do enjoy them. I've been working on them diligently each week. I usually get a bunch of words but then have to give up. Not this time! Now that I've been a subscriber for about 12 weeks (during which there were about 10 issues), I finally completed the cross word puzzle!

And if you want to find out which words I got right, you can click here. Keep your fingers crossed - this could be the beginning of a streak!