Wednesday Soundtrack

It's a relatively new song, but sounds old to me. Either way, it's awesome.

Title ~ Home
Artist ~ Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Whad'ya know?

Not much, you?

*A gratuitous cone of Teaberry softserve from an evening visit to Knobles last week!

I was tagged by Heather to complete a little quiz, and just like her I have fun reading other people's answers, so here are mine:


1.What's your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can't be bothered to be adventurous)?

Brown rice, black bean, tomatoes and cheddar cheese - I always seem to have brown rice ready in the rice cooker, so waiting for it to cook is never a problem, and my shelves are always stocked with beans. I love the Trader Joes Cuban Style black beans; they come jazzed up with peppers and spice.

2. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Hmmm, I could still go in many directions, if I continue down my current path, then I'll become a College Professor of some sort, which won't be bad. BUT if I decide to get all wild and crazy, then I'd like to pursue some of my craft/art passions. Some combo of both would be awesome.

3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any)?

I'm reading two books at the moment: The Help by Kathryn Stockett (this one sits by my bed for a few minutes of reading before sleep) and My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme (this one is in my gym bag for reading while I ride the stationary bike)

4. How do you relax?

Relax? I wish I had the time :-)! When I do relax it varies by the season and involves either doing something crafty, doing some gardening, or cooking.

5. What color are the interior walls of your home?

Ooh, our living room is a blue, hallways grey, kitchen white, and my bedroom is a creamy orange - not too harsh and just perfect for making this dark room a bit brighter.

6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Definitely watching TV on the internet (we don't have cable). But as long as I'm watching it while crafting or cooking or whatever, I rationalize that it's not that bad...

7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?

Typically I go to bed around 2 and wake up at 9:30 or 10.... but I'm trying really hard and would love to be in bed by 1 and up by 8. It's a small difference, but I would love to have that little extra bit of morning!

8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?

Hmmm, maybe blogs should have been my guilty pleasure. I sit in front of a computer all day, so I'll typically take a little break to look at a few blogs every couple of hours - there are some blogs that I read every day and others that I check out every couple of days. In general, I'm always looking for new craft or design ideas.... but I have to admit, ever since the wedding planning started, looking at wedding blogs was taking up a lot of my free time. I'm trying to tone it down this week:-)

Ok, I'm passing this quiz along to:

Fidlstix

Schubox Photography

Schwartz Family Files

Seraphina Firenze

The Lady Knits

... and anyone else up for sharing!

Wednesday Soundtrack

Artist ~ Tom Petty
Song ~ Wildflowers*

Happy Solstice!

These are pictures from a bike ride C and I took in Berlin. We set off from the city heading north. Riding along bike paths, over cobblestones, through fields, and past cows {furry cows}.

We came to this little cafe in the woods, stopped for lunch, and continued on to the lake. Where we found a nice spot with a splendid view. And then, you know, there was some idle chit chat, some small talk, and a marriage proposal! Around this time next year, C will be come Mr. WinterFoliage {hehe I haven't tried that nickname out on him yet, but I'm guessing it'll get a groan}. So if you don't mind, please indulge me as wedding-related crafts and ideas make an appearance in future posts. For starters, I'm already bummed that the Solstice doesn't fall on a weekend next year. Wouldn't it be a great date for a June wedding? We have friends who were engaged in Italy and have a painting from the town where he proposed. Us? We're going to have a photograph of a beetle and a furry cow. Happy Summer*

For a spring birthday...

A light cotton sweater with a yoke of daisies::

Yarn ~ Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
Needles ~ US 5
Pattern ~ Autumn Leaves Vest

As with all of my knitting for others, this project sat on the needles for a long time. It's so hard for me to knit something for someone when I'm keeping it a secret or the recipient is far away because I'm always worried about how the sweater will fit. So rather than plow through and finish it, I sit and stare, hem and haw, pick it up, put it down, look at it from this angle and then that. You get the picture.... I think it's why I'm so good at just knitting for myself!

But folks, I think we have a winner! It just fits Soph, which is good enough for me! And, luckily, it'll be waiting for Maddy when she's ready for some spring daisies. The daisy portion is knit back and forth (rather than in the round), so I sewed up the first two repeats of the pattern, but left the last repeat open to make it easier to slip the sweater on over Soph's noggin and added a button closure at the top. done and done!

Wednesday Soundtrack

Finally! Some music.

Artist ~ Brandi Carlile, my new fave
Song ~ Josephine
How I listen ~ on repeat.



enjoy this for now and I'll be back with more soon*

Berlin's details

C and I can't stop talking about how much we love Berlin in June. In today's post I'm sharing some of the small details that make the city beautiful. enjoy*




and happy Friday!

We left it in Berlin...

Oops, sorry for the interruption. I'm now back in Boston, and have a few more fun bits to share. Towards the end of the week, we woke up early and left Berlin for Goettingen, the town where C will be living for the next year. After we hopped on the train, it wasn't long before we were traveling through the country-side and surrounded by fields of turbines::As almost everyone knows, Germany puts the US to shame with it's renewable energy initiatives, and the proof is everywhere, from the turbines in the fields to the solar panels on even the oldest of buildings... I'm going to try to come back to this topic as we spend more time there.

For now, on to Goettingen::After our short visit, we're super excited to spend more time in this old university town. The town was officially founded sometime in the 1100s, and suffered very little damage during the war. As a result, when you visit today you're greeted by the traditional timber-frame buildings and large stone churches and monasteries.



Throughout the day and late into the evenings, most activity occurs in the old town center, where you'll find this girl:: carrying her geese to market.

Like any town worth it's salt in Germany, the cafe culture is alive and well:: I know that Europe is known for it's cafes and outdoor eating, and on my many trips before, I thought I experienced it. I was wrong, and here's why: I've always done my traveling during spring or winter breaks ~ when, it's freezing. So what I've experienced are the brave souls willing to sit outside and suffer while I ran for cover and the warmth of the bar's fireplace. This trip? Wow, my first time wearing flip-flops in Europe and I was in heaven ~ you could sit outside for hours, eat slowly, drink a coffee, follow it up with a beer, and then maybe dessert and enjoy yourself while every table at the cafe was packed with people doing the same thing. It was great, and surprisingly affordable. We at out almost every meal on this trip because it really didn't break the bank. It probably helped that we ate at your ever-day run of the mill cafes, nothing fancy, but that's what we like... and in Goettingen, it's just perfect.

And we had plenty of time to enjoy the cafes and beer during this trip. As the title of the post suggests, many "essentials" were left in Berlin. I wanted to post an update while on the rode, but we left our code for the internet in a safe place in Berlin... then we sat down to do some work and realized that we left the cord for the hard drive ~ in Berlin. After that, we realized that the only "essential" was more good, German beer. So, taking advantage of Germany's open container law, we picked out a selection of beer from the grocery store, sat down on a stoop in the town center::and watched the sunset over the square:: Not bad at all.

Plus we learned a valuable lesson that came in handy as we traveled back to Berlin. What do you do when the train stops in its tracks for over an hour? Find the dining car, grab a beer, and smile::

Ich habe hunger

The German Breakfast:: Softboiled egg, cheese, ham and salami for me. Swap the salami for liverwurst for C. Pile on the fresh fruit and veggies for both of us. yum

Our first dinner :: some beer and bratwurst from the Berlin equivalent of a food cart. The beer on the left is a bottled version of a Berliner Weisse, a sour beer usually served with a sweet syrup. I get mine "mit grun"; with a green syrup made from a plant called Woodruff. The other option is a red syrup that tastes like raspberries.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of our second dinner from the Lebanese restaurant across the street, but it was so good that we may pop over there again tonight for more.

Um yeah, we eat a lot. But you need the energy when your days are full of thinking, napping, and swinging:: This was a park we discovered as we walked along the path where the wall used to stand. More on that later.

Ich bin ein Berliner

I'm in Berlin this week, visiting C while he brushes up on his German, and I've finally recovered from the jet lag with just enough energy to post a few pictures. We're staying in the Prenzlauer Berg section of the city. It's on the former East German side, and it's one of the areas that has become a bit trendy over the past 10 years. Lucky for us, that means it's filled with great little shops, restaurants and bars. If you've been to the city and have any recommendations, pass them along!