more opal

i don’t know how to say welcome to opal. she just fell into our family and we all just accept her for who she is. we did not go seeking for her/nor did she seek us out. but she came to us and every day it seems more like she was to be part of our family.

monkeys fan

since anthony told me about jarvis cocker performing at the hogwarts yule ball. his post pulp endeavors have missed me somehow. but i remember hearing pulp for the first time and thinking, yes- i was born to be your fan.

same for the new monkeys~

the artic monkeys

yesterday we received a bundle of goodies: artic monkeys, lcd sounds system, smashing pumpkins, the good the bad and the queen, modest mouse, arcade fire, the white stripes,

and the granddaddy of all bands worthy…

interpol

"see ya later~ elevator"

mary mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?

this years
crop of different
blooms.....

tribute to food

i am no ruth reichl-nor do i claim to have any skill of the art of food writing. i, myself, admire those amazing efforts of my friends (chi & anna) who can be entertaining, can entertain and have the ability to be ever such the amazing critic of restaurants, cooking and all things edible.

having moved from boston to san antonio over a year ago- we have more recently been in search of more “continental” type foods. while we have enjoyed the smells and tastes of b-b-q, mexican food and every steak house chain imaginable we have been feeling a certain longing for the refined atmosphere of nice & simple.

in comes la frite belgian bistro. the restaurant itself is small, yet full of intimate & quirky charm and a strong following of locals. the menu was limited to a standard few entrees and daily specials on a chalk board. but most of all it fit the need for “non-san antonian” cuisine that one would find on the eastern coast or the small villages of foreign towns.

our search for moules frites – (steamed mussels and thin extra crispy fries) is what brought us to this restaurant in particular. once there we were hooked. we had our choice of curry sauce, white wine, and tomato base sauce. the mussels were small, tasty and plentiful.

one evening down to a dining success. the good thing is we have more to look forward too….

blanca’s disco birthday party in honor of charlie garza for rey feo

el rey feo is an integral part of san antonio’s fiesta week. the king’s title is awarded to the citizen who has raised the largest sum of money over the year for college scholarships for students without regards to color, creed, race or national origin.

anheuser-bush was a silent sponsor ..... oh yeah and the hair took me an hour and a half..

peachy keen

“slow down, you move too fast.
you got to make the morning last.

just kicking down the cobble stones.
looking for fun and feelin' groovy.
hello lamppost,
what cha knowing?
i've come to watch your flowers growing.
ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
doot-in' doo-doo,
feelin' groovy.

got no deeds to do,
no promises to keep.
i'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
life, i love you,
all is groovy.”

….. good ol’ simon and garfunkel

meet the beginnings of one-hour dress.

meet the completed version of the high wasted, short (short) skirt & bell bottom like sleeves.

does anyone have a pair of star or heart shaped sunglasses i can wear?

maybe it needs a matching headband?

and of course, there is my ride....

happy birtday darlin'

we love you very, very, very much

a lot has happened over the past 6 months. my husband’s parents came to visit and made a trip with me to the vet (they live abroad). while in the waiting room my mother-in-law got in a friendly conversation with a lady who had brought in her 1 ½ year old female boston terrier. the reason her young terrier was in the vet was because the ladies son has an illness and had attempted to drown the puppy unknowing of the consequences of his action.

two weeks went by when my in-laws left and they decided they very much wanted to get in touch with the owner to offer their support should they feel they could no longer care for the dog. i phoned my vet and had my name put in her file. now, 6 months later we received a call from our vet saying the owner could no longer look after her dog. at this point my in-laws had already adopted a pet. i phoned the owner and said we would be happy to adopt her but would like the opportunity to introduce her to our two dogs to make sure they all could get along.

when we arrived it was quickly apparent that there was no way we could leave her in her current condition. she was the smallest of three boston terriers they owned and she had open bite wounds all over her, major hair loss due to stress, an abscess on her underside and we later found out she had staff infection. she has no hearing at all due to the drowning incident 6 months prior.

we took her home and to our vet. she is now a healthy loving and playful puppy. her previous owners contacted us to let us know her birthday was yesterday, july 6^th and she is now two years old~ they keep in touch and miss her dearly.

“happy birthday darling.

we love you very very very much” *

*(bright eyes ‘at the bottom of everything’ 2005)

where i have been

i have been on a mental vacation of sorts. trying to get my funk (work/life balance) here in san antonio.

now that i am getting my groove on i am designing a party dress for a Disco theme charity event.
I have started work on my outfit. I have in mind bright colors, knee high boots, thigh high socks and feathers. Not quite "sandra-dee" but fun.

I have bought this fantastic orange material. I am thinking a high waist (due to my new Texas curves) and wide sleeves.

Groovy baby!

more birthday fun

about 150,000 people greeted the christmas season friday night at the annual lighting of the 55-foot christmas tree at alamo plaza and the hourlong, illuminated river parade with 122,000 lights….. and we were there.....

las canarias
lighting of the river

roasted asparagus soup
granny smith apple, curry and toasted pecans

organic field greens with pear tomatoes, smoked bacon,
garlic nut crunch, lemon basil dressing

grilled filet mignon
spanish mencia wine-marinated pear in puff pastry
and castilla y leon cheese crisp

chocolate diplomat
champagne sabayon and fresh raspberries

oh happy day

as i celebrate my 35^th birthday (i am now half way to 70 anthony reminds me) i am reminded of how lucky i am to be surrounded by loving friends, family, neighbors and all of my new friends at my new job.

i plan to spend the day catching up on my knitting and laying about the house with the boys. unfortunately only a week to go before my debut at the craft fair. i must get hopping. but for now i want to share my new treasures starting with my new love.

i know i am not there yet but i would someday like to equate my love of handbags to sjp’s character in sex in the city’s love of shoes.

in addition to the worlds most fantastic hand bag i now have the audrey hepburns way of life- and to quote her

“success is like reaching an important birthday and finding out you’re exactly the same. all i feel is responsibility to live up to it. and even, with luck, survive it.”

amy sedaris' new book "i like you"

is perfect for me & those of us who need the helpful advice of- if you know you are going to be drinking, make sure to first organize your wallet so you don’t accidentally pay the cabbie too much money-

combined with such great recipes as “the heaviest cheese ball”

i like you too amy.

the impatient patchworker is a fantastic book which only features fabric from my favorite designer rowan’s kaffe fassett. bold, beautiful fabric combined to make quick projects for those of us who need to have instant gratification. i plan on making most if not all of the 20 projects in the book. it comes complete with patterns and where to find the resources used through out the book.

butterflies

so other than falling trees this november bring more butterflies to our yard.

yes- november…..

rowan studio

how wonderfully irresistible. i ordered it and had it delivered to my uk family to insure i got a hold of it asap. really could tweed look any better? i cant wait to get working on one…

thanksgiving week

i have been out of touch for a while. with a new job which demands all of the fantastic free time i had- i am lucky to spend time relaxing at home. this upcoming week is when i will catch up on all my afternoon naps, knitting and time with the boys.

first of all happy thanksgiving to all my friends and family! we have notice a change in the weather here at last and the evenings cool down to the 30-40’s and the day time temperatures reach a comfortable 75 degrees.

last week we had an unusual wind storm that took down one of the larger trees we have in our yard. we were lucky it did not hit our neighbor’s property or anything of value but once again home ownership hits home and the blues set in. this weekend the chainsaw hit the tree and what we have left is great firewood and piles of small branches.

today is dad's birthday!

happy birthday dad!

we are lucky enough to have him here with us. for breakfast i made him birthday pumpkin muffins. (thank you store williams sonoma for your pumpkin muffin tin- i am in love with you) tonight is my first day of work so our good neighbors have invited my father and anthony over for a dinner.

other than that we have just spent the day doing chores. but we did have time to stop and admire our dragon looking friend in our tree. one minute he was brown then my flash scared him down the tree a bit on to a leaf where here went green in seconds. soon after he had enough of us and jumped 3 feet to the ivy covered ground where he was rid of us (for now).

boo!- we have been hit by the neighborhood phantom

boo!

since this is the time for goblins and bats
halloween spirits and ghosts and cats
weird happendings and witches brew
these are the things i wish for you.

may the only spirits you cance to meet
be the spirits of happiness and friends so neat
may the only goblim that comes your way
be this phunny phanotom, you’ll want to give away.

so by tomorrow pick three friends sweet
and give them each a halloween treat.
you only have one day so hurry!
leave that treat at their door and flee in a flurry.

here are the things that you need to do:
1. make three copies of this letter and a copy of the phantom for each
2. post the phantom on your door or desk ‘til halloween. this will ward off any future visits from the phantom haunting you again.
3. then take a letter, a phantom and a treat, and deliver them to three neighbors that do not have a phantom poster.

‘tis better giving than receiving,
we all know this is true
so show your spirit and friendship, and remember
the phantom is now you!

legwarmers

more yummy yarn. believe me i was so excited when my sister contacted me to ask if i would make her a pair of legwarmers to get her through the new york winter. over enthusiastic i jumped at the chance and as i headed down stairs to my book case (devoted only to knitting and other craft)- then it hit me. everything i own for the most part has been packed away and shipped off to a storage warehouse until all maintenance has been finished and the replacement of our downstairs floors has finished.


hummm. now what? in order to get inspired i went to the only true yarn store in san antonio with over 8,000 on their mailer list and one great gal who has a son back in boston who keeps me up to date on her visits there: the yarn barn


i was torn away only because my father was in town and hoping to meet up. thank goodness as there were so many nice yarns that were calling my name. I left with only 4 balls of berroco foliage for the legwarmers and 4 balls of ryc cashsoft dk for a tbd project... now at home- stuck upstairs in our makeshift tent in order to keep construction dust and debris out of our living area i will start my new project.

thank you sarah for keeping my mind off things!

working towards a new book

i am at the beginning stages of learning to make and design my own patterns. so many things inspire me and while i have the ideas, it is hard for me to take it through to something professional looking. there is a pattern making textbook i am interested in, with a little luck when my birthday rolls around…
in the meantime i saw a small handbag with patchwork in some magazine. i have seen a lot of fall fashion runway pictures with patchwork. so this is my finished version of a patchwork bag.

before & after

today's results are in! demolition day 1.
living/dining room before & after













bathroom before & after

marketing

it is october already and i am looking forward to my december craft fair. as of right now i have some business cards made, my cute logo top i will wear & care and instructions labels all finished. i bought the shopping bags (just brown kraft paper handle bags) and i plan on adding a circular stick-on logo to it as well.

right now i am trying my hand at knitted handbags in cute bright colors. i saw a picture in a magazine and am working without a pattern so i am not sure what it will come out looking like. it is a beautiful 57 degrees at the moment so it is great knitting weather.

downstairs they are finishing packing our possessions and removing the furniture. they have already begun to remove the flooring out.

when bad things happen

on saturday we arrived home from a wonderful dinner to find the first floor of our house under water. the water softener stop valve had broken and the flood started in the kitchen where it deposited 2 inches of water & went through the living room, dinning room and all the way to the front door. we believe the wood floors will all need replacing as well as possibly the kitchen cabinets. with our neighbors help we vacuumed and bucketed up the water and had a company come in with fans and dehumidifiers. we also called out a plumber to disconnect the softener tank so that we could turn the water mains back on.

we were lucky because our dogs were safe, and as someone very close to me put it- “when bad things happen some can not be fixed and in your case they can.” everything can be replaced, no one was harmed and as it turns out pepper has never enjoyed himself more than he has the last couple of days laying in the center of the living room with multiple fans blowing his way.

yeah yeah yeahs @ stubbs

oh gosh i wish i had pictures to post from this show. of course, they are known for their outrageous performances. karen- with such awesome clothing. honestly one of the best rock groups around. alas all i have to show for the experience is my husbands t-shirt. but i hear that youtube has a pretty good amateur video of the show. worth a look see.

autumn

i love this time of the year. we have already noticed the change in the sunlight and some mornings we have fog. we are looking forward to seeing what a southern texas fall is going to be like. my most favorite part is the turning of the weather- still our days are in the 90’s but i am looking forward to a crisp morning or a night chill enough to really get back into knitting.

but to get me in the mood i have myself a pumpkin and i am already craving the fall squash soup anthony makes. we have been told about an outdoor cornfield maze which i think could be fun.

we have a few flowering additions to our yard that have appeared this late in the year. the first one i was sure was a type of hydrangea that was not getting enough food to bloom until it flowered. the other red beauty just popped up last night.