update: sister reunion

i haven't blogged in quite a while. so, here's an update of what's been goin' on. my sisters flew in from montana last tuesday afternoon, so i spent the next 5 days hanging out with them! it was awesome! we had so much fun together and i'm so glad to be able to share my gorgeous lovelies with everyone. here's their trip in a nut shell:

this was just after they'd arrived. we went to get chad after work. aren't they beautiful?! keiko is in the middle, and kai is on the right.

that night we went to cafe iberco down town. it was a good time and a great first night in chicago for them.

keiko didn't really like the looks of the mexican sausage. except for chad it grossed all of us out a little. sausage is weird like that~especially a plate full of it.

the smoked salmon with dill cream cheese was pretty good. chad had never had it before, and we enjoyed it.

i don't know why, but this is my favorite iberco dish. i normally don't care for goat cheese; but with the marinara it's wonderful.

these fancy cheese stick thingies were really good too.

after that we headed to see the sights at night. of course we stopped by rock n' roll McDonald's. we all got at least one pose in.

i was flirting with this b-ball guy. chad beat his face in. now that's love.

the next day we went to the beach. it was so relaxing and nice. i think these pics are my favorite.

i love this pic. i wish it hadn't turned out blue.

later we went to navy pier. also very nice.

then we ate at giordono's. kai loved it.

then burnin' some time is boy's town. chad pretended to pick his nose.

then finally the blue man group. very cool.

the next day we met kate for lunch. the twins are growing so fast. i miss them already!

also during their time here we, of course, had to go to millennium park. the bean is sweet.

we walked with claire.

after a quick ride home and a shower, we got all dolled up for sushi at sushi wabi.

this place has the best sushi i've ever eaten. it's so delicious! keiko and kai rated it their best meal in chicago. thanks wabi!

after sushi we walked around down town, soaking in the beautiful chicago evening.

on their last day here, we just wrapped things up by hitting some stores the girls wanted to check out one last time. top it off with a final pic.

i had so much fun with my sisters when they were here. kake and keebs~thanks for a great time. i love you tons!!!

a sneak peak

so, i've gotten a pretty good 50 millionth start on the original design which i'd made reference to in my earlier post. i'm hesitant to make it public because, really, who knows what's to come of it. it may not turn out and if that's the case, then all the world will be expecting this non-existent work of greatness to emerge. and you know, i'm only just a girl. i don't know if i can handle the wait of the world! ok, ok, it's not that big of a deal, and i'm sure it's going to be fine. plus, who really reads this thing anyway? so, without further adu-the debut of my latest wip: my key hole caplet.

yarn: 1080 yds. fingering weight 100% merino wool, in banana creme pie from yarn chef

needle: circular size 5

this yarn is really nice to work with. it's soft and light and though it's wool, i think that with it's light weight it will be perfect to wear on those breezy summer nights (we have those in montana but maybe chicago people don't know what these kinds of nights are).

other than the grocery sack, this is my first original pattern. so, i don't really know what i'm doing. i've never even made a caplet from a pattern. i don't have an inspiration that i'm going off of either. let's just say i'm pretty much winging it. whatever the case, i'm using seed stitch for all of the edges and a simple eyelet pattern for the body. the whole thing will be done in one piece-you know i hate sewing seams. it's pretty slow going as what you see below is the product of a yesterdays 7 hour knitting binge. about half of that 7 hours was spent designing, knitting, frogging that, revamping design, knitting, frogging that, more revamping, etc. overall, i think i made good progress. plus, i'm all reved up to knit today. i feel like the design is all in my head now, since i dreamt about it all last night. obsessed? no, not me! you must be thinking of someone else:)

my progress

it's pretty yarn though, right?

primo pasta

we made some really delicious pasta the other night. i thought it was such a great summer dish because-though hot (as in stove)- it's light and fresh. it was so simple to make and we had it with steamed broccoli as a veggie.

ingredients: Italian sausage (spicy?)
two cans diced tomatoes
onion
cheese (asiago/parmesan/etc)
basil
salt & pepp to taste

first you brown the sausage. we've got super dull knives so we always just de-skin it then break it up into chunks; but it doesn't really matter how it's done. once it's almost cooked through, throw in the onion and any other additives. i think we also put in fresh mushrooms and garlic. add whatever you like. make it your own! once the onions cook to tender, add in the basil and tomatoes. we did put in about 1/2 c. of fresh grated parmesan and asiago combined in the sauce. then just let it simmer. that's it!

we didn't even have ours with pasta because we didn't have any. but, we are rice people, so we just had it over rice-which i was weary of; but chad said it would be good. and, sure enough, it was delicious! of course we had to sprinkle some more of that fresh cheese to top it off.

we drank cheap wine to go with it. this bottle was ok. a bit too alcohol-y to me; but we must leave no wounded soldiers. we drank the whole bottle.

grocery sack

my first design ever-finished! i know, this one kinda snuck in out of the blue. chad and i have this problem with plastic grocery bags piling up like crazy in our kitchen. we first started saving them for picking up claire's #2's; but (and i hate to admit it) for about the past 2 months, she's been going in the ivy under the tree, and i can never find 'em when she's done! so, i just leave the little tootsie rolls in there. what person walks in the ivy anyway, right? never the less, we now have a build up of plastic bags that we feel too guilty to throw out; but week after week we forget to take them to the store to the plastic bag drop off thing. that's when i decided to make my own grocery sack so as to avoid this whole dilemma all together.

i looked all over the internet for a pattern that i liked; but seeing as how i'm pretty particular, i just didn't find any that encompassed all that i was wanting. many of the market bags i saw were completely netting all the way up to the opening of the bag. i thought there should be a little something at the mouth. also, almost every bag used just an i-cord for the strap. ouch! you know when you fill the plastic bag up and it's heavy and it cuts into your hand or arm? that really sucks! so, i decided my bag must have a wide comfy strap. also, for some reason i really hate sewing seams. plus an item such as this seems like it'd be sturdier if it were done in one piece. sadly, almost everything out there is knit like a rectangle, folded, seamed, and handle attached separately. too many pieces. i wanted mine to be knit in the round with handle and all. behold, my grocery sack!

wip

finished product

first, i'll de-brief on how this one was knit, then i'll talk about what i'm gonna do with the next ones, since obviously i'm gonna need more than just one grocery sack, and this one needs improvements.

i knit this all in one piece using size 11 circular needles. i used cotton, cream 'n sugar yarn two strands held tog. i started with the strap which i did in rib stitch. at the the end of the strap i cast on additional stitches to make one side of the sack, then picked up stitches from the other end of the strap. then i cast on stitches for the other side. after that it's all knitting in the round! i started the mouth of the sack with rib stitch, then after a few rows changed to stockinette stitch. then i began the lace pattern. i used the lace pattern from elisa's nest tote and it worked wonderfully. after knitting the lace pattern for a while, i did some math and decreased on the remaining knit rows of the lace pattern until there were only 10 stitches left. then, i thread the tail yarn through, tied off, and it was done!

improvements: first of all, this one is a great template. for my first ever design project, i think it's pretty good. but, there are quite a few things that need to be improved: the strap is a great width; but needs to be about 4 inches shorter. also, the sack itself needs to be deeper. a little over double the length i think. the mouth of the bag is ok, but if i get ambitious i may try to keep it smaller, increase from the mouth, then decrease at the end. i'll get back to ya with the new improved version.

note: i actually used this bag to get groceries today. it's very sturdy. i put sacks of apples, oranges, caned food, and cheese in it. i walked the 4 blocks home and the strap was comfy. even with the modified strap length, it should still be able to cross the chest (if you don't want it on your shoulder) which worked well today.

dinner and a movie

chad took me on a date last night. i didn't know where we were going or what we were going to do, so it was a pretty fun surprise. we rode our bikes because it was so nice out. first we went to jewel to get some candy. and since i had no idea where we were off to, i though, "hmm, maybe an outdoor concert or something?". then when we had arrived at our destination, which turned out to be a movie theatre, he told me he was taking me to see "sex and the city" which i've been talking about for weeks now. oh how i'd wanted to see that movie! let me tell you, it was so worth it! i loved the show. sarah jessica parker was absolutely fabulous; but not as fabulous as the fashion! if you haven't seen it, you must. trailer below:

us in front of the theatre

afterward he took me to raw bar in wrigglyville. i expected it to be crowded because of the cubs game yesterday; but it was really quiet and romantic. chad had the prime rib and i had beef pare ribs. we had alligator for an appetizer, which neither of us had ever had before so it was an experience. i'd give it a 3 out of 5. mostly because i can eat chicken and get the same effect. the food was nice, and i enjoyed it. but, what really made the night was the live music. we sat right in front of the stage where brian harrell entertained. he played his guitar and sang classic songs like: the way you look tonight, fools rush in, etc. it was really nice.

delicious food, great atmosphere, beautiful entertainment. all with my favorite person!

this is him performing. i couldn't get the video to work, so a photo will have to do:(

do division

yesterday and today there's a thing going on called "do division". all on division st. they've got vendors with goods and food and even pony rides. it was pretty sweet. i love going out and doing stuff like this in the summer. do division will be going on through today (sunday).

the ponies

this 3 man band was pretty good. the two guitarists were just kids. the drummer i'm sure was their dad.

this little guy is a cocka-poo. so cute! he was the same color as claire. looked like he could be her parent! i wish they would've sat together better.