Don't have the stomach for it...

For having to rip apart knitted items... I had been working on this baby blanket for one of C's cousins (for Christmas) for ever. It takes so long, maybe also because when I knit I have the attention span of a 2 year old kid. I still want the instant gratification, so I have been knitting smaller projects such as leg warmers, hats, cowls, scarves... The baby blanket was making me really unhappy! I just did not like the pattern, the yarn, the way it came out... so I ripped it apart! It hurt me to no extent to do so, but as my friend K says: it's all part of the process.
So now, K gave me this other easier, faster pattern for the blanket and so far so good! It's moving along and I like it.
I will try to take some pics this weekend with the finished projects and then post them...
Cheers!

Harder than it looks

I have been asking A for the past 2 summers to get Rollerblades with me. I guess this past weekend he got tired of me mentioning it, and we went to the store and got them! I am so excited about it!
You know, how sometimes you have a completely unrealistic, idealized vision of something? Yeah, I had this twisted image of us being able to just "wosh" thru the park while we push C in her little pink stroller. Reality? Not so much!
Let's say that though we had a lot of fun and are planning on doing again soon, it was a lot harder than what I though! A managed to fall twice, but he was able to skate several times around the park! I, on the other hand did not fall, but was not as brave as he was... I went back and forth on one of the alleys close to our car!
I am certainly not giving up my day job to become a professional Rollerblade (is that even a profession?)

Re-creating childhood

Growing up in a communist country, where "luxuries" such as fruit jams, tomato sauce and "zacusca" (a Romanian vegetable spread) were hard to come by in the store (not could the regular Romanian afford spending money on such a thing), my mom and grandma always made all those at home. And I have to admit they were sooo much better than anything you could find at the store. And I am pretty sure that was the truth and not some sort of idealized childhood memory of mine.
So this fall (I know I can't believe I am already talking about the fall as we had no real summer, but none the less fall is fast approaching!), I decided to just go back to the simpler things and make some goodies myself.
For the following few weeks I will be on the hunt for some great farmer's market fruits and veggies along with some receptacles to store the creations. I figured that not only will I get to remember some great times from my childhood when the house was filled with the sweet aroma of peaches and plums and sugary syrup, but also create some memories for Chloe!
I have all the good intentions of taking pictures and blogging about it, but don't hold your breath about it. Life really does get insane when you try to juggle so many things at once (anyone there can understand what I am talking about? :) And who knows what Santa might bring into your gift basket this year?

Seriously?

The other day I decided to go to the mall and get some new sandals. I really need a pair since somehow I managed to completely ruin the ones I bought 2 months ago! (don't ask, I have no idea how I did that).
And I have to say I was both annoyed and aggravated to notice that you can't really find summer things anymore. Ok that might not be completely true, but I could not find any normal looking black sandals since every single store had a huge stock of winter boots!
Seriously, I think this is the biggest problem this culture has! We are rushing into the next thing before we even had the chance to enjoy the one we are in right now. I understand that this year the summer has been all wacky, but it is just August, our family has not even been in vacation yet (at the end of this week), I have not worn my bathing suit yet, and I have no tan (not for lack of trying mind you!), do we really need to worry about winter?
Argh...

Proof of work!

Lately I have been getting the knitting bug...a lot! I started knitting a nice blanket for one of C's cousins, but it's taking a long time, so I took a break and made this cotton hat for C! It only took about a day and a half, and while it's supposed to be a 4 to 6 hours project, I really am not an expert and I have to knitt in between chasing Noodle around the house! I used the patern from this book called " Last minute knitted gifts", and I love it! It should be great for cool fall nights.
I have to say though... the cord nearly killed me!

Buni is back!

After 4 months of being away, my mom has returned for her second tour of baby-sitting services:) I can't even tell you how much easier my life gets when she is here. Now I get to run around like crazy (still) but at least I am not dragging a 1 year old (tomorrow!) with me! Grocery shopping gets to be a lot quicker and so does every other chore around the house or elsewhere. On top of everything I actually don't have to cut and chop and pack lunches and b-fast for day care and that is a huge stress reliever. Not to mention that I was promised Romanian meatball soup for dinner tonight and I was also told that all the downstairs windows were cleaned today!

Overall... having my mom back is awesome. She loves playing with Noodle and Noodle loooooooves her "buni". She even kicked A and I out of the house on Saturday so we can go out for lunch and to buy presents for Noodle's birthday.
If you have not had the chance to meet her during her first stay, please come by. She might not speak a lot of English (though she is doing better and better each day), but she will give you a huge hug and feed you some yummy food!

Should have a group for this...

My daughter is totally addicted to Gerber puffs! I think I need to start a group for her (and probably for mothers with kids like C.) so she can "discuss" her obsession with this snack. I guess in all fairness, she is a good eater, she ates whatever we have at the table including some things that I would probably not eat (pieces of parsnip anyone?) I just thing it's hilarious that she knows where the puffs "live" in our kitchen, she could be all done with her actual food, but would never refuse those puffs! And she shoves them by the handful (hers) into her mouth!
So, yeah, if your kid is addicted to this snack and would like to discuss it, please let me know :)