Chicago

So I finished the second yellow mini mitten before I went to Chicago only to realise that I had not used the right size needles for the cuff and so it was too big. Frogged. I cast on again and knit a few rows on Monday night of last week... it's about all I could handle while I was working in Chicago.



On Saturday I had dinner with Brian and Justin and their friends at Hai Yen on North Clark (the fancier location). We had cupcakes for dessert at a place down the street.



The next morning I had breakfast with my friend Nicole at Yolk. She suggested the cinnamon bun French toast - it was really really good! That night I had dinner with some co-workers at a Thai restaurant on South Michigan Ave. The service was amazing and the food was really good... wish I could remember the name of the place.

Max arrived on Tuesday night after the majority of the hard work was done and I could relax. The plan was for us to have breakfast at Yolk and then for him to take his final exam on Wednesday (while I went to work for the last day of my business trip) and then go out and walk around Chicago. Which he did. Here's some of what he saw:



Max and I had dinner with our friend Robert and his fiancee on Wednesday night. We went to Giordano's to have Chicago stuffed pizza.



In the morning, Max and I had breakfast at Yolk (if you're counting, that's the third time for me in one week) and then we checked out of the hotel.

(To be continued...)

CSA week 6

Since I wasn't home to pick up our veggies over the weekend, Max did and sent me this photo:



More lettuce, green onions, eggs, and zucchini... but also carrots and cucumbers.

Max also sent me this picture of a double rainbow:

Chicago

My trip has been busy but I was able to get together with some friends from highschool, which was alot of fun. I got up really early the other morning and went for a short run by Lake Michigan. Saw the Cloud Gate - so very cool. Pictures when I get back - promise!

New knitting books

Along with some generous gift certificates to shop at my favorite store, Knit Happens, my lovely wonderful friends got me these books:



I spent a few hours on Friday looking through them... can't wait until I have time to read through them more thoroughly. Nonetheless, I've already got my eye on more than one pattern. And if I don't have the right yarn on hand then I can make a trip to Knit Happens! Thanks everyone!

Yellow hat

Oh yeah, so I finished the hat I started on May 4th.



And I used the Lion Brand pompom maker for the first time - best pompom ever! Fluffiest and fullest pompom I have ever made... until I made two more because I was so happy about it.

The yarn is Shepherd Colour 4 Me... a little scratchy but not too bad. I knit one less repeat than the pattern for the small size calls for and so it's smaller and pointier than usual. It will probably fit better on a smaller child. Not that I have anyone in mind yet. No, seriously I don't. Though probably it will go to a girl just because Max is not pro-bright colours for boys. But that's a discussion for another day.

Birthday
Last night was my birthday dinner with Max, Missy, Eunice, Slav, and Hannah. I had a great time. Here's some of the highlights from my phone camera (since I forgot my camera at home). Just imagine everyone a little less blurry. I'll show you the good later.





Potential Radio Silence
Tomorrow I am off to Chicago for a lengthy business trip. Max will be home to care for the cats while I am having dinner with my friends Brian and Justin on Saturday and breakfast with my friend Nicole on Sunday. The rest of the trip will be hard work. I'll take pictures and share the fun/pretty stuff when I return. Until then, blogging will be sporadic... and probably pictureless.

New sandals!

From Liz Claiborne:



From Unisa:



Bought these at DSW.

Three Oh

It started on Monday. My parents sent me flowers!



Then, yesterday there was a birthday lunch with my department. On the menu? BBQ from Famous Dave's and an ice cream cake.



Today's the day and my friend Amanda is taking me out for lunch and a little shopping. I can't wait. Really need a new pair of black sandals.

Tomorrow I'm having dinner with Max and some friends at a new restaurant. Not a bad way to ring in a new decade. :)

Mini mittens

A friend at work is having twins! She's due in the fall but there needs to be two of everything so I'm starting now. I'm making mini mittens and hats. Here's the first mitten:



I love how small and cute it is!

Also, last night we had a black out for several hours. Here's Max using my knitting light to study.

CSA week 5

This week we have two kinds of lettuce, red potatoes, asparagus, zucchini, green onions, and a giant bag of parsley.

For dinner on Saturday, Max and I made fresh pasta and a parsley pesto to go along with it. Divine. I also made some hardboiled eggs and tea eggs for Max. Yesterday's dinner took a little work but it was so good - we had scallion bread with some Asian-flavored grilled flank steak. The beef was picked up at the farmer's market that morning, grass fed and organic. It was delicious.

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Dad,

Happy Father's Day!

Love, Nicole

Nature Mill

Back in April, I bought the Nature Mill Pro automatic composter. The unit was on back order and it was going to take 2-4 weeks until it would ship. Nonetheless, I began saving compostable materials in my freezer. A month later I was starting to get a little nervous... why hadn't it shipped yet? Was it really so popular that the back order was taking this long? A quick call to Nature Mill revealed that this indeed was the case. Wow. The rep at Nature Mill gave me her contact info so I could check back later in the week to find out the status of my order. Later that day I received confirmation that my order had been sent out! Talk about great service.

The unit arrived while I was out of town and I had to wait until last weekend to start using it. The first batch is a little different from the rest, using 2 cups of dirt from outside, only filling half way with compostable materials, and waiting for a week to start using it for real. Here's what it looked like when we first started:



Later:


Today:


I'm a real fan. As far as I can tell, the Nature Mill Pro makes great compost, and is very easy to use. There is a little noise but if the TV or radio is on, it's barely noticeably unless it's mixing. The odor is only noticeable when you open the lid. Everybody should compost! It's good for the planet and great for the garden.

I can get you free shipping if you're interested. Just place an order at http://www.naturemill.com and enter my name in the comments area, then use coupon code FREESHIPPING847 in the coupon area. I also have a $30 off coupon.

Happy composting!

Noseberries

Not really... but that's what I called them when I was a kid. Don't remember why though.

On Wednesday, the weather had cooled down considerably after a big storm and so Max decided to take the night off from studying so we could go out for a walk after dinner. We were gone for over an hour because we were picking mulberries. This is a great year for them since there has been so much rain. We stopped at four trees and filled up this container, which is bigger than a pint.



And Max thought I was being greedy for taking such a large container! My fingers were stained purple from picking but it was well worth it. The taste and texture reminds me of childhood, while to Max it always makes him think of Canada since that's where he first tasted them. We'll probably wash them and eat them for dessert tonight. Yum!

Public Transport

Max works out of two offices and, for the most part, his drive to work is short and more or less takes him past my office. So he usually drives me to work, which is great... we spend a few more minutes together in the morning before our work day begins.

The past two days he's been at the other office, which is not only far away but in a completely different direction, so I took public transportation to work. Yesterday, ugh, the weather was gross. Today though, since there was a huge downpour last night, it was great. Sunny and warm, but not too warm. And both days I got to read a few pages from The Other Boelyn Girl, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

Max and I have even talked about both of us taking public transportation to work... and it's quickly becoming a possibility, but not yet. Unfortunately, for all my talk about doing the right thing for the environment, this is one of my greatest weaknesses. Even in the summer when it's light out. It's difficult to trade a 10-15 minute commute for a 30-40 minute commute, even if the longer one is essentially free. If only I could work from home! :)

Baby Surprise Jacket

I started this back in October, then (as I soon came to realise) for a baby who was was already too big to fit into the jacket. I let the project languish in my stash until last month. No buttons because I didn't think that a baby born in July would need to be particularly warm, just covered up in brilliant jump-in-the-pool colours. Normally, I think this project would have been finished very quickly if I had just figured out the pattern and counted the stitches in each row a little more faithfully on the first and second time around. But as they say, third time's a charm! Finished on Sunday and wrapped for the shower, which is this afternoon.

CSA week 4

Last week was tough... twice as many vegetables, two dozen eggs and only two guys in the house. As you can imagine, very little was eaten. The menu last week had more rice, noodles, and potatoes than it ever does when I'm home. There was fried rice with fresh carrots and scrambled eggs with scallions when I got home. Luckily all the carrots are gone, one head of lettuce (in part because Slav & Hannah came over for lunch before I left), 22 eggs, and the rhubarb was frozen for future use. This morning I made waffles with a strawberry compote that was delicious. Here's this week's portion:



Asparagus, zucchini, scallions, romaine lettuce, bibb lettuce, sugar snap peas, eggs, and a bunch of fresh herbs including rosemary, thyme, chives, and oregano. It has been so incredibly hot the past few days that our appetites are down and the thought of cooking has been completely unappealing but the goal for this week is to make some salad - and grilled vegetables. If we're going to cook, we've got to keep the heat outside!

Knitting
I'm almost done the baby surprise sweater! The shower is on Tuesday. More on that soon.

Compost
The NatureMill composter arrived! More on that soon also.

San Diego

I was in San Diego for four days. Most of the time I was working or sleeping. Here's the view from my hotel room:



Sunday I had dinner with my friend Laura at Jsix.



On Monday I went to the zoo.



For dinner I ate at Hepburn's Tin Fish. Delicious!



On Wednesday I had breakfast at Richard Walker's.



I just got home last night. TGIF!