Monday, December 27, 2010

Spiderman!

Spiderman blanket!
Spiderman to the rescue!  To rescue me from the knitting rut I've been in!  I will admit that it's not great yarn--just Vanna's Choice acrylic but this pattern is soooo addictive.  I've been having a blast knitting it and am having fun watching it grow and grow.  I will need to buy a bigger circular needle soon; right now I am knitting it on a 29 inch US 8 circular needle but I put it on two needles to photograph it.  I think this blanket will go to my amazing boyfriend once it is finished, but why he deserves hours and hours to work is another post.

Love and coffee,
Lulu

Monday, December 20, 2010

Enjoying My Winter Break

I feel rather lame because I've just been doing a whole lot of nothing. I'm pretty much all moved into my new apartment and now I am just enjoying the time with my boyfriend. Last night we tried this weird purple haze beer. It wasn't bad actually, just a little different.

As far as crafting goes, I am so behind on Christmas gifts. I don't even want to think about it...
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

8 More Days!

I have 8 more days of this semester left, provided I don't die from all the stress first. I know I haven't been posting here since Halloween, and really my only excuse is that I'm busting my butt in school. I'm planning to celebrate the end of the semester next weekend with a movie night with beer & pizza. Until then, don't expect much from me.

But in other news, I am writing this post from my brand new smart phone. How cool is that?!
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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!
Spooky cupcakes I made a couple weeks ago!
I hope everybody has a wonderful Halloween.  Today my plans include eating tons of candy, watch scary movies with my boyfriend, and check out a haunted house or two.

Have an awesome Halloween and stay safe.

love and lots of candy,
Lulu

Friday, October 29, 2010

Silly Little Sister

My sister Rachel
The other night my little sister Rachel, who being three inches taller than I am and sixteen is really not so little, was cleaning her room and tried on our mom's wedding dress.  Mom got married at the age of 29 in 1986, and this dress is very obviously from the 80s!  I'm amazed it fit Rachel too and how she could make it look so cute.  Seriously, this girl can rock almost any look.

How cute is she?

Let's just hope she doesn't get married in this dress.  I'm pretty sure she won't, but ya never know...

Shout out to my baby sis!


Thursday, October 28, 2010

Zombies oh my!

Union Station in Denver
This past weekend did not go according to plan at all.  My friend Colton and I had planned to see Say Anything at the Summit Music Hall in Denver but tickets had sold out by the time we got there.  =(

Thankfully we were only a few blocks away from the Sixteenth Street Mall so we walked over there.  While we were driving and walking around downtown, we started seeing a few people dressed like zombies.  Then we saw some more people dressed like zombies.  Okay we thought, there must be something going on...  Then we saw a Zombie Refueling Station.

Colton was shocked that zombies could refuel!
We continued walking around, taking in the sights and zombie-watching.  We stopped some nice looking zombies and Colton took my picture.

They thought I looked tasty.

We came to a main gathering place for the zombies.  There were all sorts of zombies of all ages.  There were zombie families even.  Everybody was taking pictures.  We even got our picture taken with the Ghostbusters! All the money was donated to Children's Hospital in Denver.

Colton & I with the Ghostbusters Car!
My favorite zombie that I saw was the Spiderman zombie.  He even had Mary-Jane's head!  He was nice enough to pose when I went to take this picture.

Spiderman Zombie!
We walked around even more, saw a movie (HereAfter) and ate Pinkberry!  It was an amazing weekend and we were lucky to pick the perfect day for nothing to go according to plan.

Love and coffee,
Lulu

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Playing with Clay

This is a picture of what I did in class last night.

In addition to my fundamentals of nursing lab and lecture, clinical rotations, and intro to psychiatric care class, I am also taking anatomy & physiology.  This is my second time taking this class, and it's hard for me but thankfully with a good teacher and a lot of work, I'll do well.

In the lab portion, we got to adopt a mannequin and use clay to build muscles, tendons, and a brain!  Yes, at twenty years old, I am going to school and playing with clay.  I have never done something quite like this before in school so I had to take a picture.  It's even kind of crafty because it takes a certain artistic talent to make everything look so realistic.

Have you ever done anything off the wall in school before?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wishing to Write

When I was in Las Vegas, I saw Julia Robert's latest movie "Eat Pray Love" with my cousin.  The movie was amazing and very inspiring.  Normally I have a rule about seeing movies based on books: I have the read the book first.  Since I started dating Jared however, this rule has been broken many times.

Recently I started reading the phenomenal Elizabeth Gilbert book that inspired the movie.  I am just over a third of the way through and have been so... I can't even think of a word to accurately describe how much I love this book.  I want to take off and travel for weeks and months at a time now.  And one of these days, I will.

A friend I went to high school with has started a blog of her own.  I suggest you go check it out for some fun reads every Tuesday.  Ruth's blog is called Tuesday Tedium and can be found here.

In other news, I am almost finished with my purple NOT boyfriend scarf, and I can't wait to be done.  Today so far has been the coldest day of the season and a cozy merino scarf would have been nice.  Sadly it's supposed to warm up the rest of the week but maybe I will be able to finally wear my gorgeous creation next week!  I am halfway done with the blue Man scarf as well, and other than those two scarves, I haven't been really actively knitting on much else.

Now off to look up drugs for my nursing class.  The studying really never does end, does it?

love and coffee,
Lulu

Thursday, September 30, 2010

WIP: The NOT Boyfriend Scarf

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful maiden named Lulu.  She had many loves in life, the two biggest loves being knitting and her friends, and when she could combine these two loves was the best feeling in the world.

The NOT Boyfriend Scarf
While Lulu was in college, one of her friends became more than just a friend, he became her boyfriend, and she decided to knit him a gorgeous and lovely scarf for Christmas.  She lovingly selected the nicest merino wool in her stash: two skeins of semi-solid purple Malabrigo.  Next, she scoured the Internet for the perfect pattern and decided upon the Seeded Rib Scarf for it would show off the yarn's beautiful color and softness while still being a unisex design. Then she began knitting the scarf, tenderly knitting each knit stitch and purling each purl.

The scarf grew as she continued to knit, but troubled brewed.  The boyfriend she thought was so special wasn't as truly wonderful as she once believed.  It came time for Lulu to leave college and she left her not-so wonderful boyfriend behind, but she was stuck with an almost finished scarf that felt like silky butter in her hands whenever she would touch it.  What to do with the scarf bothered Lulu periodically.  Should she continue to knit the scarf to give to another, more deserving person?  Should she frog it and use the yarn for something else?  Or should she just continue to ignore the almost finished scarf as she had for many months?

Then the day came when Lulu made a decision about the "Boyfriend Scarf".  Instead of frogging the almost-finished scarf, she decided to keep knitting it until she finished it, but she would keep it for herself.  She works very hard with school and everything else in her life and thought she completely deserves what could quite possibly be the nicest scarf ever knit.  Thus, the boyfriend scarf became the NOT boyfriend scarf.

NOT the end.

love and coffee,
Lulu

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Day at the Park

We are very lucky in my town to not only have a nice city park completely with a zoo, little kid rides, a playground, a lake with ducks and geese, and just lots of nice places to hang out and enjoy nature, but there is also now a dog park!  I've gone once before with Zoey and we had such a good time.

On Sunday, my boyfriend and I took my two dogs to the dog park.  The little black poodle is Daisy, who we've had for 11 years now. The big brown and white dog is my pitbull Zoey, who had belonged to Tony before he died.  She's part of our family now and fits in with the weirdness just fine.  Sadly, this pictures basically sums up our whole visit to the park: instead of running around like crazy, playing with other puppies, my dogs just sat in the shade with us.  Lame!

The other cute picture I took was this one of me and my wonderful boyfriend.  I know it's probably really chesey of me to be writing about him in my blog, but I think he's just that awesome.  :-D


And just to tie everything into knitting, the hat I'm wearing is from the Estes Park Wool Market!

Love and coffee,
Lulu

Saturday, September 18, 2010

WIP: Blue Edition

I'm knitting quite a lot of stuff right now, but I realized the other day at knit nite that everything I'm working on right now is BLUE!

Blue Man Scarf
Of course, I'm pretty much knitting stuff to give as Christmas presents, with the exception of the Hudson River Triangle I've been working on since April (which you can kind of see in the background of this shot!).

This scarf is knit on US 10 needles with Chunky Encore yarn.  For being an acrylic blend, I really love this yarn.  It doesn't feel fake or make those annoying squeaky sounds that something like Red Heart does.

I can't say anything about who is getting what yet, since I think some of my friends actually read my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise!

This is my second attempt at knitting "Dashing" from Knitty.  I love the yarn-Cascade 220 of course.  I'm knitting with bamboo US 7 double-points.

These are also going to be a Christmas present for a dear friend, and that's all I can say!

Tonight, I'm going to a college football game and maybe I will get some more blue knitting done there!

love and coffee,
Lulu

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Getting a Jump Start on Christmas

Yes, it's only September, but there are only 100 days until Christmas!  I've already started on my Christmas knitting.  My goal this year is to only give handmade gifts, either ones I made myself or homemade by somebody else.  I'm knitting fingerless gloves for a few people, and at least a couple scarves.  I'm also thinking about making some mittens, which I've never done before but there's a first time for everything.

Tonight I am taking my friend Jennifer to the open knit night at my LYS.  I taught her how to knit earlier this summer, and she got pretty hooked but will probably need a refresher course tonight.  We might even try to conquer purling.

In other news, things are going wonderfully with the new boyfriend.  He puts up with my knitting while we watch movies together.  It's perfect. =)

Are you planning to knit anything for Christmas?

love & coffee,
Lulu

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Happy Birthday Daddy!

My dad's birthday was on Sunday.  He is now 68 years old, which, let's face it, is kind of getting up there.  For being an older dad, he's still super awesome.  We spent the day in Denver together, just the two of us (since mom was home making apple pie with the twins).  While in Denver, we went to the Italian festival in Lakewood with an old family friend, and I think we both had lots of fun!  It took a couple tries to finally get a decent picture of us together, and it was funny trying to explain to him that I was going to turn the camera around and take the picture myself.  I'm so happy with the results I think I'm going to frame it!  I also think I look a lot like my dad in this picture.

So Daddy, if you're reading this, happy birthday!  I'm so lucky to have you as my father, and even though we butt heads a lot, you are my hero.  I love you bunches and can't wait to have more daddy-daughter dates.

On the crafty side of things, my dad did ask me to knit him a bib now that he is so old...  Hmmm....

love and coffee,
Lulu

Sunday, September 5, 2010

I Love My Crazy Life

This post is really not craft related in the slightest, but I'm just happy and thought I should share the happiness.


I have successfully completed my second week of nursing school, and I'm ecstatic.  Even though I have my first class at 7:30 in the morning, I look forward to going to school every day.  I'm incredibly intrigued by what I'm learning.  It's crazy how much knowledge I've gained in just two weeks too.  My clinical rotations start at the end of the month, and I'm honestly kind of nervous about it all.  I guess we'll just have to see how I feel then.


I've also been seeing somebody for a little over a month now.  We were set up by a couple of mutual friends he works with, and he makes me laugh!  His family loves me, and hopefully he'll have dinner with my folks soon.  I like him so much I might actually knit for him...


Have a great Labor Day weekend everybody!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Where Can I Get One?


Yesterday I was at Starbucks catching up with an old friend over caramel frappiccinos when I started saying "You know you're in nursing school when...".  She laughed at everything I had to say about how crazy my life has become in the last three days just because I started the nursing program.  When I got home, I googled "you know you're in nursing school when" and found this picture of a Starbucks coffee IV!  This is exactly what I need right now since I have TWELVE hours of classes on Monday that start at 7:30 in the morning.  I'm not looking forward to that turning into fourteen or fifteen hour days once my clinical rotations start and I have to report to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning!

You Know You're in Nursing School When...
  • As you get out of your car to go to class, you realize you still have a couple curlers in your hair.
  • Your idea of a relaxing Wednesday night consists of curling up with your fundamentals textbook.
  • The idea of having only two hours of class tomorrow is absolutely thrilling when a few months before that would have been so depressing.
  • You start watching everybody else wash their hands and arrogantly think to yourself you can do it better.
  • You can tell somebody else is also a nursing student because you will both sing the ABC's out loud while you wash your hands.
  • Watching a mannequin lose his penis is the funniest thing you've seen since school started.
  • You ask the mannequin to pass you the pen you just dropped.
  • You start yelling "You're doing it wrong!" at the TV while watching the overdose scene in Pulp Fiction and then explain in great detail (maybe with props) to the guy you've been seeing exactly how you fill a syringe.

Monday, August 23, 2010

What Happened in Vegas


What happened in Vegas clearly isn't staying in Vegas because I'm going to blog about it today!!  The entire trip was rather incredible and I'm glad I was able to go! I stayed with my cousin Angela and was able to spend time with the rest of her family, something that only seems to happen every 8 years or so.

We saw the Hoover Dam, the Gold & Silver Pawn shop that is featured in Pawn Stars on the History channel, the Liberace museum, a couple different malls, and of course the Las Vegas strip!  We also got to see the Beatles "Love" show by Cirque du Soleil which was probably one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced.  I also got to see a local yarn store and bought some Hiya Hiya metal DPNs in size ZERO that will probably get used to make socks at some point.

My cousin Angela & I at the Hoover Dam

One of Liberace's pianos.  HOW SHINY!


Me & Angela with some showgirls on Freemont Street

In other news, I started classes today.  Keep your fingers crossed that I survive my first day of nursing school.

Love & lots of coffee,
Lulu

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Waking Up in Vegas

I'm in Vegas baby!  I got here Tuesday evening and I'll be here until next Tuesday.  So far I haven't really seen the Strip yet, just driven down it a couple times.  Yesterday we went to the Hoover Dam and took a tour, got lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and went to the Fashion Show Mall.  Today is probably going to be more shopping.  I'm writing this blog post from my cousin's laptop since mine won't communicate properly with her network, so don't expect awesome pictures until I get back.

Meanwhile, why don't you "Like" my blog and etsy shop on Facebook?  Once I get to 50 fans, I'm going to give something away!!!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

This is my 100th Post!

Today I have the overwhelming urge to blog.  I have no idea what I'm going to blog about it today, but all I know is that I want to sit here at my computer and type into the abyss.

Yesterday I spent all day in an auditorium at my college listening to the head of the nursing department talk about proper attendance, what scrubs to buy, and telling us how incredibly difficult but rewarding going into the nursing field is.  It was time consuming and a little tedious to sit there all day, and as scared as I am to finally be starting school soon for my career.  I'll even be caring for patients in a couple months during my clinical rotations.  I have a lot of supplies to buy, books and white nurse's shoes and other various school supplies.  I also need to find a white scrub top that actually fits correctly.

I am still scrapbooking like a mad woman.  My two big scrapbooking-related goals are to finish the trip I took to Europe in 2006 when I was sixteen and to completely scrapbook one year of high school.  I have been working on my senior year, and I am happy to say that I have gotten so much done.  There are lots of odds and ends to scrapbook too, but the big sub-projects are the road trip my mom & I took to Arizona and New Mexico after Christmas and the trip we took to Chicago for spring break.  I am also done with the road trip but have yet to start on our vacation to the Windy City.  I love scrapbooking because I am recording history for future generations.  Well, that, and paper is pretty!

I leave for Las Vegas on Tuesday!  I will be staying with my cousin, and I am very excited to see everything!!

Love and coffee,
Lulu

Friday, July 30, 2010

Still Scrapping

I'm still in a huge scrapbooking kick, but it's taken a bit of a new turn.  I'm making a 8.5" x 11" scrapbook for a close family friend, and had to dive into my dad's stash of old pictures.  This has been an interesting and challenging experience for me.

Most of the pictures in this box are of Doug and Tony.  I scanned this one of them riding their motorcycles together; it is one of my favorites from the whole box.  There are lots of funny pictures of them together; they were really close.

Yesterday, my dad and I sorted through reprints of ALL the negatives.  It took a while and it was hard for both of us.  I still can't believe both my brothers are gone, but at least they are together now, riding motorcycles in Heaven.

love and coffee,
Lulu

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Scrap Happy

I have been scrapbooking like a mad woman lately.  Forget knitting.  Forget beading.  Forget sewing.  Right now, it's all about scrapbooking!  This is my most recent layout:


I went to Archivers last week with a couple of friends, and while we were there we talked about everything we had to scrapbook to catch up and what we had already scrapbooked.  I've noticed we all have different approaches to what we scrapbook and when.  On that particular day, I worked on my school trip to the Grand Canyon from 2004 while Marissa worked with pictures from college and Erin did some very recent shots from a party.  Normally my mother works on things chronologically since that is how her albums go, but lately she has jumped around a little more, working on a couple different trips that were put in their own albums.  Personally, I usually jump around and do whatever I feel like; however, I have been pushing to finish my 2006 trip to Europe and at least one year of high school (which looks like it will be my senior year since I have so much of that done already).  My next project though, once I clean up my craft room, is to put together a 8.5" by 11" album for a close family friend who just finished grad school.

Need more proof that I am so addicted to scrapbooking right now?  As I sit here at my computer, my fingers are itching for paper, pictures, and adhesives.  When I'm not scrpabooking, I'm usually online looking at other people's scrapbooks, which has inspired me to start photographing my layouts to show off online too.

How do you like to scrapbook?  Alone or with friends?  What size book do you use?  What kind of album?  Tell me!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

You Spin Me Right 'Round

Like a drop spindle, baby!  Yes, completely cheesy I know, but I just couldn't resist.

Yesterday, a group of women gathered at the Riverwalk to spin.  I was one of those women.  Of course, nobody thought to take pictures during the actual spinning get-together, but that was when I realized that my roving matched my shorts!!  My friend Erin came back to my house later to watch movies so I snapped some pictures then.  How funny they match, and I didn't even plan it!

I've actually been spinning this roving since I learned how to spin in 2008.  I think I made a lot of progress now and should have the rest of the 2 ounces spun in the next week or so if I keep spinning on a regular basis.

Speaking of spinning, I think I am totally going to do the 2010 Tour de Fleece!  I'm not sure what my goal will be other than to spin every day.  I have 4 ounces each of two other colorways in this same gorgeous merino roving I've been spinning, and I think I might spin all of one of those...

Thoughts?  Anybody else want to spin the Tour de Fleece?

Friday, May 21, 2010

Things are Taking Off!

I recently launched my Etsy Shop and officially have listed a whopping FIVE items, everything from stitch markers to earrings to handmade greeting cards.  I don't have a particular direction for the shop right now other than I want to share my handmade goodies with the world!  I even made a fanpage on Facebook so look me up there and "like" my website!  Right now I have 23 fans and honestly, I don't even know all of them!  Some are friends of friends, but the majority of these fans, I don't even know and that excites me so much!

I have big plans for my little craft empire.  I want to buy a domain name one of these days.  I've thought about podcasting too because I just love to talk.  I want to be famous!

Somebody who has been very inspiring to me has been Dani of the Craft Culture podcast.  Her podcasts are fun to listen to and informative.  A lot of people know that I was studying cultural anthropology at UNC, so anything dealing with sociology or anthropology fascinates me.  Right now she is trying to raise money to travel the United States on a tour. She needs money to do this, so GO DONATE TO HER! Seriously, help a sista out and donate to her. Even a couple bucks will help. I want to meet her this summer so donate money so I can do so!

In other news, I'm knitting a lace shawl and am about a third of the way through with it.  I'm loving knitting simple lace and have completely memorized the pattern.  Yay me.

Go donate to Dani.

Love,
Lulu

Friday, May 14, 2010

Just Bead It!

I spent Wednesday night at my bestie's house and got some fun beading done.  Melanie made me some gorgeous stitch markers for me to list in my Etsy Shop.  She gave me some extra charms to make some of my own too.  I also made a couple sets of my own stitch markers.  Pictured at right are a couple sets that Melanie made that will be getting listed on Etsy soon.

On Thursday, we checked out Hobby Lobby, where Melanie works, and I got some really gorgeous turquoise beads and elastic to make a couple bracelets.  Next was one of the local bead shops downtown which recently moved to a bigger location.  I love this shop, and managed to find some really cute dragonfly charms to make a set of stitch markers.  There are two beads on each stitch marker, the bigger of which is also from We've Got Beads and the smaller ones were "stolen" from Mel.

I'm excited about making stitch markers and hope to make lots of other pretty beaded goodies to sell on Etsy and give as gifts.  What do you think?

coffee and cashmere,
Lulu

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Avon Lady Calling!

That's right readers, I've started selling one of Amercia's oldest beauty brands: Avon.  If you want to check out my Avon website and order from me, enter "FSANY" for free shipping on any order. If you have any interest in becoming an Avon representative, I can also get you the hook-up on that; all it takes is $10 to start.

Okay, I'm sure I sound like a sales pitch, but I wanted to share how exciting it has been for me to sell Avon. I've always loved the company; after all, who didn't grow up with a Skin So Soft product or an Avon lipstick in the house? Since starting this endeavor, I've rediscovered some of my favorite products, like Glimmersticks eyeliner or Slick Tints lip balm, and found some new ones, like their new line called Moisture Therapy.  I hope you take a chance to check out the website, and if you have any questions to hit me up.


Coffee & cashmere (& lipstick!),
Lulu 

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Cross-Stitching First


I've dabbled with embroidery and cross-stitch for many years, but I've never really finished anything entirely...Until now!  Pictured here is the finished cross-stitched bib.  I don't really remember the whole story behind this project, which just shows how long it's been since I started it.  I think one of my classmates in eighth grade gave it to me so she wouldn't feel like a dork working on her own bib at lunch.  What exactly I'm going to do with it, I'm not sure either.  I honestly think I might start a hope chest to be filled with other baby-related items and nice things for the house I hope to own someday.  I've been so inspired by finishing this cross-stitch bib that I've started another one.  I can't knit all of the time...

coffee & cashmere,
Lulu

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Bring It On, Universe!

Right now I am taking a break from packing up all of my stuff.  This sounds weird considering classes are supposed to be starting tomorrow, but I won't be staying at UNC this semester.  I've had a lot of trouble performing well academically since I started there in 2008, and it's been decided that I am moving back home to Pueblo and living with my parents.


This is a blow because I'm going to miss my friends so much.  I've made my little family up here and it sucks beyond all belief to leave them behind.  The people I have met through my journey at this university have been so amazing.  I am grateful to them for the impact they have had on me.

My now ex-boyfriend and I did a tarot reading Friday night that proved to be very interesting.  I received the Seven of Cups, a very special card.  Through my struggles with this new adventure I will find my life's purpose.  As scared as I am about everything new that could start soon, I'm excited to see where life will take me.

And yes, you read that right... Cameron and I have ended our eight month relationship.  People have been making a big deal about it even though I'm all right.  It was a mutual decision made with love and respect, and I'm happy that we had the relationship that we did for so long.  He has changed my life in ways neither of us may ever know.

I better get back to this whole moving thing.  And making coffee because I'm emotionally exhausted!

Friday, January 8, 2010

A Couple Cups

Hello my lovelies!  I am back in my own apartment awaiting the start of the spring semester.  My trip was amazing, and I hope that I will eventually write posts about each amazing day.  However, here's some prose about what I've been up to the past few days...


I still owe Melanie her Christmas present.  I had a friend from out of town stay with me before I left for California and was unable to finish sewing her gift.  I'm making a ton of progress, but I won't tell you exactly what this is in case she reads this. (HI MEL!) So I've been working on her belated present while watching TV reruns on my laptop and drinking coffee out of my new mug.  I think it is officially one of the coolest mugs I've ever owned!   It says "MAKE COFFEE NOT WAR" and I found it in a little gift shop in Long Beach while we were in California and paid a mere $4 for it!


One of the most awesome presents I got this Christmas was from Melanie and her mom: a mix to make a cupcake in a cup! Of course I'm totally into cupcakes and all things yummy and chocolate so today I made my cupcake in a cup.  It doesn't exactly look like the most appetizing thing in the world but after five minutes in the microwave, I had a literal cup cake!  It was strawberry-flavored chocolate, odd but still yummy.  The cup is really more like a small bowl with a handle so I'm sure it will be useful.

Now on to more sewing and even more coffee!!