Bye Blogger

After much deliberation I have decided to more to wordpress. The thing that made the decision for me was that wordpress has an iPod Touch app which means I can blog on the go and upload when it is convenient. Yes, I know, very geeky. I am still working out the kinks and getting a design I like so I hope you will bear with me. The new address is:

iamlizbeth.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there!

Closer and Closer

I am so excited. Today we gave the go ahead for the foundation of our ReadyMade shed! This is a huge step forward. Once that is done we will be able to construct the actual shed. Now that is a real step forward for us. It looks like we are going to have our sleeping space this summer. The guy putting it in is also putting in a path for us to get through the poison ivy which is everywhere on our property. We should have it in a few weeks. I am just so excited. First electricity, then an outhouse, now a place to sleep. Next thing you know we will have indoor plumbing or something!

Baking in the Heat

This isn't my cake, but it is very pretty.

M's sister is coming to visit this weekend for her 16th birthday. She is a shopaholic so we are going to show her some of the better places to shop in town. Today I have a half day off so after getting $.99 breakfast at IKEA (ok, I also got a cinnamon bun, but only because it was only $.50 more when I got the coffee and I have very little will power) and grocery shopping, I came back home to make an apricot breakfast crumble and a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. In addition to being a shopaholic Kelly is also a chocoholic. It is almost 90 degrees today. Yes, I am crazy.

Focus, or Lack There Of

I'll be honest. I have been having trouble focusing on any one thing lately. Should I knit, or make a necklace, or research buying a house or building a barn orshouldiscanpicturesorshouldiusemywiifit... instead, I will just sit here and play Aurora Feint until it is time for bed. This has been happening a lot lately. I have so much that I want to do that I am getting overwhelmed and instead I do nothing. In a way this has been why I haven't been posting. I see so many things I would like to blog about in any day that I can't imagine finding the time to blog about all of them, so I blog about none of them. How do I get out of this rut?

What Have I Been Doing

As I look over my blog I am realizing that for the last month I have been posting once a week. Not a great track record. The first step to recovery, is admitting you have a problem. I hope that you have stuck in there. I am planning a comeback.

Shore

We had such a great time at the shore. Lazy days of beach with paddle ball and muckers, more games at night and of course lots and lots of ice cream. We were staying in the coolest house. It had nine bedrooms. Yes, you read that correctly, nine. It used to be a convent and has beautiful stained glass windows, heavy solid wood doors with fantastic hardware. Literally a two minute walk from the beach, two blocks away from a fancy market with fantastic ice coffee and a short walk from everything else you would want on a beach vacation. I wish I had more pictures, but I was so lazy I didn't even bring my camera out. I was nice to have so much of my family together. We are hoping to do it again next year and rent one of those four person bikes with the canopy!

Joss is at it Again

I am currently watching Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It is a Joss Whedon production starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and a few other people you probably don't know. I have seen Acts I&II (of III) and it is hilarious. The final act comes out Saturday. I can't wait!

Jersey Shore

This weekend I am going to the shore (the Jersey version of the beach) for a 4 days with some family. We are going close enough that we won't be in the car all weekend and far enough that I can feel like we are escaping. When I was a kid we would spend a week every summer with family at the shore. Days laying on the sand and playing in the ocean, nights walking the boardwalk and playing Uno. The type of vacation I haven't taken in a while and boy do I need it. I have a book, some games and no expectations. Saturday can't come soon enough!

Pocket Mod

While clicking around yesterday I stumbled upon this fantastic mini personal organizer. Using there super easy online program you can click and drag your way to a personalized pocket organizer with a calendar, grids, lines, music staff sheets, to do lists, Sudoku... All using one side of one sheet of paper. Sound wasteful? What if that sheet was already printed on the other side and otherwise doomed to the recycle bin? Now how does that sound? Brilliant I say! Just brilliant. via

Crochet Orb

I love knitting. Crocheting I can take or leave on a project by project basis. This project is worth it. With a balloon, some jute and watered down glue, Margie over at Resurrection Fern created this wonderful glowing orb. I can see how you could make a bunch of these to cover larger christmas light bulbs. via

Burning Man

A little known fact about my Grandfather is that he loves fire. When he is up at our property we have to keep a very close eye on him lest he burn the place to the ground or possibly worse, put something in the fire that shouldn't go in, like plastic or rubber. I am certain if left on his own he would start a tire fire. When he really gets going he has two burn barrels that he set up for us, starts the blaze with kerosene and adds wax to keep the whole thing going. Today I found two recipes for DIY firestarters. This one would be perfect for the burn barrel. I will make sure to have some for you next time grandpa! And the following recipe is from an article from Body+Soul with 25 eco chic ideas for your home. I can't wait to try these with my next campfire. Rosemary smoked marshmallows anyone?

Herbal Fire Starter

Pinecones and dried herbs such as rosemary, sage leaves, and cinnamon sticks make fragrant kindling for a winter fire.

1. Bundle dried herbs and small pinecones in a sheet of newspaper and secure the ends with raffia or cotton twine.
2. As you pile up logs for your fire, nestle the herb bundle underneath, with paper ends sticking out.
3. To start the fire, light the newspaper ends.

As the paper burns up, the herbs inside will ignite and incinerate, giving the logs a chance to catch fire.

I Can't Drink That Much Caffeine

So apparently 107.93 cups of Brewed Coffee + Me = Death. Somehow I think something else is going to kill me. How much Cherry Coke will it take to kill you? Find out here.

RSS Junkie

I have started using google reader to keep up with my blogs and really like it. Instead of checking to see if there is a new post on my favorite blogs, the posts come to me. I wasn't convinced at first. It makes blogs look like email, which is a bit of of a downer (although there is supposedly a firefox plug in that will take care of that) but I don't have to see the advertisements anymore which is a major plus. I guess I am less sure of where my information is coming from specifically, but if you read a lot of blogs like I do, you will start to notice the same things popping up so who knows who first posted. I am sure I only know the tip of the iceberg of what there is to know about RSS but to be honest, I have enough going on that I don't want to have to get a dummies book just to figure it all out.

Lovely Weekend in Jersey

M&I were in NJ this weekend visiting my family. Saturday was a birthday party at my Uncle's new house. It as really great to see my uncles, aunt's and cousins. I don't get to see them often enough. Sunday was spend with Dad, Diane & KB. That was great. We slept late, played in the pool, played some videos games, and had a lovely dinner. So relaxing and unplanned. I need more days like that.

Not a Fantastic Start

Ok. So I was good for one day with my photo a day project. I am not going to let that stop me! I was hoping to use my new little $10 digital camera, but I lost the cable to download the photos! :( I will get back on track though, I promise.

I Will Have to Call Later

I remember a time when people not only didn't have a phone/email device strapped permanently to their ear, but a time where you couldn't even leave a message from someone. Or if they were home and already on the phone, there was something called a busy signal. No caller ID, no answering machines, no call waiting. If you happened to catch someone at home, then you got to talk to them. Otherwise, you had to wait. No texting someone to call you, no leaving a message, no email. You had to wait and try back again. In NY I see a lot of people constantly plugged in. Staring into their phone, frantically emailing and texting. Always plugged in. Not looking up to see the world around them. I find myself getting sucked into this plugged in world and I am not sure I like it. I know I sound like a little old lady right now (back in MY day...) and I think it is because I need a little less technology in my life.

Cufflinks, Robots and Carnage

M's birthday was last week. We had a very busy week and didn't really get to celebrate. Also, I got my idea for his gift way too late, as usual. Today all the pieces came together and I was able to give M his gift. Lego cufflinks. I went to the lego site and handpicked all the bricks I thought he would like to create a few fun combinations. Today's picture is of the day is of one of the variations of cufflinks and as a bonus, a robot with a nuclear missile heading towards him and carnage at his feet. I think he likes the gift.

Fused Plastic

Although I own a decent number of reusable bags, I somehow manage to forget them enough that I am still overrun with evil plastic bags. I reuse them a few times but I still feel guilt throwing them out. There are lots of projects out there that used fused plastic bags for purses or pillows, but nothing has appealed to me enough to actually make it. Until now. Kelly at make:grow:gather made a lunch bag out of her plastic bags. This is something I can get behind. It seems that she used some combination of this post and this post to get the job done. I am going to add it to my ever growing project list. via

New Project

I am considering starting a new project. You are probably wondering if maybe I don't already have my hands full with all of the other projects I have started lately, and the answer is yes, I currently have plenty of projects keeping me busy. But hey, what is one more. This one fits into my reason for starting a blog in the first place. Over the past two years I have seen a few people slip out of my life rather quickly. Once they were gone I realized that I didn't know them as well as I would have liked. So, my new project is one I found on Photojojo called Project 365. A picture a day for a year. I am going to be using a little $10 digital camera I bought from a local drugstore, it is really tiny and I will be more likely to carry it. I get 20 chances to get my photo each day since the camera only holds 20 images. It is the digital equivalent of using a holga. I will have to start tomorrow because I just decided this today and don't have the camera with me. I will post the images to the blog.

Newspaper Yarn

I can't remember if I talked about this beautiful handspun newspaper yarn by Greetje van Tiem in a past post but I was reminded recently and figured it couldn't hurt to do a google search. I was pleasantly surprised to find that someone posted a tutorial!! Fantastic. I just happen to have a drop spindle at home so thankfully this does not violate my craft diet pledge.

Seeing Double

I can't tell you how many times people have said to me, "don't I know you from somewhere" or you remind me of someone. In college there was a girl who I would be confused with regularly. We didn't run in the same circles but I knew of her because people would be walking and call out her name to get my attention all the time. Apparently I am not alone. Francois Brunelle has made it a project to find unrelated people who look alike and photograph them. Amazing. Now I wonder where Marcy is these days...

The Softer Side

Crying Men is a series of photos by Sam Tayor-Wood of Hollywood men crying. Several photos including the one above had me feeling as if I had intruded on a private moment of very raw emotion. I had not heard of Ms. Taylor-Wood before this, but I would like to see more. via notcot

Dreams of Knitting a Sweater

Pamela of Flint Knits modified a baby sweater pattern by Elizabeth Zimmermann and knit this amazing sweater. The color is wonderful, really amazing (and of course no longer available!), and it looks like it would be so flattering. She has posted the pattern for free on her site. It makes me want one! If only I was brave enough to knit a sweater. via

Shake it Baby!

Those of you who live in NY probably already know about the Shake Shack. Located in Madison Square Park they serve delicious burgers, fries, shakes and custard out of the nicest shack you will ever see. Typically the line is about 2 hours long... to order. Then you have to wait to get your grub. Not exactly something most of us can accomplish on our lunch hour. There is even a Shake Shack Cam which tells you what you are in for if you just can't do without. M&I did wait one summer Friday and I have to say that it was totally worth it.

8 Days, 18 Hours, 34 Minutes, 8 Seconds

M & I were out and about in NJ on Saturday and were toying around with the idea of going to IKEA. With the property coming along so nicely we have been thinking about outdoor furniture to make hanging out just that much nicer. I was a little tired and on the fence about the whole thing. Then M reminded me that in a little over a week as the IKEA Brooklyn grand opening! Yeah!

Birds

I don't know where I first saw this bird mobile with free sewing pattern, but I loved it so much, I downloaded it right away. I have a bunch of fabric samples that are screaming to be used on this project. In fact I can't imagine a project more perfect. We happen to have quite a few friends who have new little ones so I am thinking this is what they will be getting from M & me. M is actually the sewer in the family so between the two of us we should be able to crank them out. The plan was to get started this weekend, we went out for a walk, got some pinking shears and good quality fabric scissors, got home and promptly wilted from the heat. Hopefully we will get started matching and cutting fabric this week.

Eureka!

I haven't been posting a lot lately because I have been a bit busy. This heat wave we are having in NYC isn't helping. When I am home the last thing I want to do it sit with a hot computer on my lap. I have been clicking around though. In my wanderings I found a site (I have no idea where, although something is telling me it was via Swiss Miss) of free ideas. Who knows, maybe your next big project is here waiting for you!

There Goes the Tuna

Today I did something new for lunch. A group of us from work went for conveyor belt sushi. As you are sitting at your table or the sushi bar, the sushi comes to you and you can pick whatever looks good. The way we were set up we had a spotter and two grabbers. Pricing is easy because each plate costs a certain amount. We got lucky and it was half off tuna day and I love tuna. Conveyor belt sushi is a little like dim sum in that you start grabbing things because you are hungry and if you aren't careful pretty soon you have more than you can eat. Luckily I realized this before I grabbed way too much. I even ended with a cream puff... although on my first bite, half the cream squirted out onto the table. It was still delicious. I would try it again for sure.

Electric Company

It has been a long road with many flaming hoops to get to this point, but it is official, we have electricity upstate!!! M&I are so excited. This opens up the door to so many possibilities and power tools and lights. I can feel it already, this is going to be the summer where we make more progress than we have in the 7 years since M signed the deed.

Do You Know the Way to Hotel San Jose?

One of our conference speakers was Liz Lambert, the woman behind the Hotel San Jose and El Cosmico along with architects Lake/Flato. Her projects and way of thinking really struck a real chord with me. For a while M&I have talked about using our property for an artist live work space while reusing as much as we can of what is there. When I heard Liz, a former Manhattan DA talk about how she took this rundown place for people down on their luck in a not great part of town and turn it into a boutique hotel whose mission was to give back to the community and make it a better place for all, not only those who could afford to stay there I was memorized. When I made the trip down South Congress to see it, I fell in love. This was the place I dream of when I think about what I want on the property. The wood slat walls, the concrete structures covered in ivy, the steel and canvas patio cover... I am swooning. I didn't have my camera with me, but I met someone who was also at the conference on the way who happened to have a very nice Canon and she let me take some pictures with the promise to let me know when she put them on the internet. Lisa, if you are reading this, thanks again and I can't wait to see them!