Home is Where the Yarn Is

I'm back, and so glad that I went to this  conference!  I was a little nervous at first, going away for a few days.  But I got to know people that work for the same company better, and had a lot of fun along the way.  There were workshops, keynotes, dinners, and a lot of activities in-between.  First:  the location.

The Omni Mount Washington Hotel and Resort., Bretton Woods, NH

This place was INCREDIBLE.  It was built in 1902, complete with a ballroom and a former speakeasy.  How COOL is that???   Sadly, I didn't get to stay here because the place was booked faster than fast, lickety-split.  I stayed at another even older hotel about thirty minutes away.  It was a bit inconvenient, but I worked it out so that I only drove up to the OMW once per day and one of  my co-workers were gracious enough to let me store my dress for the Roaring 20's Dance Party in her room.  This means that I got up super-early each day and drove before breakfast and coffee, which was nuts.  It also meant that I knit in between workshop sessions which was of course wonderful.  

Here was my view after the afternoon workshop on Thursday:

Got home Friday afternoon and picked up the boys at school. They were so happy to see me and I them!  I think there was a bone-crushing hug or two in there.  :)  Traveling is always great, but coming home is the best part, to these two kids (and of course my husband, who held down the fort fantastically.  And looked really happy to be getting out of the house to play volleyball alone on Friday!)

Next year's conference is in Stowe, Vermont.  And I will definitely be going!

Here are my babes, "destroying stormtroopers" at the local mall.  

p.s.  Yes.  I did sneak in not one but two local New Hampshire yarn stores.  One in Derry on the way up and another in Concord on the way down.  Thirteen days and counting to the Webs Tent Sale!!

Weekend Photo Fun

Saturday Adventures:  The Karate Kid and Mr. Cool, getting ready for the Easter Egg Obstacle Hunt at karate.  It was so much fun!  At first Sean wasn't interested because he thought "I'm not old enough for karate."  So I told him that I was old enough for him and we'd go together.  Once he realized that it was picking up eggs and getting candy, he was allllll about it!  

Hunting for Easter eggs in the Family Egg Hunt at my parent's on Sunday.   Gorgeous day for an egg hunt! (And yes....Sean adores those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sunglasses!)

Family trip to Home Depot yesterday.  That's usually how we celebrate Patriot's Day, with some sort of home project.  'Cause that's how we roll in our house.  This is the Big Kid "driving" a tractor.  "Mom, if you're gonna take my picture, I don't want to smile.  I wanna look like I'm really driving it!"  

Easter Preppin'

Ah, Easter in New England.  Will the great Egg Hunt be a nice day or require mittens?  Or will it rain like crazy and have to be moved inside, where my parent's pups and my Joey attempt to be contestants in the hunt?

Speaking of Easter Eggs, I have never dyed Easter eggs with my boys.  I would have last year but we were packing up the house and getting ready to move so I deemed it "too messy" while there were showings going on.  (It's been a year since we put on the market and can you tell I'm still THRILLED to be done with that process???)  I asked the kids about dyeing eggs and I think we've missed the opportunity.  Because I heard "No, Mom.  We want the plastic ones that you fill with treats."    Well, of course!!  We would've had those either way.  So now I'm torn.....do I get supplies and do it (possibly by myself) or just be glad that it won't be a mess?  Hmmmm....

Wordless Wednesday: Easter Pics

Post-Webs Aftermath

The tent sale, if to be described in one word, incredible.

Incredible weather.
Incredible friends and family.
Incredible yarn.
Incredible food with said friends and family.
Incredible long lines.  (ah well.)

We got there about half an hour after the sale opened, and MAN was it crowded!  The store was stuffed with people, as was the tent and the warehouse area.  Wow, WOW!  Lots of friendly employees were on hand, asking if they could help you find something.  Inside the store, I spotted a familiar face:  the Webs employee from the "Sh*t Knitters Say" video!  (she's kind of hard to miss, with her gorgeous red hair)  At first I thought that she'd think that I was a huge dork if I said hello, but I went for it.  "Hey, you're the girl from that video!"  She laughed and said "You are the first person to notice!"  I said "really?  I would've thought that I'd have been the fiftieth!  I said that every time I'm buying yarn I hear her voice in my head saying "I'm on a yarn diet."  She laughed again and said "There is no such thing as too much yarn."  Yes!!  No judging from anyone in Webs yesterday....no one would ever say "isn't that kind of a lot of yarn?"  Nope.  A true judgment-free zone.  :)

While in line outside (which was about 45 minutes) a woman approached my mom, SIL and I and said that some of the people behind us had recommended us for the video that they were making to promote the store.  Turns out a couple of my friends said "no thank you" to being included but "see that woman in purple up there? She'd LOVE to be a part of it."  We were good sports, and the video is going to be on their Facebook page.  If our part is in it, I hope we don't look too silly.  :)

After all that wild shopping, we settled on Amherst Brewery for something to eat.  It was about 8 miles away, not far from the UMASS Amherst campus.  The food was soooooooooo good.  Second best nachos that I have ever had.  (The first is nachos at Brick Alley Pub in Newport RI, with my Salve girlfriends)  After that it was time to head home, and it was a  pretty ride, through bits of western MA down to the Mass Pike.  All in all, a really, really great day.

So what did I bring home?  I brought home a LOT.  I went with a very detailed list and the decision to only shop for projects that I already have queued.  This pile contains every baby gift, and ALL Christmas gifts, not to mention a sweater for Hubby and a sweater for me.  I'm pretty happy with it.

Finally, here are (some of) the Hook and Needlers, and Friends!

Easter Sunday

Photos from Our Easter...

A Long Week

Oh, I don't think I've been so happy to see a Friday for awhile!  It's been one of "those weeks" and I know a lot of other people out there are letting out a collective sigh of relief.  The week after traveling on a weekend (PA last weekend) is always tough.  Even though Hubby and I went by ourselves this time, getting back on Sunday and the hustle n bustle of weekend chores cram-jammed into a few hours plus unpacking is a downer to say the least.

In this week:

- I had a really big eviction case yesterday.  And although the outcome isn't perfect, I still emerge victorious.  I'm also hoping that it's the last time I see the inside of the courthouse for some time.   And on that note...24 days to go til April 30th!

-Will's preschool lost his jacket.  Poor kid has been wearing a sweatshirt to school in the mornings.  Nobody seems to have any idea where it may be, and I'm irritated but it's not worth getting upset about.  It was last year's jacket and getting  tight.  So this weekend will bring a new jacket for him.  I'm hoping to brave the library and Target with both kids tomorrow...wish me luck!  :)

Plus, it's Easter weekend!  Dinner will be at my Mom and Dad's, and we have a fabulous Easter egg hunt planned in their backyard.  Of course, this means that there's eggs to stuff (we're not dyeing eggs til next year...too messy  and chaotic at age 2.  That's a lesson I learned with the first son!)  and some errands tomorrow.

Happy Easter to Everyone  :)

Ruffles

This is a potato chip scarf.  The reason why it is called that is because supposedly "you can't have just one."

I knit it from yarn I picked up in New Hampshire when I went to visit my friend Maureen last November, her local yarn store was an absolutely cool place and I'm jealous of their class schedule.  So far she's taken a fair isle class, and entrelac too.  Two things that I am dying to try!

Anyway...the scarf is pretty straightforward and only nine rows of knitting.  It's a super-easy project that flies by til' row five, and you suddenly have over 300 stitches on your needles.  It doubles every other row so you're binding off a ridiculous amount of stitches at the end.  The bind-off took FOREVER.

So pretty, and such a soft wool.  Too bad I can't wear it now, with this March heatwave!  What a way to welcome in spring.    If I was to become addicted to this pattern and need another, I'd choose a colorful cotton/silk blend.

Next on the needles:  my first commissioned item!  A hat for my hairdresser...coming soon to a blog near you.  :)

The Wedding

Yesterday, Brian and I proudly looked on as our friends Tracy and Michael said their I-do's.  It was a gorgeous day for a wedding and everything went perfectly.  The bride was beautiful, the groom was dashing, nobody was late, the food was delicious, the best man's speech got the laughs it deserved, no embarrassing guests (even with Karaoke!) and all in all was the laid-back affair that the bride and groom had wanted.

No pictures.  Why?  Because this MATRON of honor didn't stop to take pictures.  As a matter of fact, my camera was in the trunk of somebody's car during the festivities.  Whoops on my part.  I've been getting tagged all day on Facebook though.  :)  My dress was the nicest, most comfortable Bridesmaid's dress that I have EVER worn.  And what's better, I'll get to use it again this summer.

Congratulations you two.....to the start of a beautiful life together!  :)  We are so very happy for you, and thanks for the honor of standing up for you guys.

Happy Easter :)

Another great Easter has come and gone.  It was a beautiful, gorgeous sunny day, perfect for an easter egg hunt in Nana and Papa's backyard.  Sean slept through the whole thing, so we re-created a little hunt for him later.

Nana made a ham dinner, which we all enjoyed!  Nobody enjoyed it quite as much as Sean though....it turns out that he prefers ham to dessert!   (Which is his loss, as dessert was adorable Peep cupcakes and easter sugar cookie cutouts decorated as eggs, bunnies and chicks.)   Or as my Dad pointed out, "Why don't we just put the whole ham in front of him since it's what he wants?"  We didn't of course...because he would obviously pull it down onto his tray. 

The boys were spoiled by EVERYONE.  Easter baskets from daycare, beach pails and plastic eggs from us, a really cool gardening basket from Aunt Nancy, baskets and stuffed animals from Auntie Kim and Uncle Brian, and personalized baskets from Nana and Papa.  The basket from Kim and Brian had a stuffed dog in there wearing bunny ears, Will has claimed her and named her "Cuteflower" and added her to his entourage. 

Both kids absolutely sacked out in the car on the way home and Will didn't even want a bedtime story or lullabies from Mom....just "bed, please!"

Happy Easter, everyone!  Hope yours was as wonderful as ours and that you were surrounded with friends and family.

The Joke's on Us

Thanks Mother Nature...very funny!  Now, please bring back some spring weather.

I'm thankful, like everyone else, that instead of 7-14 inches of white stuff there's like two.  Though I must admit, the coating on the trees is beautiful. 

Single parent this weekend.....Hubby is golfing.  Yeah, golfing!  Where he's going is just raining so they'll be able to play, no problem.  The boys and I are going to enjoy tortillas and chicken and cheese tonight (separated and not like a burrito, right Mommy?  -Will)  and we'll have a fun visit with Nana and Papa tomorrow. 

Happy April, everyone!

Springtime Equals Outside Time!

 My little Slide Monster!  

 Sean enjoying his first swing ride...I have this same exact picture of Will somewhere, around the same age, at the same park and even the same jacket.  I really need to make sure I label this one so that we know who it is!

 Mom and Will riding a purple dinosaur

 Sean "walking" with Daddy in the field.

 The makings of another Slide-monster!

Four years old and still loves a push from Mommy.

Signs of Spring

The snow is finally melting!  It's taken a couple of days but look what we found peeking out at us this morning from 'his" winter slumber?

Will's turtle sandbox!  I had absolutely forgotten that "he" was out there.  Not only that, you could hear birds singing in the trees.  I have a sneaking suspicion that Old Man Winter isn't quite finished with us this early yet, but it certainly is a welcome reprieve.

Always a Bridesmaid....

I am going to be a bridesmaid again!  I have lost count of how many times I have been a bridesmaid, but I might be able to give Katherine Heigl a run for her money in "27  Dresses."  (she had the uglier dresses though, Ms. Heigl gets the upper hand on that one)  Our friends Tracy and Michael are tying the knot in April.  I am the maid of honor (I refuse the word matron....it just sounds so.....um matronly?  It conjures frumpy images to me)  and my husband is the best man.  That's it....we are the entire wedding party.

Tracy and I went shopping last weekend for bridesmaid dresses.  It was a total bust.  I tried on four at David's Bridal and welll........we hated all of them.  A family friend is making Tracy's dress, and she graciously offered to make me one as well.  So this, as my swan song as a bridesmaid, will be a totally customized dress and exactly what I want, in a blue-teal hue.

We're thrilled to be sharing Tracy and Michael's wedding day with them.  :)

Huntin' For Easter Eggs

We took a family outing yesterday for Will's first outdoor Easter Egg Hunt.  Easter Egg hunting is a pretty big deal this year, we're signed up for another (indoor) one this Friday, and of course, we'll bring some eggs to my parents for Easter for Will to hunt.  This particular hunt boasted a couple thousand eggs in a nature sanctuary, facepainting, prizes and a chance to meet the Easter Bunny, for only $10 per family!  It was a really chilly day, so we bundled up the kids and grabbed the stroller for a fun outdoor activity.  The trails were a bit tough for the stroller, but Brian made it work and Sean slept through the whole thing.  We found four eggs, including two that we could exchange for prizes.  There were unfortunately, a LOT of smashed eggs on the trails.  (Why do people have to ruin it for everyone else?)  Will had a fun time walking and searching for eggs, and we all got in a good workout in the (chilly) sunshine.  A good time was had by all and we got out as a family, which is something we are still working on successfully.  :)