from the brooklyn bridge

Originally uploaded by pretendingsanity

It was perfect weather today for our walk over the brooklyn bridge.

Gray’s Papaya!

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Greetings from china town

Originally uploaded by pretendingsanity

Carrie and i are finishing lunch in china town and then heading to little italy and the garment district. I have to brag. I think Ive figured out the subway.
Tomorrow were having brunch in brooklyn and then walking over the bridge to manhattan to spend the afternoon in central park.

There is a super cute little shoe boutique on the next block over from Tangle and the lady who owns it is also super cute. She had her first child, a little girl, a couple weeks ago and Christina and I wanted to knit something for her. This is what we came up with. The bootie pattern is one of Christina’s that will be available at Tangle soon and the sweater is from One Skein. We used Berroco Pure Merino which is a washable, super soft merino. The sweater and booties just took two balls. I’m hoping we’ll get to see pictures of the little cutie wearing it!

• The chandelier is finished, but we had a snag with the new light hardware I bought and I need to go to Home Depot and cross my fingers that I can actually find someone to help me before the light can be completed and hung.

• I’m working a whole bunch over the next week so I can take a little va-cay. This includes our superbowl sale on Sunday. I’m really excited about the postcards we created for the occasion.

• Yesterday whilst shopping at evil-walmart, I came across a woman screaming horrible profanities at her small children because they wouldn’t choose a bag of chips fast enough. I was so shocked that I didn’t regain my ability to speak until after she had left the aisle. I looked for her in the store so I could give her a good talking-to but never found her. People, it was so heartbreaking, I nearly burst into tears right in the middle of the chip aisle.

• Sometime this week Tangle will receive our first shipment of Noro. Our customers are so excited I wonder if we will sell out in the first week?

Todays project

Originally uploaded by pretendingsanity

I bought this chandelier yesterday at a local good will-type store. Im removing all the glass and im going to paint and rewire it. Im really excited to get it in the kitchen! I think its going to be so cute over the sink.

My friend Seth spent part of a few days here at Tangle playing with his new camera. Some of these I edited for color, so if they look weirdish – that’s me!

Tangle won 3rd place for our window display downtown, so I’m glad to have these photos to document. I have to say, I really love it down here. We’ve created such a bright and inviting space and I am immensely proud.

(Click any photo to see larger/the whole set.)

Menu week of january 19 2009

Originally uploaded by pretendingsanity

Monday: tacos
Tuesday: pizza
Wednesday: soba soup with spinach
Thursday: pasta salad with roasted broccoli
Friday: sausage and kale soup
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: roasted chicken breasts
Extras: almond biscotti, banana/blueberry soy smoothies

Test knitting

Originally uploaded by pretendingsanity

Im going to knit this sans bobbles. I think it will be cute on me… We’ll see.

I’m not sad to see this year go. While some amazing things happened this year, it was the worst of my life. Here’s to new and much better things in 2009.
(I’ve chronicled as much as I can from the past year, but the majority of the most dramatic stuff has been left out due to this blog being so public.)

January
•Drama, drama, drama involving family members and things I (shouldn’t) write on my blog.
•I tried to teach Honor to knit.
•Honor started calling people “chicken peep” as a term of endearment.
•Tangle was really busy with classes. The unusually snowy weather helped with this.
•Eden was thoroughly enjoying kindergarten.

February
•I did a lot of struggling with myself, my expectations of other people and the resulting disappointment of said expectations. I don’t know that a conclusion was ever drawn.
•Our old, broken down gas stove had a leak so I got to buy a new shiny one.
•I refinished a dining room table and chairs that my SIL gave me.
•Eden celebrated her 6th birthday. The only thing she wanted for her birthday was a computer so we complied with an older eMac that we found on ebay.
•Tangle started carrying Amy Butler fabric.
•I nearly burnt my hair off while grilling sausages for breakfast.

March
•We attempted letterboxing.
•I went on a quest to make homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. I failed at the latter.
•Jim surprised me with a room key to a fancy downtown hotel for date night.
•I went swimming with some friends at a clothing optional hot springs. (Where I remained clothed.) This was to say goodbye to one who was moving away.
•I finished the table I was refinishing and Jim hung my new chandelier that I got for an amazing deal.
•Jim’s employee moved away leaving him to work by himself for the first time in many years.
•Jim’s grandmother passed away.

April
•Tuck started being a little particular so we got him castrated hoping he would mellow out a bit.
•I committed to writing a couple chapters for a knitting encyclopedia of sorts.
•Jim got a Wii for his birthday.
•My sister got engaged.
•Eden lost her first tooth.
•I got a tattoo!
•Our beloved patio cover was destroyed in a crazy windstorm.
•Jim turned 33.

May
•We spent some time with friends shooting guns in the desert.
•The weather started to get quite warm therefore Tangle started to slow down. I got a lot of knitting done.
•Eden graduated from kindergarten.
•We bought a new (to us) truck.
•We found a camper for a ridiculously good deal in Denver and drove over to pick it up.
•Carrington and I spent a lot of time in said camper painting and getting it cleaned up.
•I did an interview with our local paper in which I talked about my grocery shopping habits. The interview appeared on the front page of the Sunday paper.

June
•Honor gave me a run for my money as he reached the pinnacle of his naughtiness.
•We went fishing at Rifle Gap with my dad, in his boat, for fathers day.
•We spent a long weekend camping and celebrating Carrington’s birthday. (Carrie would like to remind you all that this was the first time that I made her cry.)
•I became obsessed with Pom tea glasses and shampoo bar soap.
•We planned and embarked on a 12 day camping trip.
•I busted myself up falling out of the camper, tripping over curbs and injuring my knee while running.
•I completed 2 chapters for a book being published by Lion Brand and turned them in.

July
•We had fun camping, but it was more stressful than we anticipated due to unknown campgrounds and a bad dog.
•Tuck went to live at a new home after his aggressive behavior during our camping trip.
•Christina and I decided to take a big jump and leased a large space on Main Street for Tangle.
•We were very involved in wedding planning.
•Eden had her first cavity.

August
•My sister got married.
•Our TV broke so we decided to throw it away and cancel cable.
•Eden started first grade.
•We took over the Main Street spot and spent the final two weeks of August totally absorbed in remodeling and moving.
•During the remodel, I discovered my love for nail guns.
•We fished in our down time as much as we could.
•My baby peach tree grew peaches for the first time!

September
•Tangle opened for business on Main Street!
•Eden started reading chapter books.
•I turned 27.
•Honor turned 5.
•Jim and I joined the gym and started a 12 week program designed to kick our asses.

October
•Jim and I went to Las Vegas in celebration of our 9th wedding anniversary.
•Honor received a pet lobster, “lobsty”, from my uncle.
•I went with Jim to Moab, Utah while he played with the Pineapple Crackers. Utah is like a foreign country, I’m telling you!
•Tangle had our big grand opening.
•Someone close to us tried to commit suicide. Jim and I found the note, called the police and frantically made our way up a mountain to try to save a life. The police got there first and this person spent the next month in a psychiatric facility.

November
•Our niece stayed with us for awhile.
•Jim bought a motorcycle.
•I was interviewed on a local radio station about Tangle.
•In an attempt to be more organized, I created myself a house cleaning schedule.
•Honor had his second ever asthma attack and I had to take him to the ER.
•Tangle was crazy busy and we had a great time at our Black Friday sale.
•We celebrated Thanksgiving at my Aunt’s house.

December
•I appeared on television twice in one day to promote Tangle.
•Some friends and I had a fun time making cookies and candy and sewing dish towels out of Amy Butler fabric.
•Eden performed in her school talent show. She sang BINGO while Jim played the guitar.
•We celebrated Hanukkah by going swimming at a nearby hotsprings. We also had a lot of fun going to a 3d movie and eating Thai food.
•I enjoyed 10 days off in a row from work.
•We played games all night with some friends as we celebrated the coming of the new year.