Diaper Cakes Are Cute

The baby shower I went to this evening was not bad. You could tell that my side of the family clung together and hung out while the mom-to-be's family hung out on the other side of the room. It was nice to see everyone and some of the food was good, so I was in heaven. (Haven't really been in the cooking mood lately). Anyhow, tonight my cousin got a really cute diaper cake as a baby shower present. I looked them up online and found a tutorial on how to make them, and found that there are three different "levels" (if you will) on presentation.

First you have the simple diaper cake, with just diapers & decoration:

Then you have the diapers with some added goodies (a suss here, a bear there, attach a rattle and some teething toys):

Then you have the "mack daddy" of diaper cakes, with complete "bling bling" for babies:

Let's just say I hope my baby gets spoiled by a relative with a "mack daddy" diaper cake! Looks like soooo much fun!

So - you are all waiting to see my hair cut!!! Right? The inches I cut off this afternoon! It started with about 2 inches, and then I cut off another 2 (that's why in the picture it doesn't look like long strands... because I did the hair cut in 2... first a little, then a little more. And - I thought Jamie would be very upset - lol - and that's why I didn't tell him first - because he didn't say anything at all when I showed him, but that it looks nice. WoW! A guy that likes long hair! hmmmm!

To tell you the truth, my hair is soooooooooooooooo much lighter now, and doesn't feel heavy (this heat wasn't helping either). But there is nothing wrong with a pregnant woman wanting to cut off some hair!

Here is my hair before the cut: (I haven't touched cut it in a long time, and here's an older picture to prove the length it was about!)

And at last - the new 'do:

Gotta love my curls, eh? (I hate them, I wish I had naturally straight hair! UGH!)

What do you think???! I love it. I love that it doesn't feel heavy when I put my hair up anymore.

In other news, I got my extra ball of Lanett sock yarn today from Cynthia (THANKS DOLL!) but have not had time to photograph that today (I'm dying to get into bed, I've got a long day at school tomorrow and I'm zonked!) and so I will photograph the loot tomorrow & post!

Cut My Own Hair

I cut my own hair today:

Stay tuned for more later!

Graphic Design School

I got mail today in my inbox to go to Graphic Design School. Kinda funny since I'm graduating from one on August 11th. Today in class, we had a visitor come from a paper company, to talk to us all about papers. (That our graphic design jobs could be printed on). It was interesting, however a little too long, but very happy the woman was able to make it (she almost wasn't). We got samples and gifts - woohoo - and it was nice.

This afternoon I crashed on my couch for 2 hours after class. Just couldn't keep my eyes open (I'm wondering if it's because of the antibiotics I'm on?) I did get my Lorna's Laces today, and I'm in LOVE with the yarn. It's super gorgeous and I can't wait to knit it up (not a priority though, I have other jobs to do!)

Tonight I watched Big Brother, Rockstar: Supernova & now I'm going to crawl into bed with Jamie at watch Last Comic Standing from tonight which was on at the same time as Rockstar!

I Hate Mondays

I hate Mondays. I hate Mondays because of my 8 am - 4:30pm days at school. This particular Monday sucked because of my lack of sleep from last night, because upon getting in from the wedding, I just couldn't sleep!

In my photoshop morning class, barely awake, I have made some progress on my DVD cover that we have to produce. Please ignore the white writing for the title, I just plugged it in to see where it would go, I have not yet finished with it. I also added in the white title before adding in the clouds behind her, so I didn't think the white title would be faded out, but it is - so I will have to change it. I will show the work once I'm done.

In my afternoon class, I worked on my 16 page travel brochure. I scanned my 2nd passport (yes, I have two passports - duo citizenship - even though I was born in Canada), to be the cover page for my project.

I am making my 16 page brochure on an information packet for if you're traveling to Israel, and you need info on what to pack, the climate, what kind of money they have there, info on what kind of popular foods are in Israel, etc... It's a fun project to put together, I'm going to include coupons for museums and stuff like that, and I have to put a few ads into the brochure, so I'm going to create and invent some! I can't wait to be done with this project as well (due the 2nd to last week of school I believe! - Which is sneaking up fast on me!)

After class, I crashed on my couch for a few hours, I needed much rest! Tonight I've been chilling on the couch, it's too freakin' hot to do anything. Jamie's baseball game got rained out tonight, he was caught in a NASTY downpour - a thunder storm that actually woke me up from my sleep (I had no idea there was a storm going on outside!)

Nathan's Wedding

Today I slept in, which felt great. This weekend I have really been catching up on sleep. It was long overdue from this week. I forsee needing it for the upcoming week as well. I just got in from Ottawa, I went to my friend Nathan's wedding, and it's about midnight. I don't see myself going to bed anytime soon, I'm not tired, and I have to get up super early tomorrow morning, as I have one of my 5 last Monday morning 8 am classes. (Oh will I be soooo super happy to be done with waking up early on Monday morning's for a super early class!)

The drive down wasn't too bad. I should have made Jamie drive there so I could knit! (By the time we left the wedding at about 9:45pm to start heading home, it was pitch black outside, and most of the highway between Ottawa and Montreal is NOT light up with lights, so there was no chance of knitting at all). But - by 9:45pm I was tired, so there is no way I would have been able to drive all the way home, so, I had to drive there and Jamie drive home (we always share the driving).

The wedding was nice and simple. I had never been to a wedding before that the bride was on display in the cocktail room for everyone to look at her. The ceremony was nice, and not too long. The groom's father bawled all the way down the aisle. (Reminded me of my father-in-law at my wedding!). The food was horrible: the chicken was way too dry and the rice was bland. And - the worst part of it all - we were stuck at the table right infront of the band. (Talk about not being able to socialize - you couldn't hear yourself even think!) Tonight I learned that the Ottawa Jail has been turned into a Hostel, were you can actually sleep! Check out the website, and if you're ever in Ottawa - why not stay there. Jamie & I are thinking about maybe going there for 1 night just to experience the hostel! That would be totally cool!

Knitting & Movies

Today I finished turning the heel on Jamie's sock. I am still on sock number 1. (I am not soo fond of how the pattern turned out on the heel - but what choice do I have??? Right?) I have been working on it while watching some movies - this week has been a total movie watching week. Some movies I've seen this week (and forgot to blog about) are:

Geraldine's Fortune
The Shrink Is In
A Very Annie Mary
Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Xmas

The only movie I recommend from them all is Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Xmas. I'm dying to watch Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, but I've promised Jamie I'd watch it with him. (I'm hoping maybe later tonight - after his friend leaves).

Geraldine's Fortune was with Jane Curtin, and it takes place in Nova Scotia. It had a few good laughs but it's a Canadian film and wasn't that good - lol... The Shrink is in was with Courtney Cox and David Arquette (before they married). The film is from 2001 - but I thought it was way older than that. It's about Courtney, who impersonates a shrink to win over her Prince Charming. Quite plain of a movie. Very Annie Mary had Rachel Griffiths playing the main role - and I liked her in Six Feet Under, so I decided to give this movie a try. Half way through I decided it was crap, but was half way through, so I stuck it out until the end!

A Nightmare Before Xmas - now that was very well done. No voices were recognizable by famous actors, but then again the movie was done in 1993, and upon looking up the names on IMDB.com - I recognize no one....

Going to go cool off by standing in an as cold as I can handle shower. The heat is killing me!

The 30 Second Shoe Shopping Experience

Today after returning home from my morning class, Jamie and I had some guests over for lunch. We were going to have a BBQ. However, the part that Jamie needed to replace on the BBQ (we have the new piece) wouldn't come off, and so we ended up going out to lunch. (Which is what I was craving anyhow - Marathon Souvlaki - Mmmmmm!)

After lunch, (and receiving a baby toy gift from Jamie's ex-coworkers) (which was very nice of them), I ran into Aldo for two seconds - as that's all Jamie was willing to wait for and said to the girl "Do you have an low heeled dress shoes in bronze or gold to go with a chocolate brown dress?" Within seconds she showed me this shoe in a size 8 - I tried them on - and whipped out my Visa and paid for them:


I didn't want a large heel because at the wedding I will be 5 months pregnant (around 22 weeks pregnant) - (September 3rd) and I do not want to walk down the aisle (I'm a bridesmaid) in high heels. Not at 5 months pregnant. Soooooo - this tiny heel still gives me some height, and are tres cute. I probably will change after for the dancing into something A LOT more comfortable, but for pictures and whatnot - these are what's going on my feet!

Today, I purchased on ebay some lorna's laces. I am IN LOVE with this colour. It's superwash, so I can machine wash it. (That was the number 1 importance (machine washing!!)).

Somehow in my paypal account I noticed that I received a 25$ US payment adjustment (YEY FOR FOUND MONEY!) So.... I quickly decided that it was going to be spent on yarn. (Giggle). The yarn including shipping came to 25.97$ US (I had to pay 1 sales tax, as it was from a Canadian ebay store) and so all I owed was .97 cents US (1.11$ CAD). What a great purchase for me! 1.11$ for 2 hanks of Lorna's Laces (9$US per hank). I feel like it's my birthday all over again!

Tonight I went to Jamie's ball game at 7pm, and worked on turning the heel of Jamie's sock (that I'm knitting). I found a trick with using stitch markers instead of counting my stitches, so that I can do other things (like watch Jamie's baseball game & talk) while turning the heel. You see, turning the heel doesn't have to be a concentrated thing anymore! (Go me for figuring that out)! So I'm using my nice new stitch markers from the swap I hosted.

Last night I received the fake crocs (airwalks from payless) that I had asked Lainie to pick up for me. (I knew the ones I picked up in Vegas won't last all summer next summer) so she bought me the last 2 pairs in my size at the payless by her (they dont have the hot pink ones here in Canada) and asked her to mail them to me. She also included some other goodies. (THANK YOU LAINIE)! (I need to photograph the package and post it!). In return, I'm sending her a huge thank you package - with some goodies I know she will LOVE!

No idea what's in store for tomorrow, but I do have a mess in the kitchen to clean up (had the plumber come today to unclog my kitchen sink - what a nasty nasty mess). Sunday we have a friend's wedding in Ottawa (2 hour drive from us) and that's what's going on this weekend!

I Heart Cherries

I got this bag on Tuesday after my class, and forgot to take a picture of it - so here she is:

I had seen her in the window of this little antique shop around the corner from school a few days ago - and just had to have it. So - when I remember on Tuesday that the shop was now opened, I got parking right in front of it (after having to move my car due to parking signs from school), and found out that it was 25$ and well worth EVERY penny. It's reversable (the inside is the same pattern as the handles) and I just LOVE IT. Cherries is my new addiction, I just love love love cherries. Anything cherries. I'm thinking about getting a cherry tattoo as my next tattoo (of course after the baby is born - not before!)

Today was a long day at school. In my Illustrator class, we had a theory class on Colour Separation, and then we worked a little bit on our poster (which has to have one Illustrator element (as the main element), one photoshop element (I'm going to do a texture), and I think that's it. I could be mistaken, but for some reason I seem to think it needs to be mounted in Quark - which is weird, because it's for my Illustrator class (which is the software Adobe Illustrator)... I'll have to check my project outline to be sure.

In my afternoon class, we worked on our project which is an estimation for a quote for a job (we're learning how to do that). Anyhow, at the end of the class, the teacher came to my desk to help me with some questions I had. She put down her papers of the same project that we're doing, but that she did when she was a student at our school. She's using it to correct ours when we're done (and to answer questions to those who may have questions). Anyhow, I didn't realize that she put them down, and when it was time to leave, I scrounged up all my papers into one pile (if scrounging it the right word - no crumpling involved - just gathering off all my papers, which were everywhere) and without realizing (and without her realizing they were on my desk) I took them home with me, in my papers.

Upon getting home, I had 2 missed calls on my cell (and 1 message) as well as 1 message from my teacher on my house line. She asked me to check to see if I had them, and if so, to discreetly put them into an enveloped, sealed, and to return them tomorrow. So I did. I didn't even look at them. I felt soooo guilty for doing this - but I did it without realizing and knowing that she put them down with my papers on my desk. (Serves her right for doing that). She knows I didn't take them on purpose, but anyhow, I feel really bad now.... I hope that doesn't affect my mark! I hope she doesn't hate me now... Ugh. Why does retarded shit like this have to happen to me???

In other more uplifting news, today I joined Craftster.org, but I find the site very intimidating right now, because I am not so sure where to find anything on that site. I've got to find more time to spend navigating that site!

Tonight Jamie and I are going to watch Big Brother 7 All-Stars as well as Rockstar: Supernova. So I'm off to go chill on the couch and watch some TV!

Tomorrow I've got to call a plumber. Yesterday while making a double batch of Cabbage Rolls (upon getting home from my OBGYN apt. and before going knitting with Montreal Knits) somehow my garborater (the garborater from hell - I don't recommend these machines - nothing but hell & trouble since it's been installed) and it clogged (backed up) my entire TWO part kitchen sink. (One side we keep the dirty dishes that need to be washed and on the other side is the hole for the garborater, etc..) It's sooooo nasty and we thought we could solve it ourselves, but no such luck. I pray that the plumber will do the job quickly and not charge us too much.

Birthday Packages Arrive On Same Day!

Thanks to Canada Post and some awesome delivery services, Cynthia & I both received our birthday packages on the same day!!! When I got home from knitting tonight, there was some mail waiting for me.

Here is a look at some of the goodies I got:

Cyn is absolutely amazing and wonderful. I Love Love Love swapping with her - and receiving handmade goods. I am hoping she's swap with me for Xmas (gives me time to go away on my honeymoon and the trip w/my mother and prepare for the baby, graduate, and then make more stuff for her!)

Why Do I Hate The Colour Purple?

Last night, at 1 am, my new tenant called my cell phone. Jamie and I had already been fast asleep. Let's just say it was really hard getting back to sleep after that...
She "said" she was out of town, and couldn't get back in time, but that was not right of her to stand me up - as I was at home waiting for her.

This morning she finally showed up, I got my first month's rent from her (phew) and gave her the keys. She mentioned that she was going through a nasty custody battle for her children and was going to court on July 26th. She would be slowly moving her stuff into the apartment, but was not moving in right away. She mentioned that she needed the apartment to prove to the court that she had a place for her children. Anyhow, I just hope that I don't get screwed over in the future for rent...

Today in class, I started my 1 colour poster, and I'm doing a poster on a knitting store (could be real or fake store, doesn't matter). The girl below was drawn in Adobe Illustrator - I just love it (took me a couple of hours) and the reason it's in purple, is because our teacher wants us to use a colour that is not in our portfolio, to show potential future clients that we can do things in any colour. So since I've never really used much of the colour purple, this is the colour, I was pushed into using, because I hate the colour....

I am not even sure why I even hate the colour purple, it's just got to be a colour that I hate.... (But lately - since becoming pregnant, the colour has kind of grown on me, just a little... well some shades of the colour anyhow... no promises, but I'll try accepting the colour).

Tonight Jamie and I were supposed to go to the Jazz Fest to see a Paul Simon tribute with Sam Roberts (amongst others) but the rain kept us inside - at home. (Got some knitting done on the blanket for charity! - It's almost done, and coming along great!)

To those of my American friends - Happy July the 4th!

Bad Start For New Tenants

So, after all the trouble last night with my project, and staying up until almost 2 am working on it - and getting only about 4 1/2 hours of sleep, and still not finishing the assignment, I get to school this morning and I had project left at home on my desktop. I swear I had transfered it to my USB key, and witnessed the little green bars in the progress of the transfer, last night, before going to bed, but this morning, upon getting to school and plugging in my USB key to open the file and work on it - it wasn't there. No where to be found on my USB key.

I was not a happy camper..... (after spending 45 minutes trying to find free parking, since today a lot of people aren't working, as they took today off (as Canada day fell on a Saturday, they were entitled to 1 day off - some people took Friday, some people took today, so I knew that I would probably have troubles finding a spot, so I left extra early, so I wouldn't be late to class.

Almost no one showed up to school today. Those who did - the teacher helped us finish our quiz. That part that I got stuck at - was on purpose. I HAD marked down all the notes correctly, but he purposely left out a part, so that we'd try to solve it ourselves, but today, in class he was willing to help those who didn't figure it out. (Which was all of us - as we had not learned that part of Photoshop yet - even with his review beforehand). Even with the books, and references available, I was no able to solve it on my own, because I didn't know what I was looking for

Well, my file. It was still at home. Called Jamie - and woke him (poor guy). He was not able to send me my file - as I couldn't get onto MSN messenger at school (which can transfer large files) (I think messenger is blocked so we can't chat on it) and my file was 17MB so it wasn't emailable.

I was going to call my dad, and ask him how to use the FTP upload (and get a username/password) so I could use his database to transfer my file, but upon thinking about it - I decided (since I had already done it at home, and knew what all the beginning steps were) that it would be super simple to re-do it in class. So I re-did it. And, I like it better second time around. Items were more precise, etc... So here's the original version the teacher gave us as a flattened image - so that we can "re-create" what he did.

Once that was handed in, I felt soooooooooo much better. I then started working on my DVD cover, that we have to design in Photoshop, which is due in two weeks. I am doing the DVD box cover for The Little Mermaid. First, I needed a mermaid, so in Illustrator I traced Ariel in a "scene" and started to colour her in - but then class ended for today, so this is my progress:

The colours are not 100% finalized yet and there are colours missing, but so far, it's coming along great.

For lunch today had veggie sushi, which has fullfiled my craving for sushi for the time being. I can't eat raw fish while pregnant, so veggies will have to do. It was actually a vegetarian california roll, and it was delish!

This afternoon in class, I worked on gathering information for my travel brochure for my Quark class. It's not due until week 14 (we're in week 10 right now) so I'm not worried. Time will pass by very quickly I'm sure, so I need to make sure that gets done. I have all the text that I want to enter into the brochure (which is 16 pages long!) and I am sure it will all fit nicely together now.

After class, I went to Omer DeSerres for portfolio cases for my Graphic Design portfolio. I hope that I have enough good pieces to put into my portfolio, to actually get some work. I don't know what work is good enough to put into my portfolio, but we'll see what my teacher says. I do have some pieces of work that just need some corrections, so we'll see what happens. The portfolio cases that I bought were majorly on sale, so I picked up 3 different sizes, so we'll see which one works best, (they are returnable). (By the way, the link above for Omer, has some fun DIY projects on their site.

After Omer, I headed to Walmart in Montreal-Nord for that yarn! I also, while there, found the sweatpants that Jamie likes but that our Walmart near us was sold out of. (He needed a new pair for softball). I figured that since today people were off and there would be no rush hour traffic, that it was a GREAT opportunity to drive out to that area of Montreal at the hour that I did.

When I got home, Jamie made dinner (beef & brocoli) and it was delish!

My new tenant was supposed to show up to pick up her keys and drop off rent in cash for the month of July, and I her called at 6pm, left a message that I was on my way home, called at 7pm, left a message that I was waiting for her. I then called at 8pm and mentioned that if she doesn't show up and pay the cash that she wanted to, I will have to deposit the check that she gave me for first month's rent. (Now I'm starting to think that I should have gotten a post-dated check for last month's rent, which I will be doing from now on). Called a house number that I had (the other calls were to a cell phone for the person who's name is on the lease) and got someone who said she wasn't in, but "did she call me?" I said no, (confused) and told her to tell my tenant to call me as soon as possible. Just tried the cell again, at 9pm, no answer, and I did not leave a message. I will try again at 9:30. I will try again at 10 pm. If I don't hear from her by tomorrow morning I am calling the bank to see if the check she wrote me will be honoured (if there is enough money in the account) and if so, cashing it. After that I don't care when she will decide to move in.

Tomorrow she has a brief window in the morning to come pick up the keys, and a really brief window in the late afternoon to pick up the keys, or tomorrow will be gone (I'm going to Jazz Fest tomorrow night to see Sam Roberts and a bunch of other bands do a Paul Simon tribute) and Wednesday I've got my 2nd OBGYN appointment, and then I have plans with my mother and grandmother for lunch. Wednesday night I'm going knitting. So - this will definitely be interesting.... Off to a really bad start, and I'm not too happy about it at all.....

Yarn & Knitting & Homework

Today, I've fallen in love with the colours of this yarn, on La fabrique de Zézette's blog:

Aren't the colours just delicious? The yarn actually comes from Walmart. So where did I go today? To two different Walmart's in my area (Decarie (around the corner from me) and then to LaSalle) looking for this yarn. Neither store carries them. Decarie had some other colours but by the same packaging (so of course I had to purchase some) and LaSalle had none of the sort. Ugh! I emailed Stephanie to find out where she purchased it - and it was at the Montreal-Nord Walmart. I guess I'll have to find some time to go to Montreal North! (Mapquest says it's only 18 minutes away by car - not too bad - without traffic though!)

This afternoon I started working on my project (photoshop quiz) that is due tomorrow. Teacher gave us this example - as well as the file of the gun and the file of the bullet, and we had to re-create it:

I works on it during the afternoon, and then again when my guests left this evening - and well - got stuck on the background, and was having a huge problem finishing it. I'm really zonked, so I'm going to see if someone tomorrow morning in class can help me out - before handing it in. I took EXCELLENT notes, and have apparently somehow missed one teeny tiny step somewhere in the creation of how to do the background (teacher went over it in class before "assigning" it, and said that once it was handed out - we could ask him no questions and for no help on it - as it is an exam....) Anyhow, I don't know what step I've missed, but it certainly is something to affect me from not finishing. UGH! This is what I've come up with so far (Obviously not done):

I am frustrated since I can't finish, but at least if it was an image I liked, I'd keep trying and trying (even after Adobe Help has failed me and as well as Adobe Photoshop CS bible and as well Real World Photoshop CS (two really good books I own on photoshop)) however, I hate guns, and it just pains me to keep looking at my failed image. I am sure tomorrow, in class, someone will help me out - and I'll be like "shit" I should have known that! Even by looking it up and doing research to try to find the answer - it doesn't help me at all.

On a brighter note, my cousin Jenn came over late afternoon and we watched an episode of Knitty Gritty on the dish. To quote Jenn, so I don't have to re-type the same story: "What a cheesy show! It was the episode with Lily M. Chin and other than 1 cool technique I learned, everything else was so dumbed-down! It was like "Cosmo" for knitting. Lily ACTUALLY pronounced the knitting acronym "yo, k2tog" as "yo-ke-two-tog". Who says it as a word? People don't SPEAK in acryonyms! You don't tell your friends "brb" or "lol" or "roflmao", and if you DID you'd pronounce it sarcastically, like "el-oh-el"." Yeah.... I thought the show was cheesy the last time I watched it about a week ago - well I'm even more thrown off from it - I don't reall think I'll ever really want to watch another episode again. Maybe the sock knitting edition (If it ever re-airs). After the show was over, (to half quote Jenn again): "Jennie, Karine and Kadi got to my house and we gabbed, knit, gossiped, ate, watched a movie (Sideways, which is always great a 50th time watching it), tried to guess Jenn's riddles and just had a nice fun girl's night. I'd be up for that anytime, we laughed a hell of a lot and I had a great time."

Alright. I'm going to give one more "go" at this quiz due tomorrow, and if not, I'll deal with it. It's so frustrating though.

Happy Canada Day!

I've been knitting up a storm, so here is my latest addition to the charity blanket. This is how it is starting to come together (Not sewn together yet):


Basically, if you can picture this, I'm about to start knitting the second 3 piece section, which will be red, yellow, red (like the section I just finished) and it will go on the other side of the pink square. Then after I'm done that three piece section, I just need to do 2 more seperate squares, so that I can place them above the yellow square and below the yellow square of the section I'm about to knit. Here, I've scanned the pattern image for you:

I found this image on a Toronto knitting store's website. (Romni or something like that. Anyhow, I've circled a particular item from that store that I have fallen in love with:

A sheep knitting bag - how fantastic. I'm wondering how much it retails for. Once I find the link, I think I will email the store to find out - out of curiosity!

I found today a list of Celebrities, and what their real names are. It is very interesting. Check it out here. I was actually looking up baby names, when I came across the link to that page.

This afternoon Jamie and I watched the movie The Juror (1996). It was with Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore. While it was a little long, it was still a really good movie. Jamie's dad had picked it up cheap at Walmart, so he loaned it to us yesterday.

This evening we ended up going with Jamie's friends Michel & Louise to the old port to catch some free outdoor concerts. It was really good. Performing were a bunch of steel bands, and awesome music and then the "headliner" was Quebec's own Gregory Charles. This was held in Jacques Cartier Square just down by the water. He was absolutely fantastic. You must check out his website (there is music by him playing when you click on English). The only downfall of the evening, was the rain that started lightly at around 9 something, and lasting as a light drizzle even during the awesome fireworks that were at La Ronde (Which we could see), which were NOT part of the International Fireworks Competition (that is only on Sunday nights).

Now we're home.... and I'm just going to crawl into bed with some TV (too tired to knit tonight - but I'm having some girls over tomorrow night for knitting and some chick flicks)... Should be fun! (I have to make sure I get my homework that is due on Monday at 8 am done before the girls come over - I need to STOP procrastinating!)

Mail For Me!

I've been receiving really good mail lately!
I got some fabulous stitch markers from Holly:

Today I went at about 11:30 am over to my in-law's place and my mother-in-law taught me how to make Halishkes (Cabbage Rolls). I couldn't believe HOW easy they are to make! We even baked a little and made some banana cake. She made me some lunch (I had salad - with her homemade dressing - my fave in the entire world) and it was delish!

This evening I've been knitting up a storm (come back tomorrow for pictures!) I have been working on the blanket for charity. It's coming along great.

Tonight I watched 2 foreign movies, the first being My Summer of Love and the second movie I watched was Saving Face. On IMDB it reads "User Comments: You do not have to be Lesbian to enjoy this Film!" for My Summer of Love. Funny - I had no idea this was a movie about two girls who fall in love before watching it. The movie was not bad. The second movie I put in - Saving Face, which IMDB reads: "Plot Outline: A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations." Wow - two lesbian movies in one night, and I picked them both out without even realizing they were both lesbian movies. Both were interesting, but just okay. Saving Face was half in English and half in Chinese.

Playing Cards & Charity Knitting

My charity knitting is coming along in great timing! I just just started this blanket yesterday!(it's knitted up in strips, each strip getting shorter. I can't really describe it, you'll have to see it when it's done). I was given the pattern with the yarn to use and all I needed was the needles (which I had - of course). I think I want to make one for the baby's room after I'm done this one, but I think I am going to wait until I find out the sex of the baby on August 17th. This way, I don't have to do it in neutral colours. This blanket takes NO TIME at all to knit up! However, it's a really boring project, as it's all in just knit stitch, so I'm really bored with it. There is no shaping, and no other things to do but knit all the way across .... It's looking great though. I have 8 more squares to do (3 attached x 2 and then 2 solo squares) and it will all be sewn together to make this very interestingly shaped throw for a baby's room floor. (For babies to play on). Since the middle colour (pink in this case) is the only place that colour is used, there is JUST enough leftover yarn to single crochet that colour around the edges of the finished blanket... so I think I will do that). I'm not really too sure about making tassles for the "points" of the blanket... I am not into tassles.

I am really happy on how fast this project (for charity) is knitting up. I'll be done in no time!

These are the knitting playing cards I found at a store the other day. I picked up a deck for myself and a deck to send over to my secret pal!

The yarn in this image looks to be acrylic, but it's the thought that counts for the image... (I'm starting to hate acrylic for anything that is not baby items....). (Acrylic is the only thing I'd knit baby stuff with - just because it washes!)

I am soooo happy that I have a long weekend. My mother-in-law is teaching me tomorrow how to make her cabbage roll recipe (my recent craving) and not too sure what else is going on the rest of the weekend, besides some knitting and relaxing. My tenants are moving out tomorrow, and my new ones are moving in on Monday, so we'll have one weekend with no feet stomping above our heads (how that will be nice!) I really hope my new tenant's kids will be have and not run around all hours of the day... but then again in 5 short months (Yes! I'm in my second trimester now! Week 13 has begun today!!!) I will have a baby, and who knows if my child will keep them up. I'm crossing my fingers and praying for a good child, but you never know if you will have a screamer or not!

I've been invited to a baby shower for my cousin's wife on July 12th - I think that will be fun. I've been to 1 baby shower before (Jamie's sister's) so I can't wait to see all my family and see how big the mama to be has gotten. The last time I saw her, she was 3 months pregnant and not really showing yet (she's a tiny little one!)

Secret Pal Mail

So the gorgeous flowers in my backyard have been in full bloom. They are absolutely GORGEOUS. Don't you just LOVE these flowers? (And my new patio set - ain't it lovely? Lainie do you notice the candle on the table???!)

This is the bunch of flowers a little more up close... to give you an idea of how many there really are!

And here is a shot that I took tonight, I just love the colours and the way that the picture turned out with the entire back blurry and the crazy colours.... (sans flash - long exposure):

Here is my charity knitting started: It's a baby blanket, for the Montreal Knitting Guild. The winner of the best blanket (?) (I'm not too sure how they are picking the winner) will get to choose which Charity they want the blankets donated to: (the boring thing about this blanket is that it is done completely in garter rows and it's a little boring. I find that anything that is just plain and simple garter stitching - no purling - and no shaping - to me - is not "real" knitting. It's boring too - lol... (On a side note - I know of this girl who knits everything in just knit stitch, and just in rectangles or squares - that's all she can do - and in my opinion, it's not real knitting - (it's actually kinda funny) anyone can do the same motion over and over again - you know?) A knitter is someone who can knit/purl/shape and make things are turn into something.... And to me - this knitting. Anyhow, this blanket is for charity, and the yarn came with the pattern to do, so that's why I'm doing it! Mindless knitting....

Secret Pal has struck again! I received:

Some awesome smelling bath stuff (in my absolutely FAVE scents (peach & watermelon)), some fuzzy peach lotion form the body shop, some sugar-free cookies and brownies, as well as GUM! (I've been craving gum like mad lately - so it's perfect!)

I received this really cute elephant. I love and collect elephants,
but I think this one will go in the baby's room. (It's actually a piggy bank).

A homemade knitted sweater, by my secret pal! I think it's for about a 6 month old. I also go the pattern for it, and buttons to make my own (buttons are below):

Under the buttons is this really awesome book of baby knits! I can't wait to give a go at a sweater (I think for my first sweater I'll try a baby one) (gotta move on from knitting socks!)

THANK YOU THANK YOU Secret Pal! This was awesome.

I am ready to turn the heel on Jamie's socks - but I've put those down for a few days just to work on the charity blanket. I kinda of wanted to have a change of colour for a while, so I will go back to Jamie's socks soon. Also - I've got to finish up on Clapotis!!

Today was an awesome day off. I got some work done on my sewing machine (VERY IMPRESSED WITH MYSELF) and I got an article sewn for my birthday package for Cynthia (pictures will come once she receives the awesome package!) I took care of some over due laundry, and just chilled at home today. That was really nice.

Now, this dance I find funny. Check it out here.

Can Relax Now....

Between yesterday and today, I had two huge assignments due. Today, after handing in the last one, I have nothing due for a little while (minus a small quiz that's due on Monday, which I am not worried about whatsoever - layer styles, masks, easy stuff).

I feel such a relief right now, I can relax and spend my day off tomorrow doing some long awaited chores and some arts and crafts that I want to do - and I also want to work on Jamie's sock that I'm knitting (but neglected again today).... catch up on some reading, I may be having some lunch with a friend, (she's supposed to come over?) and maybe watch a movie.... Just a nice relaxing day....

Things I'm missing while being pregnant:

- a nice glass of red wine.

- hot tubs

- sushi (BIG TIME CRAVING!)
- a nice hot bath

Some of these things I can resume after giving birth - (like hot tubs and baths) but the wine & sushi will have to wait until I'm done breastfeeding.

Today I found playing cards with the picture on the back side being Knitting! Of course I had to get them, and get some for my secret pal - which I'll mail to her in August when she gets back from her month long trip to B.C. For some reason I thought that SP8 ran until mid-september, but it ends August 31st - according to the website. (I will take a picture of the knitting cards to show you tomorrow)

This evening once I got home from school, I crashed on the couch for an hour. That felt great. Once Jamie got home from work we headed out to visit his grandmother at the hospital. She was home for a week (which no one told us - otherwise, we'd have gone to see her) and she isn't doing too well at all... unfortunately. I will keep an update, as long as we're updated (we seem to be lost as far as people telling us what's going on - and we seem to hear things after the fact). Jamie was torn standing there in the hospital room, he kept saying "You have to get better and stronger so you can come home and see your great-grandchild soon" - but I don't think she had any clue as to who we were.... I stood there also, not knowing what to say, or how to comfort Jamie. I felt exactly how I felt when we went to see Jamie's grandfather 2 years ago just a short few days before he passed away.... in a situation where I didn't know what to say, or what to do. It really is awkward, standing next to someone who is losing a member of their family - who is now my family too. I hope for the best for her, but unfortuntaly to write this, I don't think there is much hope, she just wants to go and be with her husband... in a place with no suffering.

On that note, I'm going to say goodnight.

Maya Wrap & Vesper Yarn

This Vesper yarn (in this colour!) that is carried in Toronto by Lettuce Knits (the ONLY Canadian retailer) - UGH! Can't even find it on ebay.... oh well. I guess I will check it out the next time I happen to be in Toronto! I just love love love the colours (apparently there are about 10 different colour combos - I am curious to see what else exists!)

I also love today this Maya Wrap:

I would need a size M and I am hoping that I can put it on a my baby shower wish list.... That's the plan. I love it in black, and there is a red colour that I love too - (Fabric #65 Bright Multi Stripe ) (the black is #57) They go for about 50$ US on ebay. Oh, I'd love one of these beauties.

Today I managed to finish my project on time in class, there were some last minute changes that I had to do - so I'm hoping that everything is going fine and I get a good mark on it.

Also - I got back my mark on my dubble bubble assignment from last week - I got 84% (which is 16.8/20 of my final grade - which rounds up to a 17/20). I'm happy with that. Apparently it was "too simple" - whatever. The teacher is a hard marker and he smells bad all the time, so I'll take whatever. An 84% is a fantastic mark anyhow!

No knitting today. This evening I tried to work on my assignment that is due tomorrow - but that didn't work. I mailed off one more small parcel to my Secret Pal (she should get it before she leaves to BC this upcoming weekend) as it was sent with "1 day" service (can be 1-2 days, lol) and I hope she likes it. I sent her all of Knit Cast on CD-Rom so she can listen to them, as well as a cake of 130g of the black and white lace weight yarn I've been winding on my ball winder from the mega spool I got.

This evening I also finishing doing some art and putting the final touches on the huge and heavy birthday parcel for Cynthia. Our deadline to mail them out it July 1st. I have something else that I think I want to do - but I'll have to wait until Wednesday (my day off) to finish it. So I'll probably end up mailing out the package sometime Wednesday - just so that's it's en route, and on it's way to her. I hope she really likes the unique pieces that I've been making for her - as well as a few pieces that were purchased, that I just CAN'T WAIT for her to receive - I wish I could see her face when she sees them! Oh well!

Alright. Going to go rest up. And Jamie's out playing ball tonight, (sub on a team that didn't have enough guys) so I'm going to start cleaning up some stuff in my office. I just got this sudden urge to clean!

Cabbage Rolls

*TODAY IS FOUR YEARS THAT JAMIE & I HAVE BEEN TOGETHER! WOW!* We started officially dating today, 4 years ago. We don't celebrate this anniversary anymore, seeing as though now we have wedding anniversaries starting with number 1 this September, but - it's still nice to acknowledge that we've been together now for 4 years! (Both of our longest relationships, now. Jamie's longest one before was 3 and a half years, and mine was 1 year 3 weeks with an ex-boyfriend).

Last night for dinner I had some cabbage rolls. They hit the spot. Today for lunch, I ate cabbage rolls. Then after going for Ben & Jerry's with Jamie, we did some groceries, and I went nuts at the store looking for my new craving item - Cabbage Rolls. I need to learn how to make them myself, I will ask my mother-in-law to teach me (the last batch she made, were fantastic!). Two stores later, I found said cabbage rolls. Mmmmmm - sooooo delicious. They are just fantastic! MMmmm!

This afternoon I worked on finishing my project due tomorrow, until we went for dinner with my family to celebrate my birthday. We went to my favourite restaurant (the same restaurant I went to last Saturday night with my girl friends) and that was nice. A little loud though, seeing as though Portugal had just wont the soccer game, and we were technically on the border of "Little Portugal" here in Montreal and people were running down the streets with flags and cars driving with humans sticking out of them (soooooo dangerous) honking horns and screaming... Quite the experience, let me tell you!

Not really any knitting today.....

But I love:

My fave flower.

And my secret pal got some buttons in the mail! She finally posted that she received them, so I can post them on here! Aren't they just fantastic? I have a set for myself too - I just need to put them on my knitting bag, or purse, or whatever! Keep meaning to, gotta just do it!

Yummy Yummy Brunch

Went out for a very yummy brunch around noon today with Jamie. We went to our favourite bagel place, and it just totally hit the spot. Exactly what I was craving. I always eat the same thing there - and it's just fantastic.

This afternoon I vegged, and Jamie worked a bit in the backyard. I worked on Jamie's sock some more, it's coming along nicely, this evening, Jamie had some friends over, so that I could work on my project due on Monday. It's coming along, but it's not done.

Jamie's friends have since left, and since I needed a break, we're about to sit down to watch the movie Control with Ray Liotta. I like Ray Liotta.

I can't wait for school to be over on August 11th. I have so many chores that I want to do around the house and art projects that I want to do before we leave on our honeymoon in September, and to Kansas with my mom for the dog show. Also August 17th is my first ultra-sound - so I can't wait to see what the baby looks like in my stomach!

Alright, movie time.