And Then There Were Three

I don't even know where to begin with this one. Well. Maybe I do at that. It all began like this:

One day last summer the kids showed up at our house for a party of sorts. We were slow to move that morning. We had experienced a bit of disrupted sleep - I had a very vivid dream, woke up in the middle of the night, poked the man into awareness, and announced that our oldest and his wife were going to have a baby, and promptly went back to sleep. In the morning he said "You're nuts. You can't know that." But when the kids arrived and got out of there car, I watched them come in to the house, and I said to Mr. W "They are. She is. I just know it." He rolled his eyes. As I recall it was Father's Day weekend. There was sangria, an oddball clambake about to begin. But first there was the usual kitchen chatter - food prep, fruit chopping, and one little bit of business to clear up. 

Our oldest son handed me an envelope and said "We are going to want you to make us a couple of things, not right now, but within the next year, if you can. No big deal, just if you can...".

I opened the envelope, and found knitting patterns. Not just any knitting patterns - we are talking pitter patter of little feet type patterns - an adorable hungry caterpillar cocoon and the cutest little stuffed rabbit. I yelled "I KNEW IT!!" and Mr. W. turned to me with a surprised look on his face and said "You were right. How did you KNOW that?". I truly don't know how I knew, but I did.

The party that day proceeded with greater joy than might have otherwise been - and we are usually pretty good at joy around here. I love a party. Especially baby parties. Girl loves her sister in law, and wanted to have a shower for her, but doesn't have the space in her newlywed apartment for such things. Well, of course I offered up my humble abode - and assistance! After a lot of discussion of themes and plans, we decided on "Whimsical Woodland Baby". It started with an Etsy download of woodland clip art, and built from there.

We made a banner out of large pieces of scrapbook paper. I chose to use stash rather than print paper using the clip art files to save some trees and some pennies. I used my large simple wedge from Missouri Star to cut the triangles. We cut letters from cardstock to attach with glue stick onto the triangles to spell out a welcome for baby. Girl hole punched the triangles about an inch and a half in for ribbon to thread the letters on to.

The morning of the shower we hung it over our fireplace to good effect, I think - although I am biased.

Girl found a picture on line of cupcakes stacked on a cake stand made of wooden slabs. I loved the concept, and began looking for wooden slabs to make one of my own at local craft stores. The cost seemed a little prohibitive, and I thought I would have to discard the idea entirely, but the husband of a friend came through with slabs from a log in his yard. He also cut me a host of smaller logs, about the size of soup cans, to use as dividers between the levels of the stand. 

After some time with the drill I decided that drilling through the full length of a soup-can-sized-log is not worth the effort, and I substituted empty cans instead. If only I owned a drill press, right?! Each level of the cake stand was drilled through, and a central dowel was used to hold the whole thing in place. The soup cans were covered in birch bark that Girl and I peeled off of trees in my back yard. We glued the bark into place using a high-temp glue gun.

I love my high-temp guns. When I think back to my first glue gun - a little mini low temp job I had in the 80's? My how times and tools have changed. 

When we were done, we had cans that looked authentically birchy. 

And a stand that looked authentically woodland-y, too, right down to the part where it looks about to tumble down! We adjusted it for actual presentation, I promise.

Girl also found cupcakes with the most adorable red-capped toadstools made from meringue. I love meringue, so I jumped on that idea.

I made the caps and stems separately using this recipe. Once they were dry, I made holes in the caps with a chop stick and tucked the stems in, gluing them a bit with more meringue. They had another round in the oven to completely dry the "glue". When they were done, I carefully inserted a toothpick into the base of each mushroom so I could attach them easily to the cupcakes. I popped the picks into a couple of egg cartons to keep them safe and upright.

Early on the morning of the shower, I got up and painted the tops with awful, sticky, gloppy Wilton melting candy, then dotted on jumbo white nonpareils. If I had this to do over again I would find a better top for the mushrooms as this did not make me at all happy. A nice red glaze of some sort would have been a big improvement. These went on top of the red velvet cupcakes (adapted Alton recipe) with green-by-accident cream cheese frosting. My original idea was to frost each cupcake with regular cream cheese frosting, and place a single mushroom pick in the center of each cake. I had bought a special "grass" tip (Wilton #233) and thought I could then make a green butter cream, and pipe "grass" at the base of each 'shroom. Well, I made up the cream cheese frosting (Martha's), and without even thinking I dumped the green paste into it. At that point I could either scrap the whole batch and start over (expensive and I was running short on time) or just ice the cupcakes green and pop the mushrooms into place. I went with option two, and I am sad to say that I don't have a single picture. This is why I stink as a blogger. Once life starts moving forward, I don't stop for pictures. I just roll with it! You'll have to trust me that the effect of the cupcakes and whoopie pies scattered over the surface of the tree cake stand was both charming and whimsical. It was, I promise.

This bring me to favors - I had seen acorn shaped cookie and kiss combinations on pinterest, and so we decided to make some of our own. Finding just the right cookie was a challenge. I really like the look of mini peanut butter cookies because of the textured surface, but finding them was like looking for hen's teeth. We did find mini vanilla wafer cookies, though. And we had two types of kiss - dark chocolate and caramel filled. I loved the idea of the dark chocolate with a peanut butter cookie, and the vanilla cookie with the caramel filled kiss, but the elusive peanut butter cookies were ruining my schemes. After a long shopping day, I was on my way home and stopped at a gas station to refuel (me, not the car  - I needed a little Dunkin love!), and there I found exactly three serving-sized bags of miniature peanut butter filled cookies! Exactly what we'd been searching for for weeks, and exactly the quantity I needed! I bought them all, and we got to work.

We melted some mini chocolate chips in a custard cup. Each cookie was dipped into the chocolate, and a kiss attached. On the top of the cookie, a mini chip was similarly attached to form the acorn stem.

We placed 5 or 6 of the finished acorns into a glassine bag, then attached a little note of thanks to each, and placed them by the door for guests to take when they took their leave. I used the clip art in Publisher to make the tags.

 Adorable, if we do say so!

We also set up a onesie decorating station that featured two options for decorating. 

Grandma Mary had graciously assisted me by making a big pile of iron on shapes, and Gramma Jo contributed t-shirts and permanent markers. (Yes, the baby has three grandmas. We are an all-American family!) We set up a flat iron, directions, and laid out the pre-washed and re-pressed onesies, markers, and a box of shapes. I really loved this activity. It gives guests something to do, and is a great ice-breaker and conversation starter.

The t-shirts all stayed here, and I machine appliqued around all of the shapes so they will stay attached to the t-shirts during washing. Blast off! The shirts are adorable - again, you're just going to have to trust me on this.

We made so many things...let me see...oh! This was fun. A guessing jar stuffed full of needful baby things - each guest could guess the total number of items in the jar, and the guest who came closest won a prize. 

Mommy got the items from the jar, of course!

An unusual guest book idea - instead of the usual writing of names in a book, I used the clip art fox and traced him onto a piece of plain paper. Girl and I then hole punched a bunch of hearts. After guests write their name or sentiment on a balloon, they are invited to attach their heart to Mr. Fox's balloon strings. 

I love this, too! I also love that fox, bits n' pieces, I do.

Through it all, my faithful assistants stood by, ready to help in any little way they could.

On shower day, they were relegated to the bedroom where they did their best to contribute to the general chaos and noise of the gathering, per usual. Although they don;t know it, I even made them special "Do not open this door, please" signs for their rooms using the clip art and printed papers. They should be grateful, but they mostly were just glad when everyone left and they got their couch back.

When things got back to normal, Omie got to work on baby linen. Crib sheets, receiving blankets, swaddles. And everyone waited. We took a nice warm vacation to help pass the time. Baby even got to swam with dolphins before he was born.

And we waited some more.
And some more.
And a little bit more.
And then? Well. Let's just say the best things in life are extremely well worth waiting for.

 Don't you agree?

I Love This City

It seems strange when I think on it, that just a few short years ago I had never been to Manhattan, and was really downright afraid of it. I remember my first trip when I was shepherded around Book Expo by Amy Greeman, then acting in the role of handler/quasi-publicist, later to act as my actual publicist. She even did an entry here on this blog that I had forgotten.

I must have some mad city adaptation skills, because on this trip into the city for Vogue Knitting Live I popped out of Grand Central on Vanderbilt Avenue, crossed 45th to 5th, and headed uptown toward the Hilton without even checking my phone to see if I was going the right way. After checking in, being stalked by Carol while trying to leave the check-in desk (the official MMO stalker - accept NO substitutes!), and depositing my bag in my room, I headed out to find a snack and see some sights.

I found Radio City Music Hall.

And the Ziegfield Theater.

And the Radiance Tea House, with which I fell madly in love.

It may have been that the place is charming, or it may have been that I got on the train sans lunch and it was now approaching 5pm and I was something like starving. I ordered a delightful repast of homemade miso soup, sticky rice in a lotus leaf, and Hojicha tea. The tea is a slightly lower in caffiene green tea that's roasted to give it "a delicious earthy flavor with notes of cedar...". It was very very good.
I wandered a little more - to Central Park for a walk, and then I headed back to the hotel to get an early night, stopping along the way for the essentials of life - an emergency banana and apple - very handy in case of starvation.
The next morning we had an early teacher's meeting, which was really just a time to sit in a chair and breathe the same air as the knit-and-famous Knitterati. It was also a time to catch up with friends that I really only "see" mostly online. We got our room assignments, attendance sheets, and a run-down of the plans for the weekend.
When I travel to events like this I always worry that students will not be happy - that I will bite off my tongue, that they won't get what they came for, that I will not give them what they need. Particularly before the first class I get kind of freaked. I was so freaked, in fact, that I had the wrong materials with me. I raced back up to my room, and then to my classroom. My classes were in a converted guest room, which was a little tight, but we made it work. 14 people assembled to learn how to knit Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks. We worked diligently through the morning session, and they made excellent progress. They were really excellent students. Focused and responsive, and I didn't spend hardly any time yelling at them - some classes can feel more like herding cats than teaching knitting. We're knitters and social by nature, so there's a lot of talking and sharing. Part of my job is keeping everyone focused. I tend to tell stories, which at least ensures that everyone is listening to me, so that when I need their attention, I already have it and don't have to yell over the voices of 15-30 excited knitters. Eventually I will run out of stories, I suppose, but for now it works.
At lunch time I headed out to the street to find something I could take back to the classroom with me. I like to be in the room during lunch in case students have questions or problems, so lunch needs to be quick. I found quick and YUM all in one - my official new favorite Halal Guy.

I love Halal carts. I love street food in general. I think that if I were young and could eat bread I might love hot dog carts in New York better. Or maybe not. I love the flavors of rice and veg and white sauce and hot sauce and cumin and the faint whiff of cinnamon all happily mixed up in my tin plate. And really, where else can you get "too much lunch" for $5?
I took my lunch back to my classroom (an action I would repeat all three days) and ate and rested for a bit until students returned. The afternoon session went smoothly, and by 4:30 I was fledging new 2-at-a-Time sock knitters into the halls of the Hilton and into the world beyond - good will sock ambassadors now who will assist in my goal of World 2-at-a-Time Sock Domination.
At 7:30pm there was a "Purls and Prosecco" reception for students and teachers. And I made a decision. Why not stalk Carol? I mean, every time I see her she's stalking me, and it really looks like it might be kind of fun. Don't you think? Following around a member of the Knitterati, taking pictures when they least expect it? Bribing hotel staff to give you a pair of undies or a few hairs from the hair brush for your attempts at voodoo? Serious fun, I think.

See, I told you. FUN! At the reception I saw more knitters I haven't seen in a while, and got to meet some new ones - I finally met Franklin (who, I must confess, is much shorter than I expected him to be, which was actually quite reassuring to my 59 3/4" self), and saw Iris Schrier of Artyarns. She has a yarn that I am over the moon for - cashmere and a bit of sparkle and silk that just makes me so very happy! I have a sample here that I spent some time swatching last evening. It's quite delicious. But more on that another time. After a glass of wine I realized that what was really missing from my day was dinner. Since it was 9pm, I headed out to find something, and then took myself to bed so I would be alert for my students on Saturday morning.
Saturday's class was also made up of excellent students who were really focused on learning. This was top-down day, and by the end everyone seemed to be pleased with their progress - I know I was!
I headed out for a walk, knowing that this was my last evening in the city. I didn't really have a plan. First I stumbled across Elmo.

Elmo is certainly larger than I would have expected. In fact I would think that an Elmo of this size would freak the dickens out of the average preschooler, but what do I know?

And then I found myself in Times Square, surrounded by sparkle and glitter and shopping.

It was very cold, and getting colder, so I headed back toward the hotel, stopping on the way for a snack. In the lobby I ran into Ron and Theresa Miskin of Buffalo Gold, and was able to show them the shawl I designed with their Moon yarn and Webs beads. It was supposed to be done in time for Brendon and Selina's wedding. Now I am just hoping it's done by spring. It's an easy knit really, but until this book is completely done and put to bed I experience disruptions in the construction.
On Sunday morning I dined on Fage yogurt and a banana from the 53rd Street Deli, and a cup of coffee from Starbucks. It's strange that when I travel I try to avoid chains, with the singular exception of those white cups with their green and black logo. The predictability reassures me I think.
My Sunday class, a second round of Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks, was filled with yet another excellent group of learners. By Sunday we were all beginning to feel the effects of the exciting weekend, but even so everyone seemed to take to the method. Promptly at 4:30 we headed for the door. I am very grateful to them for this - often a class will run significantly over with questions, but they respected that I needed to head for the train station in a bid to be home by 9pm.
I raced for the front door, and a cab line. Normally I don't do cab lines, but this time it seemed best. I got an excellent driver.

Best cab driver in New York, or at least for that moment he was. He got me to Grand Central (admittedly not a long drive, but still!) in plenty of time for me to catch not the 5:34 train, but the 5:07!  Those extra few minutes may not sound like a lot, but after a long weekend and facing a 2 hour train ride and a 2 hour drive they sounded important to me right then.

I was on the 5:07 with minutes to spare. I settled into my seat and checked again on the weather reports for this area. Cold, it said, dangerous cold. In New Haven I took a cab to the parking garage on Temple Street. Between the dark, my being alone, and the frigid temperatures it seemed like the best option. It was by then beginning to feel dangerously cold.
I made it home at 9pm, and was welcomed back with a hot meal and an open bottle of wine. Don't we just love Mr. Wonderful now?
By morning the thermometer had plunged to new depths for 2011. It was -20 degrees for most of the morning.

When I did chores at noon the bucket handle got stuck to my hand, and as I stood there breathing on it to warm it and recover my hand, I found myself questioning my sanity. Chicken farm. Really? Well. OK, I guess. I only think this in winter. looking at that thermometer gives me heebie jeebies. Tonight is expected to be clear, but then we're anticipating more snow, possibly another 12 inches.
All of this makes me long for vacation, which isn't for another week. Warm Florida sun, I cannot wait to bask in your glow.
Vogue Knitting Live is rumored to be heading for Los Angeles in September. If you're on that coast, I recommend it - it's a great opportunity to meet and learn from some amazing knitters! I have but one regret from my whole experience. I had wandered through the market on Friday with the clear intention of returning to get  at least one set of Signature Circulars before the end of the event. I never did make it back. Luckily there is always online ordering. And just maybe I have a birthday coming up, hint-hint dear family!

New York, New York. New York?!

Twice in a week, even!
This was Mr. Wonderful's first trip. We went into the city on the Sunday morning following my Monday Fashion Week visit. Sunday is an excellent time to have a poke around if you're new to it. I say this like I know. Having been there a whole four times myself, I am apparently now an expert.We took the train from our hotel in Stamford into Grand Central Station.
We headed out onto the street with a loose objective in mind. So loose I can't remember what it was any more. Whatever it was I promptly got us lost with the assistance of my iPhone, and we found ourselves wandering around a bit confused until we stumbled on this:Radio City Music Hall.
Then more stumbling around yielded this:Times Square.
And this:Rockefeller Center.
And this:5th Avenue at St. Patrick's Cathedral on a Sunday morning with dudes with big guns. No, I don't know why. And no, they and their guns didn't really concern me much, beyond wondering who we were fussing over. I never did find out. At two other churches on 5th there were similar gatherings of dudes with guns. Maybe this is just a typical Sunday in New York. Wouldn't want to show up at church without my body armor and my AK-47.Inside the cathedral is breathtaking. I need to go back with the good camera. I'm not even Catholic and had a sudden urge to genuflect, spit out a few Hail Mary's (yes, I know it), cross myself and light a candle.
Wandering onward, we suddenly found ourselves in familiar surroundings.Even in Manhattan the mouse finds us. It felt like World of Disney at Downtown Disney Marketplace, really. All the same stuff but without the 2.5 hours of air travel, thousands spent on hotel and meals and park tickets. I get the same feeling from Disney stores. I seek them out in malls to ease my mall fatigue (I hate malls). A little mouse is always good for what ails you.
Anybody know what this is?Yup, that's Tiffany's!
At the Apple store we found a very Hollywood Pomeranian - click on her for the full effect.This actually made me wonder where he got this stuff, and would Dazee wear it, particularly the glasses.
This was the intended destination, the reason we'd come,The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I may be the only person in my reading audience who's seen just about all of the Sister Wendy series formerly on PBS and now on DVD. I adore her. I have a secret goal to visit every museum from every show she's ever recorded. Shh, don't tell anyone. It'll just be between us, right?
We paused for lunch and Mr. Wonderful found out first hand about the cost of live in the city. It didn't help that we ordered drinks.I had a very yummy Maelstrom Martini, which is named for the exhibit currently on the roof of the Met:This is Roxy Paine on the Roof: Maelstrom, or at least one small bit of it. While Gene hung over the side of the roof staring at endless city vistas I was entranced by the twisting flow of this. At first it feels chaotic, but a moment of stillness reveals this strange peace about it. Difficult to describe, but as we say around here "I know what I like, and I like this."
Back at our hotel the next morning there was a roof display, too.This is the "Jobs Mister Wonderful Will Never Have" exhibit at the Hilton in Stamford.
Oh...why...what have we here? Is this a blue box? A gift for me? and a gift for him too in the little white folder.I think it's nice that they give him something too. It would feel very one-sided if I got my little blue box and he didn't get something out of the experience.
After a delightful (no really, they actually had real oatmeal) breakfast at the Hilton we headed to see Lyme Guy who gave me more drugs and no good news, or maybe it is good, I am not sure, so we'll skip that and move onto the best part of the day - The Eastern States Exposition!
Also known as the Big E, this fair runs from September to October.I never went as a kid, but lots of my friends did. When my kids were young we got free attendance homeschool vouchers from our support group and started attending. I love it. There's so much to see and do, and I always wish I lived closer so I could go more than once. There's a ton of agriculture here, although no poultry which is sad.
We saw sheep,some of whom were a bit envious of their neighbors who'd just been fed.
There are miniature replicas of the state capitols of the New England states along the Avenue of States. Each state building contains native products and vendors displaying a wealth of local goods. My favorite state is probably Maine. They have baked potatoes for sale, tourist information and most importantlysalmon on a stick. This is about the best smoked salmon I've ever had and it's traditional that I go back for some every year. Mmmm! I also stop in Massachusetts, who's prime crop appears to be state police and lottery tickets, for a pickled egg. I jest. There is much more to Massachusetts than lottery and state cops. Vermont has the most amazing but I can't have it any more flatbread pizza which they prepare for you in a wood-fired oven right in the building, and a Ben and Jerry's scoop shop. New Hampshire has maple products and catnip from Harvest Thyme Herbs in Dublin. Mel prefers Mice Dreams. Rhode Island has quahogs in various forms - chili, fried, you name it. Connecticut has...well...Timex watches? I always feel sort of bad for Connecticut.
Please Don't Feed the Penguins!They love Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Mr. Wonderful gladly obliged.
We stayed late enough that I got to watch the free for all horse pull. I have not seen a free for all in ages.A free for alal is pretty much just what it sounds like, only with rules. Any team, any weight class, although usually it's just the big guys. I sipped a "glass" of a wine I call "French Poodle Chardonnay" (because if it really is, then I am one...) and Mr. W had a draft Budweiser which is alleged to be beer, but I have my doubts there. The final pull was, I believe, 16,000lbs. which is something in the order of four of my car, maybe five. The winners were a team owned by Durgin and Cole, which takes me back to my childhood when the name Durgin was heard in the draw pits at the Franklin County Fair every year.
We finished the night with a quick roam around the midway and bid the Big E goodnight.I headed to the car with a caramel apple in my hand, fingers sticky, the smell of barn in my hair, and just happy to be alive. I feel that way a lot lately.
More fall adventures this weekend: Lexie Barnes sample sale at her studio in South Deerfield and Linda Burt's (well, Linda and family's) Pioneer Valley Vineyard will be opening for the season. If you need me from 10am-5pm on Saturday, look at those places! And then on Sunday we're attending the Garlic and Arts Festival where I'll be scrounging for new seed garlic to add to my own, and tasting all manner of good things like garlic ice cream and sauce so hot it should be illegal.
I think autumn in New England is about the best thing on earth! Or do you have something better near you?