Bits of Yellow on a Gray Day

This is one of my favorite color studies that I did. It was a gloomy and gray day last May, and it felt like it would never warm up again. I found myself riding my bike home slightly miserably, but then I started noticing electric jolts of yellow, amarillo, chartreuse, mustard, citron, and any other name for the color of lemons you can think of.

It cheered me up a bit. It reminded me that life is never just about the good things and beauty. As every good story and tale over time shows us, there is always light with dark.

Life tends to kick you in the ass at times, but we keep on going. If we're lucky, we have many loved ones that can lend support or rally us in bad times, and will celebrate with us in better times. If we're luckier, they'll let us be there for them as well.

One thing that I really learned from my trips to the Philippines, is that nothing is more important than family. It doesn't matter if it's the family you're born with, or the family you make in my family's opinion. It's all the same. Even the family that I may not see more than once in a very long while, when I do see them, the love and shared connection is strong. We laugh and we cry, and sometimes at the same time.

This past week has been a hard one for my family. My dear cousin's newborn baby passed away due to complications, and it was the anniversary of my brother, Tito (uncle) and Lolo's (grandfather) death. We are a strong bunch, but it can be a bit melancholy over the holidays. This Christmas season, I'm grateful for all the love and support my family gives each other, and I wish for peace and love for all. I'm looking forward to spending time with my Indiana family, but will be really missing my Mom and Dad too.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate, and are also surrounded by people you love!

Fall to Winter+ a Little Baking

With the frigid temperatures this week, the golden fall leaves from last week seem far away.

I celebrated my 32nd birthday on November 19th! I threw myself a lovely party and invited a medley of friends from different parts of my life. I left it to them to get along, which they did! I baked apple and pear crisp, cupcakes, the sugared cranberries (which have become tradition), Layla's amazingly easy and addictive artichoke spinach dip, and a cake.

Having learned from last years unintentional $76 champagne punch, I tried to tone it down a bit this year (so that I could spend all of my money on baked goods). Tip: try not to pick drinks that require multiple fancy bottles of liquor by accident, though it is a fun way to stock up your bar! I went with a citrus infused champagne punch via Epicurious. I like champagne punches because they're festive and bubbly, and don't seem to leave my friends with a hangover.

It was beautiful with all the oranges, limes and lemons cut up in circles. And there were barely any leftovers (beverage wise). I had to send the troops home with cupcakes and pumpkin bread.

The following week we stayed in the area for Thanksgiving this year. It was a nice change to not travel to Indiana, though we missed seeing family and friends. We headed down to Atlantic City area to spend Thanksgiving with my Uncle, Aunt and cousins. I brought Mike's mom's Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan topping (so good, I can be encouraged to post recipe if anyone is interested), more sugared cranberries, and a blue ribbon dutch apple pie

Other than that, we made our first Black Friday purchase ever, a new MacBook Pro laptop! What a glorious little machine that probably deserves a nickname. I bummed around and spent way too much time watching Arrested Development (yes, I'm a latecomer!) on Netflix on the new laptop and cackling merrily and loudly at their shenanigans.

I may or may not have re-read the last Harry Potter book snuggled up on my couch and watched a couple of the movies.

Until next time,

M

Never Knitting @#$% Socks - Socks

The last pair of socks I knitted took me a year. Not because they were hard, but because I felt that they were sucking the life out of me for sheer boredom. I even wrote extensive notes to myself on my Ravelry page lest I make the poor decision to think I'd like knitting socks again. You can see me get more insane and melodramatic as the time passes.

See below:

9/2008: I was inspired to finally make these socks for Mike with this yarn after he called to tell me he had “extra time” before work and had removed a large bolt from my truck tire and changed the tire for me. What a keeper.

10/2008: The pattern is pretty, quite easy, but this yarn is just not my favorite color. Girls, I ain’t subtle when it comes to color. But I do love that boy, so he’ll get some socks and love the color.

10/27/2008: SOCKS = B-O-R-I-N-G

1/22/2009: So boring I can’t even have it listed as a WIP (work in progress).

2/2/2009: Goal for 2009, finish these %&#^#$^$ socks!!!! for the LOVE of GOD!!

2/7/09: I’m giving these f#$%ers another chance. Maybe they’re not so bad.

2/18: I told Mike that his socks were finally almost done. I said, “Are you even excited about these stupid socks?” He surprised me and said, “Yes! I can’t wait to put them on my feet!” That’s making me work a bit quicker to finish. Awww.

2/26: DOOOOOOONE!!! I am so excited, you don’t even understand. We’re calling these the betrothal socks. Mike bought me a gorgeous ring, and I put love and lots of cursing into these #$%#$% socks. He loves them, put them on right away. Well, I’ll admit, I joked around, went down on one knee, and asked him to marry me with the socks and put them on his feet. We cracked up, since we’re nerds.

So after all that, and proclaiming to a woman at knitting circle, "I'll NEVER knit socks again!" I turned around, felt the squishiest pretty socks, while still trying, "Socks are NOT for ME! I hate them, ugh....OOOOH! Pretty socks!"

Bought. Paid. Cast on. And totally enjoying.

The secret is bigger needles for this pain in the @#$#!

Ex-Mullet House Proud Patron

The year I turned 24, I became interested in cooking. Prior to that, "cooking" throughout college consisted of late night, post-party blueberry pancakes, variations on ramen noodles, or Hamburger Helper if we were feeling fancy.

We lived a block away from the Waffle House (lovingly nicknamed the Mullet House), where they'd let us drink unlimited coffee for as many hours as we needed to study. Our record was nine hours. One of my proudest moments during this era was reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness in one sitting. That's a lot of coffee, folks.

After many of my cohorts moved out of Bloomington, I got my first apartment and started cooking. Going to the Waffle House alone is a path to self destruction of which I wanted no part.

So I cooked. Mainly, one salmon dish I could make decently over and over, until I couldn't eat it anymore, and then some new ones that I can't remember. Mom was called often, advice and cooking times were given, and some things were not meant to be eaten.



Today, I consider myself a pretty good cook, but I enjoy following recipes. I'd rather trust the experts with their cultured palates and honed skills so that I don't end up with wasted food and half eaten experiments.

I go through phases where I totally dig cooking, or can't bear the thought of heating up soup. Though one thing remains constant, my seven year old love of cookware and kitchen aisle goods. That said, the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer has been eclipsed by the glossiness that is Staub's 5 Qt. Round La Cocotte in Aubergine. The enamel glows. The rich warm-purple has a depth that has been in my head since I saw it in Smitten Kitchen in December.



Material things have been on our minds alot recently, especially since we registered for our wedding. There are so many things that I don't need. For us, it is a panini press or appliances that we may use once a year, and get irritated with it taking up space the other 364 days. I'm sick of replacing coffee makers and crappy knives. I'd rather take good care of the things that we do get.

I'm trying to be more conscious of buying things that we really like, won't get sick of, and that could possibly last a lifetime. What I love about good design is that you can enjoy something even when you're not using it, just by looking at it. Like this purple object that I obviously have a huge crush on.

I must go before I get a restraining order from Staub.

P.S. La Cocotte sounds much more sophisticated than Dutch Oven. As seen from my Mullet House references above, I believe I can use some more class, and less...

One or The Other?

I'm trying to carve out more time after work to draw and paint. Why is it that we feel the urge to get all of the chores done before we can take time for ourselves. I think it's important to be a little selfish, if it's for a good cause, such as yourself.

I played around with my markers to make geometric shaped grids. I thought of it more as a meditative exercise like Jess at Sweet Eventide's zendalas. It was a fun exercise to get my hands moving again, and not to put any pressure on myself. After all, I hadn't drawn anything in quite awhile, and want to change that.



I'm also taking advantage of having my very own art instructor handy. Mike was helping me draw ellipses better, and we ended up having an impromptu lesson on shadows and color. I was pretty impressed, he's able to make you understand things that you felt were beyond your grasp. Now I just need to practice my newfound understanding. And practice some more.



I mean, this guy really knows what he's talking about, especially when it comes to drawing from life. The example below is his huge painting in progress out the window of his studio. The notepad shows some of the math that he uses as one of his references when site measuring the view. Who says math and art don't mix? Just thinking of all that work makes me anxious, but he loves doing it. I guess someone who sees a knitted shawl that takes a year may think the same of me, but everyone is different.



Sometimes I wish I was one of those people (like Mike) that had one thing that they were uber passionate about, and wanted to focus on that particular thing. But I don't think that's how I'm built. I love the thrill of a new interest, and learning as much as possible about it. This does mean I can get bored easily, I guess, but I don't think I'm alone in this. We all need challenges to grow and learn, or life gets stagnant. A wise friend said to just go with the flow.

What's your take? Are you all about one thing, or a medley of a few things like myself? For conversation's sake, my current core list of interests is design, art, crafts, and a side of baked goods.

The Universe Doesn't Want Me to Drown

I grew up in the water. Being from Florida, it's important to learn to swim early, since there are so many canals and pools that kids can fall into. My godmother taught me when I was a toddler, even though I fought her every bit of the way at first. Once I learned, I felt at home in the water. After all, Marissa does mean "of the sea".



In third grade, I joined the diving team, and was a competitive springboard and platform diver for the following ten years. However, in ninth grade, I fell in love with water polo, and especially the group of friends I made playing. I was a goalie all through highschool, and a year in college at Indiana University. After I stopped, I figured it was a part of my life that was over.

Recently, some of my friends started playing in California and Florida. MB mentioned playing volleyball again, and ended up sending me a link for a water polo league in the area. Two days later, I was at my first practice in eleven years.



I switched back and forth from feeling completely excited, to so nervous I thought I'd retch. I've found that most times you put yourself into situations that scare the bejesus out of you, things turn out okay. And if they don't, you can always just move on, learn from it and try something else.

Of course, the people were incredibly welcoming and nice, and though I feel like I got hit by a mack truck, I'm looking forward to going back. I'll be easing into this, after all, it has been eleven years, people! Plus, my gym membership is up, and the treadmill was getting really boring.

There was one part of the practice when I felt so out of an element that used to be second nature, and simply exhausted. I switched out with the other goalie.

He asked, "What's your name, anyway?"

"Marissa."

Kiddlingly he replied, "Ugh, like I need another Marissa in my life! That's my sister's name."

Guess what his name is? Andrew. Just like my guardian angel out in the universe who used to be a goalie himself, for ice hockey. So if that's not a sign that things will be okay, I don't know what is. And even though it may be kind of silly, it's more fun to believe that it's a special wink from someone out there saying, "Suck it up, Oldilocks!"



Ah, and while we're on the topic of floating and not drowing, I want to show you my newest addition to our art collection. Isn't this a beautiful print, from Lisa Golightly? She runs a shop called Kiki and Polly, where she sells her original pieces and affordable prints. I loved it immediately, but it makes complete sense just why I like it now that I'm writing all this to you lovely friends.

My mom did ask that I call her after the practice so that she'd know I did not drown. She laughed when I told her how beat up I felt. But she laughed even harder when she heard about the teenagers in the truck next to me driving home who invited me to a party! After feeling so old and out of shape, that was just what I needed to boost my poor ego!

Thank you, Universe. You sure know how to crack me up.

Christmas Break Roundup

I baked 2 loaves of Cuban Bread before I left Philly for South Florida to see my family. It was delicioso, and quite easy.



We finished ornaments for ourselves. I decided to make a special set for my Aunt Sissy and Uncle Steve. She and I have a Snuggie joke, and she was smack talking my pink one since she has a leopard print one. They recently took up fly fishing as a joint hobby, and really enjoy it. Thus, the personalized ornaments as a little Christmas present. Cute, no?



I enjoyed the snowstorm in the Northeast before I left. I enjoyed bringing Creme Brulee French Toast to Robin's house for brunch. It was a peaceful and uplifting walk in the snow! I'll post the recipe soon, it's fantastic. You guys will love it.

Mike and I fulfilled my wish of making my second ever snowman...on the roof of our next door apartment. We made snow angels, and heckled my friends below. Good times!



I spent most of my time with my parents, best friend and godson, and my aunt and cousins. It was a nice change to spend quality time with people I love over the holidays, rather than rushing around trying to fit everyone in. Sometimes, you just can't do everything you want to!

We went to the Miami Metro Zoo, on the last warmish day of the year. Usually, South Florida is warm in winter, but they have a cold spell right now. Seriously, I saw on the news that the Orangutans are using burlap sacks for warmth and drinking hot chocolate! Who knew?



We saw a giraffe family, elephants, gorillas, flamingos, alligators...you name it, we saw it. It's a big zoo, and we spent about 6 hours there! How cute is the baby giraffe? It was kind of sad to see some of the animals in the zoo, but there were many that are endangered and their young are living in the wild now. I guess it can be a good thing. Also, the Miami Metro Zoo is open air, so at least they're not caged up too badly, though it's still sad.



We stopped by the Humane Society in Ft. Lauderdale to visit the dogs, since my godson loves them! It was so heartbreakingly cute to watch him squeal,"Doggies!" and kiss them through the fence. I don't think I could love a kid anymore than I love this one!



There was a New Years Eve party. I enjoyed chilling with the folks this year. One of the highlights was playing pool with my dad, and including a sweet four year old in our game. She has a new baby brother, so could definitely use the extra attention! After the first party, it was off to our next door neighbors, for their annual midnight handmade chocolate buffet and practically illegal quantities of fireworks!



There was a short trip for Mom and me to Jacksonville and Melbourne beach, where I got to hang out with our Northern Florida faux-family members and the eight grandchildren whom I adore. I was able to be a star in a fashion show, a "recital", the finale of my "recital" (under orders from an adorably bossy future flower girl), and sign my name on the wall of a secret Girls Club underneath the stairwell of their house!



I mean, how amazing is this little room? Their mom is the coolest, which is why she was my favorite babysitter of all time! Just don't tell the other sisters!

Alright, looking forward - lets enjoy this year!

Treinta y Uno!

"When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around" - Woody Nelson.

I saw that quote today from Danielle LaPorte. That really resonated with me. Why do we find ourselves looking so far into the future of all the things we have not accomplished yet? Things to cross of the list, things to do before we can move onto the fun stuff. I think it's good to stop for a second, and realize how far we've come as well.

What better time to do that than after my 31st birthday?! I feel like I've been focusing on career and life goals so much, I've forgotten to do like Woody said. Though I won't be taking any of his herbal remedies, I'm a good girl! Instead, I partake in cupcakes with lots of frosting and sprinkles and a glass of milk. I made my own. Sometimes, you have to create your own happiness.

So yes, I've turned 31. Treinta y uno. I wanted to take a few minutes and think of all the highlights from my last year. It's been a good one Maybe one of the best yet! That's good, since the last few were kind of tough, but they make you stronger and make you realize what is important. For me, that is my loved ones. And pursuing your dreams now, not later. (This is unapologetically all about me today, if you couldn't tell).

Accomplishments and Highlights for my thirtieth year:

1. Carved and created my first linoleum print.

2. Finished my damn Pi-Shawl!

3. Watched my best friend marry the love of her life, with the best seat in the house.

4. Took my cousin Cara to Key West after promising a trip for seven years. The Reggae Catamaran counts as our open water portion.

5. Was fortunate to create illustrations for a Manos del Uruguay catalog.

6. First loaf of bread that required kneading!

7. Won a contest for Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing book.

8. Dyed Easter eggs with my sweetie. And was asked to marry said sweetie!

9. Becoming more involved in interior design and architecture happenings in Philadelphia.

10. Biked to work consistently for a whole year (and counting).

11. Studied madly and become a LEED AP.

12. After getting shot down to volunteer with 2 organizations due to lack of need on their part, and a skill set that didn't match up, I finally found someone who I can help!

13. Went out of my comfort zone and took Holly Becker's online course.

14. Cooked Beef Bourguignon with Olivia.

15. Finally updated my blog header!

16. Bought a real life, grown up, not free from a summer home I lived in 10 years ago, bed!

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. Life is a journey. But don't forget, you can't do everything on your own. Sometimes you need to ask for help. Which is why Mike and Zach decorated these cupcakes for my birthday, and got creative with the remaining sugar letters.

I'm looking forward to getting acquainted with you, Mr. Treinta y Uno.

Bliss List

Jessica Gonacha Swift started a sweet creative mission (I'm not sure what to call it...) over at Treasuring today, and I felt compelled to participate. So I made a quick "bliss list. I'm thinking of good and positive things that I have to look forward to today. Okay, I read it wrong, it's from the past week, so I can add extras. I think I'll cap it off at 8 for today.

1. I'm attending a lecture tonight entitled "Trends in Sustainable Design and Construction". The people over at Onion Flats are speaking, and I'm really looking forward to it.

2. The slowly building rat's nest atop my head got a much needed haircut this Saturday. It was only a trim, but I feel like a new gal.



3. I bought a new lipstick, mascara and painted my nails. I feel like Operation Dress Like an Adult in the Workplace is working for me. Don't google it, I made this one up.

4. Gorgeous weather and getting out of the office at lunch. Where I scored a Phillies Phanatic foam hand at the rally at City Hall. I'm not even that into baseball, but am proud of Philly!

5. The show 30 Rock. Wow. I'm actually glad I waited so long to get hooked, since I just finished watching all episodes this past weekend and have a total girl crush on Tina Fey. She's phenomenal!

6. The amazing entertainment at the Laundromat yesterday. Instead of dreading laundry, I took advantage of the crisp / sunny weather to sit on the stoop and read a book. (#5 of the Sookie Stackhouse series...I'm hooked). Two teenage boys came in (approximately 12 and 14). They were ribbing on each other over a girl one of them liked, and making fun of each other's mamas...but all in good fun. The one boy was so silly, that he was cracking himself up. At one point, he pretended that he was receiving text messages and phone calls from the practically obsolete pay phone. When he said the words, "Hey! I just got a text from this pay phone! Your mama wants to go on a date with me!" I was the one who lost it. I was trying to be normal while folding clothes, but started laughing so hard I could not stop. I walked over to the dryer to get a hold of myself, but to no avail. This lasted for 3 straight minutes. It made me miss my brother (in a good way), since he would have thought this was just as silly as me.

7. I just saw the photo (that everyone on the internet has probably already seen), of graffiti that someone wrote on an electric hand dryer. Someone changed the directions to read: 1. Push button. 2. Receive bacon.

8. Knowing I have a great guy in my life makes the list. He's pretty special, and I really appreciate him.

How about you guys? What's good with you?

Two Coasts + A Mountain Top

Correct grammar will not be utilized today. I want to document, but girl is dragging!

Some space planning to help a friend who just bought a beautiful new house! Friend's band playing in town. Helping a friend with kitchen planning, and got yummy food from a Greek Festival in exchange. (Thanks, Clara!)



Friends in town from Louisville. Reading Terminal. Eating our way through Philly. The usual historical sights. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. More food!



Oh, and they wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean! We built a big hole and watched it fill in with water. Way too much fun!



Subway, Amtrak, 2 Subways, 1 bus, 1 taxi and a rental car with friends to make it to my best friend's wedding in Shenandoah National Park. (Mike would arrive later, so thankfully I only had to take this crazy route once to make it to the rehearsal dinner!)

The wedding was amazing! One of those weekends where you get to spend lots of time with old friends and new friends, work together and enjoy everything! The view wasn't half bad either (wink).



Two days in Philly. Quizzo. Flight at the crack of dawn to Las Vegas to San Francisco to visit 3 of my favorite cousins who were visiting from the Philippines. They're the children of my mom's twin, so that's pretty special in my opinion.

Seeing Lake Mead and Las Vegas where I spent a wonderful summer at the age of 22 and got a huge scar from a cactus.



San Francisco. Getting accused of trying to steal a breakfast sandwich from Burger King due to a bacon / sausage discrepancy. Uh, not quite. Sausolito. Napa Valley. More new Filipino friends! Picnic in Napa from their "7-11" aka Dean and DeLuca. Not a cheap picnic! Haha. Wine tasting. Beautiful California light. I think I'm a California Girl stuck on the East Coast, but am okay with that. Breathtaking views on the drive and sunsets on the way home. Filipino food at a real Pinoy restaurant! Complete with my favorite Ube Ice Cream.



Helping the economy with our shopping for gifts to bring home to the Philippines. My cousin buying a pair of Converse and realizing they gave him 2 left shoes! More laughter than you could imagine in 4 short days. So much love for all of my cousins. Filipino and American.



Flight home last night at midnight. Cab ride home. Bike ride to work in the chilly weather. This girl is ti-red. But oh so happy!

Goodbye, Summer!

We said our farewells to Summer this weekend with a nighttime walk on the Ocean City boardwalk with my uncle, aunt and favorite 12 year old cousin. We had some Kohr's ice cream with chocolate jimmies, pink cotton candy, and were forced (by my uncle), to bring home a tub of Johnson's Caramel Popcorn.



I made it to the Farmer's Market with Olivia, and got to witness the making of some world famous potato salad, to which I am going to write down in my journal for future use. We attended a barbecue, and enjoyed holding a sweet baby girl and catching up with good friends.

And today, we did the opposite of Labor. Unless you count watching movies with your beau and making a grilled cheese sandwich on Challah bread labor...

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to crisp air, apple cider and soup making.

Finnegan's Wake of Excuses

Yeah, yeah, yeah...took a "quick" 25 day break here. I missed you guys, if you're still around (wink). Me, quiet?! I know. But it happens each August, what can I do?

Without further ado, here are my excuses for not writing. Oh, and it's going to be long.

1. I've been attending green design events and tours in Philly after work and on weekends. I've been seeing such amazing things, and may (fingers crossed) be able to do some rooftop gardening. We shall see. The place that I originally wanted to help out with does not really need my type of expertise right now, but I'm still meeting some great people and enjoying myself. I'll just keep trying, persevering and keep learning.



2. I blocked my huge Pi Shawl and got to wear it to a wedding in Indianpolis! The groom is the little brother of one of my best friends. I adore her family, and it was so good to see them. We laughed and talked and had a wonderful time. To my delight, my favorite type of cake was served at the reception. It's Carvel ice cream cake with the wonderful chocolate crunchies, I know you were wondering.



There was an instance my friend's aunt and I raced to the dance floor and started an enthusiastic rendition of the Chicken Dance, only to realize that it was a traditional Polka song. We stared at each other sadly, half attempted to try the Polka dance, and walked away to our table full of folks laughing. It was one of the best moments!



3. I found myself visiting KJ in Brooklyn when she told me one Friday morning that due to some fluke, she had a free weekend from her busy restaurant schedule! This rarely happens, so I hopped in my truck to hang out. What a relaxing weekend of having nothing to do but walk around, talk and eat with one of my favorite people.

We watched the roller skaters in Central Park balancing water bottles on their heads and pirouette in hot pink spandex (jealously from the sides), saw turtles, witnessed the good deed of a fighting couple help a stranded canoer whose paddle had fallen into the lake, and ate like kings at the Shake Shack where KJ's friend is the manager. I mean do you see these ice cream sundaes that were brought out for us? It pays off being a hanger on to the foodies.

Coincidentally, we were sharing our table with a man visiting his daughter in NYC so that he could cross things off of his Bucket List. The new Yankee Stadium was on the agenda that day. Isn't that cool? In addition to being awesome, he works for our health insurance provider. His daughter works for Fitness magazine. So they were there on hand in case we had a heart attack due to ice cream overload. What are the odds? Although they were the lucky ones, since we shared our table and desserts with them!



4. I went to a super sweet baby shower for my friend Alice. I had an excuse to buy teeny clothes with little footie pajamas in the shape of dinosaur paws or featuring an adorable monkey that was incognito as a bandit. A bandit of bananas I guess. What else do monkeys steal? I won a blue ribbon for pinning the "baby" on the "bump" which I proudly attached to my new dress. We also enjoyed delicious cupcakes from Flying Monkey bakery. Mmm!



5. I took my cousin Cara to Key West for a few days. This means I can cross something off of my own Bucket List if you will. It makes up for the cruise that I promised I'd take her on when she was 16 and I was 24. In my 24 year old mind, that by the time she was 21 and I 30, I'd have enough money saved to take her on a little special trip. Ha! It's been the family joke for six years, but it was really fun to hang out and have this time together. Cue some cheesy music and a video montage of our trip...

I didn't have my camera, but the entire drive from the tip of Florida to Key West is breathtaking. It's a one way highway which has you travelling over miles of various bridges, including the famous Seven Mile Bridge, or small pieces of land that have water on either side. They had a heat index of about 105 degrees. It was brutal. So we alternated between the pools and the ocean, rode on scooters, attended a drag show, drank icy beverages, went on a sunset reggae snorkeling outing with people so hilarious that I wrote down things that they said so I wouldn't forget, and conducted our own Key Lime Pie tour complete with a 50 point scale. Our final winner was the Blond Giraffe's delectable pie featuring a cookie crust, tart filling and a lovely meringue. We even saw an endangered Key Deer on our drive home, and made sure to alert other drivers so they would not hit the cute little guy.

6. After the hullabaloo of the Key West trip, I headed home to Plantation, Florida for a week with my parents and to get down on some serious wedding planning. Thanks again Mom for letting me borrow your car. I know you don't think it's a big deal, but I really appreciated it!



7. On August 1st I got to wear a pretty party dress (not this one, but something similarly cute) because I was asked to be my nephew's Godmother! What an honor! I love that little guy so incredibly much. And although I'm slightly biased, he is the brightest, cutest, funniest, most mischevious, charming and flirty little bilingual boy that I know. No. Seriously.

Are you really still reading?! I adore you guys.

8. I haven't really talked about my wedding yet, but that's because I didn't want to do anything until I went down to Florida, picked a place and set a date. We knew we wanted it to be June or July of next year, to make it easier for many of our family members (and the groom) who are either in school or teach and work for schools. Also, this would allow enough time for my mom's sisters to possibly come all the way from the Philippines! So, we found a place that we are all really excited and happy about. And set a date (07.17.10). This was the second place that we visited, and all because of a chance conversation with one of my mom's incredible friends. Who is owed a thank you note immediately!



9. On Thursday of last week, my Mom, Aunt Marty and best friend, Brooke went dress shopping. At the second store, I wasn't going to try anything on, but Brooke insisted I try on a fun mini-dress made of crinoline that I was eyeing. While I was changing, she brought out a fun 1980s style dress that didn't make the cut, and then just one more. "Just try it on!" exclaimed Little Miss Bossy. She laced up this dress (I thought I hated a bit of lacing) which took about 10 minutes. After she was done, we knew! And the four of us were just discussing (over a huge lunch and more dessert!) how maybe we weren't the type of people to get that gut feeling over the dress, since we also weren't in the mood to cry... But then I came out and we all got excited. There was a bit of crinoline to kick around, but not huge, and I felt like myself! It was on sale, in my budget, and may be crossed off the list. Oh, and it's so pretty! Hee hee!

10. I am 99.87% sure that I've found the soldier in the Gulf War who was my pen pal for two years thanks to Facebook. We were asked to write to a soldiers in Mrs. Gelman's sixth grade class. Well, mine was a writer, the nicest guy, and wordier than yours truly (if that's possible). He wrote and typed these amazing letters that my mom and I would read. He'd send postcards from all over Europe, and actually made a big impact on what I would end up reading for fun in high school. Mainly long novels based in Russia and a love of anything Camelot related. Anyway, he was a really nice person who had an impact, and it will be nice to see where his life ended up, and which of those girls he ended up with. Ha!



So there you have it, my Finnegan's Wake length post of excuses. I'll leave you with a small photo of my journal which shows the edge of the Earth, and me falling off of it. It is also documenting a strange man that we saw advertising a new Laundromat, in the most outrageous three-dimensional get up, that we thought he was a Pro-Life person wearing a shirt showing the insides of a pregnant belly. But no, it's a washing machine. Bless his heart. It makes you love your job, doesn't it?

Glad to be back, Mariss

P.S. I have not resorted to writing emoticons on my blog, I just don't want to. However, please insert winks, smiley faces and big squealing noises in the appropriate places.

P.P.S. This post is dedicated to my friend Nicole. You happy now?! Ha ha ha.

Leaping

"Always do what you are afraid to do." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tomorrow I am doing something that scares me.  I'm leaping out of my comfort zone to make the first steps in joining a volunteer design collaborative where I don't know a soul.  Although I technically work in the design field, I do space planning and facilities type work, more than actual design.  I've been out of school for 6 years, and feel slightly rusty.  Dare I say I even feel small.  I want to do something that I enjoy donating my time and energy to, and something that can help me grow as a designer as well.

And I want to give back to the community of Philadelphia that has given me so much ice cream and water ice, even though it's broken into my car twice...

I was a platform diver, have jumped out of airplane, went on a Habitat for Humanity spring break trip without knowing anyone, was selected as the foreman for my jury duty, have had my heart broken, and made the security guard who made me cry become my friend.  But I'm scared of looking a little rusty?!  I know.  Below is a reminder to myself of an intimidating situation that ended up being completely empowering.  

I know it's kind of silly, but if I can admit it here, I can realize it's ridiculous.  Tell me, what are your tips for pushing yourself to do things that intimidate you?

Catalog of Our Houseplants

I was finding myself having acute garden envy. After melodramatically sighing to Mike about our lack of an outdoor living space for five minutes, we laughed and figured we should help our indoor plants thrive before worrying about things that we don't have or need right now. I realize I'm quite fortunate, I promise. Especially when my sweet guy suggested we buy ourselves an orchid while at the hardware store to boost our spirits.

Armed with my huge library book on Indoor Plants, we tried to figure out which plants we had, and learn how to take care of them properly. I wanted a quick way to keep track of what we had and how to take care of them, so you can guess what followed...

Mike + Marissa's Illustrated Catalog of Some Thriving and Some Trying Not to Die Houseplants



The fun part about doing this was realizing how many of our plants were gifts from friends (like my ponytail plant from Mindy), or grown from cuttings of their plants, or rescued from the dying plant section of our Ikea.

For example, the aloe plant below was started from a part of a plant that fell onto our street when we helped move Olivia to her new house. The plant was given to Olivia from Monica, and now to me. Monica also gave me a bulb of some type of pretty red flower that I don't know the name of. That's growing now too!



The plant below was 4 inches tall and purchased from Ikea a few years ago for only 25 cents because it was almost dead. Somehow we revived it, and it's now nearly 3 feet tall.



There's a ficus plant that is growing pretty well in a pretty blue pot. The red and pink capped cacti were from the Philadelphia Flower Show last year. That's when I fell for succulents and cacti. Did you know that the pink and red caps cannot grown on their own, and have to be grown on top of a green cacti? They can't get the chlorophyll. I did not know that until last week and was quite surprised that it was not the same plant.



Here is the motley crew of plants we have that could either not be catologued, or I ran out of room on my paper. We have a prickly pear cactus, a bonsai tree I bought for Mike last year, and a plant that obviously needed a new pot and split itself into two sections like a misshapen heart. I came home from the flower show this year with more succulents. My Uncle Denny insisted on buying one for me (and for my 12 year old cousin, see I sure am lucky...sheesh!) My cousin and I named our succulents Geoffrey, Pierre and Krang. Man, I love that kid.



The highlight of this year was finding Chicken + Hen succulents! I've been a fan of them since I started helping my favorite boss in Bloomington garden in front of the art store where I worked (and actually met Mike).

This last important plant was given to me by one of my best friends KJ. She bought it when I moved into my first apartment by myself in 2002. Wasn't that sweet? Although this plant has been in my possession for 7 years now, it has not been thriving. Thanks to my cataloging assignment, I realized that it's a climbing plant and I'm not the reason for it's seeming demise each month. It just needs room to grow vertically. I'm on it!



If I write things down, I tend to remember them, even if I don't re-read it again. This is how I learn. If you try to read directions to me, forget it. I can barely process it. How about you guys? Since we're all so creative and crafty, I'm curious if most of us are visual learners as well.

Stitched With Love

There are some problems you can't fix. Not yourself anyway. You have to sit back, understand that you cannot possibly understand how someone may feel, and only offer thoughts and prayers. It's humbling, not knowing how to help a loved one, but just trying your best to do the right thing. I think we've all been there, and will inevitably be there often over our lives.

In this case, when I felt like I couldn't do anything, I did know at least I could knit something. And stitch as much love and healing thoughts as possible. Just so that someone knows that they're loved by an extra person out there. Every bit helps.

The nice things about hats, is that they're small enough that you can afford to splurge on the quality yarns. I wanted something that was extremely soft, squishy, warm and gorgeous. A color that would also bring out someone's pretty blue eyes. The Fiber Company's Road to China yarn certainly fit the bill. It's a blend of baby alpaca, cashmere, soya fiber, camel and yak. The colors are nearly irridescent, with a lovely depth to them. It doesn't hurt that the lovely gals who distribute the yarn are also local friends.

I made a Pi Topper Cap for another friend last year, and she loved it. She said it was extremely comfortable, and looked good on as well. The pattern is quick and easy, so I made one more.

I had to make a hang tag, which is probably my favorite part about homemade gifts.

The button tab (sewn on, no button hole needed) really accents this cap nicely. I love the final result. It's adorable, cozy, and super soft. I hope my friend will think of it as a big hug.