Latest Favorite Thing

Maple Cotton Candy!

Yes, cotton candy made from maple syrup sugar.

I read about it awhile ago. I can only get it at the Union Square Green Market. The company only makes small batches so it sells out pretty quickly (read that as, I have to get to the Farmer's Market relatively early when I want to buy some.)

The farmers that make it dry their maple syrup and grind it in to a fine sugar. They had to have a cotton candy machine specially made because the maple sugar has finer grains than regular cotton candy sugar.

It is the most delicious cotton candy, like little puffs of maple that just melt in your mouth.

Cutest Cats Ever

Roxy was absent for this afternoon photo shoot - but Trixie and Beckham could not be cuter!

Big Apple BBQ

**Sniff**







**Sniff**















What's that? The smell of smoke and roasting meat? Must be time for the Big Apple BBQ.










Truly one of our favorite weekends in the city - pit masters from all over the United States circle their BBQ pits and smokers around Madison Square Park for one weekend of pulled pork and brisket bliss.

















Over the years we have learned to start each day with a pulled pork sandwich from Big Bob Gibson's (they are so popular they always run out of meat by the late afternoon).




















And when you think you've added enough sauce, give it one more squirt.

And welcome back to one of my favorites - Salt Lick from Austin, Texas serving up their delicious sausage. (They have a location in the Austin airport - you know I am ordering up a sausage sandwich on my way out of town in a few weeks.)

Another one of our favorites is Jim and Nick's BBQ also serving sausage with a side of pimento cheese. I don't want to know what is in pimento cheese all I know is it is creamy and cheesy and a little spicy. A perfect compliment to the smoky sausage.

We did not have great weather for the BBQ this year, Saturday it rained for at least two hours. on the positive side, it made for short food lines later in the day.

Sunday it was warm and sunny, we visited the bourbon tent and 11 Madison Park to enjoy some refreshing beverages (don't you love the color in my drink - it was something with peach and bourbon and quite refreshing).

Once again The Crooners were there to play bluegrass inspired music.

Of course we are already counting down the days to next year's BBQ. (Thank goodness J didn't schedule her wedding for that weekend - it would be almost as bad as the family wedding that was the same day as the USC vs Cal game.)

More Crafts

I've been particularly crafty lately - I think it means I've been working too much and my brain needs to be creative to even out the numbers side.

It all started with the idea I could whip out a quick and super cute hankie for J's wedding shower. My first attempt was too much, my second attempt too little - finally it worked out just right.

I used the 'save the date' card as inspiration and added the tree graphic. It took longer than I planned but I was really happy with the final project.

I added some scrapbook paper, tulle, and a decorative brad to a blank card to make my gift card. I stamped the inside with 'Keep Calm and Carry On' - which was just perfect for this bride to be.

Just Like POTUS

I've always liked how the White House has a clock for just for the President. Where ever he goes the clock shows his time.

A while back we went to IKEA and now we each have our own clock.

I think I need a little plaque under each clock to designate the KO and the MW clock. Of course the 'big clock' is always set to local time.

Latest Favorite Thing

I've been searching for something to hang on the wall behind the bed.

Finally Groupon solved my problem. They had a coupon for Dali Decals. The pieces stick on the wall and then can be removed when you are ready for them to come down.

We settled on this 3 piece set and I love it. It was pretty easy to stick to the wall and it fills up the space really well and the biggest plus - Michael can sleep easy knowing nothing is going to fall on his head (just once I hung a picture and it fell off the wall at night and now we can't hang anything over the bed).

On-going Series: Unfortunately Named Businesses

The 3 Star Diner - why set expectations high with above average four or an exceptional five stars when you can just stick with a sensible three stars?

Happy B-day Crafts

Seattle Karen celebrated a birthday last week - I was in the mood to craft so she got a box filled with treats.

I started with an embroidered dish towel, my own writing. The dish towel was a recent find at IKEA. I like the red stripes going down the side. It's a little fiesta on a towel.

Karen is the ultimate baker. I made her a batch of cake balls (yellow cake and frosting) dipped in milk chocolate and rainbow sprinkles. They tasted like a chocolate dipped Twinkie. I got the recipe from the 'Cake Pop' cookbook Bex bought me a while back and the funny thing is, Karen got the same cookbook from her hubby for her birthday.

And I found the perfect card so I just stamped the envelope to personalize it. I got the stamp template and chalk ink at Paper Source recently and the stamp in the center was from The Ink Well in NYC. It was a good excuse to play with my new toys.

PS July b-days, don't think you won't get the same stamp! No guarantees on the dish towel or cake balls....

The Perfect Spot

Back to how cats like to be on something, on something - Roxy found the most perfect sleeping spot the other day.

She was right in the middle of all of the pillows on the bed.

And yes, she was sleeping just fine until the paparazzi woke her up!

She's Crafty

Not only was I busy stitching for Valentine's Day I've also been listening to some classic Beastie Boys while working out - and thus the blog title.

I used some patterns from Sublime Stitching to make these towels:

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For these towels below I used my own lettering to create the designs.

Busted!

A few weeks ago I roasted up a chicken for dinner.

As it was cooling on top of the oven I heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen.

I walked in to find Roxy! standing there eating my chicken.



By the time I was back in the kitchen with the camera she was standing over by the window just licking her lips.

Tea 'n Crumpets

I can't believe the Royal Wedding was over two weeks ago.

Yes, of course I was up at 4:30am to watch every last minute of the ceremony. I couldn't wait to catch the first glimpse of her dress, watch the procession down the aisle at Westminster Abbey, and see the first kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

My highlight reel includes Kate walking down the aisle with her dad and Prince Harry turned around to see her and then whispered something to Prince William. And it was so endearing when Kate first walked out on the balcony and at Buckingham Palace and you could see her say 'oh wow' as she looked out at the crowds.

Thanks to so many lovely gifts over the years I had quite a tea party for the event.

Tray one was a silver tray from MomO, a trio of milk glass vases from Mel, roses from Michael (he brought them home Thursday night because he knows a proper tea party requires flowers), Beauty and the Beast limited edition tea cup from, silver tea strainer, silver tongs, and Royal Blend tea (all straight from London) gifts from Bex.

Tray two was a gift from Bex, it was topped with a tea pot from Mel, vases used for M's Eloise party, cut glass plate and two handled cup both vintage treasures, and all of my goodies were from Trader Joe's. I nibbled on tea, crumpets, lemon curd, crispy thin butter cookies, French macaroons (from the freezer section and highly recommended), flaky cinnamon twists, and chocolate covered sunflower seeds.

Even though I watched the wedding coverage three times I still won't delete anything from the DVR. The wedding was a perfect display of what the British do best - pomp and circumstance. I loved every minute of it.

Baggage Claim

I was in Austin for a sales meeting this week. Unfortunately my flight in to Austin was plagued by weather delays and I barely made the last flight from DFW to Austin Tuesday night. I was #30 on the standby list and was lucky enough to get one of the last 4 seats on the flight.





Even though I only had a very small carry with my clothes and my computer backpack there was no overhead space by the time I boarded the very full flight. My bag of clothes had to be checked. As I was waiting for my luggage at the baggage claim I noticed this large odd drum sitting on the belt - left from a previous arrival.





As it circled by and I read the contents label I was really surprised . The guy next to me immediately got out his camera and I knew I needed to follow suit.....be sure to read the yellow label on the drum as it rolls by, definitely something you don't see every day!

A 5K Day

We couldn't let Chris have all the fun running the streets of Boston. Michael and his sister and I ran the Boston 5K this morning. was pretty darn cold, windy, and raining when we started. Even though he is smiling for the photos Michael was not pleased!

He made sure and did some pre-race stretching. And literally this was the extent of his training.

Well that training paid off when he finished just a minute behind Jenn and under 40 minutes total. I brought up the rear about 6 minutes behind them.

We took this picture right as the race started - what a sea of humanity. I can't imagine what the racers look like on marathon day.

After the race we walked through the Fitness Expo to see what kind of free stuff we could get. There were tons of samples and free goodies. We ate so much we cancelled our brunch reservation.

Everything was coming up Michael as he was the big winner in our group. Success rice had a prize wheel. I won a pencil, Jenn won branded emery boards, and Michael cleaned up with the box of rice! Success indeed.

And somehow I think we have him convinced we should all run the relay Disney World Wine and Dine Half Marathon. The race starts at 10:30pm and goes through Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios, and ends in Epcot. Once you finish the race you go to a food and wine festival in Epcot. The park is closed to everyone but the racers and the party goes on until 3am. We're targeting 2012 - I think I need to start training now.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

We're in Boston to cheer Chris when he runs the marathon on Monday.

As an unexpected treat we were able to go to Fenway Park and watch a Red Sox game. We did no planning (really, not one single idea of where to eat or what to do) for this trip and just booked the same hotel and Chris and the other runners. As it turns out, our hotel is right behind Fenway Park. Michael and I have a "Fenway" view room ( we didn't ask for it, just got lucky). The picture below is Michael looking out our hotel window - he opened the drapes and thought we had a view of some warehouse, before he quickly realized it was Fenway.

The Red Sox are playing at home this weekend and we decided we needed to try and get tickets to the Sunday game.

Anyone who has watched 'Fever Pitch' knows it is impossible to get a seat at Fenway. We found out they sell the unused players and executive tickets an hour and a half before the game begins. We waited in line and ended up getting tickets behind home plate about 30 rows back. They were great seats - you can see our view below. It was fun to watch the pitches flying right at the batters.

Pre-game we toured the park

caught a birds eye view of Yawkey Way (I love how they shut the street down during the game),

enjoyed a beer,

And had hot dog served on top split buns, of course!

Jenn and Chris were able to get tickets as well. Their seats were the front row of the bleachers right over the Red Sox Bull Pen. We met up during the 5th inning for a quick photo op.

I wanted to be back in our seats before 'Sweet Caroline' - it was great. I was able to get a little video, with the audio you can hear how loud the crowd is during the song. This was my favorite part of the game.

Of course Red Sox fans would probably say their favorite part of the game was the final score...Red Sox win!

My Favorite Red & White Quilts

As promised, here are some pictures of my favorite quilts from the "Infinite Variety Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts" exhibit recently on display in NYC. This quilt was the poster child of the event. The design was featured on the signage, brochure, and on a tote bag available for purchase. The intricate design creates a fantastic optical illusion. I'm not sure how you would piece a quilt like this together. It was absolutely stunning. Plus the applique pieces in the corners add to the whimsy of the overall design. The star design was another fabulous piece. Lining up all of those points so perfectly had to be very tedious. With many of the quilts I looked at the design until I could figure out the basic block, but with this quilt and the quilt above I have no clue how you would put them together. Maybe someday when I have more time and better sewing and cutting skills I can tackle this kind of design.

This next quilt looks deceptively simple. The actual quilting (the stitched used to connect the layers of the quilt) is very intricate. The multiple stitch designs are easy to see on the plain white background.

A closer look at the red design on the quilt shows it is a combination of reverse applique and and embroidery. It must have been such a long process to cut and stitch around all of the applique. What a great display of craftsmanship.

The airplane quilt was adorable. The design is fun and whimsical and I could see this in any little boys bedroom. (I could also see a store like Pottery Barn selling a recreation of this piece.)

Not surprisingly this was a quilt made around war time to show support for our troops.

This quilt is another kind of optical illusion, but this is one I could make. It's all long strips, little blocks, and right angles. I like the striking look of the completed quilt - very bold and modern.

The quilt below features applique work that is beautiful, but I was more impressed by its condition. The quilt was made in 1858 and isn't faded or falling apart. What a testament to the women that put this piece together.

And finally one last little tidbit I learned. Often quilts were used to raise funds. A quilting group would put together a quilt and people would pay to have their name put on the quilt and then the quilt would be sold or raffled.

The close up below shows one such piece - there are names added along the edges. Seeing the names in the quilt makes me want to know where it was made, who paid to have their names added to the quilt, and how much money did it raise. It was really fascinating.

Quilts require time and effort to make. And for many of the quilts on display everything was done by hand. There were quilts that just gave me goosebumps because I could feel the history and sense the heart and soul that went in to making them.