coffee confusion...

You know you have lived in too many cities when you can't even remember the name of your favorite place to go get a cup of joe! On my initial Knitters Coffee Swap 4 questionnaire I answered that I loved to go to Coffee Tree Roasters in Chicago for my coffee... the only problem is that Coffee Tree Roasters is in Pittsburgh, not Chicago! If my partner, Jodi, hadn't been from Chicago I would have remained confused... however, luckily, I now, think I have it straightened out. I used to go to The Coffee and Tea Exchange when I lived in Chicago!

And, you might ask, how many cities have I lived in... well... I grew up in West Hartford, CT, went to college in Ithaca, NY, lived in NYC for 2 years, then moved to Chicago, IL for grad school, lived there for 5 years (in 5 different apts!) and then to Boston for 1 year to teach. After Boston I got a "full-time/tenure track job" and moved to Pittsburgh for 3 years, where I might have actually stayed... I mean I even bought a house, BUT... then I met my husband, and so, the moving boxes came out again, and here I am on Long Island!

Knitter's Coffee Swap 4 Questions

Yep, back again, for another go round... I had so much fun last time that I decided to do this again... the only "fly in the ointment" as my DH says, is that since I am pregnant I am so NOT into coffee at the moment... but, since this happened last time, too, I know that when I deliver the belly I will begin to crave the coffee again. So, this time it will have to sit and wait for me, but I am okay with that!
QUESTIONS
1. Whole bean or ground? whole bean, please - grinding is part of the ritual
2. Fully-loaded or decaf? fully-loaded
3. Regular or flavored? regular, unless the flavoring is provided by spices actually added to the beans, ie Trader Joes Winter Blend which has pieces of cinnamon, peppercorns and cloves actually in w/ the beans the be ground together
4. How do you drink your coffee? w/ half and half is preferred, but if I have had meat and really want coffee, w/ some sugar and no cream (will explain this more below)
5. Favorite coffee ever? can't really say, but I really enjoyed the Blue Mountain Roast Blend from Coffee and Tea Exchange in Chicago when I lived around the corner... actually anything from there was awesome!
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? not so picky, but have had some "old beans" I regretted...
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? mmmmmm....treats... you mean besides chocolate? well, we really like the Trader Joe's A Fig Walked into A Bar cereal bars... We keep kosher so any food products including coffee, need to have a symbol on them stating as such. The most common symbol you see will be an O with a U inside it, however there are many many symbols. Hershey chocolate is all kosher, Scharffen Bergen and Giradelli (the regular flavors - usually w/o nuts, fruits, etc) are also kosher. PLEASE ASK, don't just guess, I hate throwing food away and I really have no one to give these things to if we can't eat them.
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I like dark chocolate - did I mention chocolate...
9. Yarn/fiber you love? am really enjoying the alpaca/solk blend I am working w/ right now. Not too much of a yarn snob - will use blends, particularly washable ones...washable wool, or blends to make it washable... and MALABRIGO!!!! love the silky merino...
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? not a fan of Red Heart anything.... also, have plenty of teal and I don't know what to do with it, don't like the fun fur/novelty stuff
11. What's on your needles? too many things... a Feb. Lady sweater, a knit hat for my daughter, a knit hat for myself, a lace shawl for my best friend, a knit gansey for my daughter, a crochet sweater baby gift, a crochet animal baby gift, and probably a few other things here and there that have been started, and need my attention...
12. Favorite colors? blue, green (not kelly), darker colors
13. Allergies? fresh pineapple, smoke, typical animals - dog, cat, etc.
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? please ask me about kosher stuff, really, I don't mind - also, while you may think there is nothing "great" about Hershey's.. it's kosher, we're used to it! if you are near a Trader Joes my new fave chocolate is the dark chocolate wedges with Ancho and Chipotle Chiles & Korintji Cinnamon... mmmm yummmmmmmmmmm.... think I'll have me some right now...

that's it for now... i think!

random thought on Smush...

In our dining room we have a somewhat largish table. It's a rectangle. There is some other furniture in there as well, an antique buffet, a china closet, a section of a couch... and of course, chairs. You can't exactly have a dining room table without chairs. We don't have a matched set or anything, actually three are my old kitchen chairs (pre-marriage) and were actually our desk chairs growing up as kids and the other five are from my in-laws. Smush loves to push one chair, any one of them, around the table like she is an Indy driver and somehow is going to win a race if she can get the chair completely around the table. I understood it more when she was first learning to walk and needed something to lean one. Now that she runs everywhere... Well... it's just pretty darned funny. Especially when she hits another chair, or the couch piece and can't go any further. As if her engine has blown up and the race is now over, or she has to pit and pit row is closed.

every Tuesday....

I get a reminder to blog. and every Tuesday it seems like something comes up and I close the reminder and tell myself, yeah, I'll do it later... but as you can see, it's been about a month.. no wait, longer, and I haven't been so good at blogging. A lot has happened since Oct. 19th... Smush has gotten bigger, I became a year older... and WE FINALLY GOT OUR ETSY STOREFRONT OPENED!!!!!!!! so, here is the link: and we are really excited about it and you know you want to see it... so GO!!!!! check it out.... and if you like the idea but are looking for a less expensive gift, we have some costume jewelry bracelets and necklaces that we can't post on etsy because we didn't make them, we just do the pictures, so leave me a comment or send me an email at p2pinfo(at)photostopixels.com making the correction in the addy....

Catching UP.....

This month is always a crazy one. Between preparing for Rosh Hashanah, then Yom Kippur, then Sukkot and Shmini Atseret there is always something that needs to be done and blogging certainly doesn't seem to take priority. BUT... a lot has been going on. And, to prove it, here are a few peeks at things that have been completed. Of course, there are about 3 other things that haven't been photographed yet, but at least here's a start!This dress is for a dear friend of mine's youngest... she's a total "girl" even at only 4 months old, and I hope she wears this well... It will need a longsleeve onesie and tights under it, but since Kira is a mom of 3, I am sure she will figure it out! Thanks to my MIL for helping me line the darn thing. I knew I wanted an openwork bottom, but wasn't sure the best way to line it.
This was for a cousin's daughter who was born awhile ago... I did most of this while we were driving from here to Pittsburgh and back, but didn't actually "finish" it and give it until recently. I don't really know the parents too well, but I hope they put her in it at least once - it will definitely be warm. I think the yarn probably works better knit than crocheted and I originally bought the yarn to make a coat for Smush...but then I began the guernsey (see below) as this baby gift and realized that it was turning out like size 4T, that the new baby was a girl and perhaps they were going to be the type of parents who liked pink on their daughter and that I really liked the yarn and perhaps this would be better for Smush... so I swapped the projects.
This is the sweater you have see here before. It is even more completed now... and I had to buy more yarn. This bulky stuff only has about 70yards per ball and it doesn't go far! I have now completed the ribbing on the very bottom, the neck ribbing and have begun one sleeve. It is very large - and has been put aside for a little bit until I get some other stuff under control.

In the works, on my desk upstairs, I have a small caterpillar that will be for a baby gift, and I want to make one more toy... but I don't know what. I have begun and completed a holiday gift for one niece and am completing the other niece's as well. I have two good friends who are due in January, and one who is due in November. Needless to say I am working in the order of potential birth...this is all good!

ok... this is getting posted even though I have more to say... soon the holidays will be over and hopefully things will get back to "normal."

Happy New Year....

As we head into Rosh Hashanah I would like to wish you all a Shana Tova U'metukah.... I know I haven't posted much recently and resolve to do much better. I have lots I want to say, but limited time and also lots I want to do... so I will work on it!

hmfpppfff....

my last post didn't post.... it wasn't like it was great literature or anything, but it annoys me when technology fails. i will think about it and re-write... or not...