muerto de risa

yarn dreams...

i recently started knitting again.  my goal is to be able to make cute little baby gifts like the items in this book (which suzy seems to be having luck with) or maybe these cute little shoes.  if anyone else has any easy patterns or book suggestions please share!

i also have to learn how to crochet so i can make beautiful things like my buddy, shula:

mym's quilt (with pattern!):

or the infamous wedding jacket:

and then i will improve my knitting until i can make beautiful things like miss ysolda. (follow this link and scroll down to see a pretty pink sweater she is working on...but don't miss the bagels!)

sometimes i spend more time dreaming about what i'd like to make than i do making...

old-fashioned sweet

   

this is the little rug jordan and i made for my brother and di.  they seemed to really like it.  that was a relief as we decided to make a new one only a few weeks before the wedding.  we stitched every night for hours.  jordan has since sworn off needlepoint.  i still love the meditative quality of pulling the needle and yarn in and out of the tiny boxes.

thank you again for all of your birthday cheer.  this seems to be one of those years when my birthday gets stretched out.  last night we went out with some ecuadorian friends and celebrated again.  did you know that ecuadorians love whiskey?  a friend of a friend decided to capitalize on this by opening a bar in quito that serves only whiskey and whiskey drinks.  we ended up there last night and since i am not much of a drinker i was a little intimidated by the menu.  but thanks to jordan, i discovered a new favorite drink: the old-fashioned.  whiskey, 7-up, and lime juice.  apparently this version of the drink is known as an old-fashioned sweet.  sweet, but not too sweet.  slightly tart.  only a vague taste of whiskey.  yum.

have a great weekend!

ps-i would love either this coat or this jacket to replace my stolen one.  too bad they only ship to canada!

happy mother's day!

here are some more buttons.  these were found in the san telmo antique market in buenos aires. 

i'm off to new york bright and early tomorrow morning.  i hope to post a couple of time while away.

chao!  hasta luego!

buttons and facts

i've been feeling kind of stressed and overwhelmed again and to arrive home this afternoon to a package full of beautiful old buttons from dear paula.  it was the perfect pick-me-up.  thank you paula!

i love buttons.  i still have a little yellow cardboard box with a bunny printed on top (i think it was originally a candybox?) filled with buttons that belonged to my grandmother.  as a child i loved organizing them and could lose myself for hours in their different shapes, sizes, and colors.

not much as changed.  i still love to organize and i still love buttons.

on a different note, after being tagged by both tricia and babelfish, i believe it is time to share 7 random facts/habits about myself.  i feel like i did this awhile ago, but it seems enough time has passed to do it again.  shall we get started?

1. i cannot go in a car in the morning without eating breakfast or i will feel nauseous and probably throw up.  the same thing happens when i try to read in a car.

2. i am related to nathan of nathan's hot dogs. (you know the ones from coney island?)  my grandfather used to work at the original stand as a boy.

3. nathan came to the states with my great-grandfather who opened a fish store.  i have an axe he used to use in the store.  the idea of what was done with the axe is kind of gross but i like the history and the old wood handle so i keep it.  it's quite heavy.

4. i like to have all of the bills in my wallet organized by value.  single dollars are always in the front.  twenties are always in the back.  the money must be arranged before going into my wallet even if it mean holding up the line.

5. sometimes i get claustrophobic.  sometime during rush hour in new york i had to exit a subway train and relax before i could continue on my trip.   

6. when i was 13 my favorite outfit to wear to bar mitzvahs consisted of a gold lame skirt with a matching white sweatshirt covered in gold and silver appliques and accented with rhinestones.

7. besides money, i also like to organize food on the conveyor belt at the supermarket (by food group, size, etc.).  i insist on doing this despite that fact that the employees who bag the food always ignore my system and bag the food randomly.

have a great weekend!  i'll be back once more before heading off to new york. (for those who don't know, i'm going for my sister's college graduation and my brother's wedding.)

paper and stuffies

   

hi friends.  today was a typical quito day - overcast in the morning, sunny and HOT mid-day, hail and heavy rain in the afternoon, dry and cool in the evening.  people always say that in quito you can experience every season in one day, and with the exception of snow, this is often the case.

anyway, today i wanted to share with you two of my favorite stores we found in buenos aires.  both have great websites that i hope you'll enjoy.

the first is papelera palermo.  my definition of heaven might be a perfect paper store. (well, maybe a perfect paper store that offers free massages and hot bibimbop.)  almost all of the products sold at papelera palermo are made at their studio a few blocks away.  we stopped by and they offered us a tour.  their facililties are amazing and one day i'd love to take a class there.

 

the second is sopa de principe.  we walked by this store when it was closed and i made jordan go back with me later. it was well worth the second trip.  there were sooooo many cute stuffies it was very difficult to decide. 

i chose a stuffed version of maradona, the famous argentian soccer player.  he doesn't actually look like maradona, but more like the little monsters above only with a blue & white jersey with the number 10 on the back.

   

i'm ready

i realized i never shared this not so great photo of my paper quilt entry.  it is for the january quilt but after a small accident with my glue, dawn was kind enough to let me redo my original collage.  i finally sent it in a couple of weeks ago.

remember how i posted about 31 feeling old?  really, it's not 31 that's getting to me but the stress of our upcoming transition.  i don't even mind transitions really, but the anticipation of transition.  i like to just jump in and start getting settled.  i like being busy.  i don't like waiting for something difficult when there is not much i can do to prepare for it.  at least not yet.

i am trying to concentrate on enjoying my time left here in quito.  there will be plenty of time to pack and look for a job and an apartment later.  right?!?!

what would it be like to come across a dinosaur...

sometimes when walking i imagine what it would be like to come across a dinosaur.  would it look like the drawings i've seen in museums?  would i turn and run, slowly attempt to approach it, or just leave it alone?

my questions were answered when we stumbled upon this fellow during a buenos aires walk to the recoleta crafts fair.  we remained calm and stopped to take a photo.  he ignored us and quietly continued scavenging for food and water.

i'd like to cover the world in flowers

for some reason this collage fits my mood on this day of mourning for those who were killed in the virginia tech shootings.  i think it's the idea of sprinkling flowers.

i want to participate in the moment of silence at noon, but as i will be alone i am not sure if it will count.

on a different note, does anyone have any advice for how this sculpture could be safely packaged and mailed? 

   

i was thinking maybe wrapping newspaper around the small parts to hold them in place and then wrapping the whole thing in bubble wrap?  what do you think?

can you believe valeria had emailed me to tell me she wanted to meet up in argentina and give me this laundry lady and i was stupid enough not to check my email?  the generosity of people i've met through blogging helps me remember that there still is a lot of good in this world.

spoil me

(image above from the beautiful emery et cie website.)

one of my favorite things to do is climb back into bed after taking a shower.  to me, this is a luxurious activity and i instantly feel happy, relaxed, and spoiled.

another thing i enjoy is perusing online shops.  sometimes i let myself linger, looking at my favorite images over and over.  sometimes i splurge on something just because it is pretty. a few of my new favorites include:

-paula's otchi-potchi

-vanessa's a fanciful twist

-jasna's shop

-and of course, emery et cie (how much for everything on the site?)

what do you do to spoil yourself?

i like bugs as long as they stay out of my dreams...

a current work in progress which i am sharing only as a buffer from the next images...

here are a couple of shots of the giant cockroaches we saw in the jungle.  why am i sharing them with you?  last night i had a dream that baby powder attracts them and someone had poured it all of our apartment which was therefore swarming with bugs!  eek. then, in attempt to get rid of them i got powder all over myself.  followed by cockroaches.  and then i woke up.