Sunday Funday.

(Matilda modeling on my new duvet cover from IKEA.)

Hello, from a chilly house in Central Florida. Word on the street is we're supposed to get down in the low 40's tonight so I'm  preparing my body for a cold Valentine's Day tomorrow. I have a t-shirt with hot pink lips I bought months ago to wear, so it looks like I'll be layering a bit.

This afternoon Harbor and I took a trip up to Orlando so he could furnish his new apartment. Neither of us had ever spent a significant amount of time in an IKEA before, so we were looking forward to the trip. I was especially excited because we've never furniture shopped together, and it just seems like a very adult thing to do. Feel like we really took this relationship to the next level today.

Anyway, we had our monthly photo adventure scheduled for this afternoon, but since we also really needed to hit up IKEA, I decided that we should just knock them both out at the same time. So, yes. We definitely took photos all around the Orlando IKEA store. And yes, that is a very 20-something-white-person-young-love thing to do.

However,  I refused to fit the stereotype completely. I told Harbor we had to be sneaky so that we wouldn't be completely obvious that we were actually having a photo shoot inside of an IKEA. It only added to the challenge and made it more fun. And a hilarious sidenote: My roommate Linds said that she's surprised IKEA stores everywhere haven't posted a sign that reads, "Absolutely no recreating 500 Days of Summer in this store at any time. Thank you."

Here's what we came up with:

Harbor selects a fine wine in his living room.

Kaitlyn considers what she'll be making for the evening in her kitchen.

Kaitlyn and Harbor have a moment in the mirror in which Harbor looks angry but really is not.

And we used the rugs as giant backdrops! It was my favorite part of the trip. Here, Harbor can be seen with his brand new water pitcher.

All in all, it was super fun. I learned a lot about the way Harbor is able to use his money wisely and make this most of a budget. (Great life skills, if you ask me.) I also learned that you can't just "run in real quick" to an IKEA. You have to spend 2 - 3 hours there, minimum. As we were leaving, I heard a young child say, "Ahh, I love the smell of IKEA." Made me wonder how regularly they frequented the store. Must be a pretty trendy little fam. 

On the way home I even got to work on my blanket, which is nearly completed, by the way. I wrapped up the evening cooking vegetarian Indian food with my roommates. It's one of our favorite things in the whole world to eat. We probably make it twice a month at least. 

And here's a sneak peek at my nearly-finished granny square blanket! I can't believe how long it's taken me, but I'll be pumped to have it done. Matilda already approves of my handiwork.

I hope you had a restful weekend and that you're anxiously awaiting Valentine's Day tomorrow, even if you don't have a significant other to celebrate with. It's just a great day to care about others. 

K

Wrapping up the weekend.

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening.

I feel so, so sleepy today. Yesterday I was awake for 24 straight hours, and I don't know if I've ever done that more than a handful of times in my entire life. Even in college I made sure to never pull all-nighters, so Sunday's been a blur.

Last night Harbor and I drove up to Jax for our friend Jenny's birthday party. We ate snacks, told funny stories, and then went dancing at The Pearl downtown. It was a pretty interesting experience, seeing as they played "indie dance hits" which were typically 3 - 4 years outdated, had four trees decorating the interior of the bar, and poured some pretty serious gin & tonics. We were the only group of 20-somethings there for a long time, so perhaps we're not the exact demographic the Pearl regularly draws anymore. It was still really fun though. And we stayed wayyy too late, hence my sleepy zombie state this afternoon.

Lucky for me, after I woke up today one of my roommates announced that she wanted to make scones since it's so gloomy and rainy out. They only took 15 minutes to make! I brewed some Good Earth sweet & spicy tea and ate three mini cinnamon scones with honey on the side as soon as they came out of the oven. Delish.

(Photo by Allie Vander Molen)

This evening I was planning on finishing my granny square blanket while we watched The Super Bowl and ate chips and salsa. But I ended up having too much fun enjoying the commercials and criticizing the halftime performance by The Black Eyed Peas [honestly, who thought that was going to be a good idea?] to pull out my yarn. You may be wondering, "What happened to 'Finish by February'?" Ok, so it's confession time. Yes, it is February 6th and my goal was to be completely done by the 1st, however I'm still working. At first I was sort of bummed I couldn't pull it off by my deadline, but then I realized that I was placing unnecessary pressure on myself for not meeting my own deadline. So my new goal it to be finished by Valentine's Day.

What did you guys do this weekend? I hope you got more rest than I did, but had just as much fun.

Matilda says goodnight and sweet dreams.
K

Today consisted of:

One breakfast hang with Chad.

Two trips solidified. Four flights booked for next week.

One surprise visit from the boy during work.

Two quick phone calls with dear friends.

Four sweet girls, five pizza "crusties," and two hours of The Babysitters Club.

Three more granny squares.

Eighteen cupcakes baked for some hardcore boys.

One sweet Little Tiny. (The best cat ever born.)

And one of the best memories:

(photo courtesy of Tyler Malone Photography)

So happy.

K

Ravelry.com

Just found out about a yarncrafting social networking website of sorts, called ravelry.com. I'm still trying to sort it all out, but it appears to be a space where users can keep track of projects, chat in forums, join groups and share inspiration. The site layout isn't very well-designed and seems a tad outdated, but it seems interesting. I'll spend some more time exploring it and seeing if it's worth investing time into. I was really intrigued by the "yarn" tab. I like seeing the best type of yarn for each project, and maybe I can learn about new brands I don't typically spot at Michaels or Joann's.

Really hoping to knock out a ton of work on my blanket this weekend. Everytime I think about it being done I get so excited! Maybe I should add some yarn to my inspiration wall at work... that would be sure to keep me motivated. Perhaps a pretty granny square will end up hanging there next to Kirsten Dunst. :)

Goodnight!

K

Granny square blanket update.

If you were wondering (and, let's be honest, I know you were), my granny squares are coming right along!

I took a photo to document my progress this evening, and my squares covered our entire ottoman! I could sew three more and have a very small lap blanket just to make my "Finish by February" goal easier on myself, but I'm going to make 23 more and have a nice, snuggly blanket instead. Here's to the process!

Anyone else wrapping up little crafting projects already in the new year?

K

Finish by February.

If I type it it's official. I will be finished with my granny square blanket by February 1, 2011. This means that I have to construct roughly 15 - 20 more squares, crochet in the ends, and sew them together before midnight on January 31st. Nineteen days is plenty of time.

I've grabbed a few beautiful blanket photos to remind my fingers that it's worth the effort to continue.

Really like this girl's color scheme. And I love this "sunburst" granny square pattern.

Rachel's been a source of inspiration to me in my yarn crafting and sewing. Let's hope I can become nearly as good as she is one day. (That olive green color is so good, too.)

This blanket is so cute. So is this cat.

And, I love that I can always count on RVA for a photo of a good ol' handmade blanket. (I want to go to their new store very badly.)

Time to dream about my beautiful granny squares. Goodnight!

K