May 18, 2008
Marshfield Fiber Fair - 2008
Some people had fun at the Fair...
(Hi Heather! Hi bunnies!)
Some did not!
I really enjoyed it, myself! It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm but not too hot. I had fun hanging out with my knitting friends Heather and Dallas (and seeing even more knitty buddies and random Ravelers), and I came home with some really soft handspun, a skein of beautiful pink and brown variegated laceweight merino, and sheepsmilk cheese!
Posted by zarah at 8:24 AM | Comments (3)
May 16, 2008
Marshfield Fiber Fair
I'll be there, will you?Posted by zarah at 6:37 PM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2008
Austin Adventures 2008
Window-shopped on South Congress...
Chowed down at the Salt Lick...
Hiked at Enchanted Rock...
Saw Wilco play at Stubb's...
And last but not least -
Goggled at the State Capitol Building.
Before heading back to Springfield, and regular life.....
Posted by zarah at 7:06 PM | Comments (2)
April 28, 2008
Spring Fling '08 - and fun times were had by all
There have been plenty of great recaps - check out Sheri's, Wendy's, and Cookie's blogs, for starters - but I think Tammy's song sums it up best!
Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl, the girl who has everything?
Look at this trove, treasures untold. How many fibers can one building hold?
Looking around here you'd think, sure, she's got everything!
I've got Lorna's and Smooshy a-plenty, I've got Casbah and Noro galore.
You want Wollmeise? I've got twenty!
But who cares, no big deal, I want MORE......
I want to be where the Groupies are, I want to see, want to see them knitting!
Running around taking classes from Cookie A.
Knitting cuff down you don't get too far, toe-up's required for faster progress.
Don't pick up your wraps on your heels - Wendy says it's okay!
Up where we knit, up where we spin, up where we made new wonderful friends
THANK YOU SHERI - for letting us be part of your world.
Posted by zarah at 10:02 PM | Comments (9)
April 24, 2008
Time for the Fling!
I'll be headed off to st. Louis this afternoon with Tammy for my very first knitting retreat - The Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling. I'm signed up for classes by both Wendy and Cookie A. It' the first time I've actually taken a knitting class, so I'm really interested to see how they go. I'm sure it will be great. The Spring Fling board on Ravelry has been buzzing about this event for months, so it will be nice to finally meet everyone in person.
But first - I've gotta go work half a day!
Posted by zarah at 6:53 AM | Comments (5)
November 27, 2007
GO TIGERS!
Oh yeah..... we're number one! Everybody cheer for Mizzou this weekend to win the Big 12 Championship, okay?
(This picture was taken the weekend before Thanksgiving. I was in Columbia for my cousin's wedding, so we took a little campus tour before the ceremony. I was the only one not wearing Mizzou gear, so I snapped the photo of my husband, mom, and sister in front of the columns.)
Posted by zarah at 8:39 PM | Comments (3)
November 1, 2007
Santa Fe Day 3 & 4
My big event for Vacation Day 3 was driving to Taos to visit La Lana Wools. It's a really amazing yarn shop where all the yarn is designed specifically for the shop. They're all dyed with natural dyes and the colors are amazing.
I got 2 1/2 skeins of Phat Silk Fines in a coral color (dark madder) and 2 skeins of Forever Random Fine in a blue-green colorway.
On Halloween night, Matt and I drove around Santa Fe madly trying to come up with last-minute costumes. Of course, every costume shop had been picked over - it was a sad sight. We finally ended up at Target, where we raided the accessories aisle (black beret for Matt, huge purse and ridiculous hat for me) and went as a beatnik and a starlet.
Santa Fe Day 4 was supposed to be a tour of the sights and tastes north of Santa Fe. We started out with lunch at Sugar's, a roadside diner near Embudo, NM. It's really, REALLY good - get the Sugar Burger if you're ever in the vicinity. Next, we visited the Sanctuario of Chimayo. This is the "Lourdes of America," and as much as I don't understand it, there seemed to be a lot of people there who genuinely believed that the dirt from the floor of that church would heal them or their relatives.
After that, we drove about 20 minutes towards Nambe Pueblo to hike around Nambe Falls and Lake. Unfortunately, we didn't get the memo that the park had been closed for the season. So... we turned around and heade back towards Chimayo. We had plans to eat dinner at Rancho de Chimayo, but we needed to kill a couple of hours and there's not a whole lot to do in that rural part of the world. There's basically houses, mountains, one restaurant, and a bunch of gift shops selling Indian pottery, jewelry, and rugs. It's really nice stuff, but it's either super expensive or pseudo-Indian crafts made in China. So, normally we don't even bother going in these shops, but we were desperate.
He had several spools of different colored wool to create the multi-colored pattern. It actually reminded me a lot of intarsia knitting, with the edges of each color block overlapping just a little to join the different sections together. The close-up is from another loom - there were about 6 looms in the store that various weavers in the community can use. Weaving is a major cottage industry in northern New Mexico, and large rugs or wall-hangings sell for around $3,000. (Luckily, pictures are free!)
Posted by zarah at 9:31 PM | Comments (5)
October 30, 2007
Santa Fe Day 2
The fun continues! Today we went for a hike at Tent Rocks National Monument, which is about an hour's drive south of Santa Fe. (It's really not that far away, it's just that part of the drive is on a bad gravel road.) The trail takes you way up in the mountains, through the "narrows" where the rock has eroded in only a very small pathway that you can sqeeze through, and then up to an overlook. It's a nice view, but the really interesting thing about this hike is the tent rocks are all over this part of the mountain range. Apparently the composition of the mountains is mostly really soft rock, with bits of hard granite mixed in, The granite keps the soft rock underneath from eroding, adn the rest of the mountain has been washed away. Some of them have lost their caps, so they're eroded down to just 10 feet tall or so, but many of them are still really tall. It reminded me of walking through a Dr. Seuss book.
After a relaxing afternoon, we walked to The Shed for dinner. We got a recommendation from another restaurant-goer to try the red chile enchiladas while we were waiting to be seated, and it was good stuff.
Tomorrow... La Lana Wools!
Posted by zarah at 9:54 PM | Comments (4)
October 29, 2007
Santa Fe Day 1
We're here! After a LONG drive Sunday night, we arrived in Santa Fe about 10:30pm. This morning, we had a mission: breakfast burritos! We went to our favorite breakfast place, Tia Sofia's, in downtown Santa Fe. It was as delicious as last time we were here. I got some yummy huevos rancheros drenched in green chile sauce.
We walked back to our apartment and loaded up for a bike ride. After some research, we decided that we would ride on the Old Santa Fe Trail. On our way out of town, we took a wrong turn and ended up on the El Pecos Trail (or something like that). It was fine though, because that road had a wide shoulder or bike lane the whole way. We ended up riding about 18 miles, which was more than plenty considering we're at 7,000 feet here, as opposed to the near-sea level that we're used to in Missouri.
Tonight we had dinner at Tomasita's, which is a New Mexican restaurant in a converted train station. This is another favorite from our last visit to Santa Fe two years ago. Yummmmmm.... sopapillas!
Posted by zarah at 9:42 PM | Comments (5)
May 21, 2007
Long weekend in Austin
Warning.... picture heavy post ahead! It's easier to tell this way. Enjoy!
Hiking at Hamilton Pool...
Boating on Lake Austin...
Breakfast Tacos from Rosie's Tex Mex...
Pimpin' on South Congress (at Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds - clever, right?) ...
Live music at the Drunk Pig...
Fun times on Sixth Street...
The night starts to get strange...
The night gets stranger.
Doing our part to keep Austin wierd...
(That's a bobblehead armadillo, in case you were wondering!)
The armadillo gets some action at Coyote Ugly...
And lives happily ever after!
Posted by zarah at 6:43 PM | Comments (5)
May 16, 2007
Austin Bound
Boring knitting update... I'm cruising right along on the second Mizzou Jaywalker sock... (that's kind of an oxymoron, isn't it? Oh no, that would be a "Mizzou JayHAWKer sock." Yeah, I'm not going there.) But it should make for good vacation knitting.
That's right - VACAY! (Sorry - Legally Blonde moment.) I'm taking Thursday and Friday off work to go visit a couple of friends in Austin, TX. My friend Leslie is in school at UT and my friend Angela moved there when she got married. It should be soooo fun. I'm letting Les and Ang be my tour guides, but I know tomorrow night we're going out to eat BBQ at the Salt Lick. yummy yummy. (Rachel Ray says it's good, anyway.)
I doubt I'll be on the internet much until I get back on Sunday, but I should have lots of fun pictures when I get back!
Posted by zarah at 9:09 PM | Comments (12)
January 8, 2007
Copper Mountain Wrap-up
I love vacations. I love travelling. I love time off work. However, I don't get many vacation days, so I have to make the most of them. I started 2007 off right by taking a ski trip to Copper Mountain, Colorado with my husband and friends Amanda and Greg. We rented a ski-in, ski-out condo for the time we were there and skiied all three days.
I have only skiied on real mountains one other time in my life - three years ago - so the first day was quite a rude awakening. We went on a green slope, although the rest of the group, who were far more experienced skiers than me, failed to mention that (a) this was not the bunny slope and (b) we had to cross a little bit of blue slope before we got onto the green slope.
I managed to get down with relatively few falls, but lots of swearing. Lets just say that it does not feel good to snowplow all the way down the mountain! I consider myself to be in relatively good shape, but WOW my legs were so sore I was practically in tears.
By the second day, I had moved on from swearing to talking myself through every movement down the slopes and intentionally falling whenever I felt like I was going too fast. (This was the day I got lots of bruises!) Still, I could tell I was making progress. I stuck to the easiest green slope and practiced my turns a lot.
By the third day, I was ready to go on the rest of the green slopes. Matt was getting bored so he traded in his skis and signed up for a snowboard lesson. The helmet seemed like overkill in a beginner's class but it turned out to be a good thing - all the students were lined up on their boards, and apparently one person fell, knocking everyone else down in the process. He said his head smacked right into the edge of someone else's board, but he didn't feel too much thanks to the helmet. (That's a good thing!)
I think I would like to go skiing again, but I'll probably take a lesson next time.
In blog news, you'll notice that I've reworked my sidebar a bit, and signed up for a few new projects. I've got Project Spectrum, of course, and I've also been wanting to try a fair isle project, so I signed up for the Colorwork Challenge. In more of a New Year's Resolution vein, I signed up for the 100 mile Runagogo Challenge.
As far as formal New Year's Resolutions, I don't normally make any, but I really want to eat healthier (which I've already been trying to do) and keep my house cleaner, even if it means cutting into my knitting time. (Boo!)
Posted by zarah at 6:35 AM | Comments (4)
January 6, 2007
Back home
Hi all - I'm back from Colorado! (Whew - just barely missed that new storm) Look for New Year's Resolutions, knitting and otherwise, and vacation photos soon!Posted by zarah at 1:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2006
Glorious!
Last Friday my running buddy Emily and I trekked south to Silver Dollar City, an old timey theme park just outside Branson, Missouri, for the inaugural Run to the Lights 5K.
Branson is a popular summer vacation destination for families and seniors, but SDC tries to keep the tourists coming in the winter by covering every square inch of the place in Christmas lights from November-January. They have Christmas themed shows and you can still ride most of the rides (except the water rides!) if you can stand the cold. I had never been during the winter until this weekend. My expectations were pretty low, as I think SDC is generally a pretty cheesy place, but the lights were actually very pretty in an over-the-top kind of way.
We got to SDC about 7:30pm, got checked in, and then rushed to the roller coasters to get in a couple of rides before the race started. We got to ride two coasters, five rides total. It was great because the park was basically empty except the runners, so we got to stay on the ride as many times in a row as we wanted until they shut down at 9pm.
I love roller coasters no matter what time of year it is, but it was really cool to see all the lights from way up at the top of the coaster. "Glorious," as Emily likes to say! Plus, the people running the rides were dressed up like elves. Hee hee!
After the rides shut down at 9pm, all the runners and walkers gathered in front of the big Christmas tree for annoucements and entertainment. My favorite part was the characters from the Christmas parade roaming around the crowd. They all had lighted costumes, and the gingerbread men looked like giant spacemen from a distance.
The race itself was just your basic 5K, except half of the race was inside the park, which made it go very quickly because it felt like you were running through a winter wonderland. The only bad part was the Hill, which anyone who has ever been to SDC will remember - we ran up this monstrous hill inside the park not once, but twice. I may have been passed by a six year old on my way up the second time! Oh well, it was about having fun, not running my fastest time ever!
After the race, we got free wassail (that's hot cider in Silver Dollar City-land) and Christmas cookies to tide us over for the 45 min. drive home. All in all, I think it was probably the most fun 5K I've ever run.
Posted by zarah at 5:21 PM | Comments (8)
October 26, 2006
This is what happens when you don't have a camera
You are forced to post random pictures you have taken when you were stuck in the car for way too long and frozen custard sounded REALLY good.
Because really, who doesn't love an Ozark Turtle? (With a straw hat, no less!)
It really is the best thing ever. (Except not so great for your diet, but oh well.) It's a sundae with vanilla frozen custard, hot fudge and caramel sauce, and tons of candied pecans. Yumma yumma!
(Photo taken at Randy's Frozen Custard in Osage Beach, Missouri. But I hear Andy's Custard in Springfield has the Ozark Turtle, too!)
Posted by zarah at 6:25 AM | Comments (3)
September 12, 2006
Tiger Weekend
This weekend I took a trip to Columbia, MO - the home of the University of Missouri, where I went to undergrad and law school. I don't get a chance to visit too often, so it was really nice to go back.
The main reason I went was for a bridal shower for my cousin, but I got to stay for a football game and some other fun stuff. Do you mind if I give you a tour of campus?
This is the stadium during the Mizzou-Ole Miss game last Saturday (from my dad's primo parking spot, natch!) Our football team is not usually that great, so everyone is really excited that we seem to be playing well this year.
(Turns out playing defense is helpful!)
These are the Columns - this is Mizzou's most recognizable landmark. They are from the original administration building on campus, which was destroyed by a fire many many years ago. There is a large green space on both sides of the columns where students go to play frisbee, sunbathe, and relax on campus.
The rumor at MU is that, on a satellite photo, these columns look like missiles lined up and ready to launch, so Columbia is on constant watch by the Russians and Chinese. Hmmm.... decide for yourself!
Last but not least, we have my beautiful law school! It's one of the newer buildings on campus, which is nice since it means we have nicely functional air conditioning and plenty of electrical outlets for laptops and such. It sits beside another green space that mirrors "The Quad" where the columns are located. Lovely for frisbee - not so lovely when you're running late to Secured Transactions at 8am and have to cross it on the circular sidewalks!
After taking the walking tour of campus, my family and I went to Shakespeare's Pizza, for a few slices of the best pizza ever. This was not a new discovery, since I've been going to Shakespeare's for as long as I can remember. Check it out if you're ever in mid-Missouri. But let me warn you, it's definitely not diet food!
Last but not least, no weekend trip could be complete without searching out the local yarn shop, right?
I'm proud to report that Columbia has an excellent one - Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe. (Thanks for the tip, Leslie!)
Actually, I really don't need anymore yarn right now, so I wasn't planning on going. (Gasp!) But luckily, the friend I was staying with in Columbia has asked me to knit a hat for my husband for thsi winter, so...you know... we just had to go yarn shopping!
This works out perfectly - I've been hankering for a small fall project; she's buying some really nice yarn! (With my guidance, of course!) I can knit up a hat in worsted weight in just a few days, so I should have something to show you shortly.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of Columbia!
Posted by zarah at 6:30 AM | Comments (4)
August 16, 2006
How to Travel the World in 2 Days
Last weekend, I went to Venice, Paris, New York, Rome, and...um..... Treasure Island? Okay, so I really went to Las Vegas. I had never been before and it was a great time.
I went with four other girls, just for fun. We got cheap flights and split one room at the Venetian, so we got to have the luxury of Vegas without breaking the bank. I'm not a big gambler, so we spent our one day shopping and both nights going out dancing.
I won't give you a minute by minute account of the trip (what happens in Vegas....!) but the highlights for me were:
- Petting the designer purses in the Forum Shops at Caesar's
- The fountains at the Bellagio - I know it sounds dorky but those fountains are really cool
- All of us girls getting out make-up done at Sephora before going out Saturday night (only one ended up looking like a drag queen, luckily not me!)
- Trucker arms! (sorry, had to throw in at least one inside joke)
- Dining with the beautiful people at Tao and then hanging out at Barbary Coast
- Dancing at Coyote Ugly
It was a crazy weekend that did not involve much sleep (flew in Friday night, left Sunday morning) but it was fun and I think I've finally recuperated.
Posted by zarah at 6:53 AM | Comments (7)
April 18, 2006
Lincoln Memorial
Oh, I can’t wait. My husband and I are taking a vacation to DC in less than two weeks. I’ve never been there before, so I’m really excited about seeing the White House and all the monuments, not to mention the Smithsonian and maybe the Zoo! I also might get to meet up with some bloggers and tour the DC yarn shops…. right, Lolly?
Anyway, if anyone lives in DC or has visited recently, let me know what I should do! I will be there for a week in early May.
Posted by zarah at 4:17 PM | Comments (10)
November 7, 2005
Hiking in Hercules Glades
This Saturday my husband and I went hiking in Hercules Glades. It's part of the Mark Twain National Forest, near Bradleyville, MO (about an hour and 15 minute drive from the south side of Springfield, MO). We have been having usually warm weather for this time of year -- I think it was in the upper 70's -- and all the fall colors are out, so we figured it would be a perfect time to go.
We hiked part of the Coy Bald trail, which begins on the back side of wilderness area, off of Highway 160. It is less developed and has fewer trails than the main access, but fewer people go there so we figured we would give it a try! We saw a few people packing up their campsite when we first arrived, and one bow-hunter out of the trail -- other than that, it was just us.
The area really nice for hiking because there are there wierd little "glades" interspersed with the normal deciduous forest. The land in the glades is really rocky, so no trees grow there except cedars. The pictures here are in a glade on the top of one of the hills -- there was a pretty good view since there weren't any big trees.
After hiking on the trail for a while, we decided to go "off-road" and basically started wandering through the woods. Thank goodness we had our little GPS, or else we probably would have been stranded out there for days. =) We didn't have topo maps of the area, which proved problematic (we found the stream, but we were on a bluff 40 feet above it -- that's no good). Knitting update: I worked on the Midwest Moonlight scarf on the car ride there and back -- I just joined the final ball of yarn -- 3/4 done! If this warm weather holds out it will be ready in time for the first frost.
Posted by zarah at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)
September 18, 2005
Back home from Santa Fe
Matt & I just got back from a beautiful week in Santa Fe, NM. It was my first vacation from my job that I started last August. My favorite things about Santa Fe:
1. The food! Delicious New Mexican food that is all about the chile sauce! We bought several tubs of frozen green chiles to try to recreate the food at home. You can read all about our food adventures on my husband's blog.
2. The mountains! I live in Missouri, which at best musters some rolling hills. I love to visit the mountains and go hiking. We hiked in Bandelier National Monument and Ghost Ranch, which is the area where Georgia O'Keeffe lived. It is now owned by the Presbyterian church as a conference center and open to the public to visit. (And did I say it's free?!?!!?)
3. The knitting! Okay, I can't say I love sitting in the car for the 11 hours it took to drive to New Mexico, but that is some seriously good knitting time, my friends. I made an all-blogger shrug -- designed by Purly Whites, with yarn purchased from Grumperina (leftovers from a cute cardi she made). I had maybe 6 feet of yarn left at the end of the project (end woven in today!) so I guess it was just meant to be.
Posted by zarah at 8:03 PM
September 16, 2005
Rancho de Taos
Okay, I did not love Taos (too touristy), but I did love this old adobe church in a small village just south of there. This church was made famous when it was painted by Georgia O'Keeffe. (She painted it from the back).
Posted by zarah at 9:56 PM
September 13, 2005
I am buying yarn in Santa Fe!
At the awesome Santa Fe Farmer's Market. (I also got some delicious organic raspberry red chile jam -- I know it sounds wierd, but it's good!)
All this yarn is hand-dyed and hand-spun by an artist in rural northern New Mexico. Yes, I AM a sucker for that kind of thing!
Posted by zarah at 9:52 PM
September 10, 2005
Vacation!
I'm leaving on vacation this Monday, Sept. 12, until Saturday Sept. 17. M and I are driving to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a week of yummy food and hopefully some good shopping. I am starting to look for yarn shops I should visit -- any suggestions? Postings will be light next week (not that anyone is probably reading this anyway!) but after that I should be back with lots of vacation knitting to report (it's a 12 hours drive!)
Posted by zarah at 10:10 AM