It’s been a couple of crazy weeks with traveling again.  Went to Walt Disney World for a week and then headed up to Seattle for 2 back-to-back weeks to work with a vendor.  In between that I taught a sock knitting class and watched Nick and Riley for a weekend for the Rojo’s 10th Anniversary.  It’s been a whirlwind to say the least!

I have been able to knit a little here and there though.  My socks aren’t finished yet, so thought I would show the other projects I recently whipped up:

First up is “Snowdrop”.  You really can’t tell in this photo, but there is a very cute pattern that makes little peaks.  this one was made with Lorna’s Laces.

The second photo is of “Techno Hat”.  An absolutely adorable hat on – made of Blue Sky Alpaca.

Posting here:

SkiptomyLou

A couple of years ago I knit mittens for all my girlfriends for Christmas.  I was so burnt out on making mittens that I didn’t make any more until this past December.

It has been so cold in our office that I decided to make a friend of mine fingerless gloves so that she can still use her computer, but at least keep her hands *semi-warm*.  You can find that pattern HERE on Ravelry.  These knit up so quickly – I think I finished in 2 days

Linking up to these parties:

I’ll tell you the deal – today I went to both Target and Vons to pick up “healthy” snack and lunch stuff  as well as a few other necessity items.

At Target my total came to $52…and viola, after my $15 worth of coupons, total came down to $37!!  I still had $20 from the Target gift card I had for carpooling to work (we earn $1 every day we carpool and can cash those points in for gift cards, cash or Disney Dollars, so I chose Target gift card), so I only spent $17!!  If you don’t already know, you can use a regular coupon and also a Target Coupon for double savings!  Just go to Target.com/coupons to see what coupons are available.  The big *score* at Target – Progresso Soup regular $1.49, on sale for $1.33 and add $1 off of 4 cans, that brings them down to $1.08 per can.  It might not be a HUGE savings, but hey, it all adds up – plus Progresso Light soups are only 2 points on Weight Watchers and make the perfect dinner when you get home after 6pm and don’t feel like cooking

If you don’t get coupons in the Sunday paper, you can go online to coupons.com, smart source.com, and also red plum.com to print coupons out as well.

At Vons I always look for their weekly ad and clip the “tons” coupons and then look for the matching coupon in one of the above sites.  The big deal I got today are Fiber One bars.  They were on sale for $2.99, but with the Vons coupon they were $1.99 – add my $.40 coupons that they doubled, making each box $1.09 – max was 4 boxes.  That’s a savings of $7.60 or 64%!!!

So, the deal with coupons?  You SAVE a lot of money – if you take the time to clip!!

Lately I’ve seen lots of commercials promoting Greek Yogurt – so, while at Trader Joe’s last night I decided to pick some up and give it a try – something to replace my nightly binge for “ice cream”!

I’ve discovered that I think Greek yogurt is disgusting. I’m not sure all the reasons that it’s supposed to be better for you than good old Dannon, but yuck. I bought a tub that was allegedly flavored like vanilla but tasted like thick cheese – almost like cottage cheese, which I absolutely hate.  Cottage Cheese is like curdled milk, another disgusting diary product. I don’t want anything vaguely cheese-flavored and that thick mixed with berries and granola. Besides that, what makes yogurt made by Greeks so special? I suspect it’s all just some big marketing ploy.

Needless to say, I won’t be buying that again!  And since I’m trying to cut out the ice cream, I guess it’s back to Skinny Cows for now…those are GOOD – and don’t taste like cheese

For Riley’s birthday she asked if I would knit her a new sweater since the old one I knit no longer fit her.  She picked out the pattern and colors that she wanted.  After looking at different yarns, I settled on Cascade Ultra Pima and it came out absolutely adorable.  I need to get a picture of her wearing it, but here it is:

The pattern is called Sweet Pea by Sublime.

Happy New Year!  I can’t believe it is really 2012 – where did 2011 go??  I think I spent almost as much time in Florida in 2011 as I did home here in California!

As most people do at the beginning of a new year, I have been working on setting some “goals” for the year – not resolutions, but actual goals to accomplish this year.

The first is to BLOG more!  A couple of years ago I was pretty good at actually sitting down on a regular basis and documenting what was happening in my life, silly thoughts, funky websites and some pretty fun products that I found throughout the year.  I did it more as a diary of sorts for myself.

This year I have also decided to embark on project 365- taking a photo everyday and posting it online.  I have added a new page up on the top menu that you can click on to see my daily photo’s.  I imagine they will be pretty random – not random meaning posting here and there, but random meaning anything and everything will gets it’s photo taken.  I know that I will start off with a big bang – it’s going to be keeping up with it that will be a challenge, but one that I’m really up for!!

How about you?  Are you setting any goals for the year?  I have plenty more that I will be sharing over the next week or so.  Check back – I promise to keep up on the blogging this year!!

You can put any of these goodies on these lovely stands!

These are so easy to make…a little E600 glue, a candlestick and a plate.

I picked up the candlestick at the Dollar Store for $1, the plates were from Crate and Barrel Outlet and the glue I think I picked up at Joann’s.

Take all the labels off the plate and candlestick, turn the plate upside down and put the glue on the edge of the candlestick and adhere to the plate.  I put mine on the floor and then stack a bunch of heavy books on them and let dry overnight so that it’s good and adhered.

Perfect for Christmas gifts, Hostess gift, Birthday gift – find random plates from outlets, Marshalls, Home Goods, etc.

The last couple of days, my Keurig has been brewing about half a cup of coffee and the water keeps pumping back into the “reservoir” and it’s been driving me crazy.  I read how to “descale” and clean the k-cup holder and I did all of that.  I finally read some feedback from people on Amazon and decided to give Keurig a call.

The girl that helped me looked up the manufacture number and after following her directions of brewing a cup and measuring it, she told me that they would be sending me out a BRAND NEW one this week!  I was thinking that I was going to be screwed and have to buy a new one (cause once you have one of these babies, there is no going back!).

They will be sending it FEDEX even!  And all I have to do is send back one little part of my old one and then “throw the old one” in the trash-  her words!

I’m impressed that they actually followed through on the warranty – and mine is a little over a year old and they still upheld it!  This is one company that has my business!!

Til then, it’s gonna be Starbucks Chai Tea Latte!  I think I can handle a few days of Starbucks while on VACATION, knowing that I’ll have this sweet little thing here within a week