Back Home Again in Indiana

I took an impromptu trip to Indiana to visit my family before I start my new job.  I will be working at a non profit with kids on the autism spectrum.   I might not get another chance to come home until the summer so I hurried home and surprised my family.  I was able to spend some quality time with my nieces and we did some crafting.  My Mom taught me how to crochet a granny square again and I successfully completed my first one!  We also went to the nearby outlet mall and found some great deals at Eddie Bauer, I got a waterproof trench coat for 70% off and a down vest.  Then we headed to the antique mall and got lost.  We could have spent all day, it was a little overwhelming.  The weather has been a bit ridiculous, reaching 61 degrees today.  I spent some time in the pasture getting some photos of the horses.  I had a hard time choosing which ones to post.  The photo below is of  Cocoa on the left and Gypsy on the right.  Cocoa is a rocky mountain horse and we have only had her a year.   She is very curious and loves to go fast.  Gypsy is a Tennessee walking horse and we have had her since I was seven years old making her 21.  When I look into her eyes I see kindness and trust, I love her like a sister.  She unlike Cocoa does not like to go fast and would prefer to take the scenic trail.

 

Sammy the neighbors horse covered in mud, wasn't too happy with my presence in the pasture.  He gave me the evil eye and snorted at me.

Cocoa was very interested in my camera and slobbered all over the lens.

Recent Projects

1. Knitting project
I will be posting  the finished product later this week.

2.  Painting project
Owl I painted at glazed and amused

3.  Embroidery project
Felt fawn on vintage fabric

4.  Gnome project
Made out of wool felt from pattern  I created

Interview

Yesterday I had a job interview at the YMCA, this is what I wore.

Ignore the ugly wallpaper, as soon as I get a tall enough ladder that works on stairs I will be painting over it. 

Camel sweater: Gap
Vintage silk polka dot shirt: thrifted
Skirt: Levi's
Leather loafers: thrifted
Tights: TJ Maxx

Black rose earring: Ruche
Gift from sister in law

Shined them up just for the interview

Mustard hat: thrifted

I got the job, but it unfortunately doesn't pay very well.  I don't think that I am going to be able to take it.

Salsa and Good Walking Music

Yesterday I got up before sunrise, made my husband french toast, watched a tree being cut down across the street, walked to the store for a few ingredients, did laundry, and made tacos and salsa for dinner.  The walk was defiantly the highlight of my day, it was unusually warm and lacking snow for this time of year.  I put on my headphones and played a new band that I have been really into recently: which turns out to be good walking music as well.  The album is called From the Cradle to the Rave and the band has somewhat of a striking name, calling themselves Shit Robot.  I highly recommend checking them out. The band is made up of members from two of my other favorite bands, LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip.  I can't wait for them to start touring so I can check them out live.  Here are a few photos I snapped on my walk.

Hotel Holley, no longer a hotel now a run down apartment building.

Vintage postcard- Hotel Holley

The local fire station

Ingredients for salsa obtained from my walk to the store.  Tomato, cilantro, onion, lime, garlic radishes, and jalapeno peppers.  I normally use habanero or serrano peppers because I like my salsa hot, but the store had neither.

annihilate 

Weekend

What I wore.
Sweater: Levi's
Denim Shirt: Levi's
Maroon Corduroy Pants: Levi's
Boots: Rocket Dog
I have a Levi's addiction

Took a walk downtown to go the the antique store and to get dinner.  Stopped to admire some of the other lovely homes on our street.  Sometimes I think that we are crazy for buying a 5,000 sq ft home but then I see so many other homes in our town that are even bigger and then I don't feel so bad.

Base from jade floor lamp

I am in love with this little terrarium

Found a chair to go with the roll top desk

Dinner at the option house

After dinner we went home the watch the season premier of Portlandia, then watched the Cat's Meow.  We also purchased Just Dance3 for the kinect and danced the rest of the weekend away.  As a result my arms are very sore and  had to take a break from the game for a few days.  

A New Year of Knitting Projects

The cold weather has inspired/motivated me to do some knitting.  I got the idea for hand warmers from Martha Stewart Living magazine.  My goal is to make 6 pairs for the girls in our family for Christmas next year, I might be knitting all year.  I am using a wool blend and size 7 bamboo knitting needles.
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I only have one done so far.

Pretty pop of color in our backyard.

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was my resin deer head.  The plan is to spray paint it white like this but I would like to enjoy him in his natural state before I cover him in white paint forever.

My wooden mushrooms, another awesome Christmas gift.

Mustached muscle man, so cute.

Cold Winter Hike

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Today we went on our first winter hike of the season to Marilla reservoir.  A trade off  of leaving State College and its many restaurants, places to shop, live music, Penn State, and Wegmans is the Allegheny National Forest is a short 10 minute drive from our house.  We haven't left the house is a few days and cabin fever was starting to set in, plus we got our first substantial snow.  It was a chilly 11 degrees with a real feel of -3.

Best boots Asolo TPS 520 GV

2012