Photo Friday: The Knitting Knerds Edition

Thursday night:  knitting and a mocha with friends!

Blog Vacation -- What I did

I must say I need to take planned blog-vacations more often.  To pick a week and say I'm going to to devote it to my family and doing things I love was wonderful.  I feel ready to write and share again.  Normally, I try to MEGA-BLOG when I'm on vacation and that never works.  I can stitch with the wee ones playing, but writing... well, that just isn't going to happen.

So here is what I did on my my Thanksgiving break from work and from blogging

Amassed more embroidery floss...

Hung out with this silly girl.  We caught the Muppets' Movie on Saturday and she got her hair cut...

Finally finished Wolf Hall (more on that later)...

Took advantage of an AMAZING holiday sale and bought more Harney Tea...

Started making the kiddos stockings for Christmas...

Hope helped out a lot... she even raked leaves...

Enjoyed a Thanksgiving day with my family...

Made some chicken stock for the freezer...

Chased one inquisitive toddler and discovered he has a penchant for felt...

baking, of course...

Hope even got her craftiness on and made some holiday ornaments...

Halls are decked and fa-la-la-laing is in full-swing....

Cat cuddles....

C is for Coffee (and Coffee Shops, Too!)

Coffee is so central to my life.  This may seem like a hyperbolic statement, but it truly isn't.

As a child, my mother had an old-fashioned coffee percolator.  I remember helping my mom make coffee each morning and listening to the rhythmic-whoosh-suck-grind of the pot.  When we had guests I was in charge of brewing the coffee and offering a cup to each guest.  My coffee consumption consisted of Folgers with milk and sugar up until high school.

I lived in a rural, backasswards town, so I was never really involved in the coffee shop culture until college.  In high school I made maybe a half-dozen trips to the nearest coffee shop, which happened to be about 20 minutes away.



In college I dashed in and out of the local coffee shop (well, the three local shops) for the occasional cup of joe.  I came in for a medium cup of coffee or for a quick stop for scones with college friends and then it was back to campus.  I did consume massive amounts of not very good, hastily choked down coffee in college, but I wouldn't have termed myself a coffee freak.

Graduating from college in 2004 was a pivotal moment in my coffee life.  I graduated and stayed in Gainesville to work and all my friends pretty much left or they were consumed with senior year.  I was so lonely.  I no longer had a place to discuss movies or books or politics. Then I found myself wandering to The Coffee Shop of Horrors.



I was (still am) an introvert so I never spoke to anyone at the Coffee Shop of Horrors.  Listening to the conversations around was great fun, but I mostly hunkered down in a seat and read my eyeballs out while consuming cup after cup of delicious brew.  During my time there (before they closed down around 2006ish) I noticed a very tall, handsome guy with a mohawk with an addiction to coffee, but I'll reveal who he is later in the post.



When that coffee shop closed, I began going to Starbucks.  The other coffee shop in town had turned elitist and would kick readers out after 30 minutes.  At Starbucks, I began broadening my horizons.  Instead of a cup of coffee I had cappuccinos and lattes and espresso shots and cafe au laits.  I tried syrup shots and french pressed brews.  I began to develop my coffee palette. I tend to love light to medium roast coffees with a wee bit of sugar or milk, lattes with warmer notes (pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, french vanilla, hazelnut), and I figured out the best way to drink French Pressed coffee (very hot, very dark, and turned into a cafe au lait by adding a fair amount of hot, steamed milk).  Oh, and the tall, mohawked guy was there; I noticed him and he noticed me.



The tall mohawk-wearing guy is Sam.  And it is impossible to talk about my love of coffee and the significance of coffee shops in my life and not mention Sam.  Coffee (and then tattooing) brought us together.  I think we got to the point where we were both at the coffee shop so much we began to say hello and we didn't even know each others' name.  Then we started chatting over cup after cup of coffee.  In the space of a year we moved from running into each other at the coffee shop, to dear friends catching up at the coffee shop, to Sam Taking Me to the Coffee Shop in a date-like way.



A new coffee shop in walking distance to my home opened up the same month Sam and I began officially dating.  Hello, Inman Perk.  Now we had a locally-owned shop to go to.  Inman Perk further progressed my coffee nerdom.  I went from a customer to a Regular.  I've learned how to pull a good shot, a bit about roasting and blends, and I might smell like espresso most of the week.  I even worked the odd shift or two in the summer.

In the three years Sam and I have been together we've had birthday parties, baby showers, gatherings, wedding planning sessions, an adoption celebration, and nearly every date-day at Inman Perk.  After our wedding we went to Inman Perk for coffee.  I think that part of the reason why Sam and I work so well together is that we like the same elements of coffee shop life:  great conversation or solace with company.  We can sit around with our lattes and chat with friends for hours or we sit next to each other with our solitary pursuits (me - reading, Sam -- drawing) and we are perfectly content.



Now I know why an alcoholic shouldn't marry another alcoholic; Sam and I increase coffee consumption in each other.  Every trip we take features time spent in a coffee shop.  We compare the atmosphere and the coffee to coffee shops we've known in the past.  In fact, we drank so much coffee on our honeymoon I thought I'd be sick.

Coffee shops are unique places, I can't compare the atmosphere to any other social gathering place.  I have a little espresso machine and a coffee maker and I can buy Inman Perk coffee, so why do I go to the coffee shop?  It isn't just for the coffee, but for the companionship, the great places to read, and generally atmosphere that feels home like to quirky folks like myself.  But if you take the coffee away, I probably wouldn't go.  It has to be that perfect marriage of coffee-deliciousness and coffee shop loafing.

By the way, I had intended on posting this earlier in the afternoon, but I didn't get around to it.... because I was at the coffee shop.

A is for Autumn

Back in April I saw somewhere on the blogosphere an "alphabet" challenge.  Basically folks blogged a topic for each letter of the alphabet, Monday-Saturday, through the month of April.  I thought it sounded interesting.

I've recently felt a bit lackluster about blogging and so I thought I'd try this alphabet challenge through the month of September.  So as long as the babies aren't sick and the computer stays alive I should be blogging most of the week.  I also decided that I would make this a very positive blog experience; the each letter of the alphabet will reflect something I like.  This means no P is for Palin or F is for flooded library or J is for Justin Beiber.

Let's get started.

A is for Autumn



Autumn is my favorite time of year with Winter as a close second.  Autumn is a strange bird in Georgia; it may come early, or late, and -- sometimes -- not at all.  Today is September first which in my brain signals the start of Fall.  The temperature may be up in the 80's, but things feel more autumnal.  This morning I woke up and looked out my window.  A grey day, drizzle, strewn leaves, and a quick crisp breeze jingling wind chimes.  Yup... Autumn is certainly on her way to Georgia.

But why do I love Autumn so?  Well, I present to you my top reasons for loving Autumn:

Weather:  I hate hate hate summer.  It is so blasted hot and humid.  I love the cooler temperatures that allows me to...
...Wear cardigans:  it may be because I'm a library girl, but I adore a cardigan especially when paired with textured tights, a skirt, and something I've made with...
...Yarn:  Yes, I knit and crochet year round.  But being indoors on an early evening with a cat curled up beside me and a pile of yarn to work with is delightful.  It is one of my favorite quiet evening pursuits along with...
...Reading:  Of course I read everyday, but Autumn reading is something different.  Out come the thick classics, ghoulish short story collections, and frightening books.  On the weekends I find myself with a large stack of books and an equally large mug of ...
...Something hot to drink.  Pumpkin spice lattes, pots of Earl Grey, warm milk, or a peppery chai accompany me on my reading binges.  The cooler weather begs for the warmth of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.  The spices also show up in my ...
...Baking:  maple scones, pumpkin bread, ginger infused cakes, or just plain loaves of home made bread turned to cinnamon toast scent my kitchen with the essence of autumn.  Of course all of this baking means more...
...Walking: Walking for exercise and pleasure.  This summer it has been too hot to take Atticus on long walks.  Now I envision donning him in tiny nerd cardigans and taking him on long walks to look at Autumn leaves.  Autumn leaves have the most amazing...
...Colors:  orange, brown, rust, yellow, and deep purples scattered with hints of green make up my autumn palette.  Gone are the garish, bright colors of summer and in with the warm, comforting colors of Autumn.

Helloooooo, Autumn!

The Therapist is in..... the Coffee Shop

www.nataliedee.com

I don't know if this is work-drudgery fatigue, Aunt Flo, or a run-of-the-mill case of the Clinical Depression, but tonight is Mom Night and I need it.  After dinner is made and Atticus is fed and Hope's laundry is done, I am grabbing my bag of thread, heading to Inman Perk, and getting the biggest soy mocha pennies can buy.  I'll sip and stitch and chat with dear friends.  Yay!

T-minus two hours and thirty-three minutes until I can recharge.....

Weekend Update and a Tardy Sunday Salon

Roommate was away on vacation this weekend and, as much as I love her to pieces, it was rather nice to enjoy some quiet alone time. Friday I spent in the throes of productivity. I bought groceries and stayed under budget, re-caulked the bathroom, baked Blueberry bread, and read a ton.

Saturday was spent cleaning and washing clothes only to find out that all the dryers at my apartment complex were broken (all two of them). Then I had to get creative and drape wet towels all over the apartment to dry. Following the laundry drama, I went on a lovely drive with my dad and Hope to get some pizza.

That afternoon my fellow nerd, Erin, picked me up. We spent 6 hours at Inman Perk and after a mocha and two medium cups of coffee each we were both crazy-caffienated. What followed was a bizarre ADD-infused shopping trip to Target. When I got home I discovered a pile of furniture next to the apartment complex and nabbed a small bookcase.

What a wonderful weekend.

Now for that tardy Sunday Salon:

• I read pages 270-274 of Clarissa. (I know, not very impressive, but Innocent Traitor is begging to be finished.) These pages include a ridiculus letter from Clarissa's seducer, Lovelace, in which wild exclaimations of love are proclaimed and every sentence ends with an exclaimation point. I really should be reading Clarissa right now as I made it my lunch break read, but I have a headache and cannot muster reading Clarissa's martyrish reply to Lovelace.
• I read about 50 pages of Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir. It is fabulous. In this portion of the novel, a ten-year-old Jane is sent to live with former Queen Katherine Parr and her new husband, Admiral Thomas Seymour and the Lady Elizabeth (as in future queen Elizabeth). While she is there Katherine and Thomas conive to marry Jane to King Edward and Thomas has an inappropriate dalliance with Lady Elizabeth. Then Elizabeth is sent away and Katherine discovers she is pregnant. Katherine dies in childbirth, Jane is sent back to her parent's home, and Thomas has his head lopped off for attempting to kidnap the King. Talk about exciting!

Well, I'm off to do more workish things right now since my lunch break is nearly over. Then I get to work on moving out of my cubbie and into my new OFFICE!!!