We're back from Toronto!

It's been a little while, hasn't it? Hope you all had a good week! D and I sure did - a week in Toronto flew by unbelievably fast. We drove home last week (with cat in tow) which wasn't too bad at all, about 6.5 hours. We stayed with my mom, where we, including Gatsby, were spoiled and pampered to death with delicious food every waking hour (thanks mom!).

On the Friday, we attended D's big graduation ceremony where he wore a rather stunning red gown and marched across the stage to be awarded his degree. And along with the hundreds of other family members and friends, I probably embarassed him by taking a gazillion photos of this entire process - but how often do you get to finish your PhD?

Just call me Doctor...

Afterward, we had a proper celebration with champagne, courtesy of Mr. C...

Delicious, delicious, delicious...

...followed by dinner out at Southern Accent, a cozy, yummy Cajun/Creole restaurant in Markham Village, where we gorged on blackened chicken livers, cornbread, piquant shrimp, crab cakes, jambalaya, pecan pie and creme brulee. If you are ever looking for a restaurant in Toronto, I highly highly recommend this place. I have sampled most of the menu and have so far never been disappointed by any dish. The only thing that can go horribly wrong is that one's judgment of realistic portion size goes completely out the window and you are experience 'eyes bigger than stomach' syndrome. Which is OK once in a while though, so no big deal.

We ate sooo much this past week - garlic-fried lobster, Japanese buffet, real Szechuan cuisine, steamed crab with ginger, dim sum, brunch... and being American Thanksgiving the day after we got back, we gorged on turkey, dressing, potatoes and pie. Burp. D and I could probably go without eating for 2 or 3 days and not lose an ounce.

All this eating has distracted me somewhat from crafting, but there are lots of things happening on the craft front. I'm a bit disorganized right now so I haven't got pics ready or done some final touches on things. I did go out and get some buttons for various projects, and I finished the baby cardigan as well. And I also acquired more quilting fabric for some Pointy Kitty toys I am planning to make. Today, I am going to plan out what I should work on over the next few weeks.

Before we left for Toronto, I made some muslin gift bags to put the bear toys in, and put some little iron-on tags on them.

More updates to come, soon!

Columbus Weekend & Chocolatey Vegan Goodies

crazy mural on the side of our building

Our wonderful, wonderful friends drove all the way from Toronto to visit D and I this past weekend (it was great to see you guys!) The weather was absolutely perfect for lots of walking, and we had a fun-filled few days of packed Columbus action. Maybe I can convince them to move here to keep me company. Almost all the photos in this post are courtesy of my uberawesome friend M, who, in addition to being a talented graphic designer/artist/painter, has got some maddeningly great photography skills.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (made with tofu, soymilk and applesauce!!)

Friday I spent the day baking some vegan goodies to keep people well-energized (well-sugared) throughout the weekend. What I love about reading other peoples blogs is not only do you share common interests but you are also introduced to things you may not have tried yourself. And there are many talented knitters/bakers out there. I saw the cookies on the brown sheep's blog and from there, I was able to link to a whole other world of vegan delights. Cookie recipe is linked above - I subbed all-purpose flour because I couldn't find any whole wheat pastry flour, and I also found that it yielded about 70 or so large heaping teaspoon-sizes cookies, not 50 like it claimed. The more the better I guess. We ate them for breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner.

I also found this recipe for yummy chocolate cupcakes made with soymilk that produced moist, chocolatey dense cupcakes. I might start using this recipe even for non-vegans, that's how good they were. Unfortunately I didn't have enough icing sugar to make frosting, so they were not as pretty, but everyone agreed they tasted good plain. My friends are easy to please.

i have holes because jenny used a toothpick to get me out of the pan

We started Saturday at the North Market where T chatted it up with one of the Amish farmers.

walking to the North Market

mozart's bakery

(He had some kooky stories about chickens and frogs in his bed after a flood)

After a quick lunch (where we were serenaded by members of the Columbus Opera), we strolled through Goodale Park...

what's that in the pond?

Then we headed north through Victorian Village and walked all the way to OSU campus.

pretty ducks in the pond by D's office building

While on campus, we went to the William Wegman exhibit at the Wexner Center which was really good - definitely something we will take D's parents to when they visit next weekend. It's free admission and on until early December, so go while you can.

In the evening, we had a dinner at Dragonfly NeoV (delicious vegan cuisine) and went to the Gallery Hop in the Short North. A long but very productive day of tourism.

Sunday started with brunch buffet at Union Cafe, then a trip to the Columbus Zoo and a quick visit to Trader Joe's. The zoo was awesome. My favourites included the discovery aquarium with some of the biggest tropical fish I'd ever seen, including a unicorn fish. This tank was massive, probably about 10 feet tall. We were lucky to see feeding time, where a zookeeper in scuba gear got in the tank and walked around to feed the fish. The tiger and gorilla exhibits were great too, especially the indoor portions with plexiglass walls that let the animals come right up to you. Who knew Columbus had so many places to see? Having visitors is a great way to experience things you may not otherwise try.

i am a magical unicorn fish

N and T made us all a delicious dinner at home...maybe because I whinged about missing Mrs. T's homecooking they had on Friday evening. D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. You guys are the best cooks ever!

aren't the hosts supposed to cook the dinner? instead they drink purple moon and pumpkin beer

And to leave you with a little knitting, here is Mr. Bear with his finished features, and Mr. Mini Bear too. The yarn is sportweight Misti Alpaca held doubled throughout - I bought two skeins and had enough leftover to make this tiny guy. This is for a friend's birthday, who will receive the little guys in a couple weeks.

i am mr. bear, this is my mini-me

And one last crazy cat picture.

gatsby looking like the devil

Crafty Update

Finally, the weekend! This weekend will be especially fun because it happens to be Road Trip #1. A while ago I purchased Neil Zurcher's Ohio Road Trips and have been wanting to do a little exploring. Starting with central-ish (I think) Ohio, we will be visiting the Tuscarawas region and stopping in Sugarcreek, Dover, Bolivar, and whereever else catches our eye. This entire area is also home to Ohio's largest Amish population, and producer of a ton of Swiss cheese. Should be very interesting.

Onto knitticraftiness: It has been a crafty few days so I've got a few photos to share. First off, I made yet another bear from LMKG - they are just so cute. You can never make too many of these. It still needs facial details, but it's almost done. I love its pudgy arms and legs. Gatsby was suspicious at first, but soon converted to a bear-cuddler:


What a helpful photography assistant. I think he's giving me a dirty look.


The jacket is slowly coming along. It has been abandoned many times for smaller, quicker knits, but I managed to start a sleeve...

I also baked a cake on Thursday, but was rather uninspired, and ended up just using the flower candies I had made last time. Actually, this cake went through several disasters including having to remove some ugly hot pink roses from the centre. That's why there is a large mound of purple in the middle - to hide the ugly mistake. The cake was unfortunately a bit of a mess on the inside (I broke both layers) too, so hopefully the taste makes up for the interior ugliness. It's a nice bright lemony cake inside...yum!

And I finished the crown of the Koolhaus Hat:

Have a good weekend!

Bunny and Bear

Yarn: Bernat Satin
Needles: US8
Pattern: Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Happy Weekend! This week flew by rather quickly and brought a major change in weather - wool sweaters, jackets and socks were needed. Wasn't I just eating turkey in a sundress 5 days ago?

Thanks for all the luck wished for my interview. It went well and I think they really liked me, so we'll wait and see. It's all dependent on whether I get licensure or not (a whole other story), but it was a good experience and good practice for my interviewing skills. I'm not sure the position is the best fit for me, but it's nice that someone was interested in my resume.

Last night and today were spent finishing the backs of the dining room chairs, so I won't post another entry about those. Let's just say that I'm happy with how they turned out and that burning my palm with hot glue was a minor sacrifice.

I'll leave you with another completed project for now until I have more new stuff to share. Here is bunny and bear from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (love this book). The bunny now lives with Owen, and bear is still looking for a home. I think I know who he will go to.