I'm a "Great-Aunty" - Holy Crap

Isabelle Rae is here:





Look at that punum!

Born on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 2:27 am

Weighs 6lbs. 2.8 oz., and is 19 3/4 inches long

Welcome Izzy, you're a cutie patootie!

The Last Few Days...In List Form

Dear Sweet Blog, Oh summer has been so fun, and there is so much to share, but I've been so busy enjoying it all that I haven't been able to give all of these topics proper posts! So here it is, in bite-sized list form...Cheers, Sarah.



1) I'm working on my first garment for myself, the Juliet from Zephyr Style. Knitting this with Knit Picks Andean Silk in Barn Red. This yarn is heaven! So far, so good.



2) Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary was this past Tuesday! It involved: Sleeping late, breakfast at Betty's Kitchen, bathing suit shopping (ugh), new CDs, Duffy and She and Him, (Verdict: The latter is better than the former, but I knew that before I purchased them), gourmet chocolatey, marshmallowy, caramelly goodness, Boylan's soda, amazing new vintage store in Portsmouth, (more on this later), Somerville, getting lost, arriving at Magpie just as it closed, Diesel Cafe, old school photobooth, crepes, kisses and one more day of love love loving this awesome man that is my husband!



3) Enjoying, and sharing, the taste of good, *mostly* local food: Amazing hot milk sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream, finished off the frozen corn from last year in a smoked salmon corn chowder, Amy's Mail Order Banana Bread recipe, fresh peas and did I mention the strawberries? I can't get enough.



4) Dim photos here, it's been rainy in New England, rubbish for blogging! Thrift scores: All the Fire King was bought at a yard sale across the street from my house for the grand total of a dollar. I couldn't believe it! The bake ware pattern is "Blue Heaven." The type case I picked up on the curb, also down the street. A little wash and a few staples to the back and it will be good as new. It will be gussied up a la Ali Edwards soon.

5) I have a bicycle! Which I haven't been able to photograph/ride because of all this darn rain! She's a beauty! Vintage, blue, basket on the front, headlight, larger basket rack on the back. I'm in love! And also a little wonky with my riding skills! I've been pining for a bicycle, specifically a Cape Cod Blue Amsterdam. I'm so close to the grocery store, bank, post office, etc, that it is ridiculous to take the car to those places, especially with the ever rising price of gas! If I get a ton of use out of this bike, then I'd consider looking into an upgrade, but this was a much more affordable starter bike. Pictures soon - so cute!

That is all for now...except if everyone could send me some good job karma that would be awesome. Figuring out my employment situation beyond this summer has not been going so well. I'm off for a little more knitting therapy!

This is...what reminds me of my mum

When I saw this week's "This is" topic, it really stumped me for a moment. My mom is such an integral part of my everyday existence, that it was difficult for me to think of something that reminded me of her. I see her a few times a week. We knit, we cook, we sew, my mom fixes my sewing mistakes as I get crabby and eat doughnuts, (more on that thrilling topic soon)! Being reminded of something makes me think "past tense" so it's not surprising that the memory that popped into my head for today's Mother's Day post was something from our mother/daughterly past...

Music, for me, is something that is inherently entwined with memory. I'm sure that if I put enough thought into it, that I could make a mix tape of songs composed entirely of music that reminds me of specific moments in my life. Certain songs just bring me back to a past moment in an instant! You may laugh at what comes next, but it is the absolute, honest truth.

The album that reminds me of my mother is ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits



Oh, ABBA. I love ABBA. Listening to ABBA is a completely corny, guilty pleasure of mine. It may be one of my mother's lesser gifts to me, but a gift nonetheless!

I don't remember exactly when my mom got this CD, but we didn't have a CD player until I was in 8th grade/high school, so it must have been around that time. This was definitely one of the first CDs that my parents bought for themselves. Every weekend my mom would blast this throughout the house. ABBA was cleaning music. ABBA was for washing dishes, and shouting lyrics over the hum of the vacuum, and I ate it up. To this day, hearing Fernando, Chiquitita, Money, Gimme a Man After Midnight and all the rest make me think of my mom. Those songs make me want to dance with a vacuum, sing into the handle like it's a microphone and hard core clean my house.

I'll leave you with an ABBA classic, Thank You for the Music. I loved this song as a kid. I thought it was about me, except for the golden-haired, beautiful Swedish girl aspect of it. Thanks for the music mom, and everything else that you do for me. Happy Mother's Day!