Watermelon Margaritas

For the 4th of July weekend, I am going to make this amazing sounding drink..... Watermelon Margaritas. Found the recipe in Cooking Light. The recipe is:

2 tsp sugar
1 lime wedge
3 1/2 cups cubed seeded watermelon
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup tequila
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp triple sec.

1. Place 2 tsp sugar in a saucer. Rub glass rims with lime wedge, spin each glass in sugar to coat.

2. Combine watermelon and next 4 ingredients (thru Triple sec) in a blender; process until smooth.

3. Fill eah glass with 1/2 cup crushed ice and then fill with margarita mix.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!! And only 105 calories!

I did it! Well, almost...

Yippee, hurray! I have finished (almost) my latest crochet project - a market bag. Made of 100% cotton yarn, I made this fun bag to take to the Farmer's Market or to the beach or anywhere you please.

I LOVE IT! I was telling my mom about it and I'm going to send it to her as a special little gift. I love my mom so much and just want to send her a little something for her to enjoy and use. She had one that was made years ago and she thinks it finally got so old and moth eaten that she threw it away. Perfect timing Mom!

The handles are made but not yet attached - should be another day or so and then it will be winging it's way East to my mom.

Grease Sing-A-Long

My friends and I went off to the Hollywood Bowl last night to attend the Grease Sing-A-Long. We've gone to the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long for years but this was the first time ever for Grease and boy, it did not disappoint!

The weather was perfect - mid 70's while the sun was up, and then mid 60's when the sun went down and a full moon. The movie came on and we sang and danced in our seats like teenagers.

The crowd was amazing (including the guy in front of us to acted the part of Cha Cha DeGregorio waving the flag to start the race on Thunder Road (remember that scene??). OMG - it was so funny! We had a group of Sing-A-Long "virgins" right behind us. There were 5 of them and they had the best time too. But who wouldn't!?!? We shared our adult beverages with everyone around us and it was such fun!

So my words to all - if you have a chance to go see this movie as a sing-a-long, you just have to do it!

GREASE IS THE WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's coming along nicely...

My mystery crochet item is coming along nicely. I can't believe how simple it is but don't want to reveal too much until I'm finished. So keep checking in to see what the final product turns out to be!!!

Guess what I'm making now...

OK - see if you can guess what I'm making now -- look at the picture and tell me what you think. It's super easy (even for me) and I think will be really useful. Those are all the hints I'm going to give for now. Good luck!

Random Comments

A few random comments -

I can't figure out how to read a crochet pattern. I can figure out single crochet, double crochet and that's about it.

I love to crochet but it can be SO frustrating!

I love my boys and I love my dogs.

I got the most amazing piece of art work from an incredible friend. She is really, really talented (I've attached a photo of the painting she did for me - isn't it great?).

I have discovered a place called The Gentle Barn. Check out www.gentlebarn.org

The sun is shining and it's going to be a really hot day today. Yippee for our pool!!

Happy Saturday.

What's next...

I am going to the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, June 25th. My wonderful girlfriends and I are going to the Grease Sing-A-Long. We've gone to the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long the past few years but were ready for a change and then like magic, I saw an ad for Grease.

LA is beautiful in June and by the evening it cools right down. And since the Hollywood Bowl is in the Hollywood Hills, it gets even cooler. So I may need something to keep me warm as I sit and sing (a long... lol).

I bought a book of granny square patterns - all different kinds. Maybe my new mission (or is it obsession?) is to try and make a small afghan of granny squares to take and use.

Will keep you posted. After all, we all need goals, right??!!

It's Finished!!!

Whoo hoo!!! (I know - I'm the only one whose even remotely excited) but the black swirly scarf for Donna is finally finished. It's so soft and snuggly and I hope she loves it.

Of course, living in Georgia, and it being mid June and all, it's unlikely she'll be wearing it anytime soon.

That's OK. Before you know it, it will be Fall and she'll be joining my mom, sister and I on another road trip. Here we come New England!!

I ran out of yarn AGAIN!

I definitely need to better figure out how to determine the amount of yarn I need for every project. It seems beyond my comprehension even when I follow the instructions.

I was working away on Donna's black swirly scarf and Poof...I ran out of yarn. So it's off to the store again this afternoon after work to get some more.

Let's hope this is the last time I need to do this for this scarf at least!

Black Swirly Scarf update

Status report on the black swirly scarf I'm making for my wonderful friend Donna..... it's in process... as you can see from the picture, I am working on it. LOVE the yarn, love the pattern. But I have gotten caught up in other things the last couple weeks. Like working, getting a new dog, enjoying the great weather. Oh my --- must buckle down and get going on this project so I can begin something new!

Can't make up my mind

One thing I have learned about my self is that I am completely indecisive. Not just with big stuff, but with little stuff and stuff that doesn't matter and everything in between.

Take this blog for instance. I have changed the blog color, format, where things go on the page. And not just once, but several times! And it' because I like it for 10 minutes, then look at it again and realized I don't think I like it so much, but don't really know what I like or don't like. OMG!!

Oh well, I guess there's some spontaneity to that and I am NOT a spontaneous person. So maybe this is a good thing.....what do you think?

Dogs

This post is COMPLETELY unrelated to crocheting of any kind. Just wanted to show off our 2 doggies. As you know, we had to say goodbye to our beloved Angus about a month ago. He was 16 & an incredible boy. But he got old and sick and we had to do the best thing we could for him.

And while we miss him terribly, I think we are meant to have golden retrievers join our lives. So we turned to the Golden Retriever League of Los Angeles and now have our 3rd golden - Zak! We love old gold and always go for older ones. Our 1st was Rocky - who only had 1 eye. What a great boy he was! Then we got Rosie 2 years ago (she was 8 when we got her). We adopted Rosie after Rocky passed away of a heart tumor.

And now, we have added Zak to our family. He is 8 as well and quite a bundle of fur. He's about 100 lbs, a bit shy but is already coming out of his shell. We've gotten him "babies" (toys that squeak), and a multitude of tennis balls which he seems to LOVE. And... he is a swimmer. The 1st dog EVER that we've had who likes to swim. Rosie even seems to be taking an interest. So enjoy the photos and hopefully you'll see some crocheting before long....

Another scarf being born.....

I'm working as fast as my fingers can move making a new swirly scarf for Donna (the same Donna who is so graciously modeling the beige swirly scarf). She loves black and I started one for her when we were at the beach together. Of course I ran out of yarn (a think a hazard for many of us newbies) and then I flew back to the West Coast without getting more of the same yarn.

So I've had to start from stratch. The good news is that I love the new yarn much more than the old. It's so soft and cuddly and I'm hoping Donna is as happy with it as I am.

Keep your fingers crossed that I will be done in the next day or so and can ship it off to her!

Help with my blog

OK folks - I am so new to this blog business and am just not computer savy at times. So..... who knows how to add a big picture across the top of my blog? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I may even make you a scarf if you help...lol...no - I'm serious.....

The swirly scarf

Hmmm....not sure if swirly scarf is really the actual name of this scarf or not, but it certainly is the correct description. It swirls and moves and is just beautiful. Even better --- it's SO EASY TO MAKE which is a key requirement for me as I am beginning my crochet journey again.

Here's a picture of the 1st swirly one I made a couple weeks ago - my wonderful friend Donna is posing in it. Thanks so much Donna! You are just beautiful. And yes, your black one will be on it's way as soon as possible.

Photos!

Since I couldn't find any of my photos I previously took, I got out my trusty little Canon camera and snapped away. Enjoy some of my first "masterpieces".....

My swirly scarf

After I had my fill of berets, I moved on to scarves.... long straight ones became my initial obsession. Boy, am I now ever an expert on making straight, simple pattern scarves.

I make them in all colors it seems and types of yarn - silk, wool, acrylic - whatever color(s) I like. But I keep running into the same problem as I did with my berets. How many can you really make when no one seems to want one!?! I know they're pretty but 90 degree weather is NOT, and I mean NOT, conducive to wanting to wrap a warm scarf around one's neck. Hmmmm, maybe I should have thought this one out better.

Then, I went onto the Ravelry (www.ravelry.com) site and low and behold, multiple types of scarf patters popped up and many of them for free! Who came up with this very cool site and very cool idea? LOVE IT!

So stay tuned and I have discovered a new pattern and style of scarf me make. Look out everyone.....

Pictures

I am such a novice at all this stuff that I can't find the pictures I have taken of my crochet projects so I can add them to the blog..... bear with me! I know they're here somewhere.....

OK - here I go.....

OK, so I used to crochet years and years ago (remember the 70's?). I was a teenager then and watched my mom and her friend make those zig zag afghans. In fact, my mom still has the purple and pink one she made for me.

I was inspired back then to try my hand at it and I think I could do single crochet stitches and that's about it.

Before long, more important (and fun) things such as high school and college took over and I lost interest completely in the art of crochet.

Now flash forward 35 years...married, 2 sons - 19 and 22 years old, working full time but have lots of free time on my hands in the evenings. No more sports practices to shuttle the kids to and from, no school functions to attend (except for an occasional parent weekend at college), and while I love my reality TV, it can only take me so far.

Then, about 3 months ago, a thought literally popped into my head about crocheting. I was curious but had no idea where to start. I had completely forgotten how to do anything - not even a chain stitch.

So, what did I do? You Tube!!!!! How great is You Tube? It has almost anything you could imagine on it. I did a quick search and there before my eyes were video instructions on how to crochet. WOW!!!!! I was so inspired I zipped over to the local craft store and bought some yarn and a crochet hook and began to make a hat (a beret really).

I was hooked (lol...get it? hooked? crochet hook?). I think I made 3 berets in 3 days. And from there, the adventure began....