halloween 2009

After much frantic late-night crafting/sewing/knitting/felting of the I-decided-to-wait-till-two-days-before-Halloween variety, all costumes were mercifully completed before the big night. May I present: Harry Potter,Colette, the chef from Ratatouille and Yoda. Trick or treat, Aunty Acornbud! We had a grand time strolling through the neighborhood, procuring candy, listening to live bands (Who knew we had such rockin' neighbors?) and visiting haunted houses. Did I mention that Lord Sidious and Master Yoda have seemingly formed an odd alliance of sorts? Certainly not the strangest sight of the day given the one that greeted me at breakfast. Apparently, Harry and Colette were chugging the Polyjuice Potion again. Mad Eye lives!

slipping through my fingers

My relationship with Sweetie is a challenging and wonderfully complex one, as I suppose all mother-daughter relationships are. That she is my middle child exacerbates the situation, no doubt. She is at once headstrong, yet needy, fiercely independent, yet clingy; a dichotomy that constantly challenges and often exasperates me. Officially a big girl kindergartner, no longer my baby girl- we both struggle to come to terms with this unexpected metamorphosis and often find ourselves at odds, emotionally exhausted and at the end of our ropes.

And yet, this sweet and funny little girl inspires and humbles me in so many ways. To share unselfishly without any thought of reciprocation, to love with great faith... she unknowingly offers me these gifts. Watching the joy in her eyes as she gives her whole portion of her favorite snack to Bug to cheer him up or the way she borrows Star Wars books at the library for Ace simply to make him happy, I know that I am privileged to be on this path with her.

It is so easy for me to fall into the practice of focusing on flaws, rather than seeking the perfection that exists. (A foible I chalk up to my Virgo stars, I might add.) There is so much hidden treasure to be unearthed, if only I remember to be mindful and open to the possibility.

On that train of thought, some funny snippets from a recent conversation with Sweetie about why she wishes she were a grown-up that I want to savor and remember:

"Because I want to drink coffee with you from the press pot, Mom. I want to cut apples with a sharp, big knife instead of the white plastic one. I want to stay up late and drink wine with you and have that cheese you eat with the wine. I want to watch Harry Potter Six and even the scary parts in Harry Potter 4!!"
There will be plenty of time to do all these things and more, I promise you, so stay five just a bit longer, my funny little girl.

hogwarts style

Ace has decided that he wants to be Harry Potter for Halloween, which secretly pleases me to no end. A dedicated HP fan myself, I get to live vicariously through him and maybe even dress in a supporting role (McGonagall? Umbridge?) to boot. What could be more fun? Ace picked up The Sorcerer's Stone late last school year and has since steadfastly soldiered through the series; he's now in the middle of #5 and spellbound by the idea of legilimency. This, of course, means daily wizardly discussions and duels- shouts of "Avada Kedavra!" and "Crucio!" (he's enamored of the Unforgivable Curses, as any second grader well should be) are pretty standard around our home.

Being cheap, I just can't bring myself to pay forty bucks (!!) for a flimsy Harry Potter costume. Besides, back in my day (I can't believe I just said that), half of the fun of Halloween was making your own costume... deciding what materials to use, thrifting for accessories and finally, constructing the outfit. Luckily, Ace and Sweetie are way on board this train of thought, so it didn't take much convincing to ditch the store-bought variety. Ace is going to recycle his Jedi robe from last Halloween into Harry's cloak/robes and use Dad's old frames for his signature glasses. I'm leaving the wand construction up to him, which I'm sure will involve endless amounts of tape and paper towel rolls. Or course, the knitter in me jumped at the prospect to knit him a First Year Gryffindor scarf, as seen in the first movie. I'm kind of wishing I'd thought to make the scarf on size 13 needles or something, though, as it's mind numbing stockinette in the round on size 7's, but still- it's Harry Potter!!- so no complaints here.

After contemplating being Hermione, Tinkerbell, a veterinarian, Cinderella and a vegetarian, Sweetie finally decided on being Princess Leia. I was slightly relieved, as I really wasn't sure how I was going to pull "vegetarian" off. I have some white fabric that can be fashioned into Leia's gown, but I'm concerned that Sweetie's hair may be too short to pull off the signature braided buns. Luckily, we've got a month to figure it out... or um, let her hair grow. Whichever happens first!

two

A certain Birthday Bug turned the big T-W-O this past weekend and much merriment ensued. There were birthday balloons (or "My birthday ball!" in Bug-speak, with much emphasis on the word, "my"), Yogurtland goodness laden with blueberries and strawberries, singing Star Wars cards, Star Wars books, Star Wars cupcakes with ice cream and candle almost-blowing. It was near-heaven for this Star Wars (Die-Yo, in Bug-speak) fanatic. May the Force be with you, Youngling Bug!

i swear i still knit, but....

I kinda sorta got sucked into the cute Halloween bento craze over on Flickr. And on the topic of bento, I know it's completely irrelevant, but I never know whether 'bento' should be pluralized as a regular noun with an 's' or if it instead falls into the irregular identical singular/plural category as "sheep" and "deer." Really, it's all kind of moot as bento is not even an English word, but still. These are the kinds of things I worry about.

So anyway, I got sucked into the Halloween bento craze and you know.... lemming. I realize the ghost might have been more effective on white bread, but c'mon, you've got to have some nutritional standards, right? I'm glad to have had a chance to use my holiday cookie cutters for more than just cookies and can definitely see more holiday themed bento in the coming months!

journey

I know it sounds hopelessly cliche, but I can't believe how fast kids grow up. So many interminable stretches of days go by, mired in the hustle and bustle of this stuff called "life." In all the craziness that life presents, it seems the weekend can't arrive fast enough, that age 2 can't be outgrown soon enough, that the sassy first grade attitude can't be rid of quick enough. The great irony, of course, is that it is exactly in these seemingly endless stretches of days that life truly occurs. For in the blink of an eye, the weekend yields to Monday, age 2 gives way to 3 and that first grade sass finds itself subdued in the throes of second grade. In a society so focused on anticipating the future, we neglect the present, enjoying our lives in retrospect, rather than in the moment. Realizing how much of my kids' lives I tend to appreciate after-the-fact, it became my New Year's resolution to live presently. Being that I've failed MUCH more than I've managed to succeed, I will admit that I probably should have just committed to eating more beans or something more manageable like that, but hey, it's the effort and mindset that count.

Friday night was one of those rare but precious successes that I'm so grateful to have experienced. Ace and I went on a Cub Scout night hike up on Tantalus with his pack. Things didn't start off so happily, as I pulled into the campground after 20 minutes of kamikaze winding roads only to realize that I'd forgotten our flashlights. Not a big deal, unless you're crazy anal and just finished driving 20 minutes of kamikaze roads. I started to unhinge (my characteristic autopilot response), until I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the saddest look on Ace's face- he had been so excited about his first night hike, and I could tell that in one fell swoop, I had blown it. I resolved to pull it together and apologized, determined to salvage the evening and be in the moment. We joined our den with smiles and had the most fantastic time. We took in the stars and Jupiter and then embarked on our hike, which was pretty challenging for the little guys as it had rained recently and the ground was muddy and slippery. Along the route, Ace took a tumble over some overgrown roots, but he got back up, grinning, just loving every moment of his adventure in the night, fall and all. Kids have such a natural ability to be in the moment. (Just a side note about proper protocol upon scout's fall: do NOT, under any circumstances, shine someone else's flashlight into the steep embankment and ravine one foot away from where your child is treading, as it may incite profanity-laced exclamations about what would possess your cub master to choose such an insane trail of death.)
Ace and I savored the moments. It was amazing to experience everything for the first time through his eyes. Looking down upon the city lights, discovering constellations, watching his wonder as the campfire was lit and slowly burned down to embers over the course of an hour for S'mores.... I felt seven and a half again, giddy and so honored to have journeyed with him that night. Most of all, I'm so glad it was not just a fuzzy, distant experience to scrapbook and deem a happy memory. Life is most delicious when lived with the consciousness that happiness is.

cans of a different variety

I opened up a can of whoop-ass on Sick.

See, Sick, with a capital "S" is not your generic, self-limiting head cold. It's the vicious cycle of seemingly endless contagion that plagues our house at least once a year for weeks and sometimes months on end. This current back-to-school variety of Sick has volleyed back and forth among the kids and J for about 6 weeks now, and that was all well and good, until the little tickle I felt in my throat last week rudely morphed into a hack that decided to make house in my chest.

Well, enough is enough and this mama has had enough of Sick. Fantasizing about Healthy, there seemed nothing better than to serve up a can of nutritional whoop-ass in the form of homemade chicken soup, replete with kale, onions, garlic, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, whole wheat pasta and black beans. Finished with a sprinkle of parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and a side of corn muffins to sop up any leftover bits in the bowl. Here's hoping that Sick is down for the count!

easily amused

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Simple minds are easily amused, as the saying goes. Ace, Sweetie and I were coloring a Peanuts Christmas coloring book yesterday, a stocking gift from Santa. Coloring is one of those things I suspect I enjoy far more than the kids do; the smell of crayons transports me instantly to the happy, safe times of my childhood. I can tell that their interest starts to fade after about a half hour, but I often plead with them to linger longer, busting out the big gun bribes of messy oil pastels and fancy schmancy Prismacolor pencils. Luckily, they took the bait yesterday, and we enjoyed a full hour of Charlie Brown coloring. Talk about old school fun! I have so many fond memories of watching Charlie Brown specials- The Great Pumpkin, Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, the Camp Special... And do you remember those Dolly Madison commercials that preceded each special? My sister and I were convinced that they must have been the most delicious treats on the planet, having never tasted or seen any Dolly Madisons in real life.

Yesterday's fun inspired today's Snoopy bento for Ace and Sweetie. I know there are actual Peanuts bento cutters for sale, but the ghetto bento-er in me can't justify paying that much for a single-use gadget... how I covet, though! So, freehand it was, which is why Snoopy's head looks deformed. Oh well. Cheap is as cheap does.

Further in the 'easily amused' department- yesterday, I had my first pumpkin spiced latte of the year. Oh. my. goodness. That first sip was a positively transcendent revelation. All year I wait for this particular Starbucks offering. I know there are a gazillion DIY recipes out there, and- see previous paragraph- I am cheap as heck, but there's just something about this version that signals fall to me in a way that nothing else does. Living in a land where fall means turning off the air conditioning at 7 pm instead of 11 pm, you take your cues wherever you can. I confess to borderline fetish-izing all things pumpkin, as the season is all too fleeting and the flavor so intoxicating. Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin crunch cake, pumpkin risotto (blissful shudder).... bring it on!

of cans and dreams

When I ever-so-eagerly planted my first organic container garden late this spring, I dreamt of unimaginable bounty, having to pass off bags filled with zucchini to unsuspecting neighbors and casually walking to my porch to harvest an armful of herbs for a bouquet garni, Ina Garten style. Fast forward three months later and um, not so much. Sure, there were a few zucchinis (and I mean that in the literal sense of "few," as in two), a couple of cucumbers (cough, three), enough basil for 2 cups of pesto and maybe even 30 or so grape tomatoes. Lest I forget, there were even several salads' worth of arugula, swiss chard and kale. But the bounty I'd imagined that would require me to put up for the winter? Not even close. Nonetheless, my obsession with the gentle domestic art of canning never waned and when I realized that there really was no more to be had from my garden, I took matters into my own hands and bought some ingredients for homemade jam.

Though the peaches I bought were not as fragrant or juicy as I'd hoped (how I envy you, K-Brow!), they were acceptably soft and un-mealy. I had frozen a batch of organic strawberries bought during a Safeway rampage this summer (hello? a pound of organic strawberries for $2?! I may have bought 12 pounds. Maybe.) and decided to mix them with the peaches. I made just a small batch- the yield was probably no more than 3 cups- but I didn't want to be stuck with more than 3 cups of salmonella jam if I didn't follow the canning directions correctly. The process was pretty straightforward (though I'm sure I missed many of the subtle nuances that experienced canners are familiar with) and in the end, we got a pretty tasty jar of jam!

Having survived the experience without any bouts of botulism, I'm excited to try my hand at other prospects, namely marmalade and other citrus blends.

On the knitting front, I'm in the middle of a Think Pink KAL begun with K-Brow and Acornbud before K-Brow's departure to Georgia. Ariann (Bonne Marie Burns) is on the needles in Screaming Fuschia SWTC Karaoke and about 30% or so complete.

I'm enjoying the rhythm of this knit, though I get too easily impatient with the length of the rows. I have to remind myself that it seems to grow slowly because the back and front are knit at the same time. This yarn is delicious to work with, though I suspect the finished product may be entirely too warm to wear, save for the coldest of days here. Nonetheless, it's an entirely enjoyable knit, cozy and comforting; not altogether a bad gig at all.

tap, tap, tap...is this thing on?

I suppose you begin simply by writing something, anything. Having fallen out of the habit of blogging for quite some time, I'm not sure where or how to "pick up" again. All I am sure about is that I would like to begin blogging again; to capture moments in time that bring a smile to my face and to reflect on those things which bring me happiness. Entirely for myself. Selfish? Well, very, yes. But I'd like this endeavor to be truer and more real than my last effort. I know from experience that I am easily sucked into the community aspect of blogging and commenting. And while it may allow for interpersonal connection in an otherwise devoid medium, I am striving to find a better balance this time around.

So, there have been several big changes around these parts over the past few years. Bits of Knits is now a household of five instead of four!

Ace (formerly, "Bossy") is almost eight years old and in second grade now. Sweetie (formerly, "Stinky") is five and a half and starting kindergarten. Bug (formerly just a wishful thought) is our soon-to-be two year old son, exuberant and full of mischievous plans. He loves ABBA and sings songs from "Mamma Mia," which I have to document here so that I have recorded blackmail material for when he graduates from high school.

Packing bento lunches has become a recent interest of mine, partly utilitarian in nature because of the money saved by bringing lunch from home, but also for the aesthetics involved. My mom gifted me with a copy of Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook this past Christmas, and I just fell in love with it. I mean, how could you not? Everything in it is so darned cute! Ace and Sweetie got a hold of the book and after that, it was pretty well decided that neither of them could bring just a plain ol' turkey sandwich to school anymore. So I've been trying to up the cute-factor a bit, with varying degrees of success, but it's all good. And fun! Here's a pic of today's lunch.... a Sanrio Cinnamoroll on fried rice for Sweetie and a boy on a turkey sandwich for Ace (in second grade, it can't be overtly cute, so I walk a fine line with that boy).

I think the little umbrella apple far right may have been a bit much cutesy-wise for Ace as it was left untouched, but it's also possible that it was left in artistic protest, as that apple looks nothing like an umbrella!

movin' on up

Poor little Spherey. He was just born yesterday and already, he seems to be in way over his head here at Bits of Knits. Besides cramming for finals ( he's quite the prodigy, less than 24 hours old and already in grad school!), Mom's been cracking the whip to get him to write her 40 page paper for her. Ever the obedient scholar, he obliges, always with a smile on his face. Between school projects, he even tends to the children of the manor, who mysteriously morph into demented Kikaida monsters, a.k.a. BossiER and StinkiER, during the countdown to finals week. He knows that their sweet smiles are actually their ultra deception/distraction superpower and remains unfazed by their attempts to infiltrate as he reigns them in with his twisted charm. When not occupied with his superhero duties, he attempts to conjure up recipes for boiled eggs that don't involve mayonnaise or dry mustard, but is all too easily distracted by the sweet siren song of shortbread cookies and tea, much like his mom. In spite of his foibles, Spherey's quite a cultured fellow who appreciates fine craftsmanship, like this beautiful postcard from his mom's Project Spectrum Postcard Swap partner, Stephanie. He wistfully admires the beautifully embossed flowers and vibrant colors (Thank you so much, Steph- I love it!) and daydreams of a better life. "It's funny," he muses, "It's like I'm trapped in a box." And then reality rudely awakens him as he remembers that he IS, indeed, in a box, in the midst of the packing job from hell! He sighs with the realization that even superheroes need to know when to cry uncle, and so he does, ever so quietly, in a shroud of packing peanuts. As much as he dreams of sitting at the computer connecting with his intergalactic fiberly roots, he is deterred by the merciless packing gods.

Yes, friends, the Bits of Knits household is embarking on a new chapter in our lives... in two weeks, we'll be moving to a new home! Not to worry, this has nothing to do with the dirgeful post of several weeks back. This has been in the works for quite a while, and while we're all really excited about the move, the prospect of packing and moving during finals is a little daunting. I know I invoke the "blogger hiatus" clause more than is reasonably prudent, so what's one more infraction right? ;-) I hate to do it again, but I think I'm going to need to take a one month break from posting and commenting while we ride out finals and settle into the new place. While I still love blogreading, lurking may become the order of the day until we're all settled in. I'm so sorry- I feel terrible that I've gotten so behind on reading and commenting. I'll miss you guys, but I'm looking forward to seeing you again in a month. Take care, everyone and please send poor Spherey good packing peanut vibes! :-)

public service announcement

First of all, thank you so much for all of your sweet and encouraging comments and emails this past week! I can't tell you how much your good wishes and positive thoughts mean to me. I am overwhelmed by all the love out there in knit blogland and am so grateful for your friendship and support. You guys truly are the best!! Things are much better now and I have all of you to thank for that! Your good vibes made it priority mail all the way to the islands and made a world of difference. I know I've been MIA, but I anticipate being back with a little more regularity now. Unfortunately, my online time may be curtailed due to a different craziness of a more mundane variety, known as the end-of-the-semester crunch, but I still hope to be able to pop in from time to time.

Yes, there is knitting to be had in this post, but it comes in the form of a PSA: Knitting violence is wrong. My friends, it is with a heavy heart that I must confess to you that I am a former perpetrator of knitting violence. My name is Chris, and I am an abusive knitter. My story, unfortunately, is not all that uncommon; perhaps you might even recognize yourself in my woeful tale. Like every abuser before me, I blamed the victim. %$&*@%* I mean, Beautiful Sampler Stole- it was all her fault. We got off to a less than stellar start with the invisible cast-on. The splitty hairiness of the alpaca during K2tog added to the friction, and unable to decipher the elusive directions in Row 6, I found myself increasingly on edge. After the second frogging of the night, I completely lost it. In a fit of complete and utter knitterly rage, I flew my size 2 Inox circs and Alpaca Cloud across the room and screamed sailorly potty-mouth obscenities, the likes of which you've never heard. Novel combinations of adverbs, adjectives and nouns that have yet to find their way into our modern lexicon. I could see the fear in Mr. W's eyes when I grabbed the disavowed circs by the cord and proceeded to hurl the needles against the wall again. and again. and again. Looking at the limp remains of frogged alpaca, gnarled in my sweaty, clenched fists, I realized that I... I had a problem. Surely, no knitting deserves this kind of abuse! Luckily, remorse set in and redemption was found on the KAL page in the form of collective wisdom and Row 6 help. Though I'm now 1 repeat away from finishing the central panel, I recognize that I'm still at risk for future violent behavior, especially with the impending border panels looming in my future. Knowledge is power and awareness is key; "Stop hitting the knitting!" has become my ardent mantra during these trying times.

I realize that March went out like a lion while I was AWOL, but I don't want to let another moment pass without sharing the beautiful postcard I received last month from my wonderful Project Spectrum Postcard Swap partner, Leah. She's such a sweetheart- she even enclosed yummy chocolate (which, unfortunately, never stood a fighting chance of making it to the photo shoot) with her card. Thank you so much, Leah!!I absolutely love the card- the vellum envelope, beaded lettering and dimensional paper crafting are just gorgeous and it has been such a pleasure getting to know you this past month.

Finally, I thought I'd end with some gratuitous Bossy and Stinky pics from an early Egg Hunt this past weekend at The Waikiki Aquarium. Bossy was a little miffed about why the eggs weren't hidden and instead, just dumped onto the grass like chicken feed. Thanks to some quick and resourceful finagling on my part, I was able to explain that the Easter Bunny has to hire people to help him, especially in the week preceeding Easter, since he's obviously gearing up for The Big Egg Hiding Day. Luckily, this resonated with 4 year old logic and Bossy was ultimately stoked to "find" his eggs. I worry for Stinky, though. Her ability to "smile and show me your egg at the same time" doesn't bode too well for her simultaneously chewing gum and walking in the future!

radio silence

I'm still alive, but haven't really had the chance to get on the computer since Wednesday night as I've been tending to some personal matters. I won't bore you with the gory details, but I do want to take a moment to apologize. I'm so sorry... I know that I owe many of you comments and emails, and I don't want you to think that I'm ignoring you. Please forgive me for the delay- I promise to get around to returning emails and blog reading just as soon as everything gets resolved- hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. Looking forward to making the rounds and seeing what all of you have been up to in a few days!! Thanks, again and take care!

furry basket shawl

What?? Two posts in one week?! I know, I almost need smelling salts myself! But there's no time for fainting now- I have something I want to share with you!

Flower Basket Shawl

Yarn: Crystal Palace Kid Merino in Blush
Inox Size 4 circs & Grandma's vintage aluminum circs
Started: 3/10/06 Completed: 3/21/06
Blocked Dimensions: 72" X 36"

Modifications: None; 11 repeats of Chart 2

This was such an enjoyable knit! The Kid Merino was an absolute joy to work with and I loved this pattern. I have to say, my relationship with FBS went a lot more smoothly than my tryst with Kiri. With all of the leftover baggage after being dumped by Kiri the first time around, though, I couldn't help but be paranoid in a new relationship. Like a jilted ex, I was always looking over my shoulder for warning signs of trouble ahead with FBS. I think I grew wiser after courting Kiri, though. I didn't allow myself to fall blindly this time. I wasn't deceived by promises of perfect row counts. No, this time, I over-analyzed every stitch like a paranoid freak, checking the alignment with previous rows and never letting my guard down. FBS grew patiently and indulged my crazy compulsions. She never betrayed me, though I tested her many a time. In fact, I even learned to trust again- trust in my ability to analyze how each row was built upon the last so that I could catch mistakes several stitches later, rather than several rows later.

In the end, we really hit it off! Overall, I'm really pleased with FBS. It actually initially blocked out a little larger than what's in the picture, but lost about half a foot in length and width after unpinning, presumably because of the high nylon content (44%). Nonetheless, it's the perfect size for a vertically challenged gremlin like me. I could actually see myself wearing this one... you know, with my scintillating social calendar and myriad of formal engagements to choose from! That's okay. Even if it only serves as my princess-in-training diva costume at home, I'll wear it! This was a fun Project Spectrum knit and a great warm-up for the big-gun, the Sampler Stole, which I'll be casting-on for tomorrow. Uhm... yeah, okay, seriously, that wasn't a punch line, so you can stop laughing hysterically now. Yes, let's try to remember to laugh with, not at. Aww, who am I kidding? Even I'm LMAO right now, so you may as well, too!! Start tuning up the Man of La Mancha chorus for The Impossible Dream!

One of the aspects I liked best about working on FBS was the yarn, which was soft and cuddly. You can't really tell in the pictures, but it's also actually quite, well... furry. In a good way. Like stuffed animal furry. Or like domesticated animal furry... you know, the usual, dogs, cats and the like. Not to be confused with bad furry. Because there's definitely bad furry. Like orthoptera furry. (This one's for you, Aloha Knitter Michelle!! :-)) Better known as B-52 Flying Cockroaches to you and me. Back in my swinging bachelorette days, I had my own little pad near Waikiki, just me and my cat. I was used to him falling asleep near my leg, and his furry little presence always brought me comfort. So, one night as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought nothing of it when I felt something furry on my thigh. I insticinctively reached down to pet what I'd presumed was a little furry paw. Of course, just then, that little paw crawled up my shorts and my eyes flew open as I realized that something was terribly amiss. That furry little paw was about to scamper into the unmentionables when I grabbed it and hurled it against the wall for all I was worth. I ran to turn on the lights and saw the biggest, nastiest, furriest, Chibi needle sized-roach you've ever seen, kicking futilely upside-down on the floor! Like a twisted gladiator overseer, I loosed the real furry paw to take care of the imposter furry paw. Natural insecticide, if you will. Revenge is sweet!

this weekend in paradise

... Project Spectrum Pink Flower Basket Shawl, sans edging and blocking. Knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, clicking my heels three times and throwing a pinch of salt over my shoulder- there may be an FO post later this week!... More Project Spectrum pink- in the form of our State flower! Technically, the yellow variety is the "official" bud, but these pink ones are my fave.... Long overdue, but during our 12-hour reprieve yesterday from the month-long rain, I snapped these photos of my "backyard" from high atop scenic Tantalus. This spot at Pu'u Ualaka'a holds a special place in my heart as it's where Mr. W and I exchanged our marriage vows, overlooking the island of O'ahu. Infamous Diamond Head . The beautiful Ko'olau Mountains. Punchbowl Crater of Hawaii Five-O fame. The sky and water weren't blue yesterday, but I'm hoping to rectify that soon. With any luck (and a dose of Blogger Metamucil!), I'd like to make "This Weekend in Paradise" a monthly feature to showcase the beauty that is Hawai'i.

... My ongoing Project Spectrum "WIP's!"

Stinky in Pinky and Bossy in Bull-Headed Red. And who could resist hanging out in our fave red monster's room at Bishop Museum? Project Spectrum pink and red abound in Elmo's World- just ask Dorothy!