local events to get excited about ...

If you live in the Des Moines area, you have to hit up the East Village Holiday Promenade this Friday, November 18th. Fireworks, ice skating, free horse and carriage rides, treats and refreshments and all kinds of good things from the area businesses. My pal Chrissy at Domestica will be having cupcake tastings from A Cakes, plus other treats and spiked cider. Sign up to win one of two $40 gift vouchers. And check out her store full of fantastic gift ideas ... she seriously has the best stuff.

Subsect Skateshop, our one and only favorite local skate shop, will be hosting the Tony Alva. This is so exciting ... we can't even believe it. Plus they'll have Vans reps on hand, discounts on Vans and free bbq. We'll definitely be hanging there. I can't wait.

So many of my favorite shops in town will be all decked out. Ephemera. RAYGUN. Eden. The Village Bean. Ichi Bike. Projects. Be sure to check them all out. (And duh, fireworks! In the winter? That's just fun.)

Next Friday, November 25th, skip the malls and come out to visit us at Market Day Black Friday! It's the biggest and best show of the year. 

I'm knitting a crazy amount of super cozy accessories to bring along – my best colors and biggest selection that I'll have all season. Cowls start at only $25 and make great gifts. Don't miss Market Day Black Friday – I hope to see you there!

block after block

A couple of weekends ago, I had the most excellent adventures with these girls in wonderful NYC.

The four of us crashed in Brooklyn. We spent a long weekend trekking, eating, shopping, walking, laughing, navigating public transportation and taking a lot of photos. We had massive and delicious breakfasts/lunches. We saw bits and pieces of the NYC marathon and knitted with paintbrushes. We hit the Bushwick photobooth extra hard. We admired graffiti and handbags that were out of our reach and smiled. (A lot.) Here are some of my favorite parts of our adventures.

 

 

I had a beautiful time; I really did. It was just what I needed. I feel lucky to have friends and memories and adventures like these.

oh my

Oh my! Check out all the spectacular new goods from my friend, Kara. (I'm especially in love with the yellow pullover.) She's opened up shop and you can find these pretties and more over at Stuff Kara Made. See something you like? Enter the coupon code 'stuff4you' to receive 25% off your order.

26 weeks

Sometimes it actually feels as if someone is doing their laundry in there. Tumble dry.

This week, the little dude weighs two pounds. I feel huge already. We haven't found the perfect name for him yet, but we're working on it. I wonder a lot if he'll have dark hair like Lo did when she was born, and if the two of them will look alike. I picture him being an adventurous little skater boy, like his dad. My center of gravity has shifted. I get the midnight leg cramps. I already have trouble sleeping, but I smile a little smile when I'm up during those late hours, knowing that it will just be a matter of time until I'll be up at all hours of the night with a tiny babe in my arms. We have three months to go before he gets here, and sometimes I feel unprepared and I wonder how we'll get it all together. But I know deep down that we'll be more than ready for him. So ready to do this.

Do It Yourself mag feature

If you happen to pick up the Winter 2011 issue of Do It Yourself magazine, you might spot a little home decor makeover project I worked on.

Check out the 'Before and After' section, and you'll see how six bloggers (me included!) reinvented a dated piece of thrift store furniture, giving it a new and fresh look. Such a fun challenge!

My original piece was a classic older wooden chair with a sad little maroon seat. It was definitely crying out for a little tlc. I gave it a new sunny yellow paint job, and then knitted a black and white chevron cushion cover. I had one weekend to do it and it was seriously too much fun!

Be sure to check out a few of my friends who also are featured in this issue! My pals Karen Brady and Arin Wiebers of Ephemera Design show off some fantastic gift wrapping ideas on page 8, my crafty friend Leslie Poyzer produced and contributed to several sections in the mag, and the gang at Renegade Handmade did a fantastic re-do on an old schoolhouse desk on page 43. There's lots of other great ideas in these pages, so go pick up your copy now.  :)

25 weeks

I spent the last part of my 25th week in beautiful nyc with three of my girlfriends. It was a total last-minute adventure that happened to work out for all of us, and I'm so happy that we were all able to meet up. I had an appointment with my doc right before I left and she gave me a permission slip to fly.  During my stay, my belly button officially popped out. I consumed donuts, meatballs, fried chicken, pancakes and pizza. I taught a friend how to knit using two paintbrushes instead of needles. I took the G and L trains all by myself. We perused fabric shops, yarn shops, handmade/vintage markets, breakfast joints and coffee houses. It was fantastically perfect.

It was just what I needed; a long weekend with quality girl time, good food and that little bit of freedom that everyone longs for once in awhile. Don't get me wrong – I love my family with every single particle of my being, but this short getaway was such a refresher. I came back better and brighter because of it. (And also a bit rounder.)  
More nyc pics and stories to come.

a million thanks

So, yeah – I just wanted to take a second to say thank you for reading. Today, I reached a million hits. Whether you're a friend who has been following along here for a few years or you've been on my blog for 30 seconds, thank you. You are fantastic. I love blogland, I do.

So, let's hang out. Do you follow me on Bloglovin'?  Do I follow you? If not, link me up. I love me some Twitter, too. Are you on Ravelry? Pinterest? Anything else you'd like to say? Hit me up on the email if you'd like.

And a big THANKS again for reading. You rule.

city love

Off to do a little bit of nyc this weekend with my girls. Catch you later, skater.  :)

the kitchen project

It's done ... finally done! You may remember me mentioning our kitchen re-do a few months ago. (Take a look back to see where we started!) Or you may recall me gushing over yellow kitchens a few years ago, back when this remodel was our brain child. Well, the yellow has become a reality and now I can finally share our before and after pics.

Here was our kitchen before. There was nothing wrong with it, but we felt that our house deserved a more modern kitchen that matched the feel of the rest of our rooms. We were in awe of all of the cabinets and storage options that IKEA offered, so we began planning. The walls and ceilings (which you can't really see here) needed a ton of drywall work, which Bo did himself. And he and his dad laid the gray floor tile. Such handy guys. It was pretty major stuff.

Here's the other side of the room, which we had recently updated with stainless appliances. We ended up gutting the entire room and starting fresh.

And here's what it looks like now. White with a nice color block of yellow and gray countertops.

Clean lines, white and bright.

We ended up abandoning our DIY self-poured concrete countertop idea after doing a little research and finding out that long-term, concrete can be a real pain. It can require re-sealing every 6 months or so. And it can stain, or crack. This information made us sad, since we really had our hearts set on the idea, but then we fell in love with Formica. If you haven't seen their website/gallery, you have to check out all of the custom options they offer. Formica is cool. And it gave us the clean look we were going for.

One of our favorite things about this re-do is probably the simplest-looking; the high cabinet next to the fridge has become our new pantry and we're loving the pull-out storage. Love. (And yes, we had to keep Gene Simmons at his post on top of the fridge. He's always been there.) Our other favorite feature on our cabinets and drawers is the quiet-close feature, which I'm sure you've seen in action if you've visited and IKEA show room. If you accidentally slam a door, it catches and closes it quietly. We added a white desk to the wall next to this one for our Mac to sit on, and we plan to add a glass tile backsplash in the next few weeks.

After all of the months of hard work that Bo and his dad put into this room, we can finally enjoy it and take it all in. We had zero outside hired help with this room, so we have a little bit of extra love for it. We're so incredibly excited that all of our dishes have been put away in their new homes and we're thoroughly enjoying our new kitchen with the bright sunny yellow cabinets. No one can steal my sunshine.  ;)

24 weeks

There hasn't been a whole lot of time lately for naps or resting, but I'm feeling good. The aches in my hips and back have started in, especially when I wake up at night or walk for awhile. And I get bloody noses in the mornings, which I've never experienced before. My stomach is already sore from stretching and growing, but I know I have a long way to go. We've started collecting tiny boy baby clothes from kind friends and family members and I'm loving all of the blues and greens entering our home. I'm feeling pretty grateful. The little dude weighs a little over a pound and I get to take the oh-so-fun glucose test this week. I keep asking myself ... am I already this far along? (Oh yes ... I am.) 

Happy Halloween!