Coffee and Cross Stitch

Beggar's Night | Cross Stitch

In amongst all the travel I did recently, I was able to find some time to stitch.

Not much time, but some.  I've actually been reading a lot more, too, which is fabulous.  I miss it.  I'm in the middle of about six books, so when I was sitting on the beach on Monday, I made some headway on Elizabeth I.  Yeah.  You read that right.  Elizabeth I.  Because I'm a nerd & stuff.

Here's my latest WIP report on Beggar's Night:

Got the urn done, and all the leaves.  Now I'm onto the raven, starting with its tail....

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!!

 

NYC | Travel

This past Saturday, I decided it was high time I went back to NYC.  It's been since before Christmas (I didn't even want to be outside this winter in Philly, let alone go NORTH and be walking through NYC in that hellacious cold. nothankyouandgoodday.), so since I had no set plans for the weekend, I decided to hop the train and head up there.

I'm not a big fan of the center of Manhattan....you know, around Times Square and all that crap.....so I get on the subway from Penn Station and head either Uptown towards Columbus Circle or to the museums, or Downtown to my favorite....SoHo.  Greenwich is also fabulous.  Oh, and the Fashion District - the fabric and trim stores are TO DIE.  Now I feel like I need to sew something.

Anyway.  Focus.

Aside from the usual shopping while I was in NYC, I was on the hunt for Tu-lu's Gluten Free bakery, and I found it, nestled on 11th Street.  Like Babycakes, it's in an unassuming spot, bare-bones interior, but has phenomenal goodies.

I had the mini coffee cake, cranberry almond muffin, and the raspberry glazed donut.  The cranberry almond muffin was hands-down my fav of the three things I got.  I need to hit them up earlier next time (I was there around 1pm) and see what they have in the mornings before it's all picked over.

For my fellow gluten-freebies, I highly recommend this bakery when you're visiting NYC.  You will not be disappointed. 

Tu-lu's Bakery:  Web | Twitter | Facebook 

 

 

A Few Days Off

Friends.  To say I needed some time off from work is an understatement.

So, with the long weekend this past weekend, I took a few days last week to make it really long.

I don't regret it one bit.  Not one little teeny tiny bit.  My work can wait.  My brain needed to take a vacation.

The main reason I took off was to see the Blue Angels flight demonstration team.  If you've never seen them, drop everything and go now to your nearest air show and see them fly.  You will not regret it.

I didn't take many pictures of the show, mainly because I wanted to experience them, rather than be so worried about getting the greatest shot of them in perfect formation.  And they are perfection, my friends.  

They're also hot as hell.  Those blue flight suits.......

Wait.  Was that outloud...?

The BA (which also could mean badass, and in this case, is also true, because the Blue Angels (and really all naval aviators) are badass...) were at Annapolis for graduation week at the Academy, so they did their flight demonstration on Wednesday, and then did the fly over on graduation day.

If you ever have the chance to go to Annapolis, go.  Take a tour of the Academy - you only need your drivers license to get access to the base, but because of heighted security will most likely not be able to park on base, so just park nearby and walk through the pedestrian gate - and make sure you stop at the chapel and the museum.  If you're there around noon during the academic year, you can watch Noon Lunch Formation....

 The surrounding town is also great, with little boutiques, and pubs you can stop in for a quick bite, before heading home with that hot officer you just picked up off the street..... ;-)

USNA: Web | Facebook | Twitter

Blue Angels: Web | Facebook | Twitter

Halloween in May | Cross Stitch

I know what you're thinking - we barely (and I mean barely, since it's still not really all that warm, even though we're more than halfway through May...) made it out of winter alive, and I'm talking about Halloween already.  We celebrate Christmas in July (well, I do, anyway...in fact I'd celebrate Christmas year-round if it were socially acceptable...as it is I just took the holly garland off my staircase railings.....moving on...), so why not Halloween in May? Right?!

I don't know why, but this past week, I've been obsessed with Halloween pieces, so I pulled a few to stitch.  Maybe it was the heinous weather I had to endure while in the Chicago area last week, as demonstrated by the below screen shot...

Awful.  Just awful.  By the way, it never hit 52 degrees that day.  In fact, it SNOWED on Friday morning.  SNOWED.  Reason 847 not to move to the MidWest.  Ever.  Unless by undue force.  Or really just ever.  Being landlocked kinda freaks me out.  

Anyways.

 Regardless of whether or not you're on board with me in celebrating Halloween in May, these pieces are pretty awesome.

Up first is one of the smalls from Stranded Jacks, a graph by Plum Street Samplers.  I did three of the smalls last fall, and I decided it's about time I finished the last two.  A Halloween whale totes a teeny tiny jack-o-lantern on his back, over an orange and black sea.

Seriously you guys.  The whale's tale is striped.  I can't.

Next up is Beggar's Night from Threadwork Primitives.

 Loving that white pumpkin.  Keep an eye out for my WIP updates on this one - there's a raven off to the right.  Yep.  Raven.  Wicked awesome.

Memorial Day is almost here (RIGHT.  I can't believe it, either.), which means SUMMER is coming. Thank the good Lord.

What have you guys been up to?  What are you all stitching or sewing or scrapping or doing or making?  Are any of you going somewhere for the long weekend???? It's been so long since I've checked in!  I hope you all have a fabulous start to the week!