Evolving Sweetie

Gobbled up Gobs

Everyone has those nostaglic little mementoes from childhood. Smells and tastes that take you back to a specific place in time. Gobs are it for me. Tasty little chocolate cake, vanilla iced cookie sandwiches that are a little slice of heaven whipped up in Western PA. Looks like a whoopie pie, only so much better.  Yum!

Gobs are a little souvenir from family picnics and summers days. A piece of my history and elders that I've been searching to preserve. All the recipes I found focused on marshmellow fluffed out icings which are so wrong. However, recently I hit the jackpot when Gobba Gobba Hey came out last month. Not only does it contain the original coveted recipe, there are 50+ imaginative flavor combinations to try out.

Last week my parents were in town and we embarked on making a batch. Little more time consuming than a traditional cake or cookie recipe, but so worth the effort. We were all tickled to have a little piece of our youth back. Flooded with memories in Grandma & Aunt Kittie's kitchen. Fun, fun times.

Happy to have that treasured little morsel back.

 

POSTCARD from my Kitchen

Scarf for K

Excited to share my scarf project. Figured it was only fair to let K receive it in the mail as a surprise before letting the cosmos in on it. K's been having a rough summer. I wanted to send her a bundle of cheer and love.

Knitting is a calming, almost mediative practice for me. Love to imagine that I am weaving in my prayers and good thoughts for the recipant as I am working. Inspired on this project to track and convey what wonderful LIFE was happening while I knitted. 

•     New Jobs
•     Concerts with friends
•     Baseball games
•     Quiet R&R time
•     Visiting and laughing with family & friends
•     Bus rides and sharing with admiring strangers
•     Backyard fires with close knit friends
•     Amonst adoring nieces
•     Ferry rides & a road trip

Think I will do that with my projects from now on. Not that the list above would change frequently. But you never know what surprise you'll find woven in there. I've knitted at 30 thousand feet, on 2 continents and across the Atlantic Ocean.  Sorry K - nothing that fun on this one.

Very happy as it's the first project I've seen to completion in months. Yahoo!! And it turned out beautifully! Best yet, I've built momentum to wrap up a few more projects in the upcoming weeks.

Good things are a knitting!

 

POSTCARD a scarf for K

starting point

making progress

finis!

close up

love the vibrancy of the color and it's movement

For you knitters out there, I found the pattern on Ravelry - Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty.com.  My version was knit with a sport weight yarn on US Size 6 needles. I reduce the width to 3 zig-zag lines from 5 by casting on 35 stitches and repeating the pattern 2x. I also took the length to 100".  A nice cheery, light weight cotton scarf.

Queen Anne's Lace

Lamenting the vast volumes of memories that disappear with age. Where are all the loves, hurts, joys, accomplishments, dreams and heart breaks? Woven in the fabric of my being so tightly that the individual threads disappear. Leaving the impressionistic  overview, details fading into the background. 

Sometimes my memory will attach to a tiny little detail breaking forth a tidal wave of love lost. And so it is with Queen Anne's Lace. This delicate bloom always bring me back to my Grandmother's in rural Pennsylvania. Sunny days picking bouquets with my sister or cousins on the way to the school playground. A golden glow shimmering all around.

Happy, warmth, laughter, love, kinship ... just beautiful. 

Miss you Grandma! These blooms are for you wherever your soul is today.

 

POSTCARDS from the Garden

 

Visits Home

The snow globe of my life has been shaken up this past week and the contents are starting to shift back together. Traveling home always brings the wave of nostalgia and wonder on how my life would be had I kept close to my roots. Who would I have become? How different would life be?  

The heart of the matter is the driving force that propelled me to leave the Steel City. I knew in the depth of my being that never finding out who I could be on my own would be a regret I'd wrestle with the rest of my life. To paraphrase a conversation I had with my friend D on my visit "To live all that is truly inside your heart frees you. To be afraid of it and keep it buried imprisons you." 

And I love Seattle and the life I've built. All the ways living here has molded and shaped the woman I've become today. Loves, friendships, family, the peek-a-boo mountains, the grounding bodies of water, the markets, the salt air and gut feel of being where I belong. Never regretted the decision to leave. However, trips home to Pittsburgh brightly illuminate the price tag I've paid for following my heart. 

It takes awhile for those snowflakes to settle. And to be able to clearly see the landscape again.

 

 

Jamie & John's Wedding

The reason for my trek home was for my beautiful, exuberant cousin Jamie's Wedding last Saturday. What a gorgeous day for the blessed event. Loved seeing all my family on my Mother's side. Miss them all more than I can say. Wished there was more time to visit and catch up.

POSTCARDS FROM JAMIE & JOHN'S WEDDING

 
My lovely nieces

 
Mom looking glamorous

 
Here comes the Groom & his men

 
The Bridesmaids are lining up

 
Katie

 
The joyous bride

 
Uncle Ray escorting the youngest member of the clan to her seat

 
Introducing Mr & Mrs Van Lenten

 

Parents of the Bride

 
Wilson Family Portrait (courtesy of Facebook)

 
Miss Hailey & her mom Lindsey

 
 Beautiful Bridesmaids

 

 

 
Mom & Dad

 

Me (Thanks Dad)

 
Mrs Janeic, Danita & Ken

 
Rare Cousins Pic

Beautiful day! Congratulations Jamie & John!

Summer 2010 Pics

My favorite pictures from the summer...

P-Patch

Birthday Fairy Emmie turns 4! 

Camping 2010

 

 

 

Bridal Veil Falls

 

Twin Falls w/ Preeti

 

My lovely nieces

Emmie - 4 years old

Mairead - 5.75 years old

 

 

 

LiveStrong Challenge - Seattle 2010

Up early for the Livestrong Challenge this fine Father's Day morning. It's the 2nd year for Seattle. Over $800K raised in the fight against cancer.  All funds raised go towards working for a cure or providing resources for survivors and families in the battle of their lives. Truly admirable in this economy, on this day.

Today was my 4th Livestrong event. Each one is touching and special. Our groomsmen and friend Mark joined the Peloton this year and rode the 45 mile route, mostly in the rain. My sister, brother-in-law and my lovely nieces walked in honor of our lost Chuck. I brought cowbells that the girls and I had a grand time ringing loud and proud, cheering on everyone. There can never be enough cowbell! And the rains held at bay on all us walkers. 

Livestrong for me is about celebrating the human spirit. Seeing all those survivors overcome and walk or ride. It's about community - knowing that many others walk this journey through cancer and in unity there is empathy, strength and support. It's giving a voice to the fight and taking a stand.

And most intimately, it's about Chuck. For honoring what he accomplished, how he faced life and most notably cancer, and how deep and profound his missing is in our lives. My husband, our friend, brother, uncle, son ... shoes that can not ever be filled. I opted this morning to celebrate, remember and cheer. It wasn't until I was waiting at the threshold for Mark to come rolling in that the tears of grief started to flow. For I alone carry the memory of how proud, overjoyed and grateful Chuck was went he crossed the finish line and collapsed into me in a tearful hug. Reminded of the knowledge that he will never ride again.

Thank you to all for your support!!!

Livestrong!

POSTCARDS from Livestrong Seattle 2010

 
Mark queued up for 45 mile ride.

Riders are OFF!

  
Aunt Jeannette & Mairead

Heather & Emmie

The Family!

 
Sisters

Finish line in sight

 

 

 
     Mark soaked at the end of a long ride. 

LIVESTRONG!!!  

 

First Ballgame

Saturday, the family headed to Safeco Field to take in the Mariners vs the Angels game. What a beautiful, sunny day. Perfect for spending at the ball park. An enjoyable game until the Angels destroyed us in the 6th. Unfortunately, that's par for the course this season.

The game was special to us as it was Mairead & Emmie's first major league baseball game. They did pretty well and definitely enjoyed the treats. Mairead put up with her Aunt trying to explain some of the rules of the game. Loved sharing my lap and love of the game with her. Fun way to spend quality time visiting and enjoying the afternoon.

There was 7 of us split into 2 sections of VERY GOOD seats. THANKS MIKE!!! Spent the first part of the game with Heather & the girls. And the other half visiting with Kevin & Sandy. 

Take me out to the ball-game.

A lovely afternoon.

POSTCARDS from Safeco Field

3rd baseline sets

Heather & the Girls.

First base seat views

Ichiro

The Moose

Mairead 

Girls with their Moose. Yes - I am the culprit 

Girls with Grandpa & Mimi

Mike & Emmie leaving the game

Bye-Bye Safeco Field - see you next time

    

           

Spring at the Woodland Park Zoo

 

Date time at the Woodland Park Zoo with my favorite little girls. My lovely nieces, of course! 

A beautiful morning to be out with the wild life. The bears were frisky and playful. Ice cream and carousel rides galore. And Aunt Nette spent the whole time running trying to keep up! Opted to not lug the SLR today. Photo and video documentation via the Iphone. 

SCENES from a sunny Sunday stroll through the zoo:

 

Mairead & Emmie riding the Monkey

  

Can't forget to ride the Lion 

 

 

 

A friend was made.

Unfortunately my videos of us feeding the birds didn't turn out due to technical difficulties - ie operator error. We had a BLAST in the birdhouse. One startled me and perched on my shoulder for a few minutes. The girls LOVED feeding it. Mairead caught 2 on her stick and immediately started shaking with excitement and chased them away. Our day ended with a romp through the Family Farm, where we witnessed a chicken laying 4 eggs.  A wonderful, sunny and fun filled day!

Leaving a Decade

It was the best of times, it was the worse of times. These are the very first words that ring through as I've been trying to come to terms with leaving the 00s behind. As the holiday weekend ends, I realize that I've spent days running away from writing this entry. 

This decade represents a loss of innocence to me. We rang in this decade in fear and paranoia over the Y2K bug. No matter where you landed in the spectrum of concern - the opening of the millennium was approached with a degree of caution. 

And then the world stood still as the Towers fell. Generations of us forever changed in those horrific hours. But it's where innocence vanished, that gifted us the room to be compassionate, patriotic, responsible, generous and heroic. One of life's mysteries is the best in humanity is witnessed in our most tragic moments. This is a lesson we'd learn over and over.

Personally - I can't proclaim this decade as good or bad. It's absolutely housed the best days of my life. And unquestionably the worst ones. 

• My entire life with Chuck was written during these years. I fell in love with my soul mate and married him. We barely started our life together when we engaged in the battle against cancer for his life. A scant 2 years later, he was gone, released to a better place. And I'm still reconstructing. The best and the worst days of my life belonged with him.

• I gained a wonderful brother in Mike when he married my little sister. Joyously over the years, I became an aunt to 2 lovely nieces. And I'm forever grateful that they chose Seattle to place their roots down. Love having most of my family close by.

• Gained an amazing friend family through Chuck and they are now my core of friends. On the flip side, I lost a whole family of in-laws.

• Found that I'm so blessed to have many family and friends that lighted my way through the darkest days. 

• Fortunate to travel and see many extraordinary places this decade - England, France, Italy, Prague, Belgium, Germany, Amsterdam, Hawaii, Alaska, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas...

• Worked for 3 employers and had 2 long stints of unemployment. But luckily have always landed on my feet when I truly needed it.

• Started out in a small studio apartment, moved to a tiny house for the duration of my marriage and ended the decade in my very own 2 bedroom condo.

• Blessed to witness some of my longest friendship find their mates, get married and start families. Joyfully watched as most of my friends' families bloomed.

• Found passions in cooking and telling my story through blogging and scrap booking. Continued to look for creative pursuits. 

• Lost my Grandmother. Watched as more friends lost parents. And heartbreakingly a few lose a child.

• Continued my journey with my 2 furry, purry companions by my side. 14+ years and still going strong.

A decade is just a measure in time. My life experienced extraordinary highs and lows during this one. I've been profoundly changed, challenged and blessed. 

Looking forward to seeing what this new decade contains.