TGIF!!

Long week for me.  Flew to Atlanta last Thursday, worked till Tuesday, flew back Tuesday night, worked Wed and Fri... Basically Thursday was my relax day!  I am so glad that I have this weekend off.  :o)  And in thanks for that, I plan on heading to P.Terry's and trying their Maine Root Beer Milkshake!  I've never had it before, but it sounds so yummy!  Pre-mixed root beer float??  Yes, please!

And other than the fact that I'm thrilled that it sounds delicious... I'm extra excited because this Maine Root stuff is very high quality!  It uses fair trade organic evaporated cane sugar and real herb flavors.  Read more about it on their website.  My favorite one is the Ginger Brew, but most of them are absolutely delicious.  If you can find them around your town, you should definitely try it out!  :o)

Kid 'N Ewe

I am so excited that there is a fiber festival less than 2 hours away from me.  In hot hot Texas.  Though, I suppose with all the farm land out here, it would only make sense.  :o)  Kid 'N Ewe isn't until November, but I've already started planning for it.  My mom is coming out to visit me and we plan on going there for some fibery fun.

I know we're going to be there Saturday, but I can't decide if there's any reason to stay longer than that.  I am going to love seeing all the fiber and dyers and animals!  And there is going to be a cashmere shearing demonstration!  Better start saving money now.  ;o)  Anybody been before?  Are there any good restaurants to stay and have dinner at afterwards?  It is still a bit of a drive, so it'd be nice to grab something to eat then head back.

StitchJones Yarnageddon 2013!!!

Can I say enough about this club??  I joined it for 2012, and have enjoyed all 3 of the shipments so far.  There's one more shipment left for 2012, and I don't know what other luxury fibers and treats she can cram into this year!  I wish I were at home to post pics of my goodies... but let's just say that it has included an oversized skein of worsted weight Merino/Silk (50/50 blend, and when I say oversized, I think it was 800 yds!!), locally sourced Oregon Cormo, Alpaca/Silk, Merino/Cashmere/Silk, fair trade alpaca, indie made stitch markers, indie sock project holder, patterns, Japanese handkerchief, and more... all wrapped with love from Sharon, the creative mastermind behind StitchJones.

The club sign ups are open now through Jan 1, 2013.  However, space is limited, and if she fills up, you may miss out on some fantastic goodies!  StitchJones... where color goes to eleven!!  :o)  Go here if you need them shipped to you.  Here if you happen to be local to Portland/Hillsboro/Forest Grove area.  :o)  And enjoy!!

Juice Cleanses

I've never done one.  I'm only semi-interested in doing so.  But I will have to say, if these juices are a part of the cleanse, I'd totally be down!

The Dieline

I tried a few, and this one was my favorite.  On my trip from Cali to Austin (which has yet to be chronicled on the blog yet... will have to change that soon.), we stopped at Whole Foods in Pasadena.  They were sampling these delicious juices, and I gotta say, they were fantastic!  Super clean ingredients, super fresh tasting... and way easier than making all the juices myself!

Anyone out there done a juice cleanse?  What is it like?  I'd like to hear more about it before I make the plunge.  :o)

Minnetonka

I am in love.  With moccasins.  These moccasins in particular:

Minnetonka

Maybe I'm being silly... but I think they are awesome.  It's the color that got me.  And maybe a little bit of the limited edition thing.  Gah!  There are a few retailers in my area.  I wonder if any of them would have them.  >.<  Except that I have so many pairs of shoes already.  But no moccasins!  Hmmm... ;o)

"Homemade" Pizza

B and I have been talking about buying pizza dough and making our own pizza at home.  (We aren't at the stage where we have a good baking area set up in our kitchen yet, but we're working on it.)  So, when our local grocery store had a "Buy a Pasta Sauce, get a Pizza Sauce and Organic Shredded Mozzarella for Free" we had to jump on it!  We also grabbed a made in store, partially baked pizza dough crust.  I love that idea so much!  It's fresh, they made it that day... and the partially baked means that they have rolled it out for you (great since we don't have a rolling pin nor have the tossing pizza dough skillz to pull that off), but it won't be overdone after baking!  Anyways, we're now thinking about toppings, and I think we're both going to have to make concessions.

Everyday Finesse

I'm much more of a veggie pizza type of person.  And while B likes vegetables on his pizza (he is thinking fresh spinach and tomatoes sound pretty good on the pizza), he is much more of an "everything" pizza or meat pizza type of guy.

Kimbesa's Homemade Pizza

And we differ in opinions when it comes to certain toppings also.  I love olives while he loves bell peppers... and of course, he hates almost all olives and I strongly dislike actual pieces of bell peppers.  I'm thinking that a fresh spinach, fresh basil, sliced or chopped fresh tomatoes, a small sprinkling of onion, and a high quality sausage sounds like a pretty good compromise.  What do you think?  Do you have a favorite type of pizza?  I'd love to hear if you've made your own pizzas, and if so, what combinations have you found to work best?

Labor Day Weekend Fun!

Can you believe that in the dry, arid dessert of Texas, there can be these random bits and pieces of liquid beauty?

Dave Wilson Photography

This is called Hamilton Pool, and is about 40 minutes outside of Austin.  I am so glad to be so close to a place as neat as this.  I was pleased with how natural they have manged to keep a place like this.

We also managed to have a few fantastic meals at wonderful restaurants.

County Line BBQ has a number of locations, and while I'm sure they all serve the same fantastic bbq, I was more impressed with the gorgeous view we had.  It was also some of the best restaurant coleslaw I'd ever had, great beef ribs, and I would definitely recommend the marbled brisket.  Good food, great view, cool breeze blowing... made for a fantastic way to end the day.

Lonestar Ball

Kome is a wonderful Japanese restaurant that serves lots of traditional Japanese foods and sushi also.  The traditional Japanese foods included takoyaki, onigiri, karage, etc.  It is serving foods you might find inside of a Japanese home vs foods you find at an American-Japanese restaurant.  The sushi was excellent, and we were all very pleased with the dishes we got as well.

Kome

In addition to all the good food, fun times with friends, and running around experiencing new things... I also taught my first drop spindle class in Austin.  Getting to teach again is a fantastic thing; I was definitely missing teaching spinning and knitting.

It was a very busy weekend, and I did enjoy getting to explore Austin more!  Hope everyone else had an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend, as well!