Five Things

1. The Central Park Hoodie.

I finally started my first adult-sized sweater. I've put this off for far too long due to much trepidation about cabling and sizing. Well, the sizing thing I finally got over because I figure if it doesn't fit me, it will fit one of my daughters, even though I really want it to fit me and I'm doing my best to make sure it does (knitted the gauge swatch three times....putting down the mentos now). And now that I've got the cabling well underway (sorry, no updated picture yet), I have to say I gave cables way too much credit! They're easy, hello! If there are any cable-avoiders reading this, please, do yourself a favor and go knit something with cables right this minute.



2. The backyard design.

See this forest? It's actually our backyard. One year after move-in, we've finally got the back hoe coming (not for tree removal, just in case you were worried) and, through the magic of hired help, in about a week this is going to be a delightful lawn, garden and play area wherein our family can bond without being eaten alive by chiggers.



3. Party catering.

My firstborn child is now 10 years old. Woah, that went fast. Here you see Totinos Pizza wearing a tux.




4. Quickity Quick Party Favor Bags.

My fat-quarter obsession sure comes in handy sometimes. I whipped up these little party favor bags a couple hours before the party (that sounds very Martha, but really it was just the result of Procrastination). They are little lined bags, about 8x12 inches, with long ribbons sewn into one side seam to tie them closed. So fun.








5. New camera!

My photo quality output is going to be inconsistent for a bit while I work my way up the learning curve with my new birthday present (which birthday is in two months but tax return season is now)! It's the Nikon D80. Don't ask me yet what exactly that means, but I can tell you it is not AF-S specific!



Also, after shopping longer than I did for my marriage companion, I finally picked two new lenses. The photo above shows the D80 wearing the 18-200mm f/3.5-5 VR, but I returned that after using it half a morning (it was HUGE, heavy, not any faster than the D40 kit lens, and I already have an f/5 tele-zoom I can use outside) and got the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 50mm f/1.4. The prime lens is sweet sweet sweet! See?



For sale: one meticulously-cared-for D40 camera body with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, with battery, speed charger, and USB cord, in box with plastic. $375 SOLD!