Turning the Page on September 2017

*Back toward the beginning of September Jarrod and I took a short little weekend getaway to Kauai, our favorite Hawaiian island. We lounged on the beach, hiked to a waterfall and ate some amazing food. Sigh... take me back!

*It was a super-busy month at work for me. In a one-thing-after-another kind of situation, the library ended up being pretty short-staffed in September so I worked some extra hours to help out. And I also got to fill in for preschool storytime twice, which was so much fun!

*We had professional family photos taken at the beach with Alohi last week for our Christmas cards and, as expected, it was a bit of a disaster -- a certain someone is probably going to be completely covered with sand in every picture. But the photographer -- a friend of a friend -- is soooo talented and I'm sure she'll make them look amazing. I can't wait to see!

*Fall arrived! That doesn't mean much here in Hawaii, but I did drink several pumpkin spice lattes, bake pumpkin cookies, and get out all my fall decorations. Plus I was excited about the return of fall TV, especially This Is Us.

*In other TV/movie news, we finished the latest season of Homeland and the final season of Orphan Black and finally started watching the most recent trio of Sherlock episodes.

Books read: 5

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (for kids' book club) // 3 stars
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence // 5 stars
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton // 3 stars
The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer // 3 stars
American Eclipse by David Baron // 4 stars

Currently reading: Himself by Jess Kidd and One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson

Favorite book: Red Sister, the first in a new fantasy series! It was one of the best books I've read this year.

Biggest let-down: Good Morning, Midnight wasn't a bad book, but it was so far off from what I had been anticipating.

October release I'm most looking forward to: Either Dan Brown's new Robert Langdon book or From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty; I loved her first book, a memoir about working in the funeral industry, and this one is about death practices across the globe.

Book I'm most excited to read in October: The third illustrated Harry Potter is about to be released and I'd really love to read all three at once. I just had to have the other two right when they came out... but I've yet to actually read them!

Current library checkouts: Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett, The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan, The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne and Quiet Until the Thaw by Alexandra Fuller

Books added to to-read list: 10 (but I deleted a couple hundred!)

Most intriguing TBR addition: The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. I don't read much middle-grade fiction, but now that I'm doing the kids' book club at work I feel like I should. Plus a patron was absolutely raving about this book, and it sounds right up my alley!

From Goodreads: Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute -- she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan -- and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

Favorite bookstagram: This photo has so many things in it that make me happy: my new watch, my new couch pillows, a pumpkin spice latte, a book and a picture of the Rocky Mountains. Find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay!

Favorite post: My Fall 2017 To-Read List. Even though I don't always follow them, I loooove putting together quarterly to-read posts!

Book reviews:
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry (4 stars)
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton (3 stars)
The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer (3 stars)

Monday Musings: Lava!

My week: We had a fantastic weekend on the Big Island! It was a super-short trip, but we wanted to make sure we got a chance to see where lava from Kilauea volcano is flowing into the ocean before the puppy joins our lives and we won't be able to travel for a bit. It was even more amazing than I expected -- we were lucky to see Pele's magnificent "lava hose" pouring into the ocean! We also cruised around Volcanoes National Park, checked out Halemaumau Crater at night (it glows orange and now that the lava lake's higher you can see lava shooting up from time to time) and popped down to the black sand beach. I love going there because there are almost always sea turtles basking on the warm sand. I'll do a whole post soon with a bunch more lava and Big Island pictures; for now, here's a video of the lava ocean entry at Kamokuna (it was absolutely breathtaking to see in person!).

Reading: I had just started "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" last week at this time and I thought it had major potential. Unfortunately, it went downhill fast from there -- the main problem was that it was not at all as advertised. Maybe if I'd have known what I was getting into, I would've liked it a lot better. (Here's my review.)

Now I'm reading "Lab Girl" by Hope Jahren, a fantastic memoir that combines Hope's journey as a scientist with the life cycle of a tree. It's really interesting, I love her writing and I've learned a ton! I'm also reading "Looking for Alaska" for the adult book club I co-facilitate at work. I didn't get to pick the books and I don't really like YA, so I'm surprised to say it's actually not bad so far. (I thought "The Fault in Our Stars" was super over-hyped and just-ok, so I didn't have high hopes for this one.)

Knitting: Not much time for knitting last week, but I added a couple inches to the Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf I've been working on.

Watching: I watched the first episode of "The Crown" on Netflix last week. For some reason I thought it was about Queen Elizabeth I, so I was in for quite a surprise (it's about the current Queen Elizabeth's early reign), but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

Blogging:
Monday Musings
14 Gorgeous Covers On My To-Read List
Yarn Along: "Lab Girl" and a Wizard Scarf
20 Intriguing February 2017 Book Releases
Upcoming Release: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill
Upcoming Release: The Young Widower's Handbook by Tom McAllister

Looking forward to: If all goes well, we'll be bringing our boxer puppy home tonight! We found out she has a breathing issue that sometimes affects short-nosed breeds, so we're taking her to the vet this evening to make sure surgery will fix the problem and she'll be able to fly with us when we leave the island in a couple years. If the vet gives us a good prognosis, she'll be coming home with us. Fingers crossed!

*I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Kauai: October 2016

A glimpse of the absolutely stunning Na Pali Coast -- probably the most beautiful place I've ever been. (And that's my mom!)

Better late than never, right?! One of my goals for 2016 was to get better about posting travel photos on the blog, and while I was semi-successful (I did post photos from most of our 2015 trips), I never got around to 2016 (specifically, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Kauai). We're about to get a puppy so we definitely won't be doing as much travel in 2017, and hopefully that means I can finally get on top of travel posts! In that spirit, here's a look at our trip to Kauai, Jarrod's and my favorite Hawaiian island, when my mom was out for a visit in October.

Some notable sites (and places to add to your to-do list if you ever visit the Garden Isle):
-Rainbow Falls
-Waimea Canyon (and Waipo'o Falls)
-Kalalau Lookout (at the very end of the Waimea Canyon road -- that's all the green mountain-y photos, including the one of our hair blowing around like crazy!)
-Kilauea Lighthouse
-Opaeka'a Falls
-Hanalei overlook
-Spouting Horn blowhole
-the "tree tunnel" on the road to Poipu

That island in the distance is Ni'ihau, the second-northernmost inhabited Hawaiian island. It's a private island that's been owned by the same family for generations and it's famous for the tiny seashells that can be found there (called, appropriately, Ni'ihau shells).

2015 Travel Recap: Niagara Falls

Well, I'm ashamed to say that 2016 has somehow surpassed me dawdling along with my travel recaps from last year and our trip to Cleveland and Niagara Falls actually happened over a year ago, at the beginning of October 2015. Goodness, it's hard to believe it's been that long -- and what a year it's been!

If you're interested, you can see posts about the rest of our fun year of travels here:
Hawaii
Gettysburg
New York City
Bristol Race, the Biltmore and the Smokies
Colorado Part 1: Lost Lake and Pikes Peak
Colorado Part 2: Rocky Mountain National Park
Cleveland: Cuyahoga National Park and "Christmas Story" House
Next up: back to the Smoky Mountains in October 2015

*

At the beginning of October last year, we took a long weekend getaway to Cleveland and Niagara Falls, with a stop in Buffalo on the way home to sample the fare at the restaurant that claims to have created buffalo chicken wings. Cleveland was already on the to-do list since it was our last year in Ohio and we hadn't been yet, and I figured we might as well jaunt over to the Falls because who knows when we'll be in that part of the country again. I'm so glad we did... I had never given Niagara Falls all that much consideration before, but I was pleasantly surprised -- the falls were so very stunning in person!

American Falls with Bridal Veil Falls off to the far right of the photo. Bridal Veil Falls is the waterfall you walk next to on the famous Cave of the Winds excursion (which we did, and which was very wet, and which you'll see below).

Another view of American Falls during the day. I was shocked by the sheer volume and power of the water.

There's a light show at night!

On our second day, we headed over the bridge to Canada (I was vaguely disappointed not to have my passport stamped). It's true what everyone says -- the Canadian side is nicer in every way. The Canadian part of the waterfall (Horseshoe Falls) is even more impressive, and the area is much cleaner and more nicely maintained.

That mist is no joke!

Jarrod looks like the Marshmallow Man with this windblown poncho!

And here we are getting drenched, and then drenched some more. The top two photos with the blue ponchos are from the Maid of the Mist boat tour, which takes visitors right up to both the American and Canadian falls for an up-close-and-personal encounter with an insane amount of gushing water and resulting mist.

The yellow ponchos are from Cave of the Winds, where we donned special rubber sandals and walked up a maze of wooden stairs and platforms alongside Bridal Veil Falls. It's smaller, but let me tell you, it's formidable. Every part of me that wasn't completely and totally covered with my poncho (which billowed out constantly from the wind created by the falls) and most of me that was covered was absolutely soaked with ice-cold water. It was an entirely miserable/amazing experience.

You can't quite tell in the photo, but this was basically like standing in a downpour. I would definitely recommend Cave of the Winds, but be prepared to be wet and cold!

2015 Travel Recap: Cleveland: Cuyahoga National Park and "Christmas Story" House

Aloha and welcome to the latest installment of my painfully overdue series of posts about our wonderful year of travel in 2015.

Here are the previous posts: Hawaii, Gettysburg, New York City, Smoky Mountains/Biltmore, Colorado Part 1 and Colorado Part 2. Next up: Niagara Falls!

 
The first weekend in October last year we took a trip to Cleveland and Niagara Falls. We knew we'd be leaving Ohio shortly (we were only stationed there for three years) and we still hadn't visited Cleveland! We also intended to stop by Ohio Amish country on the way up, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us.

I had sort of an old, run-down, super-industrial city filled with disintegrating factories in mind, but Cleveland was actually pretty nice! We enjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had a delicious dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Jarrod and I were both pleasantly surprised. After two days in Cleveland, we headed to Niagara Falls, which will have its own post.

Our first afternoon in Cleveland we visited Cuyahoga National Park, mostly because one of my life goals is to visit every U.S. national park. I'm a huge fan of nature and being outdoors, but I'm sorry to say that as far as national parks go, this one was a let-down -- there's hardly anything to it and I have no clue how it lives among the ranks of Yosemite and Rocky Mountain and Big Bend... it really should be a state park. But still, it was fall and the forest offered some lovely colors. And the main attraction, Brandywine Falls, was really pretty. We also "hiked" to Blue Hen Falls, in the upper right picture (I say "hiked" because it was really more of a light stroll through the woods).

"He looks like a deranged Easter bunny. It's a pink nightmare!"

The highlight of our Cleveland adventure was the "Christmas Story" house!

If you're ever near Cleveland and are at all a fan of "A Christmas Story," this quirky attraction is a must-do! It was cheap, quick and fun. This old home -- a real house tucked away in an actual neighborhood -- was used for filming the exterior house scenes in the movie, then quickly sank back into obscurity. But not long ago, someone bought the house, repainted the outside to look just like it did in the movie, and fixed up the inside in a '50s style.

There are TONS of fun replica movie props -- a Red Ryder BB gun, Lifebuoy soap, a Little Orphan Annie decoder pin, and obviously a leg lamp in it's fraaa-geee-lay-marked crate -- and photos are highly encouraged. My favorite part was donning pink bunny suits! There's also a small museum with actual clothes and props from the movie, as well as newspaper articles and information about why the house was awarded its movie role. And of course there's a gift shop, too.

2015 Travel Recap: Colorado Part 2: Rocky Mountain National Park

Aloha and welcome to part six of my 2015 travel recap! It was a fabulous year of travel for us and I'm excited to share it all with you -- even if we are now rapidly approaching a year overdue!

You can see the previous posts here: Hawaii, Gettysburg, New York City, Tennessee/North Carolina, and Colorado Part 1.


Last September Jarrod and I traveled to my home state of Colorado for a beautiful autumn visit -- the first time I had been back in the fall since 2009! We had a wonderful time with my family and took every opportunity we could to get outdoors. We took an overnight getaway to Rocky Mountain National Park and were lucky to see the aspens already beginning to change in the higher mountain climate. We also did two lovely hikes and saw tons of elk!


The timing of our trip was ridiculously fitting. Jarrod and I met in college, and the first weekend of October 2005 we took a weekend getaway to Rocky Mountain National Park to celebrate our 1-year dating anniversary. Almost exactly 10 years later, we headed back -- and we even did the same waterfall hike, Alberta Falls, that we did that very first time. It was even more beautiful than I remembered, and Jarrod brought his new fold-up fishing pole and was thrilled to catch a rare brook trout above the waterfall.


The second day of our trip was a full one! In the morning we did a gorgeous though somewhat strenuous (at least when you're not acclimated to above-sea-level air!) hike to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. Then we took the easy path around Bear Lake, which is right next to the trailhead for the three lakes.


The lakes: (top right) Bear Lake; (middle left) Nymph Lake; (middle right) Dream Lake; (bottom right) Emerald Lake.


After lunch we did one of our favorite RMNP activities: the drive up Old Fall River Road (a one-way 11-mile gravel road that quickly takes you up and away from traffic and tourists) to the Alpine Visitor Center and back down Trail Ridge Road. We saw two black bears cross the road right in front of us toward the start of Old Fall River Road, but we weren't fast enough to get a photo. That's the first time I've seen a black bear in person in Colorado -- all my previous sightings have been in Tennessee!

I absolutely LOVE the landscape surrounding Old Fall River Road and Trail Ridge Road. The end of the road is above the treeline and the alpine meadows are stunning. It's also cold -- there are patches of snow up there all year round, and the roads are closed during winter.

I'm a little bit obsessed with yellow-bellied marmots -- I think these groundhog cousins are just the cutest things -- and one was waiting for us at the visitor center. After I told him I'd make him famous on my blog, he was more than happy to pose for some photos before scampering off.

A Look Back: May 2016

I've been meaning to try out some monthly wrap-up posts for ages, but I never seem to get around to it. Today, though, just so happens to be June 1. And I just so happen to be sitting in our hotel room on base with nothing to do while Jarrod's at an appointment. So -- let's give it a shot!

The Month

May was an unusually jam-packed month for me! The big thing, obviously, is that we moved to Hawaii. I spent a big chunk of April and most of May with my parents in Colorado as part of our military move from Ohio to Hawaii. Jarrod was taking a month-long class in Florida, and it was so very nice to actually get to spend some time with my parents and brother! Jarrod met up with me in Colorado mid-May and we had about 10 days there before we headed off for Hawaii last Wednesday, a week ago today.

Here are some highlights:

*I started May off with a visit to Dallas to see my best friend, Katie. We've known each other since 9th grade -- that's 17 years! I had a great little trip to see her. She's a zookeeper and was fostering some wild baby raccoons who were displaced by construction at the zoo, and they were just about the cutest things ever. As if that wasn't enough adorable, she was dog-sitting a goldendoodle puppy and I just fell in love with him! We also went to Fort Worth to see the daily cattle drive, got cupcakes at the famous Sprinkles, and went to Waco for a day where we visited Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Market, the Dr. Pepper Museum and Waco Mammoth National Monument (which was so, so cool!).

*My mom and I went to a painting class and played around with alcohol inks, which was a really fun girls' night! (Picture above.)

*My brother Andy graduated from my alama mater, Colorado State University, with a business degree. Being a military spouse I miss out on a lot of family events, but I was lucky enough to be able to attend this one!

*We helped Andy move from Fort Collins to his swanky new apartment in Denver. That doesn't sound all that fun, but we managed to work some excitement into the day. I dragged Jarrod to The Loopy Ewe, a huge and amazing and wonderful and awesome yarn shop in Fort Collins. (I had the self-control to only buy three skeins of yarn!) We also ate at Big City Burrito, a college favorite that I have to hit up every time we're in Colorado. (Their potato burritos are by far the best burritos I have ever eaten.) And we went to Voodoo Doughnut in Denver, a shop that has all kinds of fun and wacky and inappropriate donuts.

*Jarrod and I took a little getaway to Walden, Colorado, way up in the north-central part of the state, which just so happens to be the moose-viewing capital of Colorado! We saw probably 20 moose -- only females and young'uns though, no males. But still, I was absolutely thrilled to finally see moose in the wild. Bucket list -- check!

*Before we left, we made sure to gorge ourselves at all the chain restaurants we're going to miss here in Hawaii: Red Robin, Texas Roadhouse, Jimmy John's, Firehouse Subs, Chick-fil-a, Sonic. And I did a lot of Kohl's shopping -- another store we don't have in Hawaii. :(

*We -- and our mountain of luggage -- headed to Hawaii last Wednesday. Unfortunately, our second go-round in Hawaii isn't off to the best start and I am so very looking forward to being settled in so we can actually start enjoying ourselves!

The Books

Books finished: 6

Favorite book: "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik

Biggest let-down: "The Blue Bath" by Mary Waters-Sayer

Currently reading: "June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (loving it so far!)

Had to put down: "All the Winters After" by Sere Prince Halverson (but I WILL get it again once I get my Hawaii library card! I made it about halfway through and it was getting good!)

Books added to to-read list: 7

Books added to maybe-to-read list: 10 (eek -- too many!)

Favorite Bookstagram: (below) I love the way this picture came out -- and it features a few of my favorite things: the Hogwarts crest, a book map and tea! The book was "A Gathering of Shadows" by V.E. Schwab, book 2 in her Shades of Magic series, and I totally enjoyed it. It's just a delightful series with some fun characters and an epic good vs. evil battle -- oh, and four parallel universe Londons! I highly recommend it! (find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay)

The Blog

Favorite post: 2015 Travel Recap: Colorado Part 1: Lost Lake and Pikes Peak  It's so fun reliving the memories when I put these posts together. (That's no excuse for not doing it many, many months ago, though. This trip is from last September!)

Favorite link-up post: My Summer 2016 Reading List  I'm the world's biggest sucker for lists about books. And I always have the best time putting together these quarterly reading list posts. It's a fun sense of anticipation to decide what you want to (try to) read for the next few months!

Book reviews:

"Jane Steele" by Lyndsay Faye (5 stars)

"The Blue Bath" by Mary Waters-Sayer (2.5 stars)

"A Murder in Time" by Julie McElwain (3.75 stars)

"Black Rabbit Hall" by Eve Chase (3.5 stars)

Monday Musings weekly wrap-ups:
May 2: Snow, snow, snow and tattoo inspiration
May 9: Dallas trip = raccoons and tacos
May 16: Andy graduates, good books, yarn writing
May 23: Walden pictures + donuts and yarn
May 30: Aloha from Hawaii; rain sucks but it makes pretty waterfalls

Monday Musings from Colorado #6

Highlight of the week: This weekend Jarrod and I ventured to Walden, Colorado, a tiny town nestled in the north-central part of the state -- which just so happens to the the moose viewing capital of Colorado! One of my bucket list items was to see a moose in the wild, and we definitely checked that off. We saw probably 20 moose, though sadly we didn't glimpse any males. The area around Walden and State Forest State Park is breathtaking. Mountains and stunning, untouched landscape surround you in every direction. We had a wonderful little getaway to the mountains -- my last gasp of Rocky Mountain air for a while, since we leave for Hawaii next week -- and in addition to the moose we saw a coyote, a bald eagle, elk, deer, pronghorns, prairie dogs, and some cool birds.

On a completely different note, my brother graduated college last weekend and on Wednesday we helped him move from Fort Collins to his new apartment in Denver. And while we were up in Fort Collins, I made a point to stop in at The Loopy Ewe, a famous yarn store that had me absolutely drooling. It was huge. And it had just about every yarn brand I've been wanting to try. It was very, very difficult to exercise self-control, but seeing as I have to fit everything I buy into our suitcases, I limited myself to three skeins of (gorgeous) yarn. The Loopy Ewe was exactly the kind of beautiful, organized, cozy, well-stocked LYS (local yarn shop) I dream about being able to frequent and it was hard to leave! I also finally got to try Voodoo Doughnut in Denver. That maple bacon bar was so good! (And I couldn't resist the voodoo doll donut, with raspberry filling and a pretzel "pin.")



Reading: This is the first time in a long time that I didn't complete a single book in a week! I finished  (and absolutely loved) "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik last Monday morning, but I don't count that because I had less than 50 pages to go. My current book is "All the Winters After" by Sere Prince Halverson and I'm definitely enjoying it. It takes place in Alaska, which is one of my favorite locales to read about, and I like the writing style. I just haven't had much time to read! (Gasp!) But I have to finish the book by tomorrow night because it's a library copy and our flight for Hawaii leaves Wednesday morning.

I've also got to decide what to read on the airplane. I have a copy of "Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn that I brought along, and I've also got a NetGalley advanced-read copy of "June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore loaded on my iPad. I guess I'll see what strikes my fancy!

Knitting: I made a bit of progress on my Cap Sleeve Lattice Top this week. I'm a few inches into the lattice that makes up the top five inches of the back and I'm pleased with how it's coming along. I've knit a little more of the lattice than what's in the photo, maybe another inch.



Watching: Jarrod and I watched the first couple episodes of the new season of "Fear the Walking Dead." I'm enjoying it, but I'm definitely not glued to the screen like I was watching season 1. We also went to see "Captain America: Civil War," and while I liked it well enough, it wasn't my favorite of the Captain America/Avengers movies.

Looking forward to: If you're new here, my husband is in the Air Force and we're in the process of moving from Ohio back to Hawaii, with a pit stop at my parents' in Colorado. I've been in Colorado since the second week of April because Jarrod had to take a month-long class in Florida as part of our move. It's been wonderful getting to spend this extra time with my family since I don't get to seem them all that often, but we leave for Hawaii this Wednesday and I'm looking forward to getting the second half of this move over with! I'm pretty tired of coordinating travel and cat shipping and car shipping and trying to decide where to live. I just want to sleep in my own bed again!

*

I'm linking up with Kathryn at Book Date for her weekly feature It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Monday Musings from Colorado #4

Highlight of the week: I spent four days in Dallas visiting my best friend, Katie, last week. I only get to see her a couple times a year so it's a big treat! We had a fun few days; we visited Fort Worth to see the stockyards and the daily longhorn cattle drive, we went to the Dallas Zoo where Katie's a zookeeper, and we traveled to Waco to visit Magnolia Market (of the TV show "Fixer Upper"), the Dr. Pepper Museum and Waco Mammoth National Monument (Columbian mammoth fossils -- so cool!). Plus, Katie is fostering two baby raccoons that were displaced by construction at the zoo, and they were just about the most adorable things ever. Katie was also dog-sitting a goldendoodle puppy, so it was just cuteness all around!

Reading: I finished "A Murder in Time" by Julie McElwain and liked it pretty well; it was a page-turner, which is makes for great travel reading. The writing was nothing amazing but I enjoyed the plot, which involves time travel to 1815 England and a series of grisly murders. I also read "The Blue Bath" by Mary Waters-Sayer, an advance-read book I had from NetGalley that came out last Tuesday. It was ok... I didn't love the plot, though I did find it to be very well written. And last night I started "A Gathering of Shadows" by V.E. Schwab, book two in her Shades of Magic series, which features four parallel universe Londons. I liked "A Darker Shade of Magic" (review) and I have high hopes for book two!

Knitting: Finally, something to report on the knitting front! I ordered some yarn from Knit Picks before I headed to Dallas and it arrived on Saturday. Some of the yarn will be turned into a short-sleeve sweater, the Cap Sleeve Lattice Top by Purl Soho. I'm so excited to have a project back on the needles!

Buying: I ordered some earrings from one of my favorite Etsy shops, happyment, and they arrived the other day. This is my second pair of earrings from the shop and I absolutely LOVE them. I get compliments every time I wear the pair I bought several months ago. They're a bit of a splurge, but they're so well made and so pretty! Here's a picture of my new earrings (stolen from the shop listing).

Eating: Katie took me to Velvet Taco, an awesome little gourmet taco shop in Dallas. I had the annatto shredded pork taco and the spicy chicken tikka taco, along with a corn cup, something I'd never even heard of before but which was absolutely freakin' delicious. We also went to Sprinkles Cupcakes, one of the original cupcakeries and something Katie and I do every time I visit her in Dallas. It was Cinco de Mayo so I got a yummy margarita cupcake.

Watching: "The Big Short." The movie was cleverly done and the plot -- based on the 2008 housing crisis and crash of the big banks -- was fascinating and disturbing.

Looking forward to: Jarrod's been in Florida for a month-long training course for the job he'll be doing in Hawaii, and he gets back this weekend! Also, my little brother graduates college -- my alma mater, Colorado State -- on Saturday!

*

I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?