When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go...

Downtown!

Last month my office moved from its long-time digs (40+ years) in the mid-Wilshire area into a shiny office tower in downtown Los Angeles. By moving to downtown, I lost my office (now in a corner cube, but at least I have a window!) and I lost the ability to visit Vivian at lunch (my old office was literally two blocks away from Vivian's daycare). Those things definitely sucked, but the move to downtown definitely has its upsides.

#1 Every convenience is available within a 2-block radius.
My gym is across the street (thus enabling me to work out on my lunch break). Also across the street is a shoe repair, dry cleaners, convenience store, and one of a billion Starbucks.

#2 A plethora of dining options are right here.
There are at least 15 different places to go for lunch within about 100 yards of my building. As opposed to our old building which had two options if you didn't want to get into your car and drive.

#3 The Fashion District is a quick DASH ride away (only 25 cents each way!)
I can visit Michael Levine's on my lunch break. This is frightening.

#4 The Central Library is right here.
I went to the library today on my lunch and picked up 4 knitting & crochet books: Scarf Style, KnitKnit, Loop-d-Loop Crochet and The Opinionated Knitter (I've been dying to try the Baby Surprise Sweater). Woo Hoo! I'm so proud of myself for taking advantage of this fabulous resource.

#5 A million more activities are all here and accessible.
Grand Central Market, lunchtime concerts at Pershing Square, the Flower District, the Jewelry District, the bead stores just north of the Fashion District (Bead District?), and probably a bunch more I haven't discovered.

"So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - don't wait a minute for
Downtown - everything's waiting for you!"

Crazy for quilts

Ok, cheesy title, but I'm drawing a bit of a blank today. Remember that baby train I mentioned that was coming in to the station this month? Well, I'm keeping myself busy by quilting like a mad woman for these families. And last night, I finished my second patchwork quilt!

This one is for Baby Zanzibar, due this month to our friends Ryan & Sara. The pattern is from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, a book I highly recommend. The colors in the photo are a bit muted, making the quilt look like a biohazard sign, which I don't think it does in real life (the yellow is actually more green than orange).

Another view:
Thinking about it, if you've never changed a newborn's diaper before, you might think it WAS a biohazard...

I'm also working on a quilt Stephen & Lee's baby girl, also due this month. Richard picked out the fabrics, and I'm doing the Stacked Coins quilt, also from LMP&QG. I love how the different techniques of patchwork can make a quilt that looks so complicated, but is actually pretty simple.


More photos as the quilts progress!

Now we're cooking

On Saturday, Rich & I did something we haven't done since Vivian was born (and get your minds out of the gutter). We had people over for dinner. I cooked. And set the table, complete with a table cloth, cloth napkins, water AND wine glasses.

It's important for us to have people over regularly, because I've found that the threat of company is the only incentive we have to really clean. We keep things neat enough regularly, but I have to admit that unless people are coming to eat, I sometimes forget to clean the dust bunnies off of the ceiling fans.

So on Saturday, Michael and Kelly came over for a fabulous (if I do say so myself) dinner of chicken chasseur (chicken, tomatoes, onions and lots of mushrooms) served over egg noodles. I used my slow cooker to make the recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and I will make the resolution that I will always use my slow cooker for dinner parties (unless it's a backyard BBQ - but then, those will have to wait until we have a backyard). I started the prep at about 2:30 p.m., put everything in the slow cooker at about 3:30, and then had 3 1/2 hours to clean, hang out with Vivian, and make the dessert (triple-chocolate pudding cake from the Pillsbury Best of the BakeOff Desserts book -- so incredibly rich and gooey!).

Now, the only thing bad about having people over for dinner is that we have no dishwasher, other than Richard. So poor Rich spent a couple of hours after Michael & Kelly left washing out pots and pans, plates and bowls. But it was an awesome evening, complete with food, friends and fun.

And this weekend, we had another new development:

I wonder why this baby is chewing everything in sight?


Because she has TWO new teeth! Two bottom teeth are coming in together -- my little baby is growing up so fast!

Yes, I actually can complete a project

I have been crafty lately, not that you'd know it by reading this blog. I have 2 crochet projects underway (a Craftkitten Bolero and a jacket designed by Amy O'Neill Houck) and a knit shrug that has been languishing.

But here's something that hasn't been languishing: my first patchwork quilt!


It's a Crazy 9-Patch baby quilt for Baby Ava, new daughter of Dr. Dave. I was inspired by Sew Mama Sew!'s Quilt Month back in February, and learned how to do the Crazy 9-Patch by following the fabulous tutorial posted here. A note on my quilting skills - yes, I am a beginner. My lines aren't exactly straight, my squares not all the same size. Oh well. I love it. I think I'm hooked.