I had a hard time choosing my favorite photo of Tater from the summer. I chose this one because we enjoyed the hike and Tater loved coming along to snuffle in the grass and roll around in the rivers and waterfalls. It was her first real hike that we took her on and she loved it. I have entered this into the Paper Mama's weekly photo challenge.

Something that I have also enjoyed from the summer is becoming a member of the Roost Tribe at Going Home to Roost. As you have probably seen over the past year plus, I have struggled a bit with how I wanted to layout my blog and what to include. Part of that is I don't have fancy programs like Illustrator or Photoshop and I have no knowledge of CSS. I like to be able to do it all myself. Well, I have finally found a layout that I really enjoy (photo at the top coming soon, I promise!) and it just needs a few finishing touches. This has been where being a member of the Roost Tribe has been helpful. Bonnie makes many gorgeous extras that we can incorporate into our blogs. See that neat button on the right under Affiliates?







She made that! And I get to learn how to make my own. Granted, I will need Illustrator, but, I may just sign up for that free 30 day trial. If you're wondering what you missed for the month of September, click here to read her post. Ooh, I also got this sweet snail mail postcard from her. How nice is that??
I look forward to incorporating more and more into my blog until it is where I would like it to be. Maybe it will never be where I want it to be, but I will keep striving to make it such.

 Look how proud those turtles are!








 Tater would have been so scared!

 Dumpling time!
 Peering
 Enjoying the last few bars of vacation before getting on the bus.

One of the things I love about NYC is that I could almost walk anywhere and grab some vegan grub. Of course, at times I would look up places to purposefully go to as well. I was seriously craving a good veggie burger (seemingly an oxymoron) and found one. So good. Also got some rosemary homefries.
 One of the infamous people of the area, pigeon man.

 We spent some more time on the subway to go to Central Park. I love me some public transit.



Did I mention I love public transit? What's your favorite way to travel?

 This past weekend I was able to spend a long weekend with Ryan. It was soo great to see him again and spend some time where he lives. After taking the subway to his place and settling in, we went out for dinner at a middle eastern place down the street. Mmmm...falafel!
 Washington Park is just a few blocks away and it was one of our favorite spots. There is a fountain in part of it and a dog run in another. It was fun to see the cute little dogs run around and chase each other.
 This is one of the views from the terrace at Ryan's place. It was so beautiful.
 I was also struck by how much nature tries to push its way into the urban jungle.

How was your weekend?

I picked out a new blog layout and I'm still working out the kinks. See that space up there between the title and the body of the posts? Yeah, I need to fix that. I am in NYC visiting Ryan, so I won't have a chance to fix it until I get home. My guess is that the template calls for an image to be put up there and I cannot make something while I am away. Bare with me while the site undergoes some changes.

Here is a photo of me today in Central Park. The wind nearly blew us over at times--I was surprised! I'm also wearing the scarf that I talked about here.

photo by Ryan

I thought of a blog series that I wanted to start. In reading some other blogs, I liked the humanity that they would show throughout series of posts such as "dear, ________", honest confessions, if you knew me, and admitting to horrible tastes in music. I wanted to do something similar, but not completely the same. When I was making the stir fry that I had posted about this weekend, I was thinking how I had forgotten how awesome it was to cook kale. There is something amazing about how it's all tough and bitter to start with and then once it is cooked it is soft and tasty. Plus, I love watching it shrink! I realize that that is a simple example, but it is often these simple things in life that are overlooked. Every once in a while I just get smacked in the face with one of life's simple pleasures and I wanted to have a way to share it with folks. Hence the "I had forgotten..." series. Ya dig? I hope to make this a weekly thing...but it could be biweekly if I have a particularly busy week. Today's will be short, as I am currently visiting Ryan in NYC.

I had forgotten what it's like to have sticker shock on a particular item. I had forgotten how much I enjoy holding my boyfriend's hand while we walk together. I had forgotten the simple pleasure of watching one of our favorite shows together. I had forgotten how much I took the microwave for granted. I had forgotten how much I enjoy getting Tater out of her crate in the morning. I had forgotten how much I enjoy vacation. I had forgotten how much heart aches when a friend is far away and struggling.

Thanks for reading. If you wish to write your own "I had forgotten" post, please leave the link in your comment. I would love to read it.

It's been a while since I posted about crochet. I had bought yarn earlier this summer to make an amigurumi koala bear and there the skeins sat in the Michael's bag all summer.

I decided that I would get into crochet again when Alycia from the Curious Pug posted about a crochet-a-long of sorts. Each month, participants can vote on which pattern to make during the month and then write subsequent posts showing our work that we link up. What I especially like about it is that there is no pressure to have it perfect, so if the project turns into a mess, we can still show it and ask others for help on where we went wrong. Or just laugh together. If you're interested in signing up for the crochet-a-long too, feel free to click the image below to vote and join us all in the process. I look forward to seeing how it turns out for each of us, as well as working on my own crochet skills.

Hi All! I'm having a shop sale at T&E celebrating the end of summer. Many of the items are 50% off or more. Check out the shop and see if any of your faves are on sale.

 Well, it certainly wasn't my intention not to blog for a week. I couldn't believe it when I looked at my last post and it was over a week ago that I had written it. Oh well. There hasn't been too much happening this week, other than a lot of work time.
Since those pictures aren't as interesting, here are some of Tater Tot. The second photo made it to Chelsey's favorites in the photo challenge this week. Tater rediscovered her raw hide this morning and is whining with it in her mouth, trying to find a place to put it. She is truly adorable and a great companion.
My cooking during the week was almost non-existent, but I made up for it yesterday by making a stir fry with more produce from the farmer's market. This one features kale, leeks and carrots. I also threw in some tofu, but I cannot get that from the farmer's market.
I worked on some monster-patterned baby booties for a party this week. I cannot wait to see the photos from it. Even though I haven't made a pair in a while, it was amazing how quickly it came back to me and I didn't have to look at the instructions once. It makes me proud, as I am pretty much a beginning sewer.
My scarf exchange partner, Diana, mailed me my scarf and I received it this week. I love the pattern and the colors...should take me into fall very well. It is from Michelle Brusegaard's shop on Etsy. Check it out when you have the chance...there are tons more scarfs, stationary and odds 'n' ends. The photos above are from her shop. I'll take photos of my own...eventually.

I decided that I am going to have a summer sale of items in my shop to make room for new/fall/winter/holiday items. It will be effective in the next couple of hours, so check it out when you have the chance.

What have you been up to this week?