For the July dinner, the Restaurant of the Month club went to Onesto, a little pizza place in South City (St. Louis Hills). One of the draws of Onesto is that they use organic flour for the pizza dough and use fresh and local ingredients for the food. They also have lots more than just pizza, including pastas, calzones, sandwiches, and stromboli.
There seem to be several gourmet pizza places popping up; one of the things I like about this trend is that these places offer really great toppings that you can't get at other pizza places. And the prices at Onesto are reasonable...not overly priced gourmet. I don't typically order veggie pizza because most places stick with the standard tomatoes, onions, peppers on the veggie pizza. Well, I was super excited to see that Onesto offered a veggie pizza with some unusual toppings. One of the other club members and I split a small All About the Veggies pizza. This pizza was amazing! It was topped with sauce, mozzarella cheese, roasted eggplant, roasted zucchini, fire-roasted peppers, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and roasted garlic. The crust was slightly overcooked, but that is exactly the way I like it; it was nice and crunchy. It was really delicious, and I'm excited that I had a couple of pieces to take home. This pizza will not be warmed up in the microwave either. It will get the proper treatment (which it totally deserves) and be warmed up in the oven. Yum yum!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Etsy front page, but I missed it
There is a website an Etsy seller set up that lets other sellers easily see how many views their shop is getting, as well as how many hearts. When I checked out that site today, my views had jumped up, plus I had a bunch of new hearts. I knew I was featured in a ShowMeEtsy treasury, so I thought maybe it was just related to that. But the item that had a bunch of new hearts wasn't in that treasury. Well, one of the other ShowMeEtsy members found another treasury that I was featured in, called Pink Elephants on Parade, aptly, since my item featured was my pink elephants on parade yarn. I can't view treasuries at work, so I didn't get to take a look at this treasury until just now. Well, from one of the comments, it sounds like the treasury made it to the front page early this morning. I'm so excited but a little bummed. It was my first time making it to the front page, but I totally missed it. But I'm so excited that I was included in a treasury that is getting a lot of views and that made it to the front page. I haven't gotten any sales out of it (yet, fingers crossed), but the new views and hearts may help me get some future sales. Also, it may bring my shop to the attention of other people who could potentially include me in their treasuries. This has been the best month so far for my little shop...my sales doubled plus I was included in three treasuries in the last week, one of which made it to the front page! Yay!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Dreams of Knitting
As if it wasn't already clear that knitting has been dominating my life, now I have been having dreams about it. I guess it makes sense though...I have some yarn that I spun myself that wasn't enough to sell that I want to make something out of. It isn't quite enough for a hat though and it is superwash, so I can't make anything felted out of it. So I have really been thinking about what I can make out of this yarn. Obviously this has even filtered into my subconscious since I've been dreaming about this yarn and making something from it. The dreams may actually have helped though. I have been thinking about using it with another yarn, and maybe with lots of scraps to make a hodge-podge sort of scarf. Then, from my dream, I was reminded of a pattern I had seen for fingerless gloves using two different yarns as a way to use up small amounts of yarn. So that has inspired some other ideas, perhaps doing fingerless gloves, but my own pattern, using this yarn and leftovers of some other handspun yarn that I bought from someone. The ideas are swirling around my head. I've also been thinking about trying to figure out a way to make a big flower out of it for a brooch (since the yarn is pink), but again, it can't be a felted flower since this yarn is superwash. Plus it is bulky, so it needs to be something that will work with bulky yarn.
My mind is just brimming with ideas! I am now keeping a list of all of the project ideas I have come up with that I want to make. The problem is that my project ideas don't always match up with the yarns and fibers I have in my stash, so I will get inspired to do something with a stashed yarn, and then not get to all of the projects on my list. And now I'm going to be getting my July batt this week for the monthly fiber club I'm in, so I know I'll want to spin it right away.
Last night I finished up a super cute pumpkin hat. As often happens, I had a pattern for it, but the pattern wasn't quite what I wanted, so I used the pattern as a starting point and then changed it so the hat would be how I wanted. I'm really happy with how it turned out and even tempted to keep it for myself. That is always the dilemma...I rarely keep things for myself, but usually the things that I would want to keep are the things that definitely sell. I guess that means that I should always make things that I'd want to have myself, rather than trying to guess what other people would want. But that also makes it hard to let things go...I hope that they all go to good homes!
Of course the other issue right now is that I'm really trying not to spend too much money and instead am focusing on using up my stash. So, if I don't have the yarn for one of the projects on my list, then that project stays on the list for now. I probably will be buying some fiber soon though because I have a cool idea for some art yarn I want to spin. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will turn out well. I've been looking at fiber for days on Etsy trying to pick out just the right color. Another thing that is helpful is that I do have several deadlines. ShowMeEtsy will have a booth at Cool Art, Hot Jazz in August, so I have some things I want to finish up for that. Actually one is a project that I have been procrastinating on. It is partly done, but I have a few more pieces to make for it to be totally finished. Knowing that I have a deadline will probably help. Also, I'm thinking about attending the World Sheep & Fiber Arts Festival and possibly entering some handspun yarn in the fiber arts competition. That should motivate me to get the art yarn spun so that I can enter it in the competition.
There just isn't enough time for me to finish all of the projects that are floating around in my head. I dream of a day when I can spend as much time as I want on knitting and spinning...perhaps I should start buying lottery tickets. :)
My mind is just brimming with ideas! I am now keeping a list of all of the project ideas I have come up with that I want to make. The problem is that my project ideas don't always match up with the yarns and fibers I have in my stash, so I will get inspired to do something with a stashed yarn, and then not get to all of the projects on my list. And now I'm going to be getting my July batt this week for the monthly fiber club I'm in, so I know I'll want to spin it right away.
Last night I finished up a super cute pumpkin hat. As often happens, I had a pattern for it, but the pattern wasn't quite what I wanted, so I used the pattern as a starting point and then changed it so the hat would be how I wanted. I'm really happy with how it turned out and even tempted to keep it for myself. That is always the dilemma...I rarely keep things for myself, but usually the things that I would want to keep are the things that definitely sell. I guess that means that I should always make things that I'd want to have myself, rather than trying to guess what other people would want. But that also makes it hard to let things go...I hope that they all go to good homes!
Of course the other issue right now is that I'm really trying not to spend too much money and instead am focusing on using up my stash. So, if I don't have the yarn for one of the projects on my list, then that project stays on the list for now. I probably will be buying some fiber soon though because I have a cool idea for some art yarn I want to spin. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will turn out well. I've been looking at fiber for days on Etsy trying to pick out just the right color. Another thing that is helpful is that I do have several deadlines. ShowMeEtsy will have a booth at Cool Art, Hot Jazz in August, so I have some things I want to finish up for that. Actually one is a project that I have been procrastinating on. It is partly done, but I have a few more pieces to make for it to be totally finished. Knowing that I have a deadline will probably help. Also, I'm thinking about attending the World Sheep & Fiber Arts Festival and possibly entering some handspun yarn in the fiber arts competition. That should motivate me to get the art yarn spun so that I can enter it in the competition.
There just isn't enough time for me to finish all of the projects that are floating around in my head. I dream of a day when I can spend as much time as I want on knitting and spinning...perhaps I should start buying lottery tickets. :)
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Garden State and the Big Apple Part II
I'm going to finally finish writing about my trip, but I'm feeling lazy, so I'm not going to include any pictures (even though I have some great pics of Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park).
So let's see...day 3. We got a later start because my friend Laura's daughter Lily had a music class. But the only things I hadn't seen yet that I didn't want to miss were the Met and Central Park. Laura's husband Brian dropped us off on the Upper East Side, where I got a slice of pizza at a place Brian had found online for me. (Brian and Laura are Orthodox Jews, so they eat only kosher foods, which is mostly what I also ate during the week, except for a hot dog from a street vendor and pizza.) I wrote down the name of the pizza place but can remember it now. Anyway, the pizza was great.
From there Laura and I walked to the Met. I really liked getting a chance to see different areas of Manhattan. In the Village, the sidewalks seemed smaller, and they were crowded with people and vendors. I heard all kinds of different languages. On the Upper East Side, the sidewalks seemed huge, and although there were still people walking, there were fewer people and fewer vendors, etc. Along the sidewalk by the Met there were quite a few artists and photographers selling their wares. I was thinking how cool that would be if I could just set up a table by the art museum here or along Delmar or something and sell my knits and yarns.
The Met was beautiful, of course. We didn't have a lot of time, but I got to see the European wing, with the Impressionists, etc. They had some nice VanGoghs, Monets, and Degas. They allow you to take pictures, so I got several pictures. Unfortunately the pictures of the Degas were too blurry. They also had some Picassos, but not the ones that I particularly like. They also had a special super heroes exhibit, but unfortunately we didn't have time to see it.
From the Met we walked into Central Park, where we walked by the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond. We then walked up to Belvedere Tower, which overlooks Turtle Pond. As we were walking, we passed several musicians, which was really cool. We then went to see Cleopatra's Needle, which is an obelisk that was actually erected in Heliopolis Egypt in 1600 BC, moved to Alexandria in 12 BC, and then given to New York City and erected in Central Park in 1881.
After walking around Central Park, we walked back over to the Upper East Side, where we got take out from a vegetarian/kosher Indian restaurant and then headed home to eat. It was delicious! I got a curry dish with eggplant and potatoes and a variety of appetizers (like samosas).
We had planned to go to the Jersey Shore on Thursday, but the weather didn't really cooperate, so we ended up just going shopping at Ikea. I was happy with that though, since we don't have an Ikea in St. Louis.
Friday morning we drove Brian into the city and stopped at H & H Bagels on the way. Yum! After we dropped him off, we drove past the UN, and I also got to see both Yankee Stadiums across the East River. Then I flew home Friday afternoon.
It was a really busy trip, but I did also feel like I had time to relax and to visit with my friends.
It is strange because even though we only spent a few days in the city, there is a part of me that misses it. I was trying to think of a way to explain how I felt about New York. I finally came up with this... If you think of visiting a city as kind of like dating, there are sort of three categories: there's the person you go out with who you really don't care if you see again (you may actively dislike the person or just not like him enough to see care if you see him again); then there's the person you like, who you could be friends with, but that little inexplainable something is missing; then there's the person who you have chemistry with (regardless of whether it ever actually goes anywhere). Well, when it comes to cities, I feel the same way. Kansas City is in the first category... I could take it or leave it and really don't care. Chicago is in the friend category... I love to visit and spend time there.
But New York and I, we have chemistry.
So let's see...day 3. We got a later start because my friend Laura's daughter Lily had a music class. But the only things I hadn't seen yet that I didn't want to miss were the Met and Central Park. Laura's husband Brian dropped us off on the Upper East Side, where I got a slice of pizza at a place Brian had found online for me. (Brian and Laura are Orthodox Jews, so they eat only kosher foods, which is mostly what I also ate during the week, except for a hot dog from a street vendor and pizza.) I wrote down the name of the pizza place but can remember it now. Anyway, the pizza was great.
From there Laura and I walked to the Met. I really liked getting a chance to see different areas of Manhattan. In the Village, the sidewalks seemed smaller, and they were crowded with people and vendors. I heard all kinds of different languages. On the Upper East Side, the sidewalks seemed huge, and although there were still people walking, there were fewer people and fewer vendors, etc. Along the sidewalk by the Met there were quite a few artists and photographers selling their wares. I was thinking how cool that would be if I could just set up a table by the art museum here or along Delmar or something and sell my knits and yarns.
The Met was beautiful, of course. We didn't have a lot of time, but I got to see the European wing, with the Impressionists, etc. They had some nice VanGoghs, Monets, and Degas. They allow you to take pictures, so I got several pictures. Unfortunately the pictures of the Degas were too blurry. They also had some Picassos, but not the ones that I particularly like. They also had a special super heroes exhibit, but unfortunately we didn't have time to see it.
From the Met we walked into Central Park, where we walked by the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond. We then walked up to Belvedere Tower, which overlooks Turtle Pond. As we were walking, we passed several musicians, which was really cool. We then went to see Cleopatra's Needle, which is an obelisk that was actually erected in Heliopolis Egypt in 1600 BC, moved to Alexandria in 12 BC, and then given to New York City and erected in Central Park in 1881.
After walking around Central Park, we walked back over to the Upper East Side, where we got take out from a vegetarian/kosher Indian restaurant and then headed home to eat. It was delicious! I got a curry dish with eggplant and potatoes and a variety of appetizers (like samosas).
We had planned to go to the Jersey Shore on Thursday, but the weather didn't really cooperate, so we ended up just going shopping at Ikea. I was happy with that though, since we don't have an Ikea in St. Louis.
Friday morning we drove Brian into the city and stopped at H & H Bagels on the way. Yum! After we dropped him off, we drove past the UN, and I also got to see both Yankee Stadiums across the East River. Then I flew home Friday afternoon.
It was a really busy trip, but I did also feel like I had time to relax and to visit with my friends.
It is strange because even though we only spent a few days in the city, there is a part of me that misses it. I was trying to think of a way to explain how I felt about New York. I finally came up with this... If you think of visiting a city as kind of like dating, there are sort of three categories: there's the person you go out with who you really don't care if you see again (you may actively dislike the person or just not like him enough to see care if you see him again); then there's the person you like, who you could be friends with, but that little inexplainable something is missing; then there's the person who you have chemistry with (regardless of whether it ever actually goes anywhere). Well, when it comes to cities, I feel the same way. Kansas City is in the first category... I could take it or leave it and really don't care. Chicago is in the friend category... I love to visit and spend time there.
But New York and I, we have chemistry.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Grammar Bandit
I know I promised more to come about the NJ/NY trip, but I've been lazy about posting the rest because it is such a pain to embed the pictures (or else I just don't know how to do it an easy way...still learning). So I'm putting that off for a bit and talking about something else today.
I was driving to work this morning, and drove past Johnny's Market on Gravois. There is a little section of road in front of Johnny's Market with one of those road adopted by signs by it. It says "Employee's of Johnny's Market." The incorrect use of the apostrophe in this sign drives me crazy! When will people learn to use the apostrophe correctly? It should never be used to make a word plural. This is probably the most common grammar error I see on signage, and it is so annoying. I can remember being at a craft show ages ago where someone was selling front yard signs with families' names on them. The signs were custom, so you could pick your sign and then the guy would paint your name on. Well, all of the examples had the apostrophe used incorrectly. I really wanted to tell the guy but figured he would be offended. I wondered how many people would even notice the error and whether he lost any sales because of it.
So, while I was sitting at the stop light thinking about that this morning, I started thinking about how I would love to get some green tape and cover up that apostrophe on the adopt-a-road sign. That led to me envisioning sneaking up at night and taping the sign like some sort of grammar bandit. Then I started thinking about all of the other signs with grammar errors that need correcting...
A lone woman waging a secret war against poor grammar...saving the innocent from ignorance...providing relief to gammarians everywhere. Where will she strike next? It's the Grammar Bandit!
I was driving to work this morning, and drove past Johnny's Market on Gravois. There is a little section of road in front of Johnny's Market with one of those road adopted by signs by it. It says "Employee's of Johnny's Market." The incorrect use of the apostrophe in this sign drives me crazy! When will people learn to use the apostrophe correctly? It should never be used to make a word plural. This is probably the most common grammar error I see on signage, and it is so annoying. I can remember being at a craft show ages ago where someone was selling front yard signs with families' names on them. The signs were custom, so you could pick your sign and then the guy would paint your name on. Well, all of the examples had the apostrophe used incorrectly. I really wanted to tell the guy but figured he would be offended. I wondered how many people would even notice the error and whether he lost any sales because of it.
So, while I was sitting at the stop light thinking about that this morning, I started thinking about how I would love to get some green tape and cover up that apostrophe on the adopt-a-road sign. That led to me envisioning sneaking up at night and taping the sign like some sort of grammar bandit. Then I started thinking about all of the other signs with grammar errors that need correcting...
A lone woman waging a secret war against poor grammar...saving the innocent from ignorance...providing relief to gammarians everywhere. Where will she strike next? It's the Grammar Bandit!
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