Patchie [Verbs]

Patchie [Waits]

2012-02-17T10:40:00.000-05:00

That picture is going to get me through the next seven days, because this time next week The Boy and I are headed back out to Luray!

You can see last year's trip here: [1] [2] [3] [4]

We managed to snag another really great deal that was too good to pass up, and after the crazy hectic fall/winter I've had I'm looking forward to a little getaway, even though the trip is a little shorter this year. I'm really looking forward to it!

Etsy [Thursday]: Roses!

2012-02-16T09:31:00.001-05:00

Pink Dreams Print

Did you get flowers for Valentine's Day? Here are a bunch of them, from me to you!

Patchie [Loves]

2012-02-15T08:34:00.000-05:00

I told The Boy this year he wasn't allowed to send me flowers - they're too expensive. He did it last year and they were super pretty and it was awesome to have flowers delivered to work (which I'd never had done before!), but we're going on our weekend getaway and that was plenty for me.

He half-listened...before rehearsal started, he hand delivered an orchid plant (my favorite!) to the theatre. He spoils me. And seriously? This thing is four feet tall - it comes up to my chest. I could barely fit it in my car! You better believe I got home and busted out the good camera...but you'll have to wait for those! Instead of photo editing last night I watched Pride & Prejudice and enjoyed a glass of wine.

How was your Valentines Day?

Patchie [Pins]

2012-02-14T08:57:00.000-05:00

Source

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Patchie [Recaps]

2012-02-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

This weekend....

I finally sold my old car! (It only took almost exactly a year...)

I continued stage managing Cabaret (Only one weekend left!)

...and we even got a tiny dusting of snow! (Which Carson was not too sure about.)

No big plans here for Valentines Day, except I'm going to wear red pants and I have rehearsal. The Boy has recording sessions anyways. Our plans are the weekend getaway at the end of the month that I am very much looking forward to!

Way Back When[sday]: Bachelorette!

2012-02-08T07:39:00.000-05:00

Let's jump back in time to well over a month ago (oh my God), and cover Marizabeth's Bachelorette party, shall we?

We hit up one of our local hot spots and made it an open invitation and fun was had by all! It feels like eons ago. This has seriously been the longest winter of my life.

Patchie [Knits]

2012-02-07T11:18:00.000-05:00

I have been knitting a lot lately, but my Ravelry doesn't reflect it too well. I've mostly been "restocking." I like to have a few pre-knit gifts (scarves, hats, etc) lying around for those last-minute gifts that I don't have time to complete. But when I reached into my all-things-knit drawer this winter I came out empty handed except two baby blue newborn hats (speaking of which, note to self - make girl ones, too!).

So most of what I've done are patterns I've done before and silly simple patterns I can do while sitting in a dark booth and not have to look at my hands. Which, by the way, the scarf I'm working on right now is literally my first attempt to really never look at my hands while I'm knitting and I've only found one tiny little mistake so far. I'm pretty happy about this. Maybe I can knit in cars now? My ability to get car sick from just reading a text message has always prevented me. This will make the annual drive to and from The Cape this summer much more enjoyable if I can.

While trying to get my life reorganized after months of not having time for anything, every time I turn around I find more yarn that I totally forgot I bought. I have half-finished abandoned projects tucked into corners of shelves that I have no idea what row I'm on and marked up patterns that are missing the work in progress. And I have half of one very pretty (but way too small) sock that I am angry at for being misleading in the sizing on the pattern that is still sitting on my desk and being punished. I should tear that out and start over.

I should also photograph a few of the things that aren't going into that gift drawer instead of instagraming a bunch of close-ups on the stitches of incomplete projects. I also need to continue to resist the temptation to go into the yard shop this week. Must empty some stash before I replenish!

Patchie [Recaps]

2012-02-06T10:02:00.000-05:00

What I did this weekend:

I went to a vineyard with friends...

Knocked another weekend of Cabaret out (two more to go!)...

Got some snuggle time with Zorro (and The Boy!)...

Represented my team at the matinee on Sunday....

...and celebrated when we won!

How was your weekend?

Patchie [Catches]

2012-02-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

So, like, seriously, forever ago the day after after Marizabeth's wedding, we found ourselves in the early afternoon on a Saturday with nothing much to do. We were sitting at brunch with friends that I hadn't gotten significant time with in probably a year, and I knew I needed to act to keep this going. I missed them. I wanted to sit and talk and enjoy the weekend to its fullest. My answer? A vineyard.

For the record, my answer is probably always a vineyard.

We had hit Running Hare when we did our Wine Crawl a couple months back when the weather was gorgeous. While it's been incredibly warm for it being winter, it wasn't quite outside weather. And I had never been inside the amazing Tuscan building they have on the property. So it was an easy choice. Plus the two I was with had never been to a vineyard before. This was a good place to start.

It was one of those days that just couldn't have been better if we had tried. Marizabeth and her Bear wanted to join us but were doing wedding things still and we said we'd wait for them. Waiting for them turned into a tasting and then four hours of sitting back with a couple bottles of wine catching up on a years worth of conversation while a local acoustic musician played in the background. It was one of those afternoons you can't plan. And the best part? I've seen the friends multiple times since. It was what kicked off the rekindling of a very strong friendship.

And because I can't stay away for long, a few people and I that are involved in Cabaret are going to Ingleside this weekend, which is one of my favorites in the area (Running Hare is another one). Speaking of which, if you want to see some Cabaret pictures, check out Marizabeth's post here!

Patchie [Revives]

2012-01-31T09:51:00.000-05:00

We have had some wonderful sunsets lately, but I am still driving home when the "peak" hits 90% of the time...I can't wait until a few weeks (and months) from now where I can take advantage of the sunsets with my camera. I hope they stay as pretty as they have been!

Internet, I slept ten hours last night. This is the most rested I've felt in probably two months. I still feel like I could go home and nap, but I don't feel like I'm going to pass out at my desk at work either. Progress!

So if you follow me on instragram you know I've been doing a January photo-a-day thing. You'll also know I lost track of it in the last 4 days, but I plan on sharing all the ones I did manage to do at some point this week.

Guys, I know I still have today to live through, but I don't know how I made it out of January with as much sanity in tact as I have right now. Seriously. I will never do this to myself again. In fact, looking at the next year I've got it planned out pretty well with decent breaks worked in. I truly enjoyed last year how I was able to go to so many festivals and faires and have little day trips on the weekends. While I won't have quite as many this spring because I'm directing, they'll pick up again in the summer and I'm excited for it!

My goal for the next two weeks: take more pictures! I haven't taken my DSLR out of its bag (with the exception of one small shoot for a family) almost at all this month. Plus I finally downloaded Hipstamatic and I need to learn how to use it. I like what I have discovered so far!

Etsy [Friday]: Cabaret!

2012-01-27T11:05:00.000-05:00

Tonight is (finally) opening night for Cabaret! And tomorrow? Tomorrow I will sleep until 5.

Typography Print

Giant Drink Coaster

Bowler Hat Stationary

Kitchen Chalkboard

Original Soundtrack Recording

Berlin Pendant

Posts with substance are coming soon, I promise. It's been an exhausting month!

Patchie [Fumbles]

2012-01-24T09:44:00.000-05:00

Oh my Lord. Where do I even start? When was the last time you really heard from me? A reflection on 2011, which was preceded by a post about cupcakes. At the beginning of the month. I am awesome. And exhausted. And I could really use a vacation.

We've been in tech (which in our theatre usually lasts about 4 - 5 days) for roughly 11 days, and have two more to go before we open. Tech involves long hours, high levels of stress, and this has been one of the most challenging shows I've ever done for all the wrong reasons. But it's still theatre, it's still with friends, and we have made the most of it.

We open Friday and I'll be able to get back to normal a little bit. I'll be able to do laundry! And sleep! And eat a real meal for dinner instead of whatever I can conger up in the 15 minutes I'm home after work before I head out the door again!

Thank you to those who have hung in there with me. Come the end of the month I'll have more for you, I promise!

Etsy [Thursday]: Black

2012-01-19T09:16:00.018-05:00

It's been a long two weeks, and I've got one more before life slows down and becomes semi-normal again. sorry for being so quiet. I'll post soon.

Patchie [Lists]

2012-01-13T11:44:00.000-05:00

SHENANIGANS!

Just a quick update...

- Family member is out of the hospital and doing much better. Thank you for those who voiced concern. It was a stressful few days, but things are on the right track

- For the show I'm working on at our local theatre, our tech week has literally turned into a tech month. We've been in rehearsals daily since last week and will be until Jan 27. So if I'm a little quieter than usual, that's why!

- I'm playing Words with Friends again. Lord help me.

- I promise I'm going to update about Marizabeth's wedding! I just haven't had time to sort through the few pictures I've taken.

- I have forgotten my lunch every day this week. I am awesome.

Etsy [Thursday]: Past Purchases!

2012-01-12T14:21:00.000-05:00

Since I did my last post like this, I can probably make 3 posts out of shops I've bought from and have had good experiences with. I think I have an etsy addiction. In my defense, a lot of the stuff I bought have been presents!

Patchie [Updates]

2012-01-10T11:59:00.000-05:00

The past weekend was wonderful and I can't wait to share the few pictures I took with you (which were surprisingly few...I fail) but yesterday was such a disaster of a day which involved multiple things, including a family member winding up in the hospital. So...there's that.

I'll post something soon, I promise. I have big news I'll share shortly, but today isn't the day.

Patchie [Celebrates!]

2012-01-06T09:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Wedding Day to Marizabeth and her Bear!

Etsy [Thursday]: Wedding!

2012-01-05T07:43:00.000-05:00

Marizabeth and her Bear have their rehearsal dinner tonight!

Engraved Wood Heart

Bridal Shoe Decals

Wood Grain Rings

Typography 8x10 Print

Cufflinks

Paper Heart Garland

Customizable Party Banner

Way Back When[sday]: Marizabeth's Engagement Shots!

2012-01-04T08:44:00.000-05:00

I have not had the chance to share these yet, so here are Marizabeth and her Bear's engagement shots I took a couple months ago! They get married Friday!

The hardest part of this shoot? Trying to stay quiet in the library! It was one of the quickest and most fun though - I love it when couples and people are willing to play around, try new things, and trust me when I'm taking shots - the collage of their feet is a perfect example!

Patchie [Reflects]

2012-01-03T09:09:00.001-05:00

So...2011. I've spent all week reading blogs and statuses talking about the reason why people loved and hated the year. A lot of people were happy it was over.

In all honesty, 2011 was a pretty good one for me. I took another show to the state one act festival and walked away with the major technical award. I hit the one year mark at my current job. I've kind of kick-started my own little photography business and photographed two weddings and multiple sessions for people. I've sold some knitting and have really knit throughout the entire year. I went on multiple vacations including The Cape, Tennessee, and the Luray Caverns. I did my first wine tasting and visited my first vineyard (and am now addicted!). I hit multiple festivals and faires in multiple states and actually went to more new ones than ones I had been to before. I didn't work the Renaissance Festival, but I still had an amazing experience this year and met amazing people. I worked the Hack & Sash Christmas Show for the third year and reaffirmed that no matter what happens, I have a home with them. And it was an awesome feeling and an awesome way to wrap up the year.

The thing I'm most grateful for is for everything I listed above and more, I was able to share it all with The Boy.

There were some low points this year too. I was forced to learn a lot about people, change, relationships, trust, and loss. They are lessons I'm still learning, but I'm getting there.

I hope 2012 reflects 2011. I hope I have plenty more new experiences, I hope my professional and creative endeavors continue to grow and thrive, and I hope I can sit here this time next year and say "yeah, that one was good, too."

Patchie [Bakes]

2012-01-02T08:30:00.007-05:00

Quick Edit: I totally left the best collage showing the inside of the cupcakes out of this somehow...boo. I'll have to fix it this evening!

For Marizabeth's bridal shower (which feels like it was eons ago, even though it was less than a month!) I made her some colorful cupcakes using the "tie-dye" technique. Essentially, split your cake batter into a few ziplock bags, use food coloring to make each one a different color, and then layer them in the cupcake tin. I was super intimidated by this, but I promise it is so much easier than you'd think!

And those heart toothpicks? I made all of them by hand because I am an over achiever. By the way - the colors used are the wedding colors!

The final product? A total success, and a total hit! What do you think?

Patchie [Instagrams]

2011-12-30T08:59:00.000-05:00

I don't know about where you live, but here in Maryland the weather has been all over the place - from bitterly cold and windy one day to waking up the next and it's almost 60 degrees and pleasant. Or it just rains and rains. This time last year we'd already been snowed on a few times. While it's taking some getting used to after the last two years, being able to go outside and not freeze everyday has been nice. Maybe this winter won't feel neverending like they have in the past.

Have a wonderful New Year. I was going to reflect on the past year but frankly I don't have the energy. Next year I won't plan 30 things around the holidays. That's my resolution.

Patchie [Photographs]

2011-12-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

Remember that picture of my Christmas tree I posted last Thursday and said I was trying to accomplish a technique I didn't have the right equipment for? Well, guess what I got for Christmas!

It's a bokeh technique you can read more about here. I'm using a 50mm 1.8 lens. I was trying to accomplish it with my other lens, but the f-stop isn't wide enough to capture the shapes. The previous sentence is something that I had to learn the hard way, so maybe someone will stumble on this post and not get all frustrated like I did. I haven't perfected it yet (or using the lens for that matter, this is only my second time using it and they've both been pretty short), but I love the look and I'm excited to play and find out what else I can do with it!

Way Back When[sday]: 2011

2011-12-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some of my favorite posts from the past year!

Patchie [Knits]

2011-12-27T08:16:00.000-05:00

This year I only gave two hand knits for Christmas - I've had a big knitting year, but most of it has been commission work for other people with one or two things for myself thrown in. In fact, I think this is the least I've ever knit for myself especially considering the amount of projects I've accomplished this year. Since The Boy got me a set of Addi Clicks for Christmas, I think I'll break them in with something for me!

Anyway, the big project was for The Boy's mom - I knit her a lacework scarf in a baby blue sock yarn.

And for his grandmother I put together a basket with lavender lotion and soap and knit a 100% cotton washcloth to go with it!

It was a wonderful Christmas filled with tons of family, even more food, and plenty of mimosas, wine and laughs. The Boy and I were lucky again that we could spend it with both our families (and each other, of course!). I hope you had a wonderful holiday, too!

Patchie [Wishes]

2011-12-25T01:30:00.001-05:00

Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday! Find something to smile about today :-)

Etsy [Thursday]: With a Dash of WBW

2011-12-22T11:06:00.000-05:00

The above picture is a failed attempt at at bokeh technique. The exciting thing? In two days I'll be able to accomplish what I was going for. Yay Christmas!

The couple days before Christmas always remind of me of those years on The Cape. The couple days beforehand were filled with wrapping presents with my mom and grandma and running for last minute gifts with my dad. Christmas Eve we'd all go to the Chinese Buffet for dinner and then come home before going to church just long enough for my brother and I to open one present. After church we'd either find ourselves at my cousins house or they'd all come over the grandma and grandpas, and my cousins and I would sit around the tree absolutely bubbling over with excitement.

Things are a lot different now. The only thing that seems to remain in tact is eating Chinese food on Christmas Eve. It's okay though - I'm enjoying creating and developing new traditions as an adult and with The Boy. Wherever you are this Christmas, I hope you enjoy yourself.

Cozy Christmas Poster

Noel Garland

Pointsettia Brooch

Engraved Ornament

Patchie [Photographs]

2011-12-21T16:33:00.000-05:00

Just sharing a couple quick shots from a mini-shoot I did for some friends in DC a few weeks ago, which we pretty much used as an excuse to hang out with each other. While the shoot was not quite as successful as I had hoped (which was all me, I was trying to do things that I can't do with the lens I took, and anyplace that had Christmas lights was seriously lacking in ambient light which I was not expecting), I did get a couple nice shots of the two of them together.

And at some point Kristen stole the camera to grab a shot or two of me and The Boy, and of course we weren't serious at all!

Old Ebbit's Grill was the last place we hit and turned out to be the best location because of the trees in their gallery. I love that place. One day I'll be able to afford to eat there again.

I hope you're having a great leading-up-to-the-holiday week! Thank you for hanging in there with me while I've been a little quiet this month. I have a 30-day challenge in mind for January that'll get me motivated to start posting again and by then I should have time to post!

Patchie [Instagrams]

2011-12-20T08:38:00.001-05:00

I am so behind on life right now. Thank God I did 99% of my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, because I'd be in serious trouble right now. I have something every night this week plus work and somehow I need to find time to do all the other little odds and ends that need to be accomplished before Christmas. Like wrapping presents. And laundry. And eating.

The week in Baltimore was stressful, but always worth it. The Boy and I even got over to Fells Point to have lunch with a few of his friends who live up that way and I want to go back to the area when the weather is nicer and we have more time. And I have my camera. Because guess who didn't take a camera all week? This girl. Instagram to the rescue!

I promise the posts will pick back up soon. This December was exceptionally crazy, and I've learned my lesson in many ways. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have more to share!

Etsy [Thursday]: Christmas Show!

2011-12-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

In some ways this week has felt like the longest week that has ever existed (lack of sleep for the win!), and in others I woke up this morning and had a total ohmygodit'sThursdayalready?! moment. This is easily the most stressful week of the year for me, but the payoff is worth it. I just need to remember that, because Wenesday/Thursday are always pretty rough.

All these things relate to the Christmas show, I promise. I guess you gotta see it!

Patchie [Posts]

2011-12-09T09:35:00.000-05:00

Sad beer is sad that I don't have much of a post for you today. BUT. I made some pretty awesome cupcakes last night and took pictures of the process (while my grandmother judged me), and hopefully I'll have those to you by the end of next week. Starting Sunday I'll be shooting back and forth from Baltimore so I'm not going to have time for much, but I hope to share a few things with you that week!

Also, I put our tree up last night. Pictures to come soon!

Etsy [Thursday]: Let it Snow!

2011-12-08T09:34:00.001-05:00

I know I am going to regret saying this in a month or two (or less, who knows), but: Maryland. It is December. It has been sixty degrees almost all month! It's hard to get into the "Christmas Spirit" when I'm able to walk into work in a dress and not need a coat or much of anything else. Although, I will admit...I went Christmas shopping Tuesday because I'm always in charge of mom's gifts, and I was able to walk around the mall and not have to worry about carrying a winter coat around with me. And that was pretty nice.

Anyway, snow. For the last two years it has snowed during the week I go back and forth from Baltimore for the Charity Show I do, so may may regret saying this as early as Tuesday. But I'd still like the possibility of a white Christmas, and if it's still sixty, that may be a little hard. Plus I've knit so much I'd really like to use it.

But I also know me and by mid-January I'm going to be all "I just wish it would be warm again." So don't take me too seriously, okay?

Blue Snowman Earrings

Patchie [Photographs]

2011-12-06T08:59:00.000-05:00

I still don't classify it as a "business," but my photography has picked up in the last month. While I mostly get paid in favors, dinner, goods, or sometimes money (I don't ask for much), it's allowing me to expand and develop my portfolio and my dedicated photography page on Facebook. Of course this is also my busiest time of year in multiple areas of life, so my turnaround isn't as fast as it usually is (I can usually get at least a preview image out withing 24 hours...right now I'm looking at about 4 days). But the good news is a few of these images have generated some shoots for the new year already which I am very excited about!

I have trouble though, and I've been consulting with my Dad about things (he's the one who got me into photography at a young age. He used to dabble in professional photography himself, mainly taking the dance pictures for the studio my mom danced at). I look for the artistic shots. I don't always go for the obvious, and sometimes actually have trouble seeing it. Maybe I'm over thinking. But Dad keeps telling me "think like a consumer, not an artist." It's a new challenge for me.

I still get the more "artistic" shots in there though, and they are always my favorites of a shoot. Charlotte Geary is my absolute favorite photographer, and if I ever take a picture half as good as her work I'll consider myself successful. Even if it is staged Charlotte captures moments that feel candid or spontaneous, which makes the emotion depicted feel so genuine. The typical "consumer" wants to see a picture, and I want to feel it. And sometimes I get lucky and manage to mix the two.

Etsy [Friday?]: Trees!

2011-12-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

source

You want to know how I know it's been an off week? I posted the Way Back When[sday] post yesterday. And I didn't realize it was Thursday until about 6:30 that night and I was on my way to a photoshoot. So here's Etsy [Thursday] on a Friday!

Charlie Brown Ornament

Way Back When[sday]: Prepping for Christmas!

2011-12-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

Happy December! Even if you took out the holidays this month is crazy busy for me - besides the various theatre-related things and wedding-related things for Marizabeth, I have three photo shoots in the next four days! I've had super hectic years like this in the past and the Christmas Spirit can escape me pretty quickly when things start hitting the grindstone, so I'm trying to find little Christmas-y things to do throughout the month to help keep me in the spirit. Ashley over at Piloting Life posted a little questionnaire and since today is officially December, I thought it would be a good starting point!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate. Although to be fair, I haven't tried Egg Nog in years. But I'm also kind of lactose intolerant, and I don't think there's a soy version of egg nog out there. Plus hot chocolate reminds me of being a little kid and coming in from the snow on The Cape and there'd be two cups of hot chocolate waiting in the kitchen for me and my brother.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

In our home they were always wrapped, even the ridiculous stuff that is almost impossible to wrap. Two of my favorite were I asked for a basketball one year and I came out and it was wrapped like a giant piece of candy. About five years alter my brother wanted a basketball hoop for our new house and only the net for the hoop, and the nuts and blots made their way under our tree. Watching my brother try to figure that one out was pretty funny!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

I love both on a house as long as they are tasteful, and while I'm not picky about trees, I do seem to lean more towards the ones with white lights.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

Nope. In fact, the first time I ever even saw mistletoe was the first winter after we moved into our new house and my dad pointed out that there was some growing in our neighbor's tree. When I get my own place I hope to add mistletoe to the yearly decorations! I think it's cute.

5. When do you put your decorations up?

As long as the majority of it is done after Thanksgiving I don't care when it happens and it tends to vary just because we're busy people. But in our house there's more snowmen and winter-y themed things than strictly "santa," so ours tend to stay up later than most peoples instead of going up earlier.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

Ham. I love ham.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

Those Christmases on The Cape. Even though I have been up there many many more summers than winters there are some street I drive down and can remember so vividly being he back seat of my grandparents car coming home from the Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve and looking at all the Christmas lights. I remember being with all my cousins and laying down under the Christmas tree and looking up at all the ornaments and lights. I remember more about those years on the Cape than I remember about the last 5 Christmases combined. I miss them very much, and maybe one year I can spend the holidays up there again.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

My parents were really good at it. They had a friend fill out the gift tags, the wrapping paper never matched, and I never found any of the presents (I will totally admit I had a "where are Mom's hiding places?" phase). I figured it out (I don't remember how), but my brother is 4 years younger so I just never said anything. My parents finally approached me and were all "you know a fat guy doesn't break into our house every year, right?" and I was all "Duh."

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Usually one, but the parents got to pick it out and it was usually for a good reason - pajamas for that night, jewelry to wear wherever we were going on Christmas Eve, etc.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

With ornaments that have been collected since my parents got married. I love how personal our tree is and I'd go into more detail, but this is totally going to be a blog post at some point this month!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

I loved it more before I got a full time job. Now I want it to snow all weekend so I can have an excuse to sit with The Boy all day watching movies and drinking wine and knit. But I do still love snow! I just understand why adults usually hate it - especially the ones with longer commutes.

12. Can you ice skate?

Technically...yes. Am I any good at it? Absolutely not. But I'm good enough to say I have ice skated at Rockefeller Center, and that was kind of my goal. That's another thing I need to do again in the next few years!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

Our first computer was a big deal, but the one that dad totally blindsided us with was our first iPods. I told my parents I kind of wanted one and my brother did too, and dad said "yes, eventually, but they just came out with a new one and they're too expensive. So maybe for your birthday." And three weeks later my brother and I opened them at the same time on Christmas morning. It's hard to surprise me and that was a total surprise!

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?

Traditions. And I know it's impossible to fit in every tradition every year and sometimes things just don't work out, but I love the little things that we do from year to year that remind me of when I was a kid. The last couple years a lot of those traditions have changed and I'm okay with that, too. New traditions are good too!

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

Gingerbread fresh out of the oven. And snickerdoodles!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Since we're a small family, I love our Christmas mornings. We wake up and do our stockings first, usually in the family room or someplace away from the Christmas tree. After that we get our coffee or tea or hot chocolate or mimosas (don't judge me) and settle in around the tree to open presents, which we take our time with instead of everyone tearing into it all at once. It really takes up the majority of the morning, but it also lets us stretch that time out and really enjoy it. Going to The Boy's house was a total 180, because they barely waited for everyone to arrive before it was literally a hurricane of torn wrapping paper and flying arms. It was something totally new to me and was also pretty exciting!

17. What tops your tree?

My parents have an old silver star that we use most years. Every so often we switch it out for a star that lights up. Grandma and grandpa always had an angel.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?

Giving, but the receiving part isn't all that bad either!

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?

Yum, yum, yum.... and yum yum!

20. Favorite Christmas show? Show or movie?

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Elf are probably my top two.

21. Saddest Christmas Song?

I'll be Home for Christmas can be pretty depressing if you're in the wrong mood.

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?

My absolute favorite Christmas song ever is probably Snoopy vs. The Red Baron. I get so excited every time I hear it! My favorite album is pretty much any of them by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I really love almost all Christmas music. Except "Christmas Eve in Washington." That song is awful.

You should go check out Ashley's answers as well! And let me know if you fill this out as well. It got me thinking about Christmas and all the things I love and am looking forward to. Mission accomplished!

I think the WBW series this month is going to focus on the holidays and all the little traditions and things that make me love it so much. I'm excited to share!

Patchie [Bakes]

2011-11-30T08:38:00.000-05:00

I'm squeezing things in where I can these days, and part of that includes baking cookies at 10 o'clock at night. I made these years ago when I was just delving into baking things from scratch and wanted to do a dry run of them before I made them for a party next weekend. The black in the cookies? Not chocolate. It's actually tea leaves. I'd share the recipe except they do taste like they are missing something, so I'm going to attempt batch #2 hopefully this weekend, and if it works out the way I want it to I will have a recipe to share sometime next week!

Things are moving pretty hectically here, but I made sure my Thanksgiving weekend was pretty stress free and I got plenty of family time in. Plus it was about 70 degrees and I was able to spend most of the weekend outside. It was a very pleasant calm before the storm!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday! How prepared are you for the next one already? I'm about 95% done with the shopping/presents part!

Etsy [Thursday]: Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Fall Gift Tags

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm thankful for all the love and support I have in my life, even if I sometimes forget it's there. And thank you all for taking the time to read my little corner of the internet - it makes me feel good and it is truly appreciated. I'm also thankful I'm about 80% done with Christmas shopping. Boo-yah!

Pilgrim Chicks

Napkin Rings

Pumpkin Butter

Salt & Pepper Shakers

Patchie [Crawls]

2011-11-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

So I don't know if you've picked up on this, but The Boy and I have really gotten in to doing wine tastings in the last year. And since our trip with friends to Pennsylvania where we hit a few in one day we started getting plans together to be even more ambitious. There is a semi-local Wine Trail (The Patuxent Wine Trail) that consists of seven vineyards and wineries spread over two counties. Five of them are in the same county, and we got a group together and made it our goal to hit as many of them in one day as possible. We piled into an SUV (with a designated driver!) and managed to knock out four of the five in one day!

As the day went on I took less and less pictures and really just enjoyed being there and in the moment. There were some stops I liked more than others (and one I really didn't like at all), and overall it was a fantastic day with friends! We've now started our own wine tasting nights once a month and are taking turns hosting it. It's funny to think that before I met The Boy I didn't drink wine at all because I thought I didn't like it. How things change!

Patchie [Instagrams!]

2011-11-21T08:39:00.000-05:00

The last week or so has consisted of a lot of cleaning for company that is set to arrive for Thanksgiving on Thursday and a lot of knitting to try and get it done for Christmas. The temperature has been bouncing back and forth between frost and tshirt weather, and my brain is in stage manger overload. Sounds like my typical fall!

I was fortunate enough to have some fantastic weather yesterday (except a few too many clouds) for a senior picture shoot. I'm excited to get home and start sorting through the pictures. The Boy and I were also able to spend some time outside with Marizabeth and her Bear that evening which was a nice way to wrap up the weekend. I'm looking forward to a short work week and the arrival of family. Do you have any big Thanksgiving fans? The Boy and I spend the day bouncing back and forth between families. It's a fun-filled (food-filled!) day!

Etsy [Thursday]: Meh.

2011-11-17T09:51:00.002-05:00

I think I'm battling a sinus infection and I've had just a generally uninspiring week, and I'm only really starting to feel better this morning. So this theme is inspired by cold medicine and just randomly clicking on things until I found stuff that vaguely went together.

Tree on Canvas

Cup Cozy

Can You Reach Me Ring

Floral Pendant

Pocket Hand Warmers

Felt Flower Hair Pins

Spiced Cranberry Votives

Heart Charm Bangle

Patchie [Revels]: Final Day!

2011-11-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, so. This only took me forever. My bad. I'm cheating this as a Way Back When[sday] post because it was almost a month ago and holy shit, time flies. Where did this year go? I still feel like I just got back from The Cape. Now you're telling me faire is beyond over and Thanksgiving is next week? Next you're going to tell me I'm pretty much out of time to Christmas shop because the Christmas Show is about to kick it into high gear and I've got a wedding to be the Maid of Honor for that got moved up to the weekend after New Years.

...

Anyway. Not the point of the post. The point of the post is that the last day of RennFest this year was...it left me speechless. Sure, Chrissy was the one who was really getting the attention because her costume was handmade and awesome. But the pair of us the entire day literally couldn't take three steps without being stopped for 15 minutes worth of pictures. We had performers and patrons alike literally searching for us and bouncing out of their skin when they'd finally find us. I have never experienced anything like that before in my life. And when the big group of multiple incarnations of The Doctor showed up? We were messing around and all of a sudden I looked up and there was just a wall of cameras going nuts.

Seriously one of the coolest days of my life, ever. Certainly my favorite day at any faire ever. What a perfect way to end a season.

(Before you start, if you're not a Whovian take a quick peak at The Eleventh Doctor and a Dalek. It'll make it all make more sense, I promise.)

Chrissy has officially talked me into Dragon*Con for next year, and Randy, the guy dressed as Thor up there and his girlfriend are also going. We can't wait. I think Geekdoms are taking over my life a little...

Patchie [Pins]: Planning a Shower!

2011-11-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

Source

This week in the downtime I've had (which has been nonexistent, but that's another story) I've been brain storming the Bridal Shower that the other bridesmaids and myself are throwing for Marizabeth. in...less than a month. This winter is so busy. Marizabeth wants a tea party themed shower, so I've been hitting up Pinterest and other places on the web for inspiration.

Okay, confession: I have never been to a bridal shower. Or a baby shower. I am a stage manager by nature, so I will mange the crap out of this thing, and thankfully one of the bridemaids has been to "dozens" of them and kind of knows how they run. So hopefully between the two of us something awesome will happen.

Source

Ladies, if you have any tips for bridal showers or tea parties, I would love to hear them!

Etsy [Thursday]: Muggin'!

2011-11-10T09:18:00.000-05:00

When it the weather gets cold I find myself sitting all day at my desk with my mug full of hot tea in hand, and I know I can't be the only one!

Winter Tree

The Impossible Astronaut

A few things about these...

1. Yes, that astronaut is a Doctor Who reference. I'm so addicted it's sad.
2.I Wanna Love You is The Boy's ringtone!
3. The Cat Love mug is by Fetch & Co, which is run by Ashley over at Adventures of Newlyweds and she's selling mugs and jewelry to help raise money for her little pup who needs surgery. She even does custom stuff - I just placed an order for a custom mug as a Christmas present, but shhh...don't tell anyone!

Patchie [Revels]: Final Weekend [Part 1!]

2011-11-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

Okay, so....catching up. Phew. This is from October 22, the Saturday of the final weekend of faire. Chrissy was in town and it was her first time at the Maryland faire, so I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I usually do so that she could take everything in instead of staring at the lens all day. But we still got a decent amount, and she got plenty of attention dressed as a Rennie Kaylee. And we met the first of what was to become a weekend full of Doctors.

Aw, looking at these pictures makes me miss faire. The Sunday was even more epic, but you'll have to stay tuned for that one - especially if you're a little geeked like me!

Patchie [Instagrams]

2011-11-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I know I did...even though there was very little rest, I got to spend Sunday in places like the one pictures above...

...and Saturday involved a lot of girl time and seeing fashion guru's like the one pictured below...

...and I even managed to get a great start on a knitted Christmas present that I was afraid I'd never be able to finish in time and now it looks very possible. Overall a very successful weekend! Don't worry, Sunday will get a post of its own once I catch up, but I still have two days of faire pictures to share with you. I'll catch up sooner or later!

Did you do anything fun or new this weekend?

Etsy [Thursday]: Wine!

2011-11-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Not gonna lie, I have some pretty awesome plans with pretty awesome friends this weekend. One day is dress shopping and then the next is something that's been in the works since our impromptu vineyard day in Pennsylvania. I'm super excited for it!

Bishop Bottle Stopper

Subway Style Sign

Wine Cork Wreath

Patchie [Picks & Tastes!]

2011-11-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

I treated myself to a day off work while Chrissy was in town so we could do some fun stuff together. We were heading back up towards Annapolis for the RennFest for the next two days so I thought we'd head in the opposite direction and go south into Virginia. Not too far from the bridge is a local berry farm and the vineyard where I went for my birthday back in May. Since Chrissy had never been to a tasting before and I hadn't picked pumpkins since I was six I thought it'd be a fun day! Plus The Boy has Fridays off so he was able to join us and they were able to spend some time together and get to know one another, which was important to me.

They hit it off really well and it wound up being a super fun relaxing day. We even hit a local crab house for lunch so Chrissy could have some Maryland Crabs and played on the docks afterwards!

That night we went and saw The Boy in Rocky Horror again where I took pictures for the theatre organization. The Boy and I walked away with a few bottles of wine, Chrissy walked away with a few jars of locally grown blackberry preserves, and I have two pumpkins sitting on my front porch that make me smile every time I come home. Overall it was a perfect fall day spent outdoors!

Patchie [Unites!]

2011-11-01T09:50:00.000-04:00

The weekend before Halloween (I AM SO BEHIND) my best friend from college, who I visited in May, returned the favor! I picked her up from the airport Thursday after work and the first thing on our agenda was to meet up with another friend from college (who I've talked about before) who lives locally to meet up in Annapolis for dinner and a little bit of wandering around. It was just like old times, I loved it! And of course, I always love Annapolis.

I was so happy to be able to talk to Chrissy while actually looking at her and being in the same room I couldn't contain myself. She's considering Annapolis as her next place of residence, and now it's my personal goal in life to make that happen and sway her as much as I can!

This was only the beginning of three days full of adventure. Can you guess where we went next? I talked about it before, but it included one thing I hadn't mentioned - Chrissy meeting The Boy for the first time! But you'll have to be patient for those pictures, and it's worth the wait. They are perfect for the fall!

Patchie [Instagrams]

2011-10-31T09:40:00.000-04:00

I spent most of the weekend exactly as you see in the photo above - editing away (sometimes with or without the yorkie keeping my side warm). Saturday it rained like crazy and we even saw a little bit of sloppy wet snow! But Sunday was gorgeous and I enjoyed my little perch on the couch at The Boy's house where I could see out the window while I caught up on all sorts of photo editing.

Long story short, after staring at pictures all day and widdling down 300+ production photos to roughly 50, I was in no mood to create blog collages. So instead you're going to get some instagram shots from the last two weeks!

I hope you had fun this weekend! The amount I was able to relax this weekend between Halloween gatherings was long overdue and I very much enjoyed it. You'll get some real pictures this week, I promise!

Patchie [Pins]

2011-10-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

Source

I think this morning is the coldest one we've had yet, and it makes me want to curl up on a couch with hot chocolate, watch some football and knit. Luckily, that's what my Sunday is sounding like it's going to be! Until then, I'm drooling over some stuff I found on Pinterest.

Source

Are you on Pinterest? You can find me as patchieverbs!

Etsy [Thursday]: Halloween!

2011-10-27T09:09:00.001-04:00

You guys, I had almost triple the number of hits on my blog yesterday than I usually get. Where did you all come from? Will you come back? I can't figure out your "source!" It was pretty cool though, not gonna lie. Totally caught me off guard! Anyway.

Happy almost Halloween! What are you dressing up as this year? I'd tell you what The Boy and I are doing, except we totally haven't finished them yet. So they may change at last minute. Just like last year. I think I use up all my desire to dress up during faire season, so by the time Halloween rolls around I just don't care anymore and usually wind up doing something beyond simple, because I always feel like I'm cheating when I wear my garb. But I still very much enjoy all the parties and the holiday itself!

Hand Painted Wine Glasses

Paperclay Pumpkin

Skull & Crossbones Charms

Way Back When[sday]: Waterfalls!

2011-10-26T08:35:00.002-04:00

Maybe because our winters are so cold and our summers are so hot, but the changing of seasons always makes me want to go hiking, specifically in the mountains. When I was in college we weren't far from the mountains of North Carolina, which meant we also go to hike to one of my favorite things - waterfalls! I like having a destination in mind when hiking - like a cookie at the end of the mouse maze. Waterfalls are certainly my favorite!

These are all from a few years back when I went to a quick daytrip to a state park. This would also be the same trip where we came back and my car battery died on the top of a mountain in a pretty deserted parking lot with spotty cell service. Good thing the park was pretty well patrolled.

Also, I know I've said it before but it always makes me laugh to go back to old pictures from old cameras where I thought the quality was so good, only to realize just how bad they are. Technology amazes me.

Patchie [Revels]: Weekend 7 [Part 2]

2011-10-25T10:12:00.000-04:00

These are still from the weekend before last, because I am very behind. But that's what happens when your BFF comes to town and you spend every moment with her, and of that means being just a little behind on posts than it's totally worth it. Plus it eases the pain of faire being over a little longer by having these posts to still get through since faire ended Sunday. But that's another post for another day.

This was another day that was a total blast - perfect weather and The Boy was able to come as well which always makes me happy.

Those boots in that last picture? I'm not the proud owner of them, and if I'm not at work it's going to be rare that you'll see me not wearing them. I'm kind of in love.

Besides the usual weekly postings, the next things coming up are a short trip to Annapolis for a super-mini college reunion, a pumpkin patch and vineyard trip, and more faire (and the last of faire you'll get for a little while...sniff). Stay tuned!

Patchie [Revels]: Weekend 7 [Part 1]

2011-10-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

We skipped weekend 6 because I had two matinees that weekend, and a call time of 12:30 that runs until roughly 6 made it hard to get to a place that's open 10 - 7. But we made up for lost time this past weekend. I got to spend both days with my two girls that I've worked with the last three years and make up for lost time. I'm glad we did! These are from the first day...there's a whole other batch for day two!

Etsy [Thursday]: Weekend Adventures!

2011-10-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

I took tomorrow off work which means today is my Friday! When I get off work today I'm shooting up to Baltimore to pick her up and then we're meeting another college friend in Annapolis at an Irish Pub for dinner. Besides RennFest and seeing The Boy in Rocky Horror (again), we also plan on hitting a vineyard and going to a berry farm where we can pick apples and pumpkins, among other things. Would you believe I've never gone apple picking before? And I haven't picked my own pumpkin probably since I was five. I'm super excited!

Reclaimed Wood Pumpkins

Apples 5x7 Photograph

Reclaimed Wood Sign

Way Back When[sday]: Chrissy!

2011-10-19T09:00:00.001-04:00

I visited Chrissy back in May and tomorrow she returns the favor - I'll be leaving work to pick her up from the airport and she'll be here through the weekend! She'll finally get to see my RennFest and we'll get to spend some quality time kicking around my hometown - every other time she's visited it's just been passing through or for an overnight trip. I'm excited! In celebration, here's some past posts that feature her!

I can't wait to see her!

Patchie [Revels]: Weekend 5

2011-10-18T09:11:00.000-04:00

Sorry I'm behind on pictures, guys. The current state of the laptop is The Boy managed to not only get it semi-working again, but managed to back up all my pictures one afternoon, so when I new fancy hard drive comes in sometime this week I won't have lost anything. He's so awesome. Hopefully soon I'll be able to have them hosted by flickr again and the pictures will stop being grainy from being hosted by blogger.

The first weekend I did the show in Baltimore (which will have a post...eventually) that Sunday we were able to attend RennFest, and it was a chilly fall day which I love at faire - the atmosphere is just so awesome with everyone in cloaks and layers, holding their mugs close to catch some of the warmth coming off their teas and coffees and ciders. Plus I get to wear my big fancy coat and I am all for that, especially since it gets a lot of attention!

I have more pictures from this day that may make it up at a later date, but these are some of the better ones.

We had to skip Weekend 6 because of the Baltimore show, but last weekend was another full one. I started editing those pictures last night, and I hope to have them for you later in the week! We only have one weekend left which is always sad, but this is a special weekend where one of my best friends from college is coming to visit me from Tennessee...but more on that tomorrow!

Patchie [Knits]

2011-10-17T09:19:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I shared the above picture and promised I'd share better ones because (a). this was taken with an iPhone, and (b). she's wearing it inside out.

Knitting this one I cot about 75% of the way through it and was glad I wasn't making it for myself, I just wasn't in love with it. But once Alex put it on I kind of fell for it. Plus it suits her so well. This is part of a pattern pack I bought that has been my favorite patterns ever - if you're interested in what it is let me know and I'll link to it (I'm multitasking at the current moment and can't get to Ravelry).

Also, that pixie hood I knit Alex awhile ago and then I made one for myself? Here's both of us in it them.

This is the most comfortable hat I've ever worn. Also? No hat hair. Amazing. And these are a pretty quick knit and although I started with a pattern I've modified it to the point where it's totally my own. I'm thinking about attempting to sell these at some point. Thoughts?

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Did you do anything fun?

Patchie [Captures]

2011-10-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

One of the wonderful things about RennFest this year has been the amount of free time I've had to just wander and quite often wander alone. I'll either get there before friends that I'm meeting, leave a little later, or maybe just hadn't bumped into someone I know yet that day. It lets me explore at my own pace, people watch in peace, and sit down on a bench under a tree with a mug of hot tea and a giant Belgian waffle and wait for something fun to happen.

Two weekends ago I was doing just that and happened to have found myself near the Bubble Cart (if you see pictures of people blowing bubbles at MDRF, this is the location the picture was taken. It's almost impossible to not catch good pictures there). The Royal Court was standing just behind me talking amongst themselves. Suddenly, the king spoke up. "Mistress Bubble Fairy! You're about to be out-bubbled!"

One of the knights in full Armour was walking to the cart, specifically towards the giant bowl of soap they use to blow the bubbles. The knight bent down, dipped his chainmail into the liquid, and brought it up to his face.

(Sorry these are slightly grainy/blurry, I'm stealing from my own Facebook again)

It wasn't crowded yet and the initial group around the cart was small, but the laughter that erupted certainly drew attention! It was one of those prime photographer moments - even though the lighting was bad and my angle wasn't great, I was in the right place at the right time. I'm happy to have those opportunities this year.

I had a rough night last night and a rocky morning (which included me realizing I left my purse at the place where I ate dinner....I hope...), but I'm going to push through today (with no lunch and money to GET lunch, argh) and I'm looking forward to a full weekend of faire with weather that looks like it's going to be fantastic. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, too!

Etsy [Thursday]: Rocky Horror!

2011-10-13T09:15:00.002-04:00

The Boy is in a local production of The Rocky Horror Show as Riff Raff, and this weekend I'm kidnapping two of the girls from RennFest so they can come down and see it. Have you ever seen the stage show live? It's an experience - even seeing the movie in a crowded movie theatre is something you should try to do at least once in your life. Just go in with an open mind - talk about culture shock! My parents showed it to me for the first time when I was pretty young, and in my teens I wasn't very into Halloween so it became our tradition to watch the movie while handing out candy when we lived in our old neighborhood. It always reminds me of Halloween!

12x18 Movie Print

Lips Necklace

Bowler Party Hats

Doggie Magenta Costume

Have you ever been to a showing/performace of Rocky Horror?

Patchie [Learns]

2011-10-11T08:52:00.000-04:00

Stopping in to show just a couple behind-the-scenes pictures of the show I did in Baltimore for the last two weekends. The laptop is closer to being useable again, but in the meantime I'm going to see if I can find some other way to edit pictures. I'm getting so behind! But the good new is the Boy managed to get the laptop working enough to get all my files backed up, so at least I haven't lost anything except time!

It was a blast this last weekend - we were able to really relax into the show and enjoy ourselves in the downtime. We enjoyed a lunch/dinner together, talked and shared stories, and back at the theatre I did two things for the first time ever...I got on a motorcycle (weee!) and I learned how to crack a whip! Not just the traditional circus crack either, I was taught a whole combination. But before that lesson came in I had the sound tech take a video to send to The Boy, and I thought I'd share it with you too because it is super nerdy. Also, I got much better at it after this video and stopped leaning forward (and sticking my tongue out in concentration).

In other news, today is The Boy's birthday! We are going out to dinner tonight with a bunch of friends to celebrate. Happy birthday, love!

Patchie [Revels]: Weekend 4 [Part 2]

2011-10-07T08:54:00.000-04:00

So. I had this big cool post planned for these pictures because this was the day that I wandered around with a fellow photographer and I wanted to do this whole side-by-side comparison thing so you could see the same subject in two different styles. Cool, right? Maybe just cool to me. But then the laptop decided to explode in my face and I can't get anything picture-wise done at home and am forced to pull pictures off facebook to share (I have a facebook photography page, have I shared that before?). But I didn't want to leave you guys pictureless for who knows how long until the stupid thing gets fixed (or I give up and buy a mac, iRIP Steve Jobs), because pictures from last weekend are currently stuck on the camera and I'm just bursting to get them edited because I think I got a couple of really good ones this last week.

...I'm rambling.

Wandering around with Ken was fantastic because I'm still too shy to approach strangers and ask them to pose where he just barrels through and does it. It let me practice my portraiture a little more while also watching someone who does only portraiture work at the same time. I feel like I learned a lot through observing and it gave me the confidence so ask a couple people on my own to pose, and the results were some of my favorites. Plus I met some pretty fantastic people.

You can see Part 1 of the weekend here.

This weekend I'm only going to be able to stop by faire for a couple hours - I'm stage managing a show in Baltimore that has two matinees, which makes it hard to spend a whole day elsewhere. But I'm also crashing in Baltimore for the weekend, so it's like a mini workcation. A slight change of scenery is going to be nice.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Etsy [Thursday]: Tea!

2011-10-06T09:07:00.031-04:00

I'm clearly on a fall kick, and one of my favorite things (besides scarves. And the leaves. And the food. And the holidays. And RennFest. And apparently a lot) is the amount of hot tea I can now drink! I'm not a soda drinker and I tend to drink very little juice - my top three are water, tea, and wine in that order (and wine is a distant third, I'm not that big of a lush). I have collected an awful lot of different loose leaf teas since last fall and I'm looking forward to trying them all!

Radiance Fruit & Berry Tea Leaves

Rose Petal Infused Sugar Cubes

Vintage Tea Pot

Tea Time Vinyl Necklace

Laptop Update: I got the external hard drive in the mail and tried to turn on the laptop to switch everything over because it's been acting up, and I can't get past the startup screen. UGH. You try to do the right thing. Anyway, you WILL have some new RennFest pictures to see tomorrow from two weeks ago, but it's not going to be the super-cool post I had originally planned. In the meantime The Boy and his brother are goign to try to work on the laptop this weekend, I think. Here's hoping!

Way Back When[sday]: Past Knits

2011-10-05T08:57:00.002-04:00

This WBW isn't all that exciting this week, but I've been brain storming Christmas presents lately because if I plan on knitting things I should have technically started 3 months ago. One of these years I will have an honest-to-god Handmade Holiday. Below (and above) are some pictures of some of the stuff I've made over the years. It's great being able to look back and see how far I've come in my knitting abilities. Just think - I used to be afraid to knit anything involving lace and anything with fingering weight yarn. Now it feels like that's all I do!

I have some finished projects I'll post about soon as soon as I take some good pictures of them. Until then if you're interested, you can see other knitty stuff by me here, and can always find me on Ravelry as patchieknits!

Patchie [Pins]

2011-10-04T09:03:00.000-04:00

The external hard drive should be in tomorrow, which means you'll get real pictures by the end of this week, I promise! I had mentioned maybe doing two Etsy posts this week, but I thought I'd give you some stuff from Pinterest instead since I've been spending a lot of time on there. Speaking of which, are you on Pinterest too? Let me know!

We've got one more day of fall-like weather before we get back into the 70's by the end of the week. I know full well that by January I am going to be so over the cold weather, but for now I'm enjoying the thought that soon I'll be able to bust out all my hand knits and start baking and cooking those super rich foods that you only feel not guilty about eating around the holidays.

[Source]

Clearly, I like a lot of empty calories. No wonder I can't lose any weight. Do you have a favorite fall/winter/football/holiday/cold weather recipe? Share in the comments!

Patchie [Apologizes]

2011-10-03T08:54:00.002-04:00

So I had this big cool post planned for you guys and all I had to do was get the photos together, because last weekend a fellow photographer and I wandered RennFest together and I got some great photographs. But I've noticed my laptop has been acting up lately and the last time I got the dreaded Blue Screen. I'm paranoid because currently I don't have anything backed up and if I lose 6+ years of photos I will be absolutely devastated. So I ordered an external harddrive, but it wont be here until Wednesday probably and I'm not risking turning the laptop on before that.

Long story short...sorry for the lack of post Friday and the lack of pictures today. Maybe you'll get an extra Etsy post this week?

Anyway, I spent most the weekend in Baltimore stage managing the guys I usually work for at RennFest. They're doing a show for two weekends in the same location they always have their big Christmas show since they're not at faire this year. It was great seeing everyone again after almost a full year.We only had two shows this past weekend, but next weekend we have 4. I'm working with the same tech team that we have on the Christmas show too, so it's like a little warm up session before that monster hits us in December. Also, Saturday I accidentally dressed like Amy Pond.

Sunday I woke up and it was in the 40's. I was so excited to head up to RennFest - I absolutely love it when it's cold up there and not just because I bought a super fancy coat last year that I love to flaunt. I just love the atmosphere when it's cold. One of my favorite moments yesterday was sitting on one of the benches under a tree with a hot tea, a baked potato, and my camera and just people watched until Alex got there. I'll have pictures from the day hopefully later in the week.

Did you do anything exciting this weekend? Does it feel like fall yet where you live? While it's cold again today it's going to be back in the 70's by the end of the week here!

Edit: I've got my very first ad ever up over at Julie Ann Art - go check her (and it) out!

Etsy [Thursday]: Fall's Beginning!

2011-09-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

To get to RennFest the last leg of my trip is on a winding back road that is surrounded by trees and marsh. It contains the last 10-15 minutes of my trip to the grounds and it has always felt like a great transition - I've been to faires where you go immediately from strip malls to the gates of the festival and it's almost jarring. The route I take lets the congested life slowly slip behind me with each curve in the road, sending me back in time and away from the "real world." It's one of those silly little things about my home festival that I love.

This past weekend was one of my two favorite weekends to drive that road - this weekend ultimately leads to the enjoyment of the second favorite. As I drove and stole a peek up into the trees I started to notice the little blotches of fall colorings in the leaves - a splash of gold here, a little orange there. In another few weeks it will be my favorite week, where it feels like literally overnight (but in reality over the course of a week since I don't travel that way on weekdays) the world has exploded in color and fall is in full swing.

Falling Leaf Nightlight

Autumn Soup Mug

Shiny Happy People Yarn

Two Leaves Pendant

What's your favorite thing about early fall? My favorite weather is jeans and a tank top or shorts and a long sleeve shirt - this time of year is when that happens!

Way Back When[sday]: Puppies!!!

2011-09-28T09:02:00.000-04:00

As a theatre major in college we had very sporadic bouts of free time - "normal" college kids go to class during the day (or work) and work/play at night. We had random classes during the day and rehearsed all night, but someone would wind up with hours to kill mid-day a lot of the time. Hitting bars wasn't exactly the top thing to do at 11 in the morning, so we found other things to occupy ourselves with.

One of our favorites particularly during stressful weeks or days was to hit the local pet store. This remains one of the best pet stores I've ever been to and they were more than happy when it wasn't crowded to let us come in and play with the puppies so they got exercise. Plus who isn't in a better mood after playing with puppies?

Now don't get me wrong, I will never buy a puppy from a pet store. I strongly believe in humane societies (I visit them often, after all) or if you're set on a breed, a rescue league. We tried to do the local animal shelter once while in college but it was beyond depressing (my local one is actually very well maintained and the animals seem well cared for and in high spirits). But to play with some adorable puppies for a little while between classes and rehearsals when I need a pick-me-up and friends want to tag along? I'll hit a pet store any day.

Did/do you have anything you always do when you are having a particularly stressful week?

Patchie [Revels]: Weekend 4 [Part 1]

2011-09-27T10:17:00.000-04:00

The weather this past weekend at RennFest left a bit to be desired - we were lucky and it didn't rain but it was super humid and cloudy. It certainly didn't stop us from having a good time though - Saturday I walked around with a fellow photographer and met a whole slew of new people (but more on that later), and Sunday local friends met up with friends who had moved out of town and we all wandered together and had a blast. Overall a great weekend!

The more "formal" pictures will come within the next few days - the snapshots are always easier and faster to edit. Did you do anything exciting this weekend? Does it feel like fall where you live yet? We are flipping back and forth between fall and summer weather almost daily!

Patchie [Revels]: MDRF Weekend 3!

2011-09-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I really didn't take many pictures at all. I wasn't at faire for too long on Saturday - I arrived late and left early. Not for any particular reason, but the weather was threatening rain (and has drizzled on and off all day) and I had a party that night. Sunday The Boy and I went and we parked super far away because we got there even later than I had on Saturday and I didn't realize until we hit the gates that I had left my camera in the car. He convinced me to forget the camera and enjoy my day without it and I'm glad he did - it was a nice change of pace and one less thing to carry around!

I am very much looking forward to this weekend, between the acts that will be there and the number of friends who will be joining me Sunday I can't wait! I just hope the weather holds out. While I do enjoy a good rainy faire day, I'd like it to not be this week!

Any big plans this weekend? I hope you have a great one!

Etsy [Thursday]: Pirate!

2011-09-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Monday was Talk Like a Pirate Day and this weekend is the "unofficial" Pirate Weekend at RennFest, so this week you get a pirate theme! Not sure if I'll actually be "going pirate" this weekend or not, because an amazing Scottish drum & pipe band is going to be there (which I'll talk more about next week) and I also want to wear my kilt. So...we'll see. Enjoy!

8x10 Art Print

Lantern Necklace

Swashbuckler Coffee Cup

Skull Hair Piece

Skull & Crossbones

Bay Rum Scented Candle

Cork Poison Earrings

Patchie [Instagrams]

2011-09-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

I was going to skip having an instagram post this week until I realized the stupid number of pictures I took in the past 7 days. They include hanging out with Wendy and Zorro at home, the animal shelter where Nametwin and I went to walk dogs after work one day, the gypsy party, RennFest with The Boy, and knitting. And that picture above? It's a martini that a friend made me when I told him to surprise me at a Martini & Monty Python party he threw on Friday. It was tasty.

I'll have a few knitting posts in the upcoming weeks for you, I hope. And RennFest pictures are coming too, but I didn't take too many this weekend. And a fun pirate Etsy post tomorrow.

Sick of hearing about so much faire stuff yet? Don't worry, it's half over. Then I'll be in theatre world until March. Life got busy fast!

Patchie [Parties]

2011-09-20T21:21:00.000-04:00

Saturday was the annual Faerie Party that friends have been throwing for years, and it's one of the parties I look forward to year after year. I am a fan of themed parties and the two that host really pay attention to all the little details and really make it a fun and exciting environment, from themed food to drinks to entertainment and atmosphere. This year was gypsy themed, and everyone really got into the spirit!

Being a bunch of theatre people we take ideas and roll with them - everyone did their own makeup and most costumes were handmade - even the Steampunk one that Randy put together. And then Brandi and Randy made a shooter out of a hummingbird feeder, because Randy is too crafty for his own good. I think I found myself a new props person.

I hope you had a great weekend! Did you do anything exciting?

Patchie [Pins]: September

2011-09-19T08:57:00.004-04:00

Source

If you follow me on Twitter you know I've recently become addicted to Pinterest. The amount of recipes, DIY projects, and hair tutorials I've found is unreal. I've "pinned" a lot of things and when that list became pretty large I decided to set a goal for myself - I need to complete one of the things I pin at least once a month. With this goal in mind I decided to start big with a pretty epic-looking dessert.

The recipe I linked above is a made-from-scratch gooey sugary rich combination of layers of cookie dough, oreos, and brownie. Sadly with a full time job and hobbies including RennFest, photography, photo editing, and knitting I don't really have much time for a recipe I need to make from scratch, so I cut as many corners as I could. My ingredient list? a tube of pre-made cookie dough, a box of double stuff oreos, and a box of brownie mix. Instead of taking me probably 30 minutes to prep everything, I was done before the oven finished preheating. Besides making everything from scratch, I followed their recipe pretty closely when it came to putting it all together and baking.

Their pictures are much better, but my camera was dead and it looked too tasty to wait for it to charge. Final verdict? Probably could have used a little more cookie dough and brownie mix, but they were still really good. But careful - they fall apart really easily (the cream from the oreo separates from the cookie). Plan to use a spatula to get them out. Overall: success!

Have you made anything off Pinterest or found any good recipes or tutorials lately? Share them in the comments!

Patchie [Revels]: MDRF Weekend 2!

2011-09-16T09:00:00.003-04:00

As I said in the beginning of the week, I worked on Saturday at faire. I got up there a little early and wandered, but didn't get many pictures in - working means no modern technology in sight. Not many people has iPhones in the time of Henry VIII. So most of these pictures are from Sunday when I met up with Alex and we did our thing, aimlessly wandering around faire and doing a lot of window shopping (which is actually pretty out of character for us...usually we are Actual Shopping). Enjoy the pictures!

Notice anything (besides the watermark) with the new hosting? I'm trying out Flickr - Blogger was making my picture grainy when they weren't, and grainy pictures is a pet peeve of mine. I might be the only one who can tell, but it makes me feel better! Plus it's not as complicated as I thought it was going to be, and I learned something new. Go me! They won't all be done like this, but the really big photo ones probably will be.

This weekend I'll be attending faire again and I also have a Gypsy Faerie party that I also attended last year. There will be many more pictures this time! Do you have any exicing plans for this weekend? Our weather is supposed to be fantastic!

Etsy [Thursday]: Mystery Theme

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

I tend to be drawn to rich bold colors, but for some reason I've noticed my favorites on Etsy have more diversity to them. Here's a bunch of stuff that I think goes together, but other than "they're not bold" I can't really come up with why.

Shoulder Bag with Bow

Almond & Rose Soap

Sunrise Bobby Pins

Waft White Cocktail Dress

What's your favorite item? Those little buttons make me want to knit a cardigan just so I can use them! Actually, looking at the items now that I have them laid out, it's kind of a romantic theme. What do you think?

Way Back When[sday]: 60 Years.

2011-09-14T09:45:00.000-04:00

My grandmother and grandfather on their wedding day received a bottle of Canadian Club whiskey as a wedding present. That day they decided to wait until their 50th wedding anniversary to open and share a drink from that bottle. It followed them from New Jersey to Maryland and finally Massachusetts where they retired and permanently settled. The bottle had it's own place in the dining room with all the china - the label was worn and falling off and a little dry-rotted, but as their anniversary approached Grandpa pulled out the bottle and asked Dad to find out the company's mailing address - Grandpa wanted to write them a letter.

He told them a little bit about themselves as a married couple and the story about the bottle of whiskey. He told them his plan, and if they'd like maybe a picture of them opening it and sharing it when the time came, they could put it in their newsletter with the story - something different for people to read.

They wrote back. They were honored that my grandparents chose their brand to carry such an honor, they were very excited that Grandpa wrote them, and they certainly wanted pictures. In fact, they wanted to be a part of the moment even more so than just as a 50+ year-old bottle.

Grandpa had mentioned that his family was throwing them a party for their anniversary. Canadian Club decided to help and donate - I remember huge baskets of food and mini's coming in and being set up. In fact, there were so many mini's (nips? I've heard people call them different things) I think there are still some floating around and we are a family that enjoys our alcohol. They donated a professional photographer to come and document the entire event. The coolest thing they gave was just for Grandma and Grandpa - a gold personalized bottle of their whiskey, complete with my grandparents names and anniversary date. They had the big party, but I remember being in the back yard with just them and my dad and his camera while they shared that special drink from their first shared bottle.

The two bottles have their own shelf in the kitchen, right by the window. The original label has fallen off the original bottle, and their plan was to share a drink from the golden bottle on their 60th anniversary. Grandpa passed away just a month shy of 60 years.

It's one of those sweet little homages to love and life that is so personal. I love everything about it, and the fact that Canadian Club took the time and made the extra effort to go above and beyond in thanking them. They may have done more than I said above, but I was barely in middle school at the time so the details are fuzzy (in fact, I mostly remember locking my cousin in the back of a SUV and then while using a rope swing one cousin knocking another off their bike. Priorities.).

Actually, as a side note this is also the same party that one of Nametwin's favorite Grandpa stories occurred: At the party, Grandpa was standing with a bunch of the men when one of them asked him what the secret was to having such a long and wonderful relationship. Grandpa got very serious, put one hand on the man's shoulder and held his other hand up, ready to share his best-kept secret.

"Buy them shiny things."

Miss you, Grandpa.

Patchie [Instagrams]

2011-09-13T09:34:00.000-04:00

I really did plan on having an update with pictures off the DSLR for today, but I took so many this past weekend that it took me forever to do the initial weeding out, and then I had to edit them, and I haven't resized them or anything yet. Plus I kind of want to figure out how to host them on flickr because I'm tired of blogger making them look grainy when they very much aren't. I'm hoping to accomplish all those things tonight once I am done with this pesky thing called work. Until then here are some instagram pictures, and I'm sorry that they are nothing but faire - nothing exciting really happened otherwise. I also promise that I'll post more non-faire things soon, it seems like my daily views are down and I get less comments when you're getting inundated with all things Renn. So look for something different soon! But not too soon.

I spent Saturday at faire working at the Grichel booth which was a nice change of pace. I really enjoyed being in one of the shops and being able to people watch when we weren't busy. I also enjoyed being able to talk to the patrons again like I used to when I worked for the boys the last two years. People are so interesting.

I've been battling a chest cold for the last week and a half and last night I finally had that night where I crashed before ten and slept through to my alarm and I feel loads better. And after a solid week of nothing but rain it looks like early fall is finally starting to peek through - this weekend is supposed to be so pretty!

Did anyone do anything exciting or interesting this past weekend?

Patchie [Sops]

2011-09-09T09:33:00.000-04:00

While Texas is dealing with a drought and wildfires we in Maryland have had over a foot of rain in under 4 days. The flooding is unreal, more trees are down that had already been weakened by Hurricane Irene, and there are multiple instances of washing out roads, collapsed bridges, flooded streets, and mudslides. And the rain continues to fall.


Pictures stolen from facebook and around the web - original sources unknown but they are all local pictures.

We are faring okay so far - we managed to be untouched for the hurricane besides a few hours without power. We still have power this time around (but it keeps dipping). Our house sits on top of a hill, and our fully-finished basement is still flooding - the foundation is just too wet. So far we've been able to stay pretty much on top of it with a shop vac and a constant rotation of towels, but a new carpet might be in our future as well as a new piece of furniture or two. Like I said, we're faring okay and I know we are lucky - some people are under water, without running water, trapping at their homes with no roadways out or trapped from getting to their homes for the same reason - a family friend stayed with us last night for that very reason.

And on top of everything, I think I'm developing a sinus infection. Ugh.

The rain is supposed to stop today at some point, although they're threatening it through Sunday for us. Then maybe we can start to dry out. This isn't an area that is used to weather like this and we're not equipped for it, but we're doing our best. I hope anyone who is reading this and is on the east coast is doing okay - I know Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York and doing pretty poorly, too.

I hope you have a safe and dry weekend (unless you're in Texas, then I hope you get a tropical storm. Y'all need it something fierce). Weather (And roads) permitting, tonight I'm seeing a friends stand-up show in Virginia and I'm working at faire this weekend in one of my favorite booths!

Etsy [Thursday]: Corsets!

2011-09-08T10:05:00.002-04:00

Since I am going to be spending the next 8 weeks in a corset, I thought I'd share some corest-y things from Etsy this week!

Mini Top Hat

Fingerless Gloves

Silk Top

Chevron Crossfire corset

Tie Up Spats

Cookie Pop Party Favors

Steampunk Boots

Laced Bloomers

Corset Pillow