StellaLand

Favorite {Photo} Friday #42: Snow Patrol.

I haven't had a moment to write about my trip to Seattle & Vancouver last weekend and I'm already packing my bags for a business trip to North Jersey on Sunday.

Anyway, back to Favorite Photo Friday. One of the main reasons for heading up north was to see Snow Patrol & Coldplay. Here's a shot of Snow Patrol's lead singer, Gary Lightbody that I snapped during their set. It's probably the best of all the concert photos that I took that night. I love this picture!!

Snow Patrol

Vancouver, BC

On the road again...

I'm headed up north for some much needed vacation. The main reason for my trip is to see Snow Patrol and Coldplay in Vancouver. In December, I won 2 free tickets to any concert at my office Christmas party and thought this would be the perfect show to cash in the prize. (The best part is, since it is just me, I still have a ticket to use on another show! YAY!)

I love Seattle and am thrilled to be going back for a second visit and since Vancouver is pretty much the only place we didn't see when Cathy and I went to Seattle many years ago, I'm excited to finally make it there.

I'll be flying into Seattle tomorrow afternoon and spending the night in Bellevue. Friday I'll head to Vancouver via ferry (hoping to spot a few whales without becoming too seasick!) and staying until Sunday. The show is Saturday night. Sunday afternoon I'll make my way back to Seattle and then head back to Phoenix on Monday morning.

I've taken notes on many of your recommendations of places to see and things to do and will probably moblog with my iPhone while on the road. I'm not taking my laptop with me, trying to keep the load as light as possible since I'll be moving around a bit. You can keep up with me via Twitter updates.

See you when I get back!

Quilt Along w/Old Red Barn Co. [Step 3]

Here are all of my squares laid out to be sewn together.
I think this is the final design.

I've tried to keep strips of the same fabric from touching, but I'm not getting too OCD about it. I love the yellow strips! They make the quilt pop!

My quilt is 6 squares by 6 squares and I have 3 squares left over.
I also have nine 7" squares left over from cutting my strips. I'll probably make a smaller quilt, with some borders to make it bigger, with my leftovers.

I also hit my local goodwill and picked up two vintage sheets. I think one will be perfect for the back of this quilt!

70k

Favorite {Photo} Friday #41: Philly Skyline.

Philly skyline taken from the Camden, NJ Waterfront.

I wanted to post this picture today because Cathy asked me earlier this week if I'm still homesick for Philly. My instinct was to respond: "Of course I am!", almost insulted that I even had to answer that question. But then I stopped and thought about it; and the truth is: it comes and goes. There are days when I think moving to PHX was the best decision I ever made and I'm so excited to explore and discover my new surroundings, and there are days when the pain of missing my old life is palpable.

Today is one of those homesick days. All day long I was getting emails and text messages from some of my Philly peeps reminiscing about what we were doing this time last year.
This time last year I was out of work, getting ready to spend a week in Bar Harbor with 35 other MINI owners, taking cake decorating classes, thinking about opening a cupcake shop, and running PhillyMINI.
Despite not working I was busy every day.

One year later and it's almost the complete opposite. I have an amazing job and absolutely no social life. I joke that someone needs to create an eHarmony to find social friends!

I guess the point of this email is that I'm homesick today. I miss Philadelphia and my friends. I miss rallying with other MINIs, I miss Wawa and Wegmans. I miss WXPN and cheesesteaks. I miss knowing where everything is and nine different ways to get there. I miss having plans every weekend and wishing for a weekend with no plans (shock!). I miss calling up a girlfriend and saying, "Meet me at Target!" or sending out an email to all my peeps asking,"Who's up for Five Guys?" I miss how everything is jam packed into one cluster of streets in Center City; the hustle and bustle, the diversity. I miss Reading Terminal Market!  And there's probably a good chance that if you're reading this, I miss you, too.

Old Red Barn Quilt Along: Squares

I finished sewing all my strips together and cutting them into squares. It's so cool to see how the fabric works together. Here are all of my squares:

Can't wait until Monday to see how we'll piece them together to make the quilt top!

Favorite {Photo} Friday #40: Sand Beach.

It's starting to get really hot. Yesterday it was 108 degrees at 6:30pm. I know this because while I was driving home from work, the temperature gauge on the MINI said so. When it's this hot, I think about the beach. And then I think about how our closest beach is San Diego. This picture was taken at the beautiful Sand Beach in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, ME. It was always a stop on our driving tour of the park and this particular year someone wrote Sand Beach in the sand. I'm so glad I snapped this shot.

So many jokes...

Del Monte has designed an ice pop in the shape of actor Daniel Craig in celebration of the first annual National Ice Cream Week, which runs from June 1 until June 7.

The treat was created after more than 1,000 British women cast votes deeming the James Bond star the celebrity that they would “most like to lick.”

“Daniel Craig topped our poll of Britain’s coolest celebrities and thanks to our Del Monte lolly replica he is officially immortalised as super smooth and licensed to chill,” Del Monte spokesperson Matt O’Connor said Monday.

The limited edition pops — which contain less than 1,000 calories each — are available in blueberry, pomegranate, and cranberry.

Favorite {Photo} Friday #39: Favorite Friend.

This is one of my favorite friends, so I thought it would be appropriate to post this picture on Favorite Photo Friday! Danielle is coming to Phoenix tomorrow to spend the weekend with me. We've got a full day of food, fabric, cupcakes, yarn, and farmer's markets planned for Saturday; and Sunday is a toss up between a crafty day at home or seeing what other kind of trouble we can get into.

Funny story about the photo. It was taken in 2005 at a PhillyKnitters Stitch & Bitch Secret Pal reveal party. I was Danielle's secret pal and the bag she is holding is the handmade final gift that I knitted and felted for her. The three months that I was her secret pal, I thought I was so sneaky. I would drop presents off at her work when she wasn't there, send goodies in the mail, and email little messages to her under a fake email address. I was so proud of myself. At the reveal, I asked her if she knew it was me. She said that with the first card that I sent her, she knew it was me. I was stunned! What happened to my sneaky stealthy ways?! Did I not disguise my handwriting enough? She said she knew it was me because I signed the card, "Cheers, your secret pal" and that she remembered that I signed my email using Cheers as my sign-off.

BUSTED with my letter closing sentiments!