This morning, I had my American Studies class with my Japanese Friend. She is about my dad's age, and she is one of the most enthusiastic students I know. After class, we like to walk through the arboretum and she tells me about the plants she has in her garden. We walked by the apricot tree, she told me about all the jams she makes from her fruit trees in her Tokyo garden. I am learning a lot from my Japanese friend, and her friendship and conversation are making this class much more engaging for me. It is one thing to have an American classmate to discuss American culture with; it is another thing entirely to have conversations about American culture with a Japanese student, especially of another generation. I took this class mostly because it came highly recommended by a teaching assistant (Hi, M!) and because the book list is awesome, but I am so grateful to have met my Japanese friend. I guess we end up where we're supposed to be and when.

Now I am home from class, and I heated up some lasagna made by the mother of a couple kids I babysit and then had half a mini-cheesecake for dessert. Boyfriend brought the cheesecake home from work last night, and it made my day. He is such a keeper. Then, I had this super-yummy idea and had blackberries with a tiny dollop of mascarpone on top. I like to spoil myself a little rotten.
I have oodles of reading to get done, so I am off to the rest of my day.

I'll leave you with a photo of BuddyHolly and Santa Claus:

lazy day, sunday.

Isn't it important to have a day of the week where you can sit around in your jammys and sip tea all day long? Today was one of those days. Boyfriend and Chloe were kind enough to take a nap in the guest room/office while I was working on being motivated enough for homework.

Then, Boyfriend ran all the way across town to get the vegetarian hot and sour soup that I like so much. While he did that, I tried out my IKEA garlic roaster. I think it turned out very well, and we ate it on the marbled rye from Whole Foods that I am currently yumming on. I thought it was beautiful.

Mostly, the highlight of today was making brunch for Mel (one of my very best friends), Boyfriend's former coworker Chris and his lovely wife, who I had never met before. I made roasted rosemary new potatoes and raisin-swirled french toast stuffed with strawberries and mascarpone cheese. So freakin' good. Chris and Erin brought bloody marys and they were tasty.

Then Mel and I put up my IKEA shelving unit and it took forever and we put way too many holes in the wall, but it looks great. Alas, I have no pictures of this triumph to share.

All in all, a good day.

It's hard to study when you're counting trees.

I spend a lot of time at my desk. I am in school, so mostly I am studying. Otherwise, I am looking at blogs and dinking around on flickr. I have a great view out into the yard (we live in the woods, obviously) and in the winter, the light is just glorious at my desk. From here, I can watch BuddyHolly (my dog- she is a girl) run in the yard, throw her toys around, and chase bugs. She trots sticks from one end of the yard to the other, with her tail wagging so proudly. I love to watch her.

Last semester, my "desk" was the kitchen table, and that was miserable. Our living room/kitchen is one large "great room", so to speak, and I would be in the middle of all the action when I wanted to be quietly studying by myself. Boyfriend and I went to IKEA (sigh... I love IKEA) over the weekend a few weeks ago and picked up a desk. Boyfriend put it together while I was at work one day. I couldn't be happier. I got this one: but my pull-out thingy is on the left side. Apparently it was not difficult to assemble at all. It is such a perfect width and the top is deep enough to work on a paper when I need 800 bajillion books open, and also gives enough space for crafting. And the really exciting thing is that the kitchen table is not covered in crap anymore! Hooray!

Usually, the pull-out thing is closed, because it butts up right against the guest room bed. Sometimes I pull it out so Chloe (my cat) can lie in the patch of sun that always falls right there. And I have my little lamp and my little clock and my sound machine on it. I use the sound machine to block out noises coming from the rest of the house, or to relax myself if I am feeling frazzled. Everyone should have a sound machine.

first post!

Hooray! My first post.

I guess this is the one where I introduce myself and submit a thesis for this here weblog. I am a twenty-six-year-old college student and I live out in the kind of country with my boyfriend and my cat and my dog and ugly blue carpeting. I wanted to start a blog as my new years resolution and I am just now getting around to it. I do not feel guilty about the wait, because you weren't expecting this anyway (unless you are Maura. hi Maura). I want my life to be more examined this year, and I also want to make more things.

Currently, I knit (only garter stitch), embroider (mostly baby onesies) and make flowers out of felt and buttons. My parents gave me a sewing machine and a mixer for christmas, so this blog is an effort to document my progress with these wonderful tools. So far, I have yet to use either of them (and I do feel a little guilty about that). I want to be making actual wearable clothing by summer, and maybe some bags, too. Also, I would like to bake yummys on a more regular basis (for people and for doggys, too).

Here, as soon as I make flickr behave, you will find photographic evidence of my progress and of my life. Actually, it will usually be my dog.

Love,
Lullaby Jones