Cloudlet

This little guy was a present for my mom. Hopefully it will be the first in a series of little felt creatures. Only if I stop procrastinating and get my papers done, though.

Bear Clothes

Doesn't this bear have an amazing fashion sense? So stylish. Thanks to Sarah for the picture, I knitted the clothes for her for the secret santa and she brought them home to Lauren the Bear, just in time for the blizzard. Good thing she got those warm clothes, otherwise she'd be freezing her paws off.

Penguin Present!

This is my new penguin! Sadly, I did not make her, but Sarah did! I know, one eye is bigger than the other, but it's not her fault, she was just born that way. The big question is, what is in that present??

Leaf Cards

A few cards I made a while back. They should have been "happy autumn" cards but they didn't get sent to anyone and here it is almost winter. Sad.

Happy Hannukah!

Carved Crayons

Wow! Who wants to try this?

The Nest Revisited

It's time to reveal the mystery of the nest. (If you don't remember the mystery, click here.) Be forewarned, now that people have been wondering for so long, when I reveal the truth it will be rather anticlimactic.

The quick answer: Our crazy neighbor put the nest there.

The explanation: On September first, we came to the apartment to clean it and it was a very nice day. We discovered a bird's nest outside the window, with a little blue egg in it. So sweet, right? But we didn't have a camera with us. We went back to CT and the next day when we came back with the UHaul it was rainy and very windy. We started moving stuff into the apartment and we met this crazy lady who turned out to be our neighbor. She asked if we had seen the good omen in our new place. We had a brief conversation about how great the nest was. For months she had been watching the bird make its nest and have babies under the previous tenant's air conditioner, but she could only watch from outside, far away. So I invited her in to see it up close. She was very excited but when we came in, the nest was gone! She suspected the landlord had taken it down and she went to investigate. I went down to the truck to get more boxes. When I came back up there was the nest, on the windowsill, inside! The lady had found the nest on the ground under the window and brought it back up for me because she knew how much I missed it. That's when I took the picture. We deduced that since the air conditioner had been taken away the nest's protection was gone and the wind blew it down. Then we convinced her it was a little too dirty to keep in the apartment so she took it away again. Maybe she still has it in her apartment, who knows. And that's the story of the nest.

This post is dedicated to EJL.

The Zoo

The Friday after Thanksgiving is free day at the zoo! How could we pass that up? Sadly, the giraffes (shouldn't that be giraves?) were not out because of the cold. I wonder where they go during the winter. Do they migrate south? We did enjoy the other animals though, here's what everyone was up to:

The camels were gossipping about their neighbors, or was it about us?

The zebra was looking for his contact lens which had fallen out.

The mandrill was challenging all the visitors to a staring contest.

The ostriches were helping the zebra look for the lost contact lens.

The tapir had to pee and didn't feel like walking over to the bathroom.

Christmas Spirit

The Christmas spirit lives on Jackson Road. That's what the sign said out front and from what I saw, I'd say it's definitely true. From my aunt's house in Cornish, you just go down the muddy driveway, across the dirt road, along a stream, up a hill, around a bend, and you can't miss the glowing wonderland. It's only halfway decorated and already there's so much - they not only did their house but the mountain too. There are two tractors and a motorcycle covered with lights, a bunch of miniature displays in glass cases, numerous inflated holiday characters, a sleigh with Santa and his crew, a creche, Christmas music playing continuously, Rudolph's red nose shining up on the mountaintop, candy canes galore, I could go on and on. And that's only the outside - I won't even begin to describe the inside. Needless to say it was truly amazing. Clearly the highlight of our Thanksgiving in New Hampshire.

The Wig's Night Out

The Hallowig had its time in the spotlight this weekend. It felt so loved during the modelling sessions and photo shoots. It had such a good time in fact that it seems to have decided to stay in Arlington instead of coming home with me. I just hope you're happy wherever you are, Hallowig.

Two Years

This was my anniversary surprise! That's right, it was two years on Saturday. At night we went to Finale where we had the super duper quintuple chocolate plate. It may have had a slightly classier name than that but you get the idea. It was so good. Then I bought a winter coat. And rain pants. Romantic, isn't it?

Pilgrim Path

On Sunday we went to Mt. Auburn Cemetery, America's first garden cemetery. We walked around, collected leaves, and climbed up the tower. I have to say it's the nicest graveyard I've ever been to. (Click on the photo to see it bigger.)

My Wig

Here's my Halloween creation for this year: the Hallowig. I'm tempted to keep wearing it after Halloween. It actually makes a great hat since it covers my ears and neck. Maybe I'll make more for the winter and have them in every color. Anyone want one?

Halloween Cookies

It's the day before Halloween, so I figured this might be a good time for cookies shaped like pumpkins and Frankensteins. They don't taste as good as I was hoping, but they're cute enough. The first batch had candy corn for eyes which was not my best idea seeing as how the candy completely melted in the oven. Although it is an appropriate time of year for eyeballs oozing out of their sockets, I decided to stick to m&ms and jelly beans after that.

A Trip to the Museum

Marbled Paper

Today we spent a nice afternoon at the MFA. We saw a demonstration of Turkish paper marbling which was amazing. They float the paint on top of water and do all kinds of swirly designs in it, kind of like when you make marble cake. Then they float the paper on top, make sure the edges are flat, and when they pick it up all the paint has been transferred to the paper like magic! And all that effort just makes one beautiful piece of paper. The other highlight of the day was their exhibit on Soviet Textiles from around 1930 which were designed to get people psyched about industrialization. Imagine shirts and pillowcases with tractors, gears, and factories on them. They're fabulous!

Soviet Fabric

Scrabble Seating

These scrabble benches are so great. If I had them in my house I'd have the rug be the board. When anyone wanted to make a really long word they'd have to carry a huge pile of pillows to the right place. Then once you'd covered the whole board with letters you could just lay down on top and go to sleep.

Apple Pie

Apples apples everywhere. What's a girl to do? So this afternoon I whipped up an apple pie! Okay I didn't exactly just whip it up, I don't really know how to do that. I got the recipe from Emeril and then I whipped it up. Okay okay I can't take all the credit. LZ helped too so I guess we whipped it up. How many more times do you think I will say whip it up? whip, whip, whip. Anyways - crumb topping and frozen pie crust, the only way to go. And I still have enough apples left for about five more pies! Anyone want a piece?

Apples Apples Everywhere!

On Sunday we went apple-picking. It was our first zipcar adventure! My zipcard was defective and wouldn't unlock the car so we got off to a rocky start but after a phone call to customer service, it was smooth sailing. We went to One Stack Orchard in Stow, MA. They have lots of apples to pick and an old cider press where they make unhomogenized cider. No hay rides, no corn mazes, just apple trees! After we picked more apples than we'll ever eat, we drove around admiring the foliage.

In other news, exactly one year ago yesterday LZ and I moved (back) to the US. It is a momentous occasion. Overall, it was a pretty good year.

Newburyport

This weekend we went to Newburyport, a small New Englandy town at the end of the commuter rail. They were having the Fall Harvest Festival so it was a good day to go. We saw the Yoyo Show and a scarecrow contest (see photos). We ate seafood chowder in bread bowls. Also, we thoroughly enjoyed watching people parallel park their boats.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

中秋节快乐！
Yesterday was the Chinese full moon festival. I hope everyone admired the full moon!

Today is Saturday and I've been monitoring TV all day. That's right, when your Harvard professor tells you to watch TV for homework it's not called watching, it's called monitoring. We learn very important things here.

Cactus 仙人掌

LZ gave me this bright yellow cactus. It was a surprise when I came home from school one day. Don't let the cuteness fool you, it's very dangerous! But we love it anyways.

Of course, the day after it came to live with us I knocked it on the floor and it lost a limb. Sorry little guy!

FunFact: In Chinese the word for cactus means immortal's palm.

Commenting Glitch

I just found out blogger is not as great as I was hoping. Sometimes it messes stuff up without telling me.

I didn't realize you had to be registered to leave comments. That should be fixed now and anyone should be able to comment without registering. Hope it works. Thanks to those of you who already commented! Keep it up!

The Big Fight

Yesterday evening I had a huge fight with my computer. It has been on its last legs for a while now but it logically chose last night, right after I wrote six pages of my first assignments for school, as the ideal time to throw a fit. After many grueling rounds the fight finally ended in a tie. I did manage to get my files out by going into DOS and copying them to a floppy disk (remember those?). But the computer was so stubborn it just would not work again. It may be time to walk away and get a new computer but wouldn't that be letting it win? I don't think I'm ready to give up just yet. Next time it will be a fight to the death.

Ovinity

Here she is, my latest ovine creation. While she may look the same as the rest of the flock, she has her own distinct personality. She can usually be found by the window, contemplating the first few leaves falling from the trees. This will be her first winter and she hopes her warm woolen fleece will make up for her inadequate acrylic legs and head.

Nubby Potato

Last week we discovered the Central Square farmers' market which was a great find. Although it still seems expensive (after you've lived in China everything will always seem expensive), farmers' markets are always a good thing to happen upon. I found these adorable little nubby potatoes:

So naturally I brought some home and put them on the windowsill to take pictures of them. The farmer in the market told me what variety they are but I forgot. I'm sure my agriculturally-inclined sister will enlighten me. They're almost too cute to cook!

Just now when I said the farmer in the market, I was reminded of a great abiyoyo anecdote. One teacher pulled out a picture book that goes along with the song "The Farmer in the Dell" and a kid got really excited and yelled out "The farmer in the deli!" Kids say the darnedest things.

The Nest

We moved into our Central Square mini apartment on September 1st. We came into the apartment, looked around, and lo and behold, what could be on the windowsill but *gasp* a bird's nest:

There it is in all its glory. A very auspicious sign!
I suggested we use it to make that infamous Chinese delicacy - bird's nest soup, but LZ didn't think it was such a great idea.

Now, to make this blog more interactive, I have a challenge for all of you:
What is wrong with this picture?

If anyone gets it right and has a good explanation, maybe they'll get a prize!