And yes, it’s been awhile. I have 2 projects to finish/sew up and then I’ll post pictures when I get the chance. What’s so sad is, it has been so long since I knitted… that I initially forgot how to…. GASP… cast-on! It took me a moment, but boy, that was kind of scary for a second. =)

The thing with bento boxes – not only are they uber cute, but they are great with portion sizes. And when I pack a lunch, I know I am eating something healthy and in the right serving size. And it just makes packing a lunch that much more fun. =) So here are a couple of bento items I use the most:

This was among the first containers I ever purchased. I got them in college and I have used them for nearly 10 years. I still use them. I love how I can fit dry cereal or snacks in the Goldfish container, and I can pack a sandwich in the Wonderbread container, and know that it won’t get squished.

And then I got this super cute pink bento box – it’s got several layers, dividers, and chopsticks on top. I use this a lot when I’m packing rice, leftover stirfry, etc. The dividers are great so I can separate my meats from my veggies and whatnot.

Lastly, this is my absolute FAVORITE bento box set up ever!! It’s Totoro!

I love the zipped bag it comes in, and it fits everything in perfectly.

Here are the actual bento containers – a small thermos, two little plastic containers, and a fork + fork case.

I purchased a separate pair of chopsticks (in Totoro of course!) to go along with this set:

It’s perfect!!

* * * * *

And since I’m talking about cute things, I can show you some onesies I put together recently. It’s not terribly crafty, since I purchased the iron-ons as is (they were on sale at Joanns!), but they were awfully cute.

Here are some of my favorite ones:

Can you tell by the colors what the baby’s gender will be? =)

Things I’ve Done (In Bold)

1. Started my own blog – duh!
2. Slept under the stars 
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped – I’m not stupid (no offense to those who have done this)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train 
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb 
26. Gone skinny dipping – in my bathtub! (I don’t think that counts) =P
27. Run a Marathon – for those who know me, stop laughing
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run 
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors – do my parents’ birthplace count? if so, yes
35. Seen an Amish community 
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing 
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David - in person?
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater 
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business – etsy? Does that count?
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason 
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 
65. Gone sky diving – uhh, see “bungee jumping” above
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar 
72. Pieced a quilt – but not finished it. Does that count? :)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club - just one meeting
93. Lost a loved one 
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

Okay, now YOUR turn! =)

Six Random Tidbits
First rule is share the rules! Link to the person who tagged you. Then right your six random bits of tid. Let the tagger know when you’ve responded. Tag 6 more people. Let them know you’ve tagged them by commenting on their blogs.

1. I was born in Oregon, and lived there for the first 4 years of my life.

2. I’m looking to get my wedding ring resized. No, not resized down, unfortunately. I have come to the point in my life where my fingers are “too fat”. This confuses people, because I’m still within my normal healthy weight range for my height. What they don’t know (or don’t remember), was that I was pretty skinny when I was engaged (skinnier than when I graduated from high school). To put it mildly, it was a very stressful year. I won’t get into it here, but the only good part about the drama of that time period was that I was able to fit into all sorts of clothes and look terrific in them. (And that I was engaged, of course.) =)

3. My sewing machine still intimidates me a little. But I still adore/worship it.

4. I’m a pen snob. I’m picky about consistent ink flow and how fine of a point it is.

5. I love Will Ferrell movies.

6. I’m a sniffer. If I were addicted to any illegal substances, it would be easy to know what I would love. I love weird smells, and smells that are probably not good for me. I used to love gasoline smell. I absolutely love the smell of paint thinner. I love glue smells. I love other chemical smells. I love the smell of rubber tires (in a tire shop). I love the smell of treated wood at any local hardware store (e.g. the wood section at Home Depot). My doctor hubby says some of my smell-interests are not very good for me. I believe him, but I can’t help but indulge myself in a little whiff here and there when the right substances are nearby. =)

***

If you want to do this meme, consider yourself tagged! =)

It’s Karen’s cat!! Thank you!! What a cutie, huh? And friendships are already being forged in my household (e.g. Blobby):

And this gift was quite a while back, but I was thrilled to receive little stitch markers from Toni. Aren’t they pretty?

Lastly, I’m finally presenting pictures of some baby blanket collaborations I participated in. The blankets were put together by groups of friends in secret, and in the past couple weeks, have finally been received by their intended recipients (and their newborns). It was a whole lot of fun, and a special way for knitting friends to knit together something special for a new mother!

This is Regina’s blanket – squares made by various local SnB members. (P.S. See the heart in the middle? That was one of my squares) =)

Another blanket collaboration was for Lynette. This project was especially unique as it involved a group of long-distance friends. We all took a color and did our squares, and it was seamed by Caitlyn, Cyndi, and eventually, Stephanie (photo courtesy of Stephanie, more details here).

If I had received a blanket such as these, I would have felt so honored and blessed by the work done by my friends. A blanket of blessings, indeed! (And such fun to help in the giving process as well!) But alas, no babies here (yet). In the meantime, I’ll be here, cuddling with my new cat. =)

A really cute basket, with the following goodies:

1 bottle of B&B Night-Blooming Jasmine Shower Gel (this is now one of my new fav scents)
2 skeins Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Wild Violet
1 skein Atacama in Lilac (100% alpaca!!)
1 skein JaggerSpun Zephyr in Cassis
1 pattern for The Lucy Bag

Turned out my SP has been my good friend Chor (some know her as Caitlyn) – thank you so much! And to think that I was scratching my head earlier, wondering how my SP knew exactly what I liked! So yes, I definately have a purple felted bag project coming up soon. =)

On the flipside, I was the SP for Sara. Among yarns and other goodies I gave her, I made some stitch markers for her:

I’m still a beginner with all the jewelry-making stuff, and I realized much later that perhaps these stitch markers can catch on yarn and are probably too long and dangly. But hopefully they were received ok. =)

And lastly, here’s a meme from Jade so here goes!

1. Six minutes to yourself:
Knitting, of course. Duh!!

2. Six bucks to spend right now:
In-n-out. I know, really unhealthy. But oooh, a cheeseburger and animal-style fries would be good just about now. =)

3. Six items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn’t thought of already?
All of Wayne’s old stuffed animals and high school stuff (I’m married to a packrat). That should cover more than 6 items easily.

4. Six items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
My kitchen aid standmixer. My computer. My palm pilot. My yarn/knitting. My wedding ring. And my garlic chili hot sauce in the fridge.

5. Six words you love?
Friendship. Grace. Hugs. Love. Discount. Spaghetti. (Sorry, I’m REALLY hungry right now)

My stomach is talking to me now – time to feed it before it gets angry.
Have a great weekend!

Can you count how many WIPs are in there? It’s a bit hard to see since alot of them are in their plastic bags (my method of containing the madness). Right now you see them on the floor of one of the guest rooms, which I’ve been using to put all my crafting stuff in. They were originally all over the family room, until the hubby complained that my knitting was EVERYWHERE (literally, on every table surface, couches, floor, whatever), so I decided to collect them all and put them here. And then close the door.

I also made a couple purchases. Here’s a wine box I bought to contain my needles (ignore the yarn mess on the side):

A knitting bag from Martha! I love it!!

And of course, this is totally nonknitting related, but I had to share with you my latest toy, a Hello Kitty CD player:

Lastly, I was tagged by Hui Leng, so here goes:

5 Things In My Refridgerator:

1. nonfat milk (I can’t live without it)
2. mashed potatoes and gravy (hubby brings back drug rep lunch leftovers all the time)
3. chow mein
4. tangerines
5. hot sauce (I can’t live without this either)

Ok, hopefully by the time I make my next post, my head will be clearer and I’ll have made some knitting progress on something. =P

And of course, it is the year of the dog:

Ushering the new year, I had originaly intended to clean my house beforehand (a great excuse to get my butt going on this) but ended up not having enough time to do so. That’s ok, at least I got to do something different – it was my first time making traditional sticky rice cake from scratch (nian gao): YUMMY!

With the celebrations, I was able to also get some knitting done too:

A couple close-ups:

I’m feeling alot more comfortable with mohair. Lace is quite addicting – I love how detailed it is (I’m never bored with it) and when I look back at what I’ve done, I love how it looks!

P.S. If you’ve noticed, I’ve changed my template once again. I think I’ll stick with this for now – it’s functional and clean. =) I have also joined the Frappr bandwagon too, come put yourself on my map! =)

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Office Administrator at a startup company in Santa Clara. My first job out of college. Great boss who taught me work ethics, finance, and a little bit of faith.
2. Maryhouse staff – homeless shelter here in Sacramento. A great experience that opened my eyes to the struggles of those who have limited options, and the big mess that we call “charity”. I won’t say anymore but I quit after a couple months – mostly because of my experience with the staff.
3. Lobbyist intern here in Sacramento. Great stuff. Exciting to be running around the capital acting like my head just got cut off, but looking great in my grey power suit and pumps while doing it.
4. Research assistant. At Sac State. Boring as hell. While I love research (the analysis part of it), gathering data was the boring grunt work and I felt like an idiot doing it. I might as well have been another monkey.

Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. When Harry Met Sally
2. Office Space
3. Any of Hayao Miyazaki’s films
4. Any of the Godfather movies

Four places you have lived:
1. Corvallis, Oregon
2. Fountain Valley, CA (Orange County)
3. Saratoga, CA (Santa Clara County)
4. Sacramento, CA

Four tv shows you love to watch:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. Project Runway
3. Oprah
4. Everyday Italian (Food Network)

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Maui
2. Asia: Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand (Nepal and China don’t count – I wasn’t on vacation at the time)
3. Canada (Vancouver and Toronto)
4. Up and down the California coast, Oregon coast, and Washington (Seattle)

Four websites you visit daily:
1. My bloglines subscriptions
2. My xanga subscriptions
3. My email
4. Yahoo news

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Pasta
2. Oxtail stew
3. Warm Soups
4. Osso Bucco

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. Maui
2. a LYS
3. in my knitting spot
4. with Wayne (hubby) =)

Four Bloggers you are tagging:
I’m going to do it again. Sorry! (And again, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to) =)
1. Karen
2. Jen
3. Caitlyn
4. Gail