San Smith

Bicycle doodle - Happy Friday!

Haaappyy Fridaaay! Whew! Its been a long week.

I don't have a whole lot to post since this week has been a little hectic for me - but I wanted to wish you all a great weekend and do a re-cap of some of my posts lately.

- I'm still very smitten with my new bicycle, and will probably spend a good portion of Saturday and Sunday zooming around on it. (And if my pup is lucky, she might come with me to a park or two! She loves riding in the basket!) My boyfriend just recently had a another very good experience with Crank Brothers - and my lovely little bicycle was featured on another blog, Flickr's post on Bicycle Fashion! (Last week it was on Copenhagen Cycle Chic!!) If you'd like to see some more bicycle links, I made a post last week on some fun sites... And also invited some of my newest readers to share photos of their bicycles! Its been a two-wheels kind of week!

- You guys think I should be Jem! It was the majority of the responses on what I should be for Halloween, interesting! Chris is putting his vote on Sally, so now I have my choices narrowed down for me a bit. I will let you guys know what sort of costume I end up making for Halloween!

- New doodles, and soon to be some art on etsy. Check back next week!

New Bicycle adventures!

This Friday I took a half day at work, and rushed over to the Atlanta Cycling and picked up my bicycle!!(I've mentioned it a lot - but the bicycle I got was a Gary Fisher Simple City w3) I was soooooo excited - and they are excellent to their customers! I completely recommend them. They were very helpful and patient - and my bike turned out perfect!

As soon as I got home, we put the bell on my bike, I grabbed my lock and biked over to Nicki's house to visit with her and Laila. Being able to coast again caught me off guard! (I've been riding a fixed gear for a year) Its really nice to not have to pedal constantly, but I'm glad I have that mind set now because I feel like I pedal a lot better than I did before my fixed gear.

Talked about politics with the girls for a bit, and how scary things are at the moment in the US... then rode home to catch a quick tasty tofu burrito dinner with Chris and watch the presidential debates. The weather was so beautiful and slightly misty - and we even saw a rainbow!

Today, I woke up itching to ride that bike again!! (I imagine I'll be like this for a while!) I went on some errands with it this morning to get dog food and other small things - and then later on in the afternoon I strapped Pika in for her first ride to the park with the new bicycle. She loved it, but was a little antsy on the way home. She kept trying to stand up like she was surfing in the basket. With time, I think she will be come a bicycle riding pro!

Some of my favourite things about this new bike (aside from its lovely appearance!):

1. Chain guard and fenders - yesss! No more rolling up pants legs or worrying about things splashing up on me!
2. Being able to wear regular clothes and shoes again while riding
3. Huuuge beautiful basket that I was able to put several pounds of dog food, a large purse and shopping bag in and still ride home easily - AMAZING! No more back bags

I'm off now to go knit a little bit and watch a movie. Its been a long eventful Saturday! Hooray for weekends :)

Bicycle websites of all kinds

photo from FisherBikes.com

The weather is fabulous here...I've been feeling much much better - and best of all - my new bicycle should be ready any day now! I probably mentioned it a while back, but I ordered a Gary Fisher Simple City 3W - and with its arrival finally approaching this weekend, I definitely have bicycles on the brain.

To keep me calm till then, I thought I'd write up a little blog post sharing some interesting Bicycle links. Let me know if you know of any good bicycle websites to visit!

Critical Mass Atlanta - Monthly bicycle ride occuring here in Atlanta (and in many other major cities all over the world) every last Friday of the month. Some view it as a chance to protest cars, other an excellent way to see your city and meet others who like to ride bikes, or as the website states it, an opportunity for "CELEBRATING our vision of a preferable alternative mode of transportation in the city of Atlanta". Regardless, it is quite a spectcle to take part of or witness, and was one of the ways I got back into cycling as an adult two years ago.

Faster Mustache - Fun message board started by my boyfriend and his friends. I'll nab the description from their website rather than try re-invent it myself... :) "Faster Mustache is an independent organization made up of a diverse group of Atlanta residents with one thing in common: riding bicycles. Fixed or free, geared or single, cruiser, chopper, racer, clunker, we ride 'em."

Vélocouture - A bicycle + fashion group on Flickr "Smart, stylish, functional outfits worn by transportational bicyclists."

Quote of the Day: On Not Wearing a Bike Helmet - Or really, Why you SHOULD wear a helmet!

Purple pedals - Flickr (and Yahoo) has teamed up with Electra Bicycles to issue 20 purple painted bikes to people in Brighton, UK, Toronto, New York, California, Sydney, Singapore and Japan. (And one went to the blogger from Copenhangen Cycle Chic!) The bikes are equipped with gps and cameras (ran by a solar-powered battery) to document the rider's adventures every 60 seconds. Very cool!

Bike in the City - an adorable French bicycle blog filled with cute illustrations (and Vélib's!) There are English translations on the entries sometimes too for those who don't speak French.

An open letter from No Impact Man - The writer from No Impact Man had an interesting (to say the least) run-in with the NY State Senator on his bicycle... And to put it lightly the senator didn't treat him very well! No Impact Man is inviting those who are interested to reach out to the Senator and express their concern with the way he handled sharing the road with a cyclist.

Long week! Sundar time.

1. 49/365, 2. 50/365, 3. 53/365,
4. Cherry blossom and craspedia, 5. 52/365, 6. New colors!!,
7. 51/365, 8. Housewarming package!, 9. Walking home

Hello! I hope you all had an excellent spring week!

I'm relaxing with a cup of chamomile trying to decided if I want to go do some yoga or just go collapse into bed... because frankly I'm really really tired! 

Last week shortly before Chris went out of town, I finally took the plunge and gave up driving to work.  I've been wanting to do this for months but have been lazy and fearful that it would be difficult.  Its turned out to be the most fantastic choice I've made in a while!  Although, I am finding without proper rest, all this walking can really tire me out fast!  Phew.  Sleeping comes real easy right now.

Spring has sprunnnng most definitely!  We've been biking more instead of driving (yes!) and I had a fun week filled with visiting with friends over coffee, drinks, and some knitting, a cookout in celebration of my friend Jenny's big 25th birthday, and some playing in the park today.  And I'm adoring all the beautiful flowers that are out.

I received a really cool housewarming gift from my cousin Stephanie, and inside was a cookbook called "Apples for Jam" by Tessa Kiros.  I made my first recipe out of it today, it was Fried egg and Risotto, and it was deliciousss.   This book is so beautifully put together - all the recipes are sorted by color and have photos of the food grouped with illustrations by the author's daughter.  Its a great collection of simple, comforting and inspiring recipes - I definitely recommend it.

Last but not least, some links worth sharing from my blog feeds:

- Etsy's Handmade Wedding series (shared for Kelly!)
- Guy Kawasaki's hindsights on Life  - to the point advice for young people starting out their life after high school
- Gala Darling's Taking the high road  - I know quite a few ladies who have taken a step back into single life recently or thinking about it - this has some nice advice if you are struggling with that.

Hope you had a great easter and ate lots of tasty chocolate!  <3 

ack! delayed posting

1. 32/365, 2. 31/365, 3. 33/365

I was so so busy last Sunday that I wasn't able to get to my weekly posting! Gasp!  I doubt anyone noticed, but I'll do a quick recap...

Lots of knitting went down - matter of fact so much knitting that I ended up breaking one of my needles at Parkgrounds.  Ack!  I spent the rest of the weekend knitting with one good needle and one poorly repaired one until I was able to go pick up new needles at Knitch this Tuesday.  Up until Tuesday I was so desperate for my needle to come back that I tested out using a similar shaped chopstick and a paintbrush.  It was goofy and worked awfully. :P

Went to Critical Mass, first time since September!  Holy cow, its been a while.  I had a good time and the weather was great, I'm looking forward to going again next month.  Hooray for bikes!

I also finally got some icing tips and tested them out on cupcakes I made for my friend Laila's birthday.  I mixed up some light purple icing and and topped them with star shaped sprinkles.  They are a little wonky but not bad for a first try.  I definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys baking to try some icing tips out.  I just got a cheap little set from Target and they worked great.

Sold two more things from my etsy - my felt cat pins!  I also ordered a huge set of inks, screens and bulbs for my Gocco printer.  I'll be posting about that this weekend.  I took of Friday just to relax and play with the stuff!

Also for those in the area:

The Indie Craft Experience and the Atlanta Craft Mafia is hosting a free hands-on craft event to make mini felt monsters & robots (themed from issue 6 of CRAFT Magazine) at ParkGrounds.  It'll probably lots of fun!

CRAFT: 06 Release Party
Sunday, March 9, 1-5 p.m.
@ ParkGrounds Coffee
142 Flat Shoals Ave SE
Atlanta GA 30316
parkgrounds.com

Post again on Sunday!  Bye!