Lady Slippers.

Free Fallin.
In case the arrival of Pumpkin Spiced Lattes at Starbucks didn't give clue enough, the leaves have finally turned and fallen to signify autumn nearing winter. Rounding out the final season of my inaugural year in DC, I can confirm that Fall is also a beautiful time to walk around the Hill.

It is also a good time to eat cupcakes - well really, when isn't a good time to sample mini frosted cake deliciousness? Sitting unentertained through another Thursday class reached the point of being unbearable, so we took solace in a trip to Georgetown Cupcake for a little mid-afternoon treat before hesitantly going back to class. I sampled the chocolate cupcake with mint frosting and the red velvet cupcake. Both heaven on the tongue, and no doubt hell on the hips.

Lady Slippers.
With the nearing of the holidays, there are becoming fewer and fewer knit/crochet/craft projects that I can actually post up here. But I did take some yarning time to indulge myself in a pair of slippers to keep the toes warm as winter creeps around the corner. I had two skeins of some nice bulky hand-dyed wool left from a yarn show last year that seemed like a good fit for such a project.

So I began by chaining 17 and then working in single crochet to make an oval the size of my foot. Then I crocheted into only the back loop for a row (to aid in the upward turn of the side of the slipper) and did another row regular.

When I came back around to the front of the oval, I crocheted across about 2/3rds the width of the foot, then worked back and forth with increases on either side and then just straight with no increases to create this flap:

Then I folded over the flap and crocheted it to the bottom piece on the sides:

I suppose you could leave it like this if you wanted more slip-on slippers. But I was looking for more of the bootie variety. So I continued single crochet around the ankle with decreases at the front two corners to bring the circumference smaller and tighter around my ankle. I did this until it was 24 stitches around, and then picked up the stitches on DPNs (8 stitches on each of three size 10 needles)

Then stockinette up the length of the boot until the last 3 inches, where I pearled to create the fold-over cuff part.

And ta-da! A very warm and soft pair of bootie slippers. I plan to fashion a sole out of something to sew onto the bottoms so they last longer. Or they're big enough that I could probably felt them. The best part: it's bulky yarn so the pair only took about 2 hours while watching City of Angels (I missed that one the first few times around).

A Warm House and Pajamas.
Kelsey and Sean recently moved into a new place in Baltimore, so Saturday they threw a housewarming slumber party. Mostly it was an excuse for Sean to exhibit his awesome red fleece footsie pajamas. Obviously they make Kelsey swoon.

Did I mention that they are footsies???
Oh yea. The house. It's pretty much amazing. It's a cozy space with enough old character to make it charming, but enough new stuff to make it livable. This is their living room; behind me is the reading nook and kitchen.
And then upstairs, the rotten celery and white landing, bedroom and bathroom:
And the squash work room:

Kelsey is pretty stoked about their new place. She and Sean did all of the painting and floor refinishing themselves. So handy.

Bryn-leigh is adjusting just fine. Still an awesome puppy-cat with eyes that bug out like an old crazy lady.

Kelsey pushed me down the stairs. Then took a picture of it.

I almost forgot to show off the beautiful calla lilies from Whole Foods (I'll knock their over-priced and pretentious nature, but their flowers are usually hard to beat). If you can see past the damage of the incandescent lights on this image, you might be able to discern that they are a beautiful dark eggplant - nearly black - and a light summer squash color. Pretty awesome.

Our quality time was interrupted when people started showing up for the actual party. The townhouse that previously seemed so large quickly filled, with Ben and I of course gravitating to cling to each-other in our anti-social and non-couple uniqueness in this group.

Evidently at some point my inner hick came out. I guess you can take the girl out of the south but.... .... eh some shit like that.
Ben was donning the infamous green shoes that served as a catalyst for our fairy-tale meeting nearly one year ago. ::sigh::

Lots of vegan and normal food, lots of Guinness and other assorted beverages, and no short supply of "that's what she said"'s and we eventually all tuckered out.
Sunday was the last day of our Spring in Fall, so Kelsey and I putzed around Fed Hill for most of the day. First we went to the park behind their house. It's pretty awesome.

It's a beautiful park atop a hill that looks over the harbor. Across the way you can view the super-commercial side of the harbor with the chain restaurants and uber tourism from a safe distance.

The Federal Hill area reminds me a lot of some areas of DC - Foggy Bottom and Eastern Market in particular - with picturesque little townhouses and lots of charm.
So cute.

We found a fantastic used book store just up the street called The Book Escape.

The sign out front boasted Baltimore's best, and I can see why. It's a cute space - clean and organized but still enough dust and clutter to give it a little character. Still not Capitol Hill Books, but appealing in it's own right.
I had to restrain myself, but I did bring home a few gems with me. Mostly centered around design, but also a novel I've been wanting to add to the queue.

We walked around some more and eventually grabbed a bite to eat at a cute little spot called Spoons. The menu and atmosphere are slightly reminiscent of a tamed-down Busboys and Poets. The food was equally as delicious.

More walking around and we came across a familiar sight - (Gator Nation for you, Sara!)

My non-granola.
I'm working on convincing my body that I'm not lactose intolerant, a task that has recently included having little granola/yogurt/fruit parfaits in the morning. So I went to stock up on some granola for said treat. I fell in love with this box (hold the jokes). It's beautiful unfinished cardboard, desaturated yellow-green and red to create a simple design.
So pretty.
Unfortunately the box distracted me so much that it wasn't until I made my parfait this morning that I realized that my granola was actually some super healthy (read fiber-flavored sticks) cereal. Oh clever packaging...I'm such a sucker for you. Luckily it was still pretty delectable with enough vanilla yogurt and raspberries.

It's birthday week - - -
Happy quarter-century, Erin!
Happy sixth anniversary of quarter-century, Keith!

It's also Heidi is working 47 jobs this week, so look forward to plenty of documentation of this week's Twednesday and other assorted sleep-deprivation activities. Happy post-elections!