Crochet Bobble Blanket!

One of my new favorite things to crochet is the bobble blanket. They are so sweet and pretty! Not to mention how warm and fun they are. Everyone loves to run their hands over the bobbles! And they seem to be all the rage right now. I keep seeing them all over Pinterest and Etsy! Everyone is feeling the bobble love!

I recently finished this beautiful (if I do say so myself) blue, yellow and white baby bobble blanket. I think it turned out really well and it was so much fun to work on!

I often bring some crochet with me when I go to out and this blanket was a favorite with everyone I met! These colors are so sweet together and I love how it would work for a boy or girl.

But I couldn't just stop at the blanket! I knew I just had to pair it with something equally cute. I don't know about you but when I'm giving a baby gift (or any gift for that matter) I love when I can do a set of something, have different elements coordinate, or have a fun theme so with that in mind I created this little guy:

A fun snuggly giraffe for baby to grow and cuddle with! And how cute are the blanket and giraffe together? It'll make such a fun gift! Not to mention a lot of parents have a color scheme for their baby room how fun would it be to give them a coordinating blanket and animal??

But that's not all! I also made these lovely bobble baby booties and a matching hat!! I was having way too much fun with this color scheme to stop!

How about you? Do you love giving matching or theme gifts? Have you created any fun coordinating items?
If you're shopping you can check out this lovely collection here.

Summer of Mysteries

After reading Tolstoy and the Purple Chair (read my review here) I fell in love with the idea of reading mysteries over the summer. I pictured myself sitting outside book in hand trying to figure out whodunnit! So I came up with a fun list of 10 mysteries to read this summer!! Feel free to read along with me and I'll check back in at the end of the summer to review them all! So without further ado here is my summer of mysteries:

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry

Dead Cold by Louise Penny

Think of a Number by John Verdon

Recommended here.

The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri

The Yard by Alex Grecian

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

Joyland by Stephen King

And there you have it!! I'm sure I'll enjoy my summer of mysteries good luck with all your summer reading!!

Who Wouldn't Want to Learn a Different Language?

I have always loved the idea of being able to speak multiple languages but I really didn't think I'd be able to. The idea of learning a new language seemed very intimidating! Where would I even start?

Then I heard about a really cool (and free) site called Duolingo. This neat little site can help you learn a number of languages including: French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese! It even has an app for your Iphone or Android phone so you can practice on the go!!

Check it out here.

My husband and I are planning a trip to Portugal and I thought how awesome would it be to learn a little Portuguese before we go? So I logged on to the site and I have been loving it!!!!! (Thank goodness our trip is in the distant future so I have lots of time to play and learn on duolingo!!)

It is so much fun and every time I complete a lesson I feel so accomplished!! (Just a heads up it can be really challenging when you first start but keep it up! You'll be surprised by how much you start to pick up!).

Now will this site allow you to speak a new language fluently? No probably not but I think it is a great place to start and it will allow me to speak a few phrases, read signs and menus! Which is pretty impressive!!

If you're heading out to a different country and would like to learn a little of the local language I'd highly recommend it!

Working Out is Hard Work.

I've learned a little something about myself over the years. I hate going to the gym. I don't hate working out I actually hate the act of packing myself up and going to the gym. I find the act of going to the gym more tiring then the actual workout.

So in an effort to stay fit and healthy I started working out at home. At first I was just doing my own thing but I really wasn't feeling that satisfied with my workouts. Thankfully Pinterest came to my rescue!

I found a lovely site called BlondPonyTail.com and she has a bunch of great workouts you can do at home! Lots of fun and now I actually feel like I'm doing a good work out!! Is there anything that Pinterest can't help with?

How about you? Anybody else doing their best to fit in a little fitness? Are you a gym goer or a stay at home fitness enthusiast?

A Book Recommendation

I recently finished an amazing book! Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch. Recommended here on The Writing Life of Melanie Cole (great blog! make sure to check it out!!). It just sounded so good and intriguing I had to pick it up! And wow!

I breezed through this book in a two days! Which sounds impressive until I tell you that this lovely book is about a woman who reads a book a day for a year.  It is a personal memoir depicting Nina's struggle with losing her sister to cancer. She tries desperately to live enough for the both of them for three years and finally realizes that she can't keep this up. she can't keep running away from her grief and pain so she decides to heal herself with books.

She takes a year (no she's not working at the time) to sit down and read a book a day every day for a year. And it is beautiful. She talks about her reading but she talks more about what each book evokes in her. What memories are brought to the surface, what feelings they inspire, what she learns from each story and author.

It really is the perfect picture of how reading can help put us in a better place, give us perspective and make us feel less alone. 

Have you read any good books lately?