Doggie!

Rooney says hi!

I've wanted a dog for a really, really long time.  Like, about 5 minutes after I moved to Boston, but before I moved to Boston I thought "I don't want a dog now, so I'm going to move into this place that doesn't allow pets" - and thus I was dogless for two years.  

Now I'm home, looking for a job, living with my parents (boo!  I love them, but seriously, boo!), and the first thing I did was go dog shopping.  Perhaps not entirely responsible of me, perhaps I should have waited until I got a job and a place to live, but what can I say, I'm an incredibly reckless person.  

He's exactly what I was NOT looking for in a dog.  I wanted a female (I don't know why, I just tend to prefer female dogs, there is absolutely no reason why I should have this preference), I wanted them to be out of the puppy stage, about 1-3 years old, and I wanted them to be on the smaller side (but not too small.  like 20 pounds).  Instead I got a male puppy, 4 months old, and he's already 18 pounds with no knowing how big he's going to get.  

But he's a sweetie, and I fell in love with him.  

He's a good pup, surprisingly laid back and well behaved.  I keep thinking that something must be wrong with him, or he's still adjusting and tomorrow he'll wake up and be a little terror just like a regular puppy.  But so far so good!

He's also a cuddler, and I've never had a dog remotely interested in being loved on, so this is a nice change.  

Any guess on the breed?  We're thinking either a whippet or a greyhound with a blue heeler, but honestly, your guess is as good as ours.  

Old Apartment

Dear Old Apartment:

I'm seriously going to miss you.  Even though you were really small, together we made a really cute apartment.  Hey, I couldn't have done it without your hardwood floors and really big windows.  Even though you had next to no closet space, and your bathroom was so small you had to sit sideways on the toilet (not to mention was tiled in an overwhelming bright blue motif), here are some things I loved about you:

You were 6 minutes away from school, which was awesome

Your kitchen was nearly as big as your living room, which isn't saying much because the living room was small, but the kitchen could have been soooo much smaller

You were in the North End, which sometimes made me feel like I was living in another country

5 minutes from the best yoga studio ever

The old Italian men who sat on that bench outside your windows for hours and cursed at each other and smoked cigars when it as nice out (oh wait, I think I hated that.  I tried to convince myself it was endearing, but it wasn't)

In the winter, the heat from the downstairs apartment rose into my apartment, keeping my electric bills down (ha!)

The drunk people on stumbling down my alley yelling at each other at 2AM (oh wait, hated that too)

So many dogs!!!

Just around the corner from the harbor

You'll always be home

My favorite part of Somerville.

Field trip to Green Mountain Spinnery

In Vermont there is a little place called the Green Mountain Spinnery.  I've used their yarn before, and I liked it, and I decided that since I was near Vermont this summer I was going to have to visit.  I had to. Even though it was still over an hour away, there really wasn't another option.  Also, I had to drag my friend Lauren along; she's not a knitter, but she is a good sport.

The shop is tiny, but the woman behind the counter was very kind and let us poke around the spinning-mill part of the building and let us take photos.

I don't know what any of these machines do, but I like them because they make me yarn.


Also, there are just piles of roving everywhere, including outside:

I, of course, bought some yarn.  This yarn specifically, "Sylvan Spirit," a wool/tencel blend.

This photo is completely inaccurate because this yarn isn't nearly this bubble gum pink.  But currently this yarn is in the process of moving, along with all my other belongings, and is packed away somewhere unknown, so a better photo cannot be had!

When we were finished, we asked the kind woman who worked there what else we should see while we were in the area.  She told us to go to Basketville.  I have nothing to say about Basketville that can not be summed up by these photos:

Chocolate, mmmm

Hey look!

Did you know that dark chocolate can help you to keep your blood pressure down, and can also help to make you skinny?  Can't complain about that!

This post brought to you by chocolate.

Elvis!

I had to run back to Boston this weekend - and look who I found when I arrived!