AfricanKelli

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One of my closest girlfriends is now living back in Seattle and is taking public transport to work. To applaud her green behavior and to celebrate her recent birthday, I put together a bus survival kit.

Now that the weather is cooling off, and I’ll soon have more time on my hands, I’m hoping to start riding my bike to work at least one day a week. It is 19 miles (mostly through questionable areas of town) from my house to work. I’m thinking I’ll go on a test ride one weekend before making the commitment. Between working from home one day a week and riding in one day a week, I hope to help ease the brown cloud that blankets the Valley come winter. If the weather is dreary, or if it is just too dark to get on the roadbike, I am going to start taking the bus.
Changing this behavior initially is going to be hard; it is just so comfortable to drive in to work in my own car, with the stereo blasting and the sunroof open. (Not to mention, as far as I know, the express bus doesn’t swing through the bagel shop before hitting the highway.)
But it is selfish and I’ve got to support current public transport to encourage improvements. Plus, I am not a nice person behind the wheel. I suffer from more than a touch of road rage and removing this stress from my life will benefit all East Valley commuters. Then there is the commuting time to knit, read, journal…

~K

Jenn emailed me a while back and asked if I’d be interested in helping with a rag rug project she was starting to benefit families working with Heifer International.
Heifer is one of those non-profits I would drop just about everything for to help. Their mission is incredible; I worked with them when I was in the Peace Corps and saw first hand how sustainable, effective agricultural projects can work wonders to improve the health and well-being of the poor. Crafting for an organization I believe in? Sign me up.

I spent months thinking about this rug and what I wanted it to say. Ultimately, I decided after going through my scraps to sew a Zakka-inspired kitchen rug instead of braiding a rag rug. A friend sent me a large package of Amy Butler fabric scraps a while back, some of which were already patchwork. I couldn’t resist the urge to make this project bright, colorful and green by using what I had.

I like that the rug is imperfect. There is a zig zag stitch here and there, it isn’t square or rectangular and the colors are wild. Aren’t families and homes the same? We build them slowly and rarely do they fit a Pottery Barn catalog image. Regardless, there is beauty in the madness of patchwork homes and I hope the family who receives this knows it was made with love.

~K

Birthday flowers from Finny. Did she know sunflowers are one of my favorites? She knew these would make my day and they did.

I know I ramble quite a bit about how lucky I am, but it truly caught up with me this weekend. First, thank you very much to everyone who left a sweet note about my birthday. To be honest, birthdays make me squirm. I’m great at giving gifts, but needed two glasses of wine (Hello, wagon: time to fall off.) to be comfortable enough to open gifts in front of my closest friends at dinner. I’m not sure what that is all about, but apparently I’ve got some social awkwardness issues.

This week’s pumpkin cake in a pumpkin pan! Isn’t it awesome? Seriously, Finn knows me. And the bagel shop boys love her too. They wolfed this down this morning.
Then my parents called first thing Sunday morning from Texas and just hearing my dad’s voice sent me into an adolescent crying fit. I sobbed. I cried harder than I have in a long time and my parents were pretty convinced something had gone horribly wrong in Tempe. I’d simply misplaced my coping skills. And then I started crying harder when I realized how upset I had made them. I really miss my family — another topic I’ve beaten to death around here — but holidays make that all come bubbling to the surface. I heard his voice saying, “Happy Birthday, Pumpkin” and was transported to our small kitchen table, sitting in front of my mom’s amazing chocolate birthday bundt cake with a pink candle on top, with birthday presents wrapped in the funny pages surrounding me. In reality, I was standing in my bedroom on my cell phone trying to catch my breath between wails.

New fun stamps for a Fall card project I’ve got in mind.
Sometimes emotion catches me completely by surprise; I’ve definitely got a bit of delayed emotion disorder too. I’m one of those ever-so-fun friends who realizes a couple days later that ‘Hey! You totally made me mad when you said XYZ last week.’ I often recognize that I’m not feeling great, but can’t put my finger immediately on the cause. Yet another thing to work on, but I am getting better.

A little elephant luck added to my bedroom Africa wall.
Back to the luck — my girlfriends who I’ve grown up with, the Ya Yas — are pretty much the most amazing group you can imagine. They know me better than I know myself most days. I have a feeling they knew I’d be especially family sick this weekend and they over-scheduled my every second with parties, lunches, movies, and shopping to keep my mind off of things. They surrounded me and made me feel loved, as did many, many others.
If that isn’t luck, I’m not sure what is. I am so blessed!
Here is to another great week!

~K

P.S Darjeeling Limited? Fabulous movie. I’m convinced Wes Anderson and I would be great friends. And Adrien Brody is the epitome of the goofball hottie. The guy that gets the hot girl for his quirkiness, not his biceps.

In the next 28 years, I will:

1. Climb Kilimanjaro
2. Compete in an Ironman
3. Visit Paris
4. Learn to scuba
5. Adopt a giant dog at the pound
6. Name that dog Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis D.
7. Adopt an African baby
8. Plant a successful vegetable garden
9. Have chickens
10. Sit on Oprah’s couch
11. Publish lots of novels
12. Publish photos
13. Run for office
14. Get married, have a couple wee ones
15. Run my own non-profit
16. Give money to my high school and college
17. Learn to bake a great loaf of bread
18. See Rio de Janeiro
19. Understand the opposite sex, or at least keep trying
20. Grow my hair hippie-long
21. Smile more, look at mirrors less
22. Try to understand poetry
23. Walk more than I drive
24. Learn to mountain bike
25. Learn to taste the differences in wine
26. Kayak
27. Knit a sweater someone wants to wear
28. Be kinder to myself and the earth

I visited a guest ranch yesterday for a new freelance article I’m writing. Being outside in the cooling fall weather, being around animals, being in the desert — it was a perfect day. I love to ride. I’ll have to ditch my Birks for some boots next time I head out so I can actually giddyup.

A few things I am particularly thankful for today:
~ Health insurance. I know I’m lucky to have it and I’ve had a pricey medical week (*updated because I made this sound way too dramatic* — for regular check up visits) that would have been outrageous without coverage.
~ Yoga. I’ve been taking more classes to figure out which style is my favorite and in truth, I like them all. Kinda like bagels. And tequila.
~ Trouser jeans. Dressy enough for time at the office Friday, but comfy.
~ Taper weeks. Taking this bit of time to stretch, relax and sleep a bit more is doing my body worlds of good.
~ Annie Lennox. I watched her on Charlie Rose this week and she is stunning, creative and I can’t wait to get her new album.

Happy Friday y’all.
~Cowgirl in Training