A busy bee is a busy bee.

In between design work for Cheverly Day and Cheverly Community Market and other projects (some are still secret!) I've finally -- finally -- got my own website redesigned and refocused. It was fun and I'll miss revisiting some escapades there, but now deeds of derring do will be hashed over here (or on Facebook or Twitter) and the site will be business. You know, sort of like a mullet -- business in the front, party in the back. I may have muddled this metaphor, but you get my drift.

Anyhow, if you want to see it -- and there's more coming -- I welcome your eyeballs. Happy new website day!

I've always hated baseball.

I admit it. For years, I've hated baseball. I've been to games in San Francisco (with a bunch of orchestral musicians), in Baltimore (105f/100% humidity without rain at 8:00pm and a 0-0 game.) Lately, we've been very fortunate get get fantastic seats at Nationals Park in DC -- we're talking 3rd row behind the Nats dugout or 4th row behind 3rd base -- those kind of good seats. And you know what? I've learned to love baseball. We even watch it at home and I've developed an admiration for a player (I'm looking at you, Jayson Werth). Who knew? It's a beautiful, thoughtful sport. I'm won over.

I'm so won over, in fact, that, when Paul decided he wanted to play this spring, I didn't even complain. See? I'm growing.

Instagram goodness.

Have I mentioned how much I love Instagram? I'm addicted. And more than a little obsessed. @pricklygirl | Webstagram The interface is beautiful and intuitive, and it's great to see the world through other people's eyes...you might even be able to connect with some of your favorite rock stars. That kind of thing has been known to happen.

I also got this amazing little lens attachment for the iPhone -- the olloclip. I haven't really done anything with the fisheye and panorama because I'm fascinated by the macro lens. For about $70, it's amazing. I've posted lots of photos on Instagram using the macro lens...kind of hard to stop!

Also, I got new glasses. My sister says I look young and nothing like myself. So there.

New stuff happening.

Rocket Boat is a new project by someone I hold very close to my heart. I hope you enjoy it!

2012. Let's go.

We had an amazing trip to Colorado and I'm getting ready to do some new work -- knitting, decoupage under glass, baking experiments, I may even learn to quilt and silkscreen. Winter is a new beginning, right?

I've become sort of obsessed with instagram -- basically a photoblogging program for mobile phones. I love seeing what people all over the world are seeing -- here's what I see. I also love pinterest -- a site aggregates member's interests and likes into boards. Here's mine. And have you used spotify yet? Very cool. I still love twitter and facebook, but I find that I use these other options far more often. They've kind of taken the place of this blog. One of my goals for the new year is to change that -- to figure out a way to use this space most effectively. I hope you'll come along for the ride.

My first question for you in 2012: are you doing thing-a-day this year? So far, there haven't been any posts about it, and the main page of the site is littered with spam emails (heeheehee -- they're kind of funny.) It usually begins on February 1, but I'm undecided about continuing this time. I could use some persuasion (and I'm surprisingly easily persuaded), so if you're doing it and want company, let me know...

You cannot be sad...

when you have ice cream.

Make It: Canteloupe Two Ways

So Maggie has been begging to cook in the way that only six-year olds can beg. I remember doing the same thing to my mom, so it's kind of a proud moment. The only problem? She wants to make cakes or crepes or bread, and our old house tends to hold kitchen heat in the summer. My solution? Something frozen. And healthy. That doesn't require a ton of ingredients. Here's something that has just three ingredients (four if you want to get fancy) and can be mature or immature, depending on how you feel. (We did a bit of both.)

I give you...Canteloupe Granita & Popsicles.

(makes six popsicles and a few cups of granita)

1 medium canteloupe, cut in chunks

juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup sugar (more or less, depending on the fruit and your preferences)

red seedless grapes, cut in half (that's the fancy part)

In a blender, puree the canteloupe, lemon juice and sugar until very smooth.

For the popsicles: Place a few grapes in the bottom of each popsicle mold, then carefully fill the molds with the pureed canteloupe, close the molds and freeze until solid. Warm the mold exteriors with your hands or run under warm water for a few seconds to make unmolding easy.

For the granita: Pour the remaining puree and grapes into a shallow dish and freeze. Mix with a fork every 30-45 minutes to keep the mixture relatively smooth (otherwise you end up with a big flat popsicle.)

That's it. So simple a six-year old can do it.