Ciao a Todi, Italia

Hello from Todi, Italy!

I am in Todi which is in Umbria. I am doing a language immersion for two weeks before my hubby meets up with me and we drive off to Venezia and fly down to Sicilia. I have been here almost a week. I am LOVING it!

Todi is the most beautiful town. It is an ancient town that goes beyond the Romans to the Etruscans. The town is on a hill and still has the medieval walls around it. This is the place where fairytales are written. Beautiful rolling hills with small cities rising out of the tops. Cathedrals and towers reaching for the sky full of puffy white clouds. Spread over the rolling hills are a patchwork of fields full of olives and grapevines. My words do not do justice to the beauty of this place.

Language immersion is difficult but worth it. I keep wondering why I have never done this before. I LOVE it! I had studied Italian as an undergraduate many moons ago. I have not travelled to Italy in 15 years. that should tell you something. I thought I might see some other parts of the world, but my heart resides in Italy. I am rusty to say the least but it is a joy when you can understand what someone is saying and a happiness I can't describe when the words come out of my mouth easily. This does not often happen...yet. Espero. I hope.

I really recommend going somewhere and learning the language. Anywhere. Don't be practical. Really how practical is Italian? It is for the love of the langauge and the sound of the words. Italian is lyrical, like a song. It is interesting to try and express yourself with a limited vocabulary, but I am trying to sing my song! In class today we sang Italian songs. Il Sole Mio, of course, was one of them.

The weather in this part of the country is usually very warm this part of the year but unseasonably cold weather rolled in. I didn't even bring a jacket that's how warm it should be. But it's been raining with a cold wind blowing through. So yesterday I found the shop with the yarn. I did bring the Lady Eleanor (entralac shawl) project with me, but I am using a yarn with linen and silk. I needed some wool and fast! I bought some yarn called Medusa. Love that name. I also learned that a jellyfish is called a medusa. The little old couple in the shop were so nice. Knitting needle is not one of my vocabulary words but I made myself understood. I have learned how to say to knit, which is fare a maglia o lavorare a maglia. This translates to to make a stitch or to work a stitch. As things would happen today was warmer but I will keep on working on my scarf (sciarpa). I am going to a concert tonight. I will bring my knitting but the Italians are serious about their music. I may be required to pay attention.

Oh man...I've got to check on my laundry so I will post more later.
Ciao tutti!

Much Love and Gratitude

The Yogathon is tomorrow and I am very excited.

I want to extend some serious love and thanks to...

Andree - a SnB sister. We have a great group!
Susan & Sudi - my fun friends
Jill & Tyler - My incredibly cute nephew and his incredibly cute mom
Mary - my awesome next door neighbor
Michele & Jeff - great friends who live just a little too far away for everyday play.
and
Carla - one of my great supports in all my hare-brained schemes and plans I lay in this life.

I thank you all for your generosity of heart.
To everyone - You make my spirit soar!

I will do my best to document the yogathon in all my upside downward dog head stand twisting with a camera in hand that I can.

Shanti
Shanti
Shanti

Eat More Cupcakes

It was my friend Jen's birthday and she likes cupcakes. This was my chance to delve into Oneskein by Leigh Radford and whip up a quick cupcake or two. It was fast and easy and turned out so cute. The proto-cupcake is the one with the pink top. In the pattern it says to knit the sides until the piece measures 2 1/4". From the proto-cake I found that this was too high and the proportion was wrong for my cupcake. Too much cake and not enough frosting. Even in a non-edible, I want to know that I have a good ratio of cake to icing. The directions also said to whip-stitch the icing top to the cake bottom. However by doing this I didn't achieve the lovely overhang of icing on my cupcake. My remedy for this was to crochet the top to the bottom.



Here's my second cupcake. It turned out much more yummier than my first one. I also put some lavender in the center of the stuffing so that it smelled just as pretty as it looked. The lavender touch was also special to Jen who just launched her new company Ocean Lavender, which specializes in 100% organic lavender products. Lavender is a natural moth repellent so I keep hinting she needs to make something special for all the yarnoholics out there. I know there are bins and bins of yarn just waiting for a lovely lavender sachet.

For some amazing pictures of edible, yet knitty cupcakes check out this website called Veganyumyum.
Carla sent me the link last night. WOW! That's some impressive cupcaking.

I recently stumbled upon a new place for a sugar fix called Big Sugar Bakeshop. The shop is located on the south side of Ventura Blvd, just west of Laurel Cyn. My hubby and I split an ice cream sandwich. Vanilla ice cream nestled between two chocolate chip cookies. Whoa. They were even nice enough to cut it in half so there was no fighting over who got more yumminess. Remember... we almost came to blows over the strawberry pie at Pie 'n Burger? We are like feral cats when it comes to anything delicious.

We also bought a dozen cupcakes for a father's day bbq at my nephew's house. I got an assortment but only tried one. It was chocolate cake with chocolate ganache swirled on top with a cream filling. It was truly a great cupcake. The cake was rich but not too sweet. So, too, was the cream filling. Light and fluffy as opposed to sugary and heavy. The ganache gave me the right amount of sweet smooth taste to my bite of cake. All around a delightful cupcake.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Mary Jo for her donation to the yogathon and Habitat for Humanity!


Ooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm....

Here's the break down of the 24 hours of Yogathon.

Saturday June 30
8-10 am
Asana: Standing Poses & Inversions

10-12 pm
Asana: Arm Balances & Backbends

12-2 pm
Pranayama & Meditation

2-4 pm
Chanting

4-6 pm
Asana: Hip Openers & Forward Bends

6-8 pm
Restorative Yoga

8-10 pm
Partner Thai Yoga

10-12 am
Chanting with Wah! Public Invited. $20 donation. Come on down!!!

Sunday July 1
12-2 am
Restorative Yoga

2-4 am
Pranayama & Meditation

4-6 am
Asana: Sun Salutations

6-8 am
Chanting & Dancing!

8-8:30 am
Go home. Have a snack. Take a shower. Crawl into bed. Sleep.......

8:30 - ???
Do Not Disturb

The Sponsors Keep Rolling In

Thank you Mom!
& Thank you Jean (Mom-in-law)!
I love my family and knowing that they are behind me.

Thank you Jen & Tom and Storky!
Your support and friendship means the world to me.

So far I have 16 sponsors for the yogathon and have raised $750. WOOHOO!

I have met the minumum goal of $500!
I have gotten a sponsor from India - thanks honey and everyone at Inventurus!

City Yoga is having fun prizes for things like the most family member donations, and the donation from the furthest away, and the grand prize will go to the person who collects the largest amount in donations. Fun stuff. So I think I have a good chance for the donation from the furthest away!

It feels good to be involved and helpful and active. It feels good to have the support of loved ones. It feels good to do something for others. I have really enjoyed the experience so far. The yogathon is 10 days away. It's so exciting. I can't wait.

Good Times in Texas

These are my friends Charissa (with Pix and Brat)



and Joe (with Pixie)



They live in College Station, TX




Home of Texas A&M

Yes this is a my branded dinner.
Fan-cy!
Joe is a professor at TXAM. He is one smart cookie!

Fact: The university has a meat sale after they teach slaughter house 101.


Charissa and Joe are the proud parents of Pixie (shown above)
and
Bratwurst

and
Archie


and Folly (shy) and Wyatt (not pictured due to his ninja skills).

They were my first sponsors for the yogathon.
Thank you. You are awesome!!!

On my recent visit, Charissa and I went in search of an alpaca farm


It took us two hours of driving east and west across the great state of Texas before we realized we needed to be driving south. Oops.

We finally arrived and I was promptly spit in the face by Pandora, a very feisty alpaca.


Yes I was there all of three minutes before I took a big alpaca raspberry in the face. Apparently I was very lucky it wasn't a real cudder from deep within the third stomach and I had sunglasses on, but I really smelt of alpaca for the rest of the day. The alpaca aroma is a mix of fresh farm, green and grassy with a hint of musk and dung and a dash of Delmer the dog!

Fact: During hunting season the alpacas have to wear orange hunting vests so as to avoid getting their fuzzy butts shot off.

There is always something fun to do in Texas. Next time I am going to visit the miniature pony farm. I'll be sure to wear long pants in case they are spitters too!

The movies...

The matinee cost $3.50!!!! I almost fell over folks.
Regular admission is only $5.oo!!!!
All I can say is WOW, LA is a distorted place. Knowing the price of admission was so low made watching Spiderman 3 almost bearable.


Here is a funny picture of Pixie and me. She is the newest addition to the family and she is a love bug. She came from the Central Texas Dachshund Rescue. It took every ounce of decency not to smuggle her home with me.

Random Thoughts

Peonies

Trader Joe's has peonies for $6.99.
They are the most gorgeous of flowers and the scent is heavenly. I have bought them for the last two weeks and enjoyed every fragrant moment.


Here's a giftie I whipped up for my good friend Carla for her birthday last month.
It's a needle holder for her embroidery endeavors.





Tito's Tacos. All I can say is it's Ellen's fault for this trip to Tito's.

Yes, they are as good as they look.


Here is a picture of puppy happiness.

This is Pixie and her rawhide chew.
This is one cute doxy.

And last but not least...
Thanks to Ashwini & Sachin - NY, NY
for their donation to H4H & their support.

So far I have had donations from NY, NC, and TX as well as here at home.
My hubby is bringing back rupee donations from India.
Love and support from all over the world. This is absolutely awesome.

Memorable Memorial Fare

Pie 'n Burger
That pretty much says it all. My hubby and I went to check it out over Memorial day weekend. It's located in Pasadena on California at Lake. Let me tell you...it was good! Real good.




This place is old timey with a fabulously long counter to sidle up to. When I ordered my coke it was two squirts of syrup and a shot of soda. Love it! It looks like they make a mean malt too.


In spite of the sign we ordered burgers first.
Look at these burgers. Burger perfection.

and a side of potato salad.

and then...

Fresh Strawberry Pie. YUM!


My hubby and I fought over almost every bite. It was that good. I suggest when you go order your own slice to prevent any brawling at the counter. The burgers were very tasty and did you see that side of potato salad. It was huge. This is a diner well worth discovering.

Yogathon Support & News

I want to extend my thanks for the support for the upcoming yogathon.

Here are a list of new sponsors that generously gave for the yogathon and Habitat for Humanity.

Steve & Caroline - Santa Monica, CA
Steve said he wanted to support anything that was bhavalicious!
Tami & George - Wake Forest, NC
My good friends. Thank you. Miss you.
Tom & Dee - West Hills, CA
Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law
If you need a fantabulous florist in the Valley
check out West Hills Flower Shoppe
Rose & Andre - LA, CA
My sister-in-law & nephew. Grazie mille
Modern Mobile Homes
For all your manufactured home needs!

Many thanks to everyone for your support. It's your donations and good wishes that are going to make this yogathon a smashing success! I am still looking for sponsors and accepting donations until Thursday June 28. Email me for more info.

Here is some more news about the yogathon.

During the yogathon Visitors will be welcome Saturday night June 30
from 10-12am for kirtan/chanting with Wah!
It will be a $20 donation at the door.

What's Kirtan?
Kirtan is call and response chanting to musical ragas tradition that goes back 500 years. It is often accompanied by rhythmic drumming style that transports the chanters to profound spiritual realms. It is said that kirtan is accepted as one of the surest paths to enlightenment. Who isn't looking for a little bit of that?
Try it, you'll like it!

Also Save the Date
Saturday, September 8, 2007
This is the day that City Yoga will participate in a Habitat Home Build!
Yes, you can get your hands dirty!
Who hasn't wanted to help on a build?
This is an awesome way to participate directly with Habitat for Humanity and to see what your generous donations are doing for your community!
I love it!
If you are interested you can sign up at City Yoga.

Mother's Day

My favorite new book is Lotta Jansdotter's Simply Sewing.
It has great easy patterns.

Here is a little something I whipped up for my mom.


Hat & Tote



Close-up


Tote

We went to the Reel Inn for lunch. YUM!
She had Orange Roughy and I had the Sea Bass.
FYI. While standing in line we signed a petition to save the Reel Inn. It seems that developers want to get rid of all the businesses on the corner of Topanga Cyn and PCH. This would be very sad. It's part of the landscape and the food is delicious.



Mom loved her new stuff and we had fun toodling through the canyon in my Miata. Lunch was delicious. On the way home we picked up some strawberries and cherries. It was a great mom and daughter day.

Yogathon

Remember those bygone days of dance-a-thons?
Well welcome to the 21st century...
(drumroll)...
the Yogathon!

I am participating in a 24-hour yogic jam session at City Yoga (Fairfax & Santa Monica). It begins at 8am Saturday June 30 and continues until 8am Sunday July 1st. The yogathon benefits Habitat for Humanity-Los Angeles. Habitat for Humanity is a great non-profit that helps families buy their own homes. City Yoga is trying to raise $100,000.00 because that is the amount of money to build one home. If we reach the goal H4H will designate a home "the house that yoga built". I am looking for sponsors for this fun-tastic event. 100% of the donations goes directly to Habitat for Humanity in Los Angeles.

Last night at SnB, Ellen generously sponsored me!!! WOW! Thanks Ellen. You are the best! Kate was also ready & willing and wrote me a check immediately. Thank you Kate!

I have to admit that it is difficult for me to ask friends for donations. I hate to think I might be imposing on anyone. But if you don't ask then how can anyone help and get involved. We often respond to devastation like Hurricane Katrina and Lord knows they still need a lot of love and attention in those areas that were affected. It's great to do good in the world and an opportunity to help those in our own backyard is even greater.

Here are some fun facts from the last City Yoga Yogathon.

24 bhavalicious hours of yoga

A total of 43 bright inner bodies participated on the mat…
(32 warriors who went the distance and 11 enthusiastic part-time
drop-ins)

The event revealed the radiant leadership of 14 amazing teachers.

Their 12 classes included a total of 324 poses (give or take a down dog)

Collectively, we chanted 108 oms.

The grand total $23,518
…donated by 396 generous sponsors, from LA to Wisconsin to England.

The single largest donation was $1000 (and there were 2 of them)

The single smallest donation was $1 (and there were 6 of them)

The most popular donation was $25 (and there were 63 of them)

A total of 58 people/businesses donated goods and services worth $11,146

In 24 hours, we collectively drank 324 bottles of smartwater (that’s 5,475.6 ounces)

…which means we drank a bottle per pose (see above)

And we ate 2 delicious catered meals: lunch by Jonathon Darr,
Dinner by Dorit Dyke.

Consequently, we went through 11 rolls of toilet paper.

We were the talk of the town, as seen on KCAL 9 Saturday and CBS Sunday.

With a gift of almost $25,000, we built a deserving family ¼ of their dream house!

Our gift to Habitat for Humanity-LA was the largest community-driven gift in 2005.


I will keep you posted.
Om Shanti,
Natalie

Around the World in a Sunday

Chinatown
Empress Pavilion




Dim Sum is all about anticipation and there is no other dining experience like the hustle and bustle of a Dim Sum restaurant. First there is the one hour wait. Oh so hungry and now have to wait an hour which is almost unbearable because the cardinal rule for eating dim sum is to arrive hungry. Finally, after being seated and the pouring of fragrant jasmine tea, you spy a rattling cart heading your way. The cart is piled high with hot, steaming tins filled with surprises wrapped in dough. The woman pulls off the tops to reveal little dumplings of joy and a chicken foot or two. Oh yes, chicken feet. Almost all those tins reveal yummy morsels for the eating. The tricky part about eating dim sum is knowing when to stop piling tins on your table. Inevitably, I eat one too many shrimp har gow and have to be rolled out of the restaurant, but not today.

Italia
Pazzo Gelato
Sunset Blvd. and Hyperion




The great thing about ice creams in general is that no matter how full you are there is room for ice cream. Ice cream melts. It takes no room.
Me: Italian vanilla and pistachio
Hubby: Italian vanilla and espresso pistachio
Perfetto!

Espana
Dinner at home with friends Mitch & Joey

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas came in the mail last week and was the inspiration for our little dinner.



The Menu
Potato Tortilla
Asparagus with Brie
Toast with Ham, Arugula & Strawberry
Andouille sausage (not Spanish, but delicious)
Manchego
Olives
marcona almonds
Bread
Strawberries and Spanish truffle bar

Wines
Marques de la Concordia Crianza 2004 Rioja
Delicious and $10.99 at Whole Foods
Ponzi Tavola 2003 Pinot Noir
The Tavola 2005 Pinot was written up recently in the LA Times
Fabulous winery. Go to Oregon and drink up. It's worth every sip, I promise.

Clean up was a snap after three bottles of wine along with good music.

Rhymes with Orange

This past Tuesday I got the chance to go to American Idol. My good friend Annette is always on some email list regarding AI. We have gone to past result shows together, but this was our first singing show. I was very excited to see all the Idols perform.

In preparation for the show I made a poster. My poster was in response to a poster last week that stated, "Sanjaya is my Papaya."

My poster:



My logic: Nothing rhymes with orange and therefore Melinda is a one of a kind.

Alas, they did not show my poster on TV. And I whooped and hollered and acted a fool while holding my poster proudly over my head during the show. All to no avail. I looked carefully with the assistance of Tivo and my poster and shenanigans did not make the cut. Plus during the commercial breaks on the show the warm-up comedian dude goes around and reads all the posters and riffs about them. He came by me twice but did not mention my poster, to which I could only conclude that he didn't get it. I guess I am too, what? Literate or literary for the AI crowd? Or just Craaazy. I thought I was clever and the art work, well. The navel in the orange is a rhinestone and I mixed micro-glitter into my paint. It was sparkle poster craftiness.

Sadly, aside from my art work not being properly displayed or understood, Sanjaya the papaya was sent home on Wednesday. That Papaya is a cute boy. Totally cut out for Tiger Beat. He just needs one Da Doo Run Run Hit and he is destined for a VH1 "Where are They Now" show in twenty years. Good Luck Sanjaya. Hope to see you soon on the Disney channel.

The first image is from a nothing rhymes with orange t-shirt.
http://threadless.com/product/462/Nothing_Rhymes_With_Orange
Funny t-shirt.

Thanks Annette for taking to me Idol!

The Thrill of the Hunt

I like to think that I am fairly hip and with it. Someone in touch with popular culture. But while watching commercials during American Idol I learned something new. There was some friends list cell phone commercial playing that referred to a woman as an "old Cougar." Well something about it tickled my funny bone and kept playing the line over and over again when my hubby asked me if I knew what an urban cougar was?

I did not.

It's an older woman who hooks up with younger men.

I had never heard of an urban cougar before. My next course of action was to google the term and people there is a whole world of cougars out there. No Kidding.

check out www.urbancougar.com
on this website they define the urban cougar as a sophisticated species of female who seeks the pleasure of younger males.

There is www.gocougar.com, a cougar dating site.

For even more info right from the cougar's mouth check out this clip.
http://www.current.tv/studio/media/9932632

I can only blame my married existence for my lack of cougar knowledge.
Hell if I wasn't married I would definitely be a cougar.
Everyone likes a fresh kill once in a while.
And who doesn't love Mrs. Robinson, the lead huntress in Big Game?



Meow, Mrs. Robinson, Meow!

LOVE monkey

For my Sweet Babu
a LOVE monkey







And for Mama
a LOVE puppy



Yes I have been stuffing all my feelings of love into little creatures. Who knew that out of scraps and socks you could create something so cuddly and fun. Well the doxy isn't that cuddly but when you have a real live cuddle pup who loves to spoon you can't ask for much more.

Fast Knit: Calorimetry

Looking for fast and easy. Jump on the calorimetry bandwagon and knit one up for yourself.





I used Nashua Wooly Stripes, which only has 88 yards, so I ran out of yarn for the bind off row. Luckily I had a little bit of purple Nashua left over from another project. I just have to weave in the ends (BAH!), sew on a button and I will be sporting my new look. Right now I am trying to figure out which is the front and which is the back. I think the purple edge is the back edge. Don't you love the way the stripes knit up? Go to www.knitty.com for the pattern.

Fair Isle Fun

My first foray into fair isle has been sitting in the WIP pile for the last year. It was a Rowan pattern sweater by Lucinda Guy and not knit in the round. I thought it would be fast and easy because it was knit with Big Wool. I thought I would get to play with cables and learn fair isle and intarsia. But I was so wrong. Oh so wrong. For the life of me, I could not figure out how to strand and purl with the two strands of yarn. With frustration it got tossed into the pile of other woebegone projects.

This week I found myself needing a new project. I checked out the WIP pile. I even saw that sweater that gave me so much trouble. Phooey. I needed something fresh.

So a visit to www.knitty.com was in order. The first pattern to pop up was Center Square.
Okay, time to give the fair isle another shot.
Here's how it turned out.




The yarn is Katia Flexi. The fair isle wasn't hard at all in the round. In fact it was down right fun. I think my stranding came out pretty uniform and it took me two days to knit it up. It's a success story. I may have another look at that dastardly sweater that taunts me from the bottom of the basket.

Don't cry over spilt cat food or Get a sense of humor

After getting out of the shower this morning I spilled about 5 pounds of cat all over the bathroom. I filled half of the sink, an entire drawer that was pulled open, and covered most of the floor. I wish I was the sort of person when confronted with a drawer full of cat food to grab the camera and have a laugh. Instead I am the sort of person who is standing naked with a towel wrapped around her head saying “Shit” and thinking I should go back to bed and let the dog clean up the mess on the floor. I am also the same person who is looking at the drawer thinking to myself I was going to cut my toenails but now the clippers are buried under cat crunchies. I was feeling downright defeated and it was only the start of my day. After cleaning up the mess and back to my morning routine, I thought to myself I should have taken a picture because it’s not everyday you see a drawer full of cat food. Next time the unexpected happens I hope I am quicker to smile and grab the camera than to grumble and grab the broom.

Wishing you all a day full of smiles!

Lorenzo Lamas in a Speedo

Star sighting!

Today the pool was packed. After a four day weekend of stuffing myself silly with all the trimmings, me and everyone else dragged themselves to the gym. The pool was unusually busy and people were lined up waiting for others to finish. I vacated my lane and was toweling off when what to my wondering eyes would appear but Lorenzo Lamas in a Speedo!

No kidding!

This is a much younger picture, but he looks about the same with longer hair and leathery skin. It's scary that one can find a picture of him in a speedo in the first place.

Meet my Sock Monkey

Where have I been? What have I been doing? The answer is lots of what I am not supposed to be doing and doing little of what I am supposed to be doing.

Here is the little bit of craftiness that I created this week. Isn't she cute? This was inspired by a Japanese craft book that uses socks and gloves to create cute animals.

I also finished sewing my first dress!! YAY!!! But I don't have a picture of it yet BOO!!! :(

So stay tuned...

I promise it won't be so long next time.