SUPER Weekend!

They’re never long enough, but what a fun weekend!  I think all this fun is going to equal a very looooooooooong post, so grab a cup of coffee and brace yourselves ;-)

I sadly woke up with a migraine on Saturday morning, and while it slowed me down a bit, it didn’t stop me from crocheting at least a little bit while enjoying my coffee.

I’d planned to venture out and find the closest Hobby Lobby to me this weekend.  I’d only ever been to an actual store once and I just don’t find shopping online the same:

1.       You don’t get to “take in” all the wonderful yarn colors, textures, etc online, or wander the aisles

2.       You have to WAIT for your order to arrive vs. driving straight home to use your purchases

3.       You often pay shipping costs

Jonathan’s comment to me as I was getting ready to leave was, “aren’t you going to pay just as much in gas as you would in shipping?”  ……Even if that were the case, my lack of patience for much of anything, really, made the decision for me J

Off I went and I thoroughly enjoyed Hobby Lobby while trying to not spend TOO much money.  As I sat at a red light waiting to get back out on the main road, I happened to look up and see something that in 7 years of living in the DC area I haven’t been able to easily access – WALMART AND SAM’S CLUB!  I was forced to make a left hand turn at this point, but quickly got across 4 lanes of traffic and turned myself around!  I know there are a lot of bad things said about Walmart, but I’m a girl on a tight budget and I really have take the discount where I can find it.  I only picked up two things (make up and cake mix) quickly in Walmart before walking across the ENORMOUS parking lot to the Sam’s Club.  I picked up some of my favorite things at Sam’s (that I always have to stock up on when I’m back home in WNY) and then stood in line FOREVER.  Seriously – I must have been out of my mind to think either store was a good idea at 2 p.m. the day before the Super Bowl…..

I look forward to future trips where I can justify the drive up to Laurel to go to Hobby Lobby (because I need something at Walmart/Sam’s)!  Besides the drive took less time than I was anticipating….and I’ve already realized something I forgot to get at Hobby Lobby!

The reminder of Saturday was spent picking up a bit and crocheting through the evening.  I’ve fallen in love with my Raspberry blanket and can’t wait to start using it!

 It’s been named, but I’ll be saving that for a bit of a “reveal” later on.

Yesterday I spent the majority of the day getting ready for our Super Bowl “party”.  This was the party for those who either aren’t big football fans or their team wasn’t playing but felt they should be doing something.  It was a nice get together (8 total including us) with LOTS of food and have a good time watching the commercials (and the Giants WIN!)  I’ll take any win that isn’t Boston J

I had found recipes from the Brown Eyed Baker for Polenta Pizza (which is perfect for Jonathan as it’s already gluten free) and Stovetop Mac’n Cheese (which is easily made GF). 

The pizza didn’t go all that well, but I’ll definitely be trying again in the future.  I needed to double the printed recipe to have enough crust (I was confused as to whether or not it was already doubled when reading the post/recipe).  I made two separate batches but in doing so ended up with a pizza that was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too salty.  My friends were nice enough to at least try it, but the rest had to be thrown last night.  Oh, I used mushrooms, onions, broccoli and feta cheese for my toppings.

The Mac’n Cheese was quiet wonderful and came together very easily.  I used a little more cheese than the recipe calls for and added about ½ cup crumbled bacon, because really you can never have too much bacon!

For dessert I made cookies from a NEW RECIPE that’s now a new favorite!  I didn’t make these gluten free as Jonathan was concerned that they wouldn’t turn out (have had some bad experiences in the past!)  Seriously though, THEY’RE SO GOOD!!!  Go buy a boxed cake mix, and a tub of Cool Whip and TRY THESE OUT!  My Wegmans did not have regular Cool Whip, only Lite and it really does work just fine.  I added 1 tsp. of lemon extract because I wanted to make sure they were extra lemon-y.  They’ve got a great lemon flavor without it being over powering.  I’ll be making these again, probably pretty soon either with a different flavored cake mix (I’ve been thinking about my favorite Funfetti all day) and/or gluten free. 

I, of course crocheted during the game.  I rarely watch football during the regular season but I always turn on the Super Bowl.  I find it to be a perfect “crafty time”!  Between watching the game and the commercials I didn’t get loads done.

 I’m using Yarn Bee Enchantress(that I bought on Saturday), and am almost out of yarn…I’m a little concerned that I should have purchased a 2^nd skein….at $5.99/skein though I was really hoping that one would be enough!  We’ll see, I may just be able to make it work, but it’s gonna be close!

Thanks to Meg and Laurie I also have THREE new patterns to try out!!  Only problem is that my storage tub of cotton yarn got a little buried in the study this weekend so I might have to wait until things are a little more in order before I can try them out.  Thanks ladies!!!

Debi recognized me with a very nice award today as well (feeling QUITE popular!)  I’ll post a little later about that though…give you all a chance to nap or something – this is, if you’re still reading at this point!