Barack the Vote

I've always hesitated doing a lot of political stuff on here, but obviously can't resist a cupcake. Here's a great two-fer, from my Seattle trip (thanks to work, and the cupcake--thanks to my new-old friend Kathleen).

And yes, it's chocolate with vanilla frosting.

taking the rest of the day off

Friday I took the day off to write, knit, and explore a couple of neighborhoods. Happily, I managed to do everything!
First stop, Adams Village, to Greenhills Bakery--one of the best sources for Irish brown bread in Boston. While I didn't actually have the brown bread, I'll definietly go back. I was totally overwhelmed and hungry, to I went with the cinnamon roll. I walked around, although there's really not a lot to see. We considered living over there, and it's really quaint.
On a whim, I walked down to Lower Mills--both not too bad and no mean feat, either. It's a straight shot down Dorchester Ave. Lunch was served at Common Ground Cafe, which has a reputation for being excellent but the interiors are very woody--like a Hobbit's hole or a 70s holdover (or both). The other reason for its notoriety is that the cafe & market are run by the Twelve Tribes, an obscure Jewish sect (for lack of a better word) that's pretty hippie-ish. I sat and knitted while I had a really leisurely lunch. They were nice enough, and the food was really good. I kept walking, visiting a couple other shops. The high-speed trolley from Mattapan is back up and running, so I took that back to the Red line. Then I went home and Yelped all about it!

I'm finally tackling my first real sweater. Last weekend I went through some of my yarn stash (as the flickr shots will show), and found a fun camouflage self-stripe, so I'm working on that for Owen. Mostly, it's so I can practice increases and actually reading a pattern so I can knit my own sweater. It should be done by the fall; one sleeve is already 2/3rd of the way along.

I've also been doing a fair amount of cooking; more to come.