Sunshine, Growth, and Refreshing

This time of year, I always get that sappy John Denver song stuck in my head. You know: "Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry."

It's true. There are times when the sun comes out in late January and early February when I feel like I could literally weep with gratefulness. That doesn't sound like SAD at all, does it? *snort* 

Because it's warmed up a teeny bit, we've been getting a far amount of overcast days, so when the sun does shine, I feel like a thirsty dog, lapping it up in big, sloshing gulps.

Of course the one day I didn't want the sun to shine - Sunday, Groundhog's Day - the sun was out bright and early. Six more weeks of winter. She says as though there was any possible alternative to that on February 2nd - of course there's six more week of winter . . . if not more. Le sigh.

Now that the newness of the new year has worn off, the winter doldrums are settling in. I figured one sure way to make spring feel like it's coming really fast was to start a massive knitting project that must be completed by the end of May. Wedding afghan #4, day 1: 

Last Thursday, I consciously avoided Facebook and all other social media all day. And it was glorious. Far too often, I poke that little blue box on my iPad and start mindlessly scrolling through other people's lives, clicking on links, looking for the next dopamine hit. Turns out, a lunch break spent reading a book is far more fulfilling than one spent on Facebook or Bloglovin'. . . .

Speaking of social media, does anyone else use Buffer to schedule social media posts? I just discovered it this week and may be in love. It allows me to schedule posts and tweets days in advance and I can use a little "Buffer" button on my browser to put any website I stumble upon that I want to share into my Buffer queue. I just started using it for some of my social media work this week and so far, it's saving me time and keep me from getting sucked down the social media rabbit hole.

Also, happy 10th birthday Facebook. And now I feel ancient, although my Facebook account is only 8.5 years old. Still.  . . wowzer.

My little Meyer lemon seeds haven't sprouted yet, but the rosemary plant above has been putting on all sorts of new leaves lately. It's so lovely to have something growing this time of year. The lemon seeds take about two weeks to sprout and apparently that tests my limits of "gardening faith" because I had to root around in the pot until I found one of the three seeds I planted to make sure it wasn't rotting. Glory be, it wasn't rotting, it was sprouting so I tucked back under the soil. We should have the first little shoot of lemon trees in a couple days now.

I brought home my mother's sewing machine a couple weeks ago, because I feel the need to develop my sewing skills. I used to sew quite a bit in high school, and a teeny bit in college, but I was never especially good at it, which may (or may not!) have stemmed from the fact that I never actually read the machine's manual. . . . First things first, eh?

How are you beating cabin fever this winter?
 

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Murderous Good Fun

As seems to be the norm anymore, we spent the weekend away from the cabin. On Friday morning, we all schlepped south to the metro. Andy had family gatherings to attend. I had a murder planned for Saturday night.

Since college graduation (which she did a year ahead of schedule because she's obnoxious like that), my friend Sarah's been working some pretty crazy hours as a public accountant. We're talking 70-80 hour work weeks on average and if that's not cause enough to go mildly homicidal, I'm not sure what is. We all know the true test of friendship, right? A friend helps you move. A good friend helps you move a body.

But back in April, right before we took on the Windy City together, Sarah got a new job, one with "I can still lead a human life" hours. So in celebration of all sorts of things - birthdays, friends and time to enjoy both - Sarah decided to throw a murder mystery dinner party before the holidays really set in.

When I've tried to explain what a "mystery in a box" dinner party was over the last couple months, I've been greeted with a lot of blank stares.  For whatever reason, despite never having attended such a party, I was familiar with the concept. Too much time spent reading mail-order catalogs as a child, I guess. If you're not familiar, the basic premise is that all the dinner guests play characters who have all been at the scene of murder which happened right before the game begins. All the characters have a motive for killing the imaginary murder victim, but only one character's actually committed the crime. Over the course of the dinner, clues are revealed until finally the (predetermined) murderer is discovered. It's like a live action game of Clue.

If you've seen Sarah's house, you know she has a bit of a passion for Asian decor. Naturally, she selected a murder mystery set in 1910 Hong Kong.  This was a great idea for several reasons. It requires very little decoration other than popping together and stringing some paper lanterns. Also, Chinese food is easy to produce in mass quantities. It did however mean that we - Sarah, her high school friend Kristen, and I - spent all of Saturday morning constructing a kimono for Sarah. (We mixed and matched Asian cultures a bit - the night ended with a cake shaped like sushi which another friend brought and was delicious.)

Two signs a party's bound to succeed? Sake and drink umbrellas.

Dinner table set for twelve guests.

A break between rounds.

The happy hostesses.

I found my dress on etsy. It's kimono inspired, but in no way Hong Kong 1910 - more Thailand 2011, I'd say. But hey, if I'm going to shell out my hard-earned money, it's going to be on something I'm going to wear again. I know Sarah feels the same way. Pretty sure she's going to be a geisha for like the next ten Halloweens.

In the end, I wasn't the actual character who committed the murder (whew!) and a pretty fantastic time was had by all. All our prep work in the kitchen in the early afternoon really paid off when it came to get the dinner courses out and although no one took the game to seriously (case in point, one of the guys did the entire game in a German accent when a Chinese accent alluded him) everyone played along and enjoyed the ridiculousness of it all. Murder's never been so fun. 

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