New Icons

During Great Lent this year, I chose to read Wounded by Love, by Elder Porphyrios. It was a read that made a huge difference in my life so far, particularly the sections on parenting and on prayer. I find myself thinking of St. Porphyrios and his words often these days. I have been really hoping to get an icon of him, and luckily for me, my husband went to a Greek festival today and brought me back two beautiful icons, both of newly canonized saints - one of St. Porphyrios and another of St. Paisios. I can't wait to find a perfect spot for them in our home! 

A Timeless Treasure...

A sweet parishioner recently gave us a Barnes & Noble gift card. I love going to that store and browsing the shelves on my own, without little distractions that show me every Disney book they can possibly find ;-)...  I'm all about the classics!

So the other day, I had some time to myself in the afternoon thanks to my husband, and so I wandered into Barnes & Noble with the gift card. After browsing the children's section for a while, I came to the Bargain Books and found this treasure. The clerk made sure for me that it is unabridged,  and also told me that I am getting the second-to-lastcopy in the whole country!!! I cannot wait to read this classic series with the kiddos one of these years!

Williams-Sonoma haul...

We were at the mall today for a little walk on this gray day, and we popped into Williams-Sonoma, one of our favorite stores. Usually I am hesitant to hang out in there for long with all the kids in tow, but we ended up chancing upon a huge sale they had going on. It is an end-of-season clearance, with extra 20% off of the sale items. 

I stocked up on my favorite dish towels ever (and I mean ever!). Back when we were getting married, almost 7 years ago, I saw these towels at someone's house and decided to put them on my registry. My mom's cousin, Liza, got them for me for my bridal shower. (The ones she got me were white and green striped). I still have them today and other than slight fading after many washes, the towels are still good as new! They are so special to me because Liza ended up dying young, just before I had our first child. I will never throw those towels away! Since getting these WS towels though, I have tried many, many other kinds and I always find myself coming back for these. They are extremely absorbent and do not wrinkle a ton in the wash. Two wins right there if you ask me. I also find them to be eternally classy. I love mixing up the colors for different seasons! 

I also decided on a whim to try these wooden spoons out. I am always on the hunt for a perfect wooden spoon, and the shapes of these (and the uniformity of them) really appealed to me. I'll have to put some mineral oil on them before using them for the first time (as the clerk suggested). 

A finished knit...

I don't think I have posted about any finished knits before. I really love to knit so much, and it is really relaxing for me, but finding the time to do it is challenging. If I am lucky I get to knit in the evenings after the kids are asleep and my kitchen looks tidy again. Usually this is only after 9 PM and so I really do not get much done in an evening. I'm not on a time frame with most of my projects though, so that means I really can relax and wait patiently for the end of a project. 

A few days ago I completed a cream-colored throw for our home. It was my first successful attempt at a lacy pattern and I really am happy to have finished it and have it draping over our couch. I did make some mistakes, but I never really went back to fix them because in a lacy pattern it is not really noticeable when there is a mistake, to me. Anyway, here it is! 

I am excited to knit a different type of throw at some point, too. My next project is going to be a shawl, and I am going to use some of the famous MadelineTosh yarn for the first time for it! I am so excited!