Hello friends. In the very beginning of the summer, I was excited to crochet a baby granny square sweater.
I made one a long time ago found here and in the photo shown below. I crocheted the sweater with thin yarn.
 |
This time I decided I would try to crochet another sweater using a thicker type of baby yarn in a light blue color. I had this yarn left over from a granny square baby blanket that I made for my niece.
I really enjoy making baby granny square blankets for family members who are expecting to have a baby.
 |
| Crochet Baby Sweater |
I found an easy pattern that I liked when I was searching for one on Pinterest. The pattern can be found here.
The sweater pattern calls for making 12 granny squares. If you can crochet a granny square and sew them together than you will have no problem making this baby sweater.
 |
| Granny Square |
Once I had all of the granny squares made I then started crocheting them together. I thought that it would be easier but then I changed to sewing them together. When you crochet the squares together it leaves a ridge in the middle of the seam.
 |
| Sewing the granny squares together |
I enjoyed working on this sweater and it comes together very fast. I will be donating this to our annual crochet/knit sale this fall at our church.
 |
| Sewing the Baby Sweater |
DETAILS:
The pattern can be found here.
For crocheting this baby sweater I used Red Heart baby yarn. You can use any kind of baby yarn you like for this project.
For crocheting this baby sweater I used a US size I crochet hook.
If I crochet any more baby sweaters with this pattern, I will make one in a larger size next time. The baby sweater shown above is a size that will fit a very small baby.
I hope I've inspired you to make a baby sweater too. If you start this project now than you will have enough time to make one for a Christmas gift. These baby sweaters make great baby shower gifts too.
Coming soon you will see the crocheted baby hat I made to match this sweater.
Hi friends. I can't believe it's already the beginning of October!
One of my favorite things to do is to shop at Costco, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I love all three but I hate to empty the car and put everything away after a shopping trip to Costco.
I like to go shopping at least once a month or every three weeks at Costco depending on what we need. When I do go I usually find something new that I'd like to try.
I was shopping at Costco and I tried the Avocado Oil Buttery Spread. It comes in a large tub and I know that avocado oil is healthy for you so I thought I would give this a try. We liked it and I used it on my food and I cooked with it too. I will look for it again the next time I make a shopping trip there.
 |
| Avocado Oil Buttery Spread |
 |
The next thing I thought looked interesting was this Salad Topper.
Ingredients
Dry roasted sunflower seeds, dried cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), dry roasted pumpkin seeds, tamari sauce (soybeans, wheat, salt). May contain tree nuts.
 |
| Salad Topper |
I always add one tablespoon of salad topper to my salads. This gives the salad some crunch and flavor. I also use two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper for my salad dressing.
I usually take the salad topper out of the bag and empty it into a mason jar and keep it on my counter so that it's handy for me to use each night when I make a salad with dinner.
 |
Besides buying food at Costco I like to look at their clothes, socks, athletic gear, and even the jewelry section.
We usually visit Whole Foods like every other month. I love going up and down the isles to look for anything interesting or special that I'd like to try out.
I especially love going to Whole Foods in the summer when we usually have a BBQ and invite family and friends. I love buying food in the seafood section such as fish or shrimp marinated in different sauces.
They also have a fabulous meat department which we love. Last year my husband bought huge steaks to grill and they were a hit at the BBQ!
The last time I shopped in WF I found a jar of tomato sauce that was from The Meatball Shop. The Meatball Shop is a restaurant in New York City that has so many different types of meatballs to eat.
I also found black squid ink pasta that went really well with the tomato sauce from the Meatball Shop.
 |
| Meatball Shop Tomato Sauce and Black Squid Ink Pasta |
My other favorite place to food shop is at Trader Joe's. I love this store but unfortunately, it isn't close to where I live and at least a 20 to 25-minute drive. The parking is horrible as they do not have a parking lot, but I try to get there at least every other month.
This is just a small amount of what I like to buy when I do shop there. I usually fill up the shopping cart all the way up to the top! I love so many things there and especially the sourdough bread and the peanut butter pretzels to name a few.
The cream cheese is really good and I love spreading it on a toasted everything bagel for breakfast.
 |
| Trader Joe's Cream Cheese |
The last time I was at TJ's, I decided to try out the multi-grain lasagna and I was very happy and surprised at how good it tasted. You could see a lot of veggies in it such as the broccoli. This was really easy to heat up in the microwave oven too.
 |
| Trader Joe's Roasted Vegetable Multi-Grain Lasagna |
I occasionally like to make toast with peanut butter for breakfast, and when I do I just love this peanut butter as it has flax and chia seeds in it. I love spreading this on TJ's sourdough bread. Oh, it tastes so good and yummy.
 |
| Trader Joe's Crunchy Salted Peanut Butter with Flax and Chia Seeds |
We recently bought the hot sauce on our last trip to TJ's and we love putting this on different foods.
 |
| Trader Joe's Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce |
Some of you might remember reading about the blog post I did HERE on some of my favorite makeup. This moisture boost serum is a beauty product from TJ's that I really love using. It really makes my skin feel really soft.
 |
| Trader Joe's Nourish Hyaluronic Moisture Boost Serum |
Every time I shop at TJ's I have to pick up some assorted cards. The blank cards and birthday cards are nice and I think they are like one dollar each! :)
 |
| Trader Joe's Assorted Cards |
Have you tried any of these items at these stores? I'd love to know.
By the way, this was not a sponsored post. I just love shopping at all of these stores!
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hi friends. I thought it would be fun to participate in the TBB Asks for the month of October Link-Up party. The topic questions are October Fall 2.0.
 |
1. Favorite Fall Color?
I love all of the dark rich colors of fall like the color of the mums in the photo below.
 |
2. Apple Cider Hot or Cold?
I love hot apple cider to warm me up on a cold fall day.
 |
3. Caramel Apple: Yes or No?
No. I really don't eat caramel apples as they are hard to eat and too sweet for me.
 |
4. Pumpkin Donut or Apple Cider Donut?
I love eating apple cider donuts as they are one my favorite fall treats. I love visiting the farmers market in Union Square, NYC for those donuts as they are fresh baked.
 |
5. Long or Short Cardigan?
I like wearing both types of cardigans in the fall. I have them in a lot of colors but I like wearing gray and black.
 |
6. Favorite Football or Fall Party Food?
I love the shredded pork sliders my friend makes for her fall and winter parties.
 |
7. Orange or White Pumpkins?
I love to decorate the outside of my house with orange pumpkins like the ones in the bin. I also love to decorate with different colored mums.
 |
8. Hayride or Bonfire?
We all went on a hayride when my daughter was little with her cousins. We all had a fun time picking out pumpkins and going on the hayride.
 |
9. Favorite Fall Baked Good?
In the fall my favorite baked good is Pumpkin Cake. I made a pumpkin cake many years ago and posted it on the blog. If you would like to see the easy recipe to make one yourself, you can click here. You can also use the same batter to make pumpkin muffins.
 |
10. Most Anticipated Fall Activity.
One of my favorite things to do in the fall is going on long walks and breathing in the cold crisp air.
 |
I will be sharing this at The Blended Blog
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hi friends. Happy Fall Everyone!!
One of my favorite things to do is to visit the Dollar Tree store. I love visiting and shopping there during the different seasons.
When I have time I enjoy going on YouTube and watching the DT hauls that people like to share. Usually when I watch those videos that always motivates me to go shopping there. Another motivation for me to go shopping there is usually after visiting two blog friends who also like to share their hauls! :)
 |
One of my favorite things to do is to visit the Dollar Tree store. I love visiting and shopping there during the different seasons.
When I have time I enjoy going on YouTube and watching the DT hauls that people like to share. Usually when I watch those videos that always motivates me to go shopping there. Another motivation for me to go shopping there is usually after visiting two blog friends who also like to share their hauls! :)
 |
I love all of the great bargains that I can find for a dollar. I was recently shopping in the store and I found some really cute fall decorations and other items to share with you.
I decided to make up a goodie care package for my daughter who is away at college. I found some candy, small bags of chips, a cute fall door decoration, and chip clips to send to her.
 |
I love the Pine Glo cleaner and I use this to clean our toilets. I also like the air freshener in Cherry Blossom scent that I use on my closet shelf.
 |
They had a great selection of fall decorations that I liked.
 |
I liked how cute this scarecrow fall decoration looked and it's going right into my flower box on my front stoop. I can't wait to buy small mums to add to the flower box.
 |
I already have on my mantel these cute pumpkins.
 |
I will mix in some scattered leaves and gourds.
 |
You can get some really great buys and I love saving money. I also bought some birthday cards that were only two for a dollar. You can't beat that!!
By the way, I also spied while waiting to pay for my items, down one of the isles they already had CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS! I shopped in DT two weeks ago!
If you follow me on Instagram @brklynhousewife you will see a photo I have posted of a Christmas tree display I saw at Costco. Get ready everyone for early Christmas sightings!
Have you been to Dollar Tree or any dollar stores lately?
Thanks for stopping by! I do hope that I have inspired you to check out Dollar Tree. :)
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hello friends. Welcome to Part Three of our Jersey Shore vacation.
If you missed Part One, you can read about that here.
If you missed Part Two, you can read about that here.
We had another great beach day. It was a cloudy day but we didn't care and we all just enjoyed ourselves relaxing on the beach.
 |
Every afternoon the seagulls would walk along the beach looking for food. They love chips and sandwiches. I have seen the gulls swoop down and grab a sandwich and other foods out of people's hands.
 |
 |
Another popular restaurant that is located on the bay side is called Tuckers Tavern. We were all happy that we only had a ten-minute wait to eat dinner.
 |
The room that we ate our dinner in was decorated with a British theme. It had top hats and umbrellas hanging from the ceiling. I thought it looked so cool and I had to get a shot of it.
Below the table, you can see suitcases decorated with the British flag.
 |
I'm looking forward to going there again next year to eat as the food was so good. I enjoyed eating risotto and scallops shown in the bottom photo.
Most of the restaurant on the island cater toward seafood, pizza, and burgers. There are a lot of places to get ice cream to eat which is always fun. :)
 |
We all were too full to have dessert at the restaurant or stop for some ice cream.
 |
More Beach
 |
We all enjoyed swimming in the pool after a long day at the beach. The pool water felt refreshing and just perfect.
 |
On our last night, we went to a shopping area that is very popular called Bay Village. I go a shot of the girls with the pretty pastel houses in the background. The three of us did a little bit of shopping for beach clothes and sweatshirts.
 |
It is a tradition that we started last year to do a photo shoot on our last night in LBI by the bayside.
I love this dock and the pretty house below that is surrounded by the water.
 |
 |
That sums up our fun vacation and I can't wait to do it again next year. Next year we are hoping to maybe rent a house for our vacation.
BYE BEACH, HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
 |
I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos of our vacation to the Jersey Shore. Thank you to everyone who visited and left me comments on our beach vacation!
Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week and weekend.
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
 |
Hi everyone. I'm back to share with you Part Two of our summer beach vacation to the Jersey Shore. If you missed Part One then you can click here to read about it.
My daughter (who is on the right) and wearing a cute sun hat invited the same friend as last year to come away with us on vacation.
I think the two of them look so ready for some fun in the sun. 😎
 |
This bench sits at the top of the dune that goes down to the beach. My husband and I enjoyed sitting there in the evenings watching the stars and listening to the ocean waves.
 |
Here is the path that goes to the beach. We had a large beach wagon to lug all of our beach gear back and forth each day.
 |
 |
I couldn't resist taking a photo of my daughter and friends on the beach. My daughter's other friend drove by herself to meet us and stay for a few days. Ah to be young! I remember doing the same thing laying on the beach with my friends when I was a teen.
 |
 |
One night we decided to have sushi for dinner and we took a short drive off the Island to a Japanese Restaurant called Makoto Japanese Steakhouse.
Everyone enjoyed the assortment of sushi. I love the presentation of the food and it was served in a large wooden boat.
 |
Below is another pretty Victorian house that I love. It's decorated with large hanging baskets overflowing with colorful flowers. I LOVE THAT PORCH! I would love to sit outside on that porch and be reading a good book.
 |
One night my husband and I went out to dinner without the girls and we decided to eat at Carmen's.
 |
On each table was a cute candle decorated with sand and beach shells. We had never eaten here before and we both loved the restaurant.
 |
We both shared an appetizer of mango and prosciutto with figs and cheese with honey. Oh, that tasted so good!
My dish was eggplant, tomatoes and arugula salad which tasted delicious. My husband had fish, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. We were both happy with our dinner and we would definitely go there again next year.
 |
That is the second part of our Jersey Shore vacation. Thanks for stopping by and stayed tuned for Part Three coming soon.
Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week and weekend.
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons