Ode to a new life

I love my new apartment. I love that I know exactly where everything is. I love my kitchen, which looks out into the living room, and in which has already been made many lovely meals. I love the windows and the light - the doorwall and the balcony of course, but especially the window in my bedroom, under which is my desk where I can sit and watch the cardinals eat the crabapples. I love that everything here is mine, that I have total and complete say over what happens here. I love living by myself.

Sure, I get lonely. But right now, I'm loving my freedom, and well, if I'm going to have a houseguest this weekend, so much the better.

I've moved so much lately, that I've lost track of some fairly crucial things, like power strips. So last night I went to Target, and as usual, I got sucked in.
Aren't these shoes the cutest? They remind me of my mom in a weird way - the plaid and the black and red - but I think they might be just the thing for striding confidently across campus to rehearsal, or for wearing with a certain black $1.50 cardigan.
I had a bit of a rough start. I got to about here earlier this week and had to frog because the lace pattern just wasn't clicking. I couldn't see where the holes were supposed to be, and I couldn't read the rows. I did some intensive lace work, figured it all out, and cast on again. It's probably a good thing that I frogged too because I decided to go down a needle size because, well, can you see the lace above? No?

How about now? Ok. Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. This is going to take some intense blocking in order to look good, so I think the smaller needle size will still allow me to get a sweater in the end, and not a tent. I have some reservations about this pattern. I'm really enjoying it, and I love the way it looks in the pics from IK, but I'm concerned about my slightly skewed body perceptions and whether or not this thing is actually going to look good on me, or whether I just want it to. We'll see!