Before I flew to the states, I was actively making crocheted things as gifts for my three nieces: Claire, Aerin and Zoe.
The above picture is a kimono style jacket that I made for Claire. It’s pink with green edges and I really hope at some point I can get a picture of her wearing it. It took me about a month to make it and I was thinking it would be a good layering piece, plus it’s short sleeved so she can wear it even in the spring and summer.

I made this dress for both Aerin and Zoe. The ribbons tie on the shoulder so it’s adjustable and the ribbon can easily removed. I did this without a pattern and eyeballed it. I had the thought that they could remove the ribbons as they get taller and turn it into a skirt. I love the color of the cotton yarn and it almost has a vintage feel. Love it!

I made ponchos for all the girls. I also eyeballed this and had so much fun making them. What is it about miniature things that are so adorable? Oh yeah, it’s because it’s tiny! Haha I made this yellow and white one with Sugar n’ Cream cotton yarn. I made this one for Claire since she looks great in bright colors.

I made two ponchos in this multi-colored yarn for Aerin and Zoe. I figured it is an easy layering piece that can be thrown over what they are wearing to keep warm.

And look how adorable Z looks in it! I hope C and A like it as much!
I bought all three girls a bunch of dresses from Shanghai. My BFF got so excited about them and had Zoe try them on right away! She looked so adorable in them so we took pictures. If you happen to be my FB friend, you saw the pics yesterday.

I have to say that I’ve been feeling great staying with the BFF. She always makes me feel so appreciated, loved and I just love her daughter! I can’t believe how happy Zoe is all the time and Z seems to really take a liking to me.

I’m definitely getting recharged, nothing like a good week with the BFF to make everything in the world right again.

However, I am jet lagged. I keep falling asleep during the day and now I’m up at 5am. Lol

What do you think of the things I made? Thumbs up? I hope.

there may be some serious spelling and grammar errors. I’m writing from my phone and I’m under the influence of jet lag!

I stumbled across a yarn shop while walking around with the hubs. I’ve been having so much trouble finding cotton yarn, suddenly I find it everywhere! These packs were on sale and super-duper cheap, around $4 each. Normally they are a lot more but I’m guessing that nobody wants these colors so they’re making room for new colors. I took them because they make cute baby clothes colors. I’ve been working on some crochet projects and guess what? Uh, I totally made it too small for my nieces. Sigh.

I love the look of knitted items for summer since they are thin compared to crochet. I started crocheting a dress for my nieces. I hope I can finish these on time, I feel rather stupid that I spent all that time on their clothes and then found it too small. I really don’t know baby sizes at all, I need a baby at all times, like I did with my niece Claire. It was so easy since she was always right next to me and I could always measure as I go. Since I’ve been in Shanghai, I have no models to compare sizes to and I am HORRIBLE at following patterns. I usually wing it.

Speaking of children. Emails are trickling in from friends who are pregnant with their second babies. I am so happy for them, being able to get pregnant is such a blessing. I wish I could also experience that joy, I wish I were pregnant. I’m eagerly awaiting my (late) period so that I can get the polyp removed so that I can have a child. I try to be as positive as I can but I have my breakdown days where I just can’t understand WHY my body is the way it is. But then the doctor did tell me that once the polyp is removed, I should be able to get pregnant. I semi fear, what if that doesn’t work too? What will I do then? 

I’ll stop freaking out for now. 

I’ve been walking around a lot with the hubs when he’s free, knitting like a mad woman and I’ve stopped checking my email. Mostly because there’s nothing there when I check it anyway. Also to get a break from constantly checking, though I’m on instagram a lot. Instagram is nice since it’s just pictures of my daily life and I like to look back on it. Even the ones from before we moved here and to see how my life was in NY.

I have two questions for you: Are you working on any crafting projects? Is anyone out there going through infertility?

Two very different questions but I’d like to hear about them, since that’s what is on my mind. 

Clockwise from the Green: Me, Mindy, Eric and W (from M&E's Wedding!)

Mindy and Eric (who is W’s best friend) visited Shanghai this past Monday through Wednesday. Oh, how I love them! We joined them, Eric’s parents, aunt and cousin Benjamin for dinner on Monday evening. I really wish I would have taken pictures at the restaurant but I was so excited to see them that I forgot! We ate at a place called Old Jesse and it was really delicious. We had a lot of things but off the top of my head: pork belly, fried yellow croaker, sea cucumber, fried prawns and chicken with chili peppers, snow pea leaves, stinky tofu (ewwwwww), veggie wrapped in tofu skin and much more! After dinner we went to Baker and Spice, picked up some dessert and went over to B’s place. B lives in Shanghai so we got some pointers from him and I’m sure we’ll be hanging out soon too!

Guess what Mindy and Eric brought for me??

1. Gerrard’s jersey (who is my favorite football/soccer player EVER) Thanks Eric!!!!!! It fits perfectly!

2. This insanely beautiful yarn that Mindy got for me!!! Her friend hand dyed this and the colors are so deep and rich. The yarn is super soft and hello merino! This is the nicest yarn I’ve ever owned, thanks Mindy!! If you want to buy some insanely beautiful yarn, go to Dyeabolical, they have an etsy shop and will ship to you!

 On Tuesday I met up with them again but W has work so he couldn’t join us. I met them at the Shanghai Museum. I went inside to meet them after they were done and I figured I might as well use the restroom while I’m waiting for them. There were a lot of children around, perhaps with a daycare or school. While I was waiting in line, the little girl (maybe five or six) turns around and asks me in English… 

“Do you think I’ll have to squat?”

“I hope not because I don’t know how to squat” was my reply.

Then because I’m so happy that someone is actually speaking a language that I know, I talk to her more and more. Asking her a million questions and she simply replies…

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Sigh, my bad… haha Well, you’ll be glad to know that the restrooms in the Shanghai Museum are NOT squat. They are toilets! Yay!!! (Mental note for me if I’m ever in the area)

We went to lunch somewhere near by. Mindy, Eric and I got such a kick out of some items on the menu. Here let me show you…

It seems like a normal menu right? Yum, everything looks delicious here… I actually had the shredded pork fried rice cakes and it was incredible! Then here comes the funnies… I think Mindy pointed it out.

 Do you see it? Pig liver surface explosion!!!!! Hahaha, I love it. Oh we had some good laughs here. It was a semi hole in the water near Nanjing East. E’s mother told me the street is actually a food street that is rather famous. Why didn’t I write it down?

 Eric’s parents are so generous and paid for all my meals. I tried to pay for their lunch today but they wouldn’t let me. I don’t know Shanghai well enough to buy gifts either. I really wanted to get something Shanghainese for everyone but I live out of a hotel and I didn’t want to buy things for the sake of buying.

I’m sad that they were only here for a few days cuz honestly, they are SO AWESOME!!!! Mindy is a classic beauty and she’s so creative, talented and so fun to talk to that time just FLIES. Eric is hilarious and I know W wishes he lived closer to us. Ahhhh! Mindy, Eric… please visit us again! We hope you had a great time in Shanghai!