My friends & I got together to kick off the summer with our first picnic of the season. We met up at a local park and munched on salad, boccaccini, roasted red peppers, olives, sundried tomatoes and fresh bread while kids ran around the park karate-kicking and playing tag.

Our get together also fell within days of my birthday, and Katie made a batch of super retrotastic Ice Cream Cone Cakes decorated in gummy bears and mini M&M’s.

It’s now official, summer is here! Let the fun and games begin!

P.S. Thanks girlies for such a wonderful birthday celebration! xoxo

Hello there! Long time no see!

Last fall, I was offered an amazing full-time job that I just couldn’t turn down, and what started as a little break from my blog turned into a several month hiatus.

The truth is, I miss having a blog and the interaction that comes along with it. I’ve missed getting feedback on my ideas and all the comments and questions. After several months of hemming and hawing, I’ve decided to revamp my site and get back into the swing of things. I made the switch back to *Crackers + Honey*, which I just totally love. I’ve been sewing up some cute new items, and there’s a bunch of drawings just waiting to be drafted into patterns and made into purses. I hope that you guys are as excited as I am!

Thanks to everyone who has nudged me back into the groove with your sweet emails and “where are you’s?”

My family got together for a festive Thanksgiving feast this weekend at my Aunt & Uncle’s cottage on Lake Erie, where we enjoyed roasted turkey with all the trimmings, apple and pumpkin pies, and homemade wine.

The beautiful warm fall weather kept the Lake warm enough to go wading. It was impossible to resist, especially since it’s probably the last time to enjoy the water until next summer.

I hope everyone had a beautiful Thanksgiving, and will be able to have a little bit of respite before the whirlwind of Christmas strikes!

My cat Poppy sleeps in the cutest positions! This is her “Woe is me” pose, aka “Turn out the light”:

My Pennsylvania vacation was beautiful, but it went far too quick! I spent most of the first day in the back seat, watching Kevin drive:

I’m sure everyone remembers last week’s heatwave, when we were in Philly, the temperature reached 110 degrees! We spent a whole day on South St., and we almost sweat our bums off — I can’t ever remember being sooo hot.

I accomplished everything I wanted to do in Pennesylvania, including eating at Dalessandro’s, known as one of “Philly’s best Cheese Steaks”, and I have to agree that they make one killer hoagie!

I visited more knitting shops than I can count, but didn’t really find what I was looking for. I did get “both”:http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931543771/ref=nosim/karissacove-20 “volumes”:http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931543895/ref=nosim/karissacove-20 of Vogue’s Stitchionary though. Really, the whole trip had so much shopping that I can honestly say “I’ve shopped till I dropped”!

For more photos and Penn/Philly details “check out my Flickr account”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/karissa/sets/72157594224517455/!