I just finished the most delightful book:

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg. The Fannie Flagg link is to a Wikipedia page -- I didn't know her real name was Patricia Neal, did you?
Anyway, this is one delicious novel. I actually listened to her read the audio book and, I tell you, I felt like I was in Birmingham, Alabama. The characters terrifically imperfect and wonderful to watch unfold through the pages. So many twists and turns that kept my attention to the very end. Truly Loverly.
Look! A new Spring/Summer Knit Simple! Whoo hoo!

The nautical theme was breath of fresh air for me:
This sweater begs to be worn to the beach with your favorite capris, don't you think? However, what I will not wear at the beach is this skirt:
Three words: Short, Horizontal Stripes. We do not want to see me in this skirt. Yikes.
But the nautical pillows are a happy thought:

As is this cute, classic elbow length sweater. I would add some waist shaping to avoid Big Box Syndrome:
Look, some horizontal stripes that do not scare me:

This ad caught my eye:

A 100% recycled yarn, Riveting, made entirely from recycled jeans by Kollage Yarns!! How truly fabulous is that? Click on the Riveting link to see the colors. Must. Have. Lava. Denim. Seriously. There are never enough jeans in the world and now we get to knit with them too. It has totally smitten me.
This vest had spring written all over it:

Gotta love those diagonal stripes -- they didn't scare me either.
On a much more important note (as per Kate) we recently celebrated her 7th birthday:

My mom always gave the other child whose birthday it wasn't, a small present as well. My brother and I lived for this tradition, so I have continued it. The boys agreed:

This IS what awesome looks like.