Wednesday, July 30, 2008

No knitting content

Dear Anna,

This post is long over due. I wish I had a really exciting FO to show off but alas. Not only have I not had a FO in over a month but I still haven't gotten around to purchasing a new camera. What there has been lately is lots of change, especially at work. I've been putting in long hours . . . it's been good but definitely challenging. I have so much to learn and I'm trying scare myself that this is the slow part of the year! School starts in less than a month and work will really pick up.

I'm making slow but good progress on my Ene scarf - I'm finally on chart 3 - and I've got 49% of my artichoke socks complete. So there IS some knitting going on. . . lately it's just been on the weekends, if that.

Over the weekend I got my hair cut much shorter - I brought these photos to my stylist for inspiration:




That's Kimberly from Hollywood Season of "The Real World" and Katie Cruz-Holmes. The result was really cute - cuter than I expected. And even though it's short I really don't miss the long hair at all. I can't even remember what that looked like on me. Again, if I HAD a camera I'd post a photo but unfortunately that will have to wait. I also went to the eye dr last week and they determined that I'm in need of glasses - so I picked out frames and am waiting for them to come in this week.

I'm hoping that the hair cut and glasses will give me a slightly more sophisticated look. I realized that I need to take my "look" up a notch when I had my first meeting with a reporter and he thought that I was a student and not the person he was there to talk to about a newly installed statue on campus.

My new favorite thing:


The "Seacret Dead Sea Nail and Manicure Set"

The buffer is the best part of the whole kit and you can buy that separately for $4. But the cuticle oil was the main reason I bought it - my cuticles are mangled and I have a bad habit of cutting them or biting them. After one use my nails look like I came out of a professional manicure. I'm totally sold.

Anywho, back in a few weeks with some actually knitting content.

Friday, July 11, 2008

How's It, Brudda?

Dear Margaret,

I am currently rolling my eyes at you and your beloved - The Bachelor? Really?? You guys must be the people who keep that show on the air. Although we watch Dog the Bounty Hunter so I guess we're just as bad. But Dog is out there to HELP people, Margaret. He's cleaning up the mean streets of Waikiki so people can get their surf on in peace. He's not, like, hanging out with blonde chicks in a hot tub for cash. Unless he is... because it IS paradise, after all.

Anyhoo you are so right - our public (all three of them) is longing to see Stitch N Pitch photos! (I also mourn the loss of your camera. a digital camera is a necessity for the high quality knitter. Maybe you could find one on Craigslist or something?)

So here are the three of us in our matching hats looking super cute:



And some random knitters:



I must say that the event was a little less organized than I would have thought, so that was a little disappointing. And everyone was over the age of 45, which is fine, but doesn't really represent the Ravelry crowd, you know? I am shocked - SHOCKED - that we didn't see one measly piece of Rav wear. Very strange indeed. And seriously, what is up with the drama about those tote bags? I mean, they're fine (a little Mom-ish for my taste but whatevs) but you'd think they were signed by Elizabeth Zimmerman herself the way people are carrying on. Sheesh.

But everyone seemed to have a fabulous time in spite of the fact that the Padres suck big time and lost by approximately 27 points. I did enjoy the ice cream-in-a-helmet... although we got the chocolate/vanilla swirl and it was WAY more chocolate than vanilla. Blech. Which leads right into the next part of my post, which is my "Six Random Things About Me":

1) I like chocolate in general and love brownies but hate chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream.

2) I wake up a full hour before I have to (5:30am) just to have an hour to sit and knit and drink my coffee and watch something on the DVR. I hate rushing around in the mornings - I need to ease myself into the day.. especially a work day.

3) I like the labels on all my bottles in the shower/medicine cabinet/etc. to face OUT. it just bothers me if they don't. However for the Professor's stuff I don't care.

4) I love eating horseradish on saltine crackers as a snack.

5) The Professor and I don't have pets and we don't intend on ever having any. I just don't see the point of them (although I totally understand/appreciate/respect pet people and their devotion to their animals. some of them ARE pretty cute).

6) I am one of the most un-athletic people ever - I am healthy and workout, but when it comes to organized sports I am terrible.

So yeah. It took me like 3 hours to come up with that... mostly I am very boring.

Now to totally change the direction of this post (yes AGAIN), check out the pic I took at the beach on the 4th:



I mean, doesn't that look AWESOME?! She looks badass in a casual way. I don't know why but I LOVE THIS PHOTO.

Monday, July 7, 2008

RIP 2003 Canon PowerShot

Dear Anna,

I know you will be saddened by the news. It is time to officially say good bye to my dear Canon PowerShot. You were a good camera and lasted longer than expected. We had good times together.

It's finally time for me to invest in a new camera - probably a point and shoot with a few upgrades from my last camera. This will be something to purchase before going to San Luis Obesbo this September (and Hawaii this winter). In the meantime, knitting photos will be lacking . . . which is a shame because I have some good stuff on the needles!

I've actually been suffering from projectitis: the need to cast on for a new project on at least a weekly basis. At the moment I have Ene, Lace Ribbon Scarf, Jitterbug Socks, Artichoke Socks, Khoolhaas, and My first Toe-up socks (might be frogged due to size/color pooling issues) . . .oh and I just remembered I also have Foliage on the needles too. Despite all this, I am contemplating using the Cascade 220 from my to-be-frogged Wicked to cast on for the Hemlock Ring Blanket . . . and I'm sort of in the mood for knitting a sweater too! Ack!!

In lieu of awesome and amazing photo updates of my projects, the recent Stitch N Pitch outting, or 4th of July fun (I'll leave that to Anna to post if she's up to it) here's a run down of other things I've been in to/doing a la Not Martha:

Loving:

Tomato & Cucumber Salad Chilled


(Cucumbers, red onions, and tomatoes - simply sliced, salted, and drenched in apple cider vinger - crumbled feta cheese optional)

Using:

CVS brand Mint Julep Masque . . . at $3.99 it's a bargain!




Looking Forward To:

The finale of the Bachlorette -- tonight (no rolling of the eyes, yes I DO know how rediculous this show is) !! I'm rooting for Jason even if he does seem a little over zealous.



Buying:

The Ped Egg - it was at CVS for $9.99!