New Shoes

My new shoes came! They are the Terrain Janes by Lands End in Concord grape. They are really pretty and they have the cushiest heels ever! I finished another veteran's scarf. My black Lambie blanket arrived yesterday and it is so soft.
I went to Wal-Mart and I didn't end up using my gift card. The movies were really picked over so I am just going to wait awhile. I did end up finding the GQ Michael Phelps issue so i bought a copy of that and I discovered a new to me color of Red Heart - Black Fleck which is a heather black with flecks of color in it.
I don't have any big plans to ring in the new year. I may or may not stay up late enough to watch the crown drop. (In Charlotte, they have a light up crown that drops in honor of the Queen City). Other than that, I'm just chilling and watching Doctor Who episodes and crocheting.

Evening update:

So it's 10 pm ET. The big question is whether or not I will be able to stay up until midnight. I did already finish the scarf that I made with the new skein of Red Heart yarn. I am working on another hat with some leftover Homespun yarn from one of the prayer shawls that I made recently. I have been wearing my new Terrain Janes all evening and they are really holding up well. I am seriously impressed with the comfort level of them. I was also naughty and bought a Doctor Who book when I was at Books A Million early today. I am on a big Doctor Who kick right now and the best part of it is that there are so many episodes so it will take awhile for me to finish watching the ones that I have not seen before.

2009 Resolutions

I think my mantra for 2009 will be simple living. Now this doesn't mean quitting my job and living in a treehouse. It is more about making positive changes in my life.

1. Be healthier. I kind of started this in 2008 but it has been up and down all over the place. Old habits die hard.

2. Actually save money now that I make money. This is directly related to the healthy living thing.

3. Be green. I am green in lots of ways but I have become really lazy about recycling and taking my re-usable bags with me to the store, so I need to be diligent about those things and think about what I am purchasing which ties back into 1 and 2.

4. De-stash! I have a lot of yarn. Not near as much as most people but I have more than I have had in awhile and I need to use it up. There is a lot of scrap yarn that could become veteran's scarves or hats for Dulaan, etc.

5. Buy a couch. Sunshine is totally right about this one. I need one. Even just a little one. Ideally it would be a loveseat with a pull-out bed.

6. Take my lunch to work practically every day. This would save me $5-7 a day and it would be a lot healthier.

I think those are nice manageable goals/resolutions. We will see how well I follow these, I think 2009 will (hopefully) start off better than 2008 did.

Black Friday 2?

Apparently, the day after Christmas is the "second black Friday." This year Target did not have dvd sales like they did last year, so I think their sales sucked. My biggest deals were my strand of LED multi colored lights for my tiny tree and the Burt's bees chapstick in the snowflake packaging (normally 2.99 everywhere) were both 50% off. Burt's Bees is my go-to chapstick and I always have a tube of it in my purse. I also bought a chocolate peppermint muffin mix at Target that was 50% off and I baked them in my new muffin tin that I got for Christmas. The peppermint gives it a nice minty taste and gives the muffin a subtle shiny texture.
I finished the shawl yesterday that I made with some Blue Sky Homespun that I purchased at Jo-Anns before I drove down to my parent's house. I bought three skeins of the Windsor Homespun at Michaels today because it was on sale and I will be at my parent's house for awhile. My mom gave me some olive green and brown Bernat Berella 4 yarn so I am now halfway done with a veteran's scarf in the brown.
I also received the news today that my friend M got engaged on Christmas Eve and is getting married in either August or September. She is still debating on the date. The interesting part about this is that she wants me to be a bridesmaid. I said yes of course, but I am not looking forward to wearing a dress, being in a churchy wedding and having my hair and make-up done. I am really hoping that Sunshine can come with me for moral support but that's kind of during back-to-school time so I don't know.
It cooled off today and rained a little this evening, but it's still nicer weather than most of the country has.

The Night Before Christmas

So I woke up at 5 am and loaded up the Subaru sleigh and was on the road by 5:30 am ET. Two things made this possible: Diet Mt. Dew and Kiehl's Eye Alert cream. I was actually able to drive 70 MPH an hour the whole way down basically with out all the traffic back-ups that normally occur. I'm still a little tired but I would rather be tired then deal with gridlock.
I managed to complete 6 loads of laundry for myself and the rest of the family. I also baked a pan of Trader Joe's cornbread for my mom and hauled my sister around town so that she could finish some last minute Christmas shopping.
I am also excited because my beloved Fossil watch is out of the shop. It only cost $35 to fix it which was still cheaper than buying a new Fossil watch. It stopped working in September and I couldn't find any places in town that could fix it so I sent it home with my sister over Thanksgiving to take it to the local watch shop in Oklahoma and he put in a new battery and a couple of parts and it is good as new.
I haven't crocheted anything today but I do have enough Homespun with me to make a prayer shawl and I have enough stash yarn to make some veteran's scarves so I will probably work on those this weekend. I started downloading episodes of the original Doctor Who series this weekend so I will probably watch those while I am crocheting.

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Travels

Tomorrow morning (Christmas Eve) I am getting up as early as I can and driving down to my parent’s house. I could have left after work but I’m tired of being stuck in traffic hell in the dark, so I’m trying the morning thing. I managed to survive two very slow and dull days at work.
I am relieved to hear that my aunt D and Sunshine both made it home sans airplane disasters. My aunt D made it back home just in time for another snow pile. She stopped praying for a White Christmas last year.
Over the weekend, I bought a Listography journal at Barnes and Noble and I am hooked on it. There is also a website www.listography.com and it’s really cool and makes you think about your life and record the little things through the series of lists. I also liked the fact that they have blank pages in the back for your own lists.
I was bored tonight so I went to Target to get some road trip snacks and finally ended up buying a copy of Gorgeously Green By Sophie Uliano. This book is really awesome and I know I will get lots of use out of this book. I would also like to thank Sunshine for giving me a few of his cds that he was getting rid of, they will make my yucky drive much more bearable. I also took the rest of the two bite cupcakes from Whole Foods to work today and got lots of brownie points from my co-workers. Can you tell that I had my second call with my health coach last night? I managed to finish my leftover spaghetti from Sunday’s lunch at the Macaroni Grill and I managed to get two suppers out of the leftovers, which was great since I was trying to not buy groceries because of the holidays.
My hold at the library also came in yesterday, so I picked that up after work. I had put a hold on A Fool and His Honey, which was the only Aurora Teagarden mystery by Charlaine Harris that I hadn’t read yet. I am such a book fiend.

Shop Til You Drop

I'm not sure that I officially shopped til I dropped, but I did revive the US economy this weekend and probably increased the sales tax revenues for Wake County as well. Highlights of the weekend include:

1. Picking up Sunshine at the airport! We hadn't seen each other since June so I was really excited that he was finally able to come out here.
2. Purchase of Coach purse, affectionately known as Number 4. It's a satchel purse from their Coach Ergo collection and I even splurged a got a little purse scarf for it.
3. Driving to Greensboro and meeting up with cousin Bee and Aunt D. I haven't seen Aunt D since last Christmas and I haven't seen cousin Bee in probably close to three years. We had dinner at Chili's and they got to meet Sunshine and then we took holiday pics in front of the women's restroom door.
4. Gap jeans. I finally found a pair of jeans in my size, in the right wash, that actually fits and looks good on me. YAY! Never mind the full $60 price. It is so hard for me to find pants that fit that I could care less how much they cost.
5. Sunday morning Hot Bar at Whole Foods. Yum yum.
6. "I'm with Brad" nail polish from Sephora. They finally had a bottle in stock and it's this really nice gothy dark red.
7. Discovering the Kiehl's counter at the Crabtree Belk's. I was in heaven. I really need to find one of those jobs where all you do is test products all day long.
8. The tree stand arrived, so I was able to put up my Christmas tree just in time for Sunshine's arrival.

Two more days of work and then I am off to Charlotte Christmas Eve morning. Have a sunny holiday!

Holiday Craziness

Is it really December 13th? It seems like this month has just flown by. This coming week is going to be really busy with mega deadlines at work, and holiday shopping to finish. I am hoping that the tree stand parts that my sister mailed me come today but it would be my like that they wouldn't show up until Monday. My sister also called me this morning to inform me that Aunt D mailed her a flat rate box full of Christmas cookies so I am guessing that I will be receiving a similiar package soon. After much delay and a follow-up email this week, my member bag from the HRC is in the mail finally as well. So I'm excited about that.

I went to the library on Thursday and I was really excited because I found Last Scene Alive which is one of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries by Charlaine Harris. This book is currently out of print but the remaining Aurora books will be re-issued in 2009. That leaves me one book left in the Aurora series to finish but it hasn't shown up at the library yet. I just need to break down and put some holds on stuff. There is also a new issue of Knit.1 this week, so I will be picking up a copy on payday Monday.

I have the dept. holiday party tonight. That should be really interesting. I am also in the process of cleaning and straightening up the apartment because I have a visitor coming next weekend. It's mainly just regular cleaning and finding a place to store all the yarn that is just everywhere while I have been working on all of these charity projects.

Holiday Disasters

Friday night I finally talked myself into putting up my Christmas tree. I found the tree and my Christmas box and dumped out the ornaments. I realized I should stand the tree up and realized that the two plastic pieces making up the tree stand were not in the tree box nor were they in my Christmas box. I also realized that I don’t have a stocking hanger to hang my stocking up on the fireplace mantle. Crap. So much for being festive. I was able to set out my mini tree which is about 10 inches tall but that is all I have up.
I went to Trader Joe’s and discovered their “Oreos” that have peppermint bits inside the center. They smell and taste delicious and I absolutely love them. I love any type of food products that have peppermint in them.
I also attempted to make star shaped sugar cookies but apparently I cut them out too thick because they turned out to be deformed pentagons (but still tasty). I also made another loaf of cranberry-orange bread.
I mailed off some Christmas presents to my Mom today. They are for my cousins and if my aunt doesn’t get called back to work she is coming out here for a week. If she gets called back to work, then my Mom is going to send a big box out to them. I also sent a magazine to Sunshine (long story- but I have better access to reading material then he does). I am personally in love with the automated postage machine that they have at the big post office in town. There is hardly ever a line for it and basically if you have small packages or padded envelopes, this is the way to go.
I went to the library today and checked out four books. Apparently the Coffeehouse Mystery books that I am hooked on are very popular too because I was only able to find one of them that was checked in and didn’t have any hold requests. Here’s what I checked out:
1. Decaffeinated Corpse – Cleo Coyle (from the Coffeehouse Mystery series, you will learn a lot of useful information about coffee by reading this series – I am a wiser coffee drinker now).
2. Here If You Need Me – Kate Braestrup – I ended up reading this memoir today and I really enjoyed it, so I am not sure why it took me so long to get around to reading this book. She’s not your typical widow nor your typical chaplain.
3. Alfred & Emily – Doris Lessing (07 Nobel Prize Lit Winner)
4. Poppy Done to Death – Charlaine Harris – This is one of the books in the Aurora Teagarden series. Anything written by Ms. Harris is hard to get at the library and a lot of the Aurora Teagarden books were out of print and are in the process of being re-released.

I did finish reading Alice finally. It’s the biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth (Teddy’s oldest daughter and quite a character). I also read The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling and The Duggars: 20 and Counting! By Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. Honestly, I will read practically anything, as evidenced by my double-stacked bookshelves.
Sunday is knitting group at the big mall. I am planning on getting there early so that I can score a parking spot in the garage and not get attacked by shitty drivers. The only bad part about our meetings that fall on Sunday is no Chick-Fil-A. I have no clue at all what project I am going to take because I finished the big brown veteran’s scarf the other night and I am over halfway done with my holiday scarf which I am crocheting using the sparkly white Wool-Ease. It reminds me of freshly fallen snow glistening in the winter sun. I don’t do holiday knitting or crocheting, so I can pretty much make whatever I want to.
On my ipod:
1. Uh Huh Her – especially like Dreamer and Not a Love Song from their latest cd Common Reaction, the whole cd truly rocks.
2. The Killers – Human
3. Shontelle – T-shirt (this song has a really catchy hook)
4. You Found Me – The Fray
5. Kanye West – Love Lockdown and Heartless, I am really loving his new album but all of his cds are really good
6. Gavin and Stacey - I love this show from the BBC. Why does the BBC put out all the cool shows?

Where Did the Weekend Go?

My sister left for the airport this morning. There is also a slow steady cool rain slamming the east coast. I don't know why it always has to wait to rain until the day I have to leave to drive home.
I was playing around this weekend and my ideal MacBook Pro is $2300 ish. this includes adding the remote, making it 4gb of RAM and 320 gb hard drive and adding the special airplane power charger in. Because if I am going to upgrade I might as well get what I really want and I still have a $400 computer claim coming to me from my Insurance claim last Christmas that I hadn't used yet. I would also like to state for the record that Mackie still works perfectly, she just has a nearly full 80 gb hard drive and the older operating system. I am 97% sure I will go ahead this and buy it in December when my bonus is paid out and this would be the first fancy thing I have purchased since I upgraded my career. As i pointed out to Sunshine last night, I would rather have shiny electronics over a couch any day. who can resist a speedy, reliable laptop with a BACKLIT keyboard?
I am not really looking to my 3.5 + hour drive back home. Traffic is usually better on Sunday then it is coming down on Friday night or the eve of a major holiday. The dogs are fussy this morning because it is raining and they can't play in the backyard and because my sister left and they know I will be leaving soon too.

P.S. The scarf count is 4 for the weekend.

Black Friday

It's just after 8:27 am ET and I have officially survived Black Friday. I set my cell phone alarm and my sister and I drove down the block to Target which was opening at 6 am. Neither one of us really had "have to get" items, I mostly wanted to go for the novelty of actually being able to go to Target at 6 am since I am an early riser. Here is the breakdown:

Target Stop 1 - They win the prize for fastest checkout, most civilized crowd and they give you a map showing where the "hot deals" items are. Purchases included:
1. deodorant (i was almost out)
2. August Rush on dvd for 5.98
3. Cars - for my sister - 11 ish
4. Padded envelope
5. Small box
6. Jelly Bellies
7. Secret Present for Sunshine

Linens N Things Stop 2
1. Fiestaware gusto bowl
2. Fiestaware salad plate
3. Byo 15 inch laptop case - it's so bright and cheery and it will be perfect for Mackie the Second which I will buy when my bonus pays out in Dec.

Books A Million Stop 3 - received free tote bag
1. Secret Present for Sunshine
2. Anne of Ingleside
3. French Pressed - one of the Coffeehouse Mysteries

Panera Bread Stop 4
Hey, I needed a bagel! I was hungry

Dunkin Donuts Stop 5
My sister hates bagels so I used a coupon to buy her donut. I also ended up with the world's nastiest latte and the world's cutest little coffee cup ornament

In other non-shopping news, I finished two scarves for the veterans. We also delivered the turkey and fixings to my mom's church's program for shut-ins without spilling turkey all over the trunk of my mom's Toyota Rav 4.

Afternoon Update:

The Book Rack Stop 6
My sister and I went to this local used bookstore because I had seen a bunch of commercials for it on HGTV. I ended up buying two more books. It is one of the larger and cleanest used book stores that I have been to in awhile.

I also forgot to mention that I finally made the Trader Joe's Cornbread mix yesterday for Thanksgiving. It turned out so nice and moist. Even Mom was impressed with the mix.

And Miles to go...

I hate holiday traffic. It sucks a big one. Driving to Charlotte sucks a big one and I have tried three different routes now.
Now that I have vented, onto the good stuff:
1. Load #2 of laundry is now in the dryer. this means I might have something clean to wear over the holiday
2. Mom has fixed the V in the Victory scarf.
3. I love my new North Face purse
4. Free wi-fi at my parent's house
5. My mom bought me a 2 liter of Diet Mt Dew, what a lifesaver after the holiday traffic
6. My doggies and my sister (she had no delayed flights, how lucky!)
7. The IKEA Charlotte now has a light up IKEA sign, so hopefully that means it is getting closer to opening?
8. Two whole glorious days off work. YAY!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving! I promise I will have an update after Black Friday to break-down how much I ended up spending.

Shimmer

This has been a hectic weekend. Saturday, I ended up going to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, which was really awesome. I loved all the lasers, and pyro and the platforms and all the stage effects. The musicians were really awesome and you could tell that they were really passionate about their performance. I would definitely go to one of their shows again. I will probably end up a couple of their cds.
I was able to mail off three scarves for the Knit Your Bit campaign @ the National WWII Museum. It worked out well that way because the only box that I had left would only hold three scarves. The post office was a zoo so I ended up using the automated postage machine for the first time, which is really great if you have a small, normal package to mail.
Today, I went to the 11:15 am showing of Twilight. I am very pleased with how the movie turned and I will probably end up going to see it a second time in the theater. I have read the entire Twlight saga and I am pleased with how it transferred to the big screen. Hopefully, they will do a sequel, but that would only be good if they could get the other actors on board. It was also cool to figure out where they used certain songs that I had heard on the soundtrack prior to the movie. I loved Edward’s house and his bedroom. It was so cool and I really wish that I had his cd collection. I would talk more about the movie but I would hate to spoil it for anyone that would actually be reading this blog and wanting to see the movie.
I finally finished the knitted shawl from hell this weekend, so I ended up starting up some more veterans’ scarves out of some Vanna’s Choice yarn.
Anyways, this week is Thanksgiving week so it will be crazy because I am driving down to my parents’ house and my cranky sister is going to be flying in for the holiday so hopefully she doesn’t have any delayed flights.
In between all of that, I have been reading and crocheting mostly.

Monday

Sunday ended up being a pretty uneventful day. I went to Starbucks and read the morning paper and then ended up going to Target to buy a couple things that I had forgotten to buy when I was there on Friday night.
I finished my scarf that I made out of the Mission Falls 1824 Wool in Purple #024 that I had purchased on Saturday morning. It’s just so soft and a rich deep purple, that I just crocheted it up so fast. I think I am going to make the sushi wallet next from the kit that I bought at A.C. Moore Friday night.
I am really excited because I purchased gas for $2.09!!! That is awesome for my area because we have some of the highest gas prices in the nation. I put in ¾ of a tank for only $22. It just makes it so much more manageable.
I also baked another loaf of cranberry orange bread. I know it’s not fat free but it is a seasonal item so I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. Plus, I had one last foil loaf pan that I needed to use up because I when I purchased the foil pans they came in a 3 pack. I plan on making the cornbread some time this week or maybe next weekend. I also got to use the cake tester and the mini spatula that I bought at Crate this weekend.
Music of the Week:
1. Twilight soundtrack – OMG this soundtrack rocks. I can actually listen to the entire cd without skipping a track. Such a rarity for me and I think the songs were excellent choices for the movie and fit in well with the series
2. The Magic of Lang Lang – I really enjoy Lang Lang’s style and it was the perfect cd to listen to after finishing his autobiography earlier in the week.
3. Songs of Joy and Peace - Yo-Yo Ma and Friends – Technically, this is a holiday cd but I think you could honestly listen to this cd year-round.
4. Heartless single - Kanye West – Love Kanye! I really like this single and it has catchy words and a nice beat.
It was really hard picking music to listen to in the car this weekend because I had purchased 3 cds in one weekend and they were all awesome. It was budgeted though because I had felt like I was in a music rut recently and listening to the radio really annoys me because it is always talk radio on my way to work in the morning and every station has like 20 songs that they always play so it gets boring for me.
I’ve started reading Charlaine Harris’ Aurora Teagarden mystery series. I don’t know what I am going to do when I run out of her books to read. I have read all of her Sookie, Lily and Harper series, plus her two non-series books and so Aurora was the one series I hadn’t read yet. I’m not reading them in order either because I just went with the two they had at Borders when I was using my coupon. Usually between Borders and Barnes & Noble, I can complete a book series. People always ask me how I find the time to read so much and I have two explanations. One, I am a fast reader. I have tried to read slow and it just doesn’t happen. Two, I make the time. Honestly, I read every day whether it is 30 minutes or 3 hours (on the weekends). If it’s something you love to do, you can make time for it, even it is just a little bit every day. Books + Yarn + Music = My Bliss. I could do a books of the week list but then I would have like 20 books on the list and then I would have to confess to how much I actually read. LOL. Reading is Sexy (and fun).

Monday Update:
I did end up registering my shiny new Starbucks gold card. I had forgotten what my Sbux user name was so i had to call Sbux customer service today and they were so friendly! Anyways, now I am all registered and life is good. Also, I had to go to the library after work because I ended up reading all the books I purchased this weekend. Does this mean I need to get out more? I couldn't help it that they were all so good that I didn't want to stop reading them. :)

P.S. SQUEEEEEEE!!!!! The Twilight movie comes out this week! Finally!

Fierce!

I bought Project Runway Season 4 on DVD this weekend and I have been saying fierce! a lot without even realizing it. It’s such a fun word to say.
It has been a stormy weekend. It was pouring a ton Friday evening after I got off work and people tend to drive like idiots when it is dark and stormy, so I didn’t do as many errands Friday night as I normally would have.
Saturday morning I slept in until almost 9 AM, which is a big deal for me. I went into the big city to go to a LYS to get a skein of yarn for the Starbucks & Yarn swap. I don’t want to say what kind just in case my spoilee reads this before the package arrives. I went to the Whole Foods next door and ended up getting a couple of Christmas presents for friends from their Body section. I also went to Quail Ridge Books & Music, which is this really awesome independent bookstore. I ended up purchasing two books from them and I just find it really refreshing to go to their store and browse through their selection and their staff is really nice too.
After my trip down indy-land I went to the big-a** mall. I needed to pick up some Christmas presents at Crate & Barrel which I HEART very much. I made it to the mall at 10:30 so they hadn’t been open very long and it was already hell. I am so over holiday shopping. I told my mom that I was ordering everyone else’s presents off the internet. I did order her an extra set of Denise cords and an extra 13 inch tips for her Denise circular set like she wanted. My dad is getting a gift card to BN because that will make him happy and I’m not finished with my sister’s yet, but I did buy her some goodies at Crate today.
But, I did get a box at Crate so I was able to mail my swap package off because Target was out of the tiny sized boxes when I looked Friday night. I was really proud of myself because my only purchases at the mall were lunch at Chick Fil A and my Crate goodies.
Then I came home and packed up my swap goodies, mailed them off and then went to BN to look for a magazine for my Mom that she had asked me to find and I lucked out because they had it.
This evening in between the rain storms, just as the sun was setting there was a really fierce rainbow, clear as day, that spanned the whole sky and it was the coolest thing in the world to see because it was so natural and you don’t always get to see the full rainbow and Sunshine and I have this thing about rainbows. Unfortunately, I was out shopping sans phone and camera, so I didn’t get to take a picture.
This week is going to be exciting. Twilight the movie comes out and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I am looking forward to seeing my sister and having time off from work but the drive down to Charlotte is really going to suck with all the traffic.
While I was at the yarn store, I fell in love with Mission falls 1824 Wool and ended up buying three skeins of this deep purple to make myself a simple scarf with. It is so soft and I just loved the color and the price is nice. I am almost finished with skein 2.
I’m not really sure what my plans for Sunday are. I know I will make my pilgrimage to Starbucks. It’s more fun going now that I have my Starbucks Gold membership. I will probably also be reading some of the FIVE BOOKS that I purchased this weekend. Oops. At least I share my books with my friends (well the trust worthy book lovers only). Reading is the perfect activity for crappy weather and I had some coupons this weekend to use at Borders so it was all good.

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

Today is Sunshine's Birthday. Happy Birthday Sunshine! I'm not really sure if he still reads my blog but I'm going to say happy birthday anyways. Unfortunately we live in two different time zones, otherwise I totally would have bought him some birthday coffee at Starbucks tonight.

I'm at Starbucks again. the peppermint mocha twists are horribly addictive, more so then the pumpkin spice because the peppermint mocha is like liquid chocolatey goodness.

I also downloading a lot of performances by Lang Lang, the famous pianist. He has his own Adidas shoes! They are really cool and if they weren't $125, I probably would have bought them on sight. Anyways, I had gone to the branch library last night to return my one week books. Lang Lang's new autobiography was on the shelf and I was like why haven't I heard of him before? Anyways, I stayed up really late last night reading that book and The Soloist by Steve Ayers which is about a reporter's unlikely friendship with a cellist. As a result, I ended up spending like $10 on Lang Lang and Yo-Yo Ma downloads through itunes. I really do love all kinds of music and I tend to listen to classical music more in the winter time.

I also found two more of Charlaine Harris' earlier books that aren't in a series, so I will have those to read this weekend. I am also really close to finishing a scarf I made with some yarn I received in the Starbucks & Yarn swap earlier this week.

It's supposed to be rainy this weekend. yuck. that just means I am going to get soaking wet when I am running all my weekend errands.

Musings from the bottom of a Starbucks Cup.

Sunday Musings.

I ended up having the busiest weekend that I have had in a long time. The weekend ended with knitting group at the mall and a trip to Crate and Barrel. I didn’t end up buying anything there because pay day is this coming Friday but I did get their holiday catalog and I saw a couple of things for Christmas gifts that I will pick up for this coming weekend.
This morning I ended up finishing the Covered Bridge Red shawl, so now I can go on hiatus from shawl making. I started Veteran’s Scarf Number 2 just before knitting group and ended up finishing it when I came home from knitting group. I will finish Number 1 once I have my mom diagnose what I did wrong so that I can start it over and do it correctly. It has an open work V on each end of the scarf and would look really cool except for I think I have a counting problem or something. I ended up starting Number 3 while I was listening to vintage episodes of Lime N Violet. For Number 3, I am using Plymouth Yarn Encore in a light heather gray. I had impulse bought it at my LYS the other weekend because I liked the color and it was only $5.50 or something like that with a lot of yardage. I brought it home and I was basically like what in the hell am I going to do with this? Well, then I decided that it would make a nice Veteran’s scarf because gray is a nice neutral, manly color. I am using my size L Brittany hook so it is working up fast. I think I have about 12 inches done right now. I will probably have it done by the end of the week.
I’m not really sure where the time has gone this weekend. I wasn’t really home Friday night, Saturday was a blur and Sunday flew by because I had my Sunday morning Starbucks run and then knitting group. Let me state for the record that I enjoy getting up early on Sunday morning for the sole purpose of going to Starbucks and drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. It is my bliss.
I am really fortunate because I don’t have any holiday crocheting this year. We finished the prayer shawl quota for the nursing home Christmas project early so I don’t have to hurry to make those. I mailed off my scarves for the Special Olympics projects and the Red Scarf Project. So now, I think my holiday crocheting is going to be making scarves for the Veterans as part of the National World War II Museum (in New Orleans) Knit Your Bit campaign.

Monday Evening Update.

Work was lame today. My boss had her head stuck in the clouds and people were taking "vacation" so it was ask Shoegirl Stupid Questions Day. However, it was all worth it when I came home and found a Starbucks and Yarn swap package on my doorstep. Yarn, candy, a cup cozy and a new Columbus city mug. How exciting is that! I have a pic of the loot on my Flickr page. I was so excited, I ended up going to Starbucks and getting a Peppermint Mocha Twist that went straight to my big butt.

I am also halfway done on Veteran's Scarf Number 3. I might have to have a finishing party for myself sometime this week.

I am going to have to dig through my bookcase for a book to read. I have read my library books all ready but I have a hard time finding epic novels of 500 pages or more to read that don't put me to sleep. More pages = lasts longer.

No More Rain Please

Yesterday was the perfect Fall day and then this morning I woke up to a downpour. I had such a busy day yesterday. We had our department picnic at the lake. There was games of catchphrase and cornhole (a bean bag toss game). Chicken and steak kabobs. Chocolate mousse cake. Accountants might not make it out of the office much, but when we do, it’s in style. Later that night I went to an Asian Bistro in town with some co-workers and we saw the movie W. Disclaimer: All of us who attended the movie were liberal Democrats. The movie was good, Oliver Stone movies never disappoint me but this movie was 2 ½ hours and I think it could’ve been at least 30 minutes shorter. It also didn’t help that we went to the 9 o’clock showing.
I am still on a Charlaine Harris kick. This week I read the first three books in the Harper Connelly series, which was also really good. I just wish her books didn’t have such a long waiting list to read them at the library. I also finished reading Gregory Maguire’s A Lion Among Men which was very good. I really hope he writes another one and my vote is Glinda for the next one.
I finished the Colonial shawl. I am almost finished with skein 2 on the Covered Bridge Red shawl. This is Homespun, of course, and the shade of red does reminded me of the faded red covered bridges back in my home state of Iowa. This will be the fifth shawl I’ve made since I last visited my Mom back in October. We have all the shawls made for the nursing home Christmas party but we are making extra in case they have more residents or in case they need to give some to church members.

Weekend Tales

Saturday Tales

Last night was Halloween and I had some kind of stomach problem and so there was no candy eating at all. I stopped at Target after work to get some medicine and I had purchased a bag of peanut butter M and Ms which was a good thing because I ended up with 5 little trick or treaters knocking on my door at 8:15 pm ET while I was watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show on dvd. Since they said trick or treater and were actually little and dressed in costume, I gave them half the bag of candy. My sister had 0 trick or treaters and my parents had 68 but they live in a subdivision.
Yesterday we also had a sample sale at work for charity, so I finally got a light pink t-shirt with the company logo on it for $5 (these shirts always sell out first) and then I got two more shirts for my cousin’s little girls little K and A-dolly. Their shirts are mini-versions of mine and are so CUTE!
I had a 40% off coupon to Borders so I was able to buy the new Cobain Unseen book. It was nostalgia for me because I was only 14 when he died and we used to listen to Nirvana all the time and tape their music videos at sleepovers when I was in middle school and early high school. I have worn out my In Utero and MTV Unplugged copies of their cds and my sister was able to find me used copies over the weekend because Target was selling Nirvana cds for $15 and I’m not paying $15 dollars for CDs that came out in my YOUTH!

Sunday Tales

I have started the second skein on the Colonial shawl which I accidently called the Barrington shawl in my previous post. I know own all the Sookie Stackhouse books except for the most recent one that came out in May because it is in hardcover still and all my copies are mass market paperback so I thought that would be weird.
I made Pumpkin bread and Cranberry Orange bread from the mixes I bought at Trader Joes. They turned out really good but the mixes aren’t for the same size bread pan so my Pumpkin bread is really tall because I didn’t realize how many different sizes of bread pans there was. I might have to buy some more of the Cranberry Orange mix because it was really good. The pumpkin bread is good too but it has a LOT of cinnamon in it for my taste. Both of them are really easy to make and I have a cornbread mix that I will probably make next weekend.
I also finished reading The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story by Julia Reed and two of the books in Charlaine Harris’ other series, Shakespeare’s Champion and Shakespeare’s Trollop which are in the Lily Bard mystery series. I had checked those two out from the library because those were the only two Charlaine Harris books on hand at the branch closest to me.
I made a little trip to the local LYS yesterday. I got a Noni bag pattern, another crochet Cabbage Patch Kids vintage booklet, a Brittany K hook, a skein of Plymouth Encore in light gray and a skein of Cascade 220 Heathers in a nice deep red. I was hoping to find yarn for the Starbucks and Yarn swap but I didn’t find anything that just jumped out at me and I am always afraid that I am going to bump into something and get smothered in an avalanche of wool there.
I mailed off Sunshine’s birthday present (even though it is like a couple of weeks early), the Special Olympics scarves, the shirts to K and A-dolly, the Project Runway 5 Pool yarn for the winner, and the baby hats for the Knit One, Save One campaign which sponsored by Save the Children. The local post offices have cut out or cut back their Saturday hours but luckily the one near Whole Foods is still open on Saturdays until noon.
I bought the world’s cutest reusable lunch sack at Whole Foods yesterday for $1.99 and they have a new reusable grocery sack that Sheryl Crow designed that is really pretty so I bought that too. They are good for yarn storage in a pinch and pretty much anything that you would need to haul around.
I still don’t feel 100% great, but I still managed to salvage this weekend and get a lot of things done.

Quick Thoughts

For Halloween this year, I am going as myself. I will do boring things like payday errands and hole up in my recliner with a book, some yarn and maybe even some candy.

I am almost done with skein one of the Barrington shawl. I re-read Twilight this week and now I am reading A Lion Among Men - the third Wicked Book. I really love it. I am not disappointed at all. Gregory Maguire definitely ranks high on my list of favorite authors.

It has been a long week and I am just glad that tomorrow is Friday and Jeans Day and Pay-Day all rolled into one. I also need to work on my swap packages this weekend. I am going to attempt to be creative with them. We will see.

Crap Weekend

Well, it all went downhill Saturday afternoon. Mom got the call from Aunt D that her Yorkie Molly had passed away so that was very very sad. I am comforted that Molly is no longer in pain but I feel for my Aunt D because Molly was her companion and she got Molly the summer her middle daughter died which was 12 years. My aunt D says she is going to get another dog but they are waiting until next summer so that she can train the dog when it is warmer out (aunt D lives in Northern Iowa which equals cold).

Sunday night my sister called with the news that she had fried her wireless router so she was all worked up about that and I had to arise from my peaceful slumber at 11:43 PM ET to find my old wireless router manual with the tech support number so that she could call and find out if it was really fried. Did I mention that this was our third wirelss router? First one died in a thunderstorm. The second one was stolen in the robbery. The third one was fried this weekend. My sister is cursed with electronics.

I finished the Tudor shawl and started one with the Barrington Homespun and I crocheted so hard this weekend that I finished the Barrington shawl Sunday afternoon. I only have one bag of homespun left from my Mom. Oops. I should have let her give me more because I thought four sets of homespun (3 skeins each) would last me until Thanksgiving. Oops.

I also finished my library books (I only checked out 2 books and a cookbook). I also finished the last Sookie Stackhouse book that I had purchased at Borders. I ended up staying up late Friday and Saturday night just because I could.

I love Saturdays

Apparently it rained last night or something because my car was all wet when I walked out to it this morning to go to the library. that could explain why I have been sneezing all morning.
So I am having much more success at the library today. I found three new books that I actually have been wanting to read and I have discovered their free wi-fi. BYOM (bring your own Mac). I am really also stoked about Apple the company's donation to the anti-Proposition 8 campaign in California.
I don't really have any exciting plans for the weekend. Reading and crochet, my two most favorite past times. I started skein 2 on the Tudor shawl this morning. I had started it once I had finished the Ocean shawl earlier this week. I also picked out my yarn for the Knit Your Bit Campaign (sponsored by the National WW II Museum in New Orleans). I participated the first year and didn't realize that it was annual so I missed last year but I am going to participate this year. The people in charge of this program are really cool and the scarves are given to veterans, so it's a win-win situation.
I have been doing an intense amount of reading lately. October=read lots of vampire books month. Borders was having a special sale buy 2 get 1 free on certain books, so I picked up three more Sookie Stackhouse books which are highly addicting. I am also re-reading Twilight in anticipation for the new movie in December. I will basically read anything I can get my hands on to a certain extent. i am also reading a lot of Anne Rice books too. 28 years and still a bookworm. It's fun though. I even have an unofficial book club at work, so I have been passing around books from the stash. I still need to just break down and buy another bookcase, like one of those shorter three shelf ones. I definitely would have the space because I have not acquired any actual furniture since I moved out here.

Good Things

1. The free Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks via a customer survey I received on Monday
2. Charlaine Harris. She wrote the Sookie Stackhouse books which spawned the True Blood series on HBO. I am currently entralled by both. She has such a good sense of humor in her writing and I just love her vampire books and honestly, when I finish those, I will start reading all of her other books because I just enjoy her writing so much.
3. My dad's DVD-R that he had saved the True Blood episodes on that I watched this weekend since my apartment doesn't have a tv.
4. My Mom's yarn closet. She sent me home with 9 skeins of Homespun so I could make more charity shawls. I actually love doing this. It is how my brain calms down and I can focus and not fidget and worry about things not in my control.
5. My Mac. even though she gave me the evil "your hardrive is almost full, quit downloading tv shows!" message this weekend, she is a loyal computer that has never let me down.
6. My little Yorkies. I got to play with them all weekend at my parent's house. I really really really want a dog. Sniff sniff.
7. Trader Joes. I love their frozen food aisle and their employees that don't mind helping me pick out what to eat.
8. Cher. I made a mix cd with my favorite songs and it really peps me up in the car when I am sitting in gridlock traffic.

I had a lot of fun at my parent's house. The only thing that I dislike about going there is that the traffic BLOWS. There are always people not paying attention and getting into wrecks or getting pulled over for speeding and just too many people on the interstate, but one of my co-workers told me about the road less traveled so I am going to try that way when I go down for Thanksgiving. My mom made me spaghetti this weekend so that was really awesome and we got to go to the Pizza Hut buffet on Sunday because that is my dad's idea of cooking and I also had a cherry vanilla bagel at Panera's. I am honestly not that hard to please, I just like specific things.

Sunny with a Side of Cool

The sun ended up coming out on Saturday but it was a chilly 48 degrees this morning when I went on my bagel run at the Panera by my parent's house. I also had the joy of filling up for $2.81 a gallon. In comparison, i filled up at home on Thursday for 3.28 and thought that was a bargain.

Since I had recently purchased Anne Rice's new book Called Out of Darkness, I decided to purchase her first book about Jesus because I have only read her vampire books and her Sleeping Beauty series. I just really like all the detail and imagery in her books.

I was also bad and bought more magazines this weekend. Rolling Stone has changed their format so now they are shiny slick magazine style but I like the new format because it seems like they have more comment. Plus this issue has some really good articles in it. I also bought the new issue of Real Simple. It has a recipe for pumpkin cheesecake in it that I think I could actually make! Maybe. I am really on a pumpkin kick right now but I think that is because it is distinctly a fall flavor.

I have started another shawl out of some Homespun Ocean. I found three skeins of this when I went to the Wal-Mart across from Whole Foods out of boredom a few weeks ago. There was only three skeins left and I haven't seen this color in any of the other local craft stores so I hope I don't run out.

This weekend was a lounge weekend. Mom and I went to Target, Michaels, and Linens N Things. Linens N Things is going out of business but they don't have stuff marked very low yet. All the sheets and towels and Fiestaware were only marked down to 10% off so I didn't really see the point of buying anything yet.

Rain and Mist

So there was three or four car wrecks that slowed down my drive to Charlotte tonight. Apparently people can not drive in rain, fog or mist and darkness. It was just so frustrating because all of these wrecks were less than an hour from my parent's house. I was just glad that I finally made it there in the pouring rain just a tad bit before 9 PM ET.

All this bad weather is still driving my allergies crazy. there is all this extended family drama going on too that somehow manages to find us on the East Coast. It has just been one of those weeks where you are really glad when Friday finally rolls around (except for the long drive part).

I was glad that I had bought the new Ben Folds Five cd the other night because it gave me something nice to listen to during those parts where I was only going 5 mph.

I have been quite the bookworm this week too. I brought the new Gregory Maguire book to read. I also finished reading Anne Rice's book about faith.

VENT(I)

Apparently, I worked out extra-hard today on the elliptical machine because I ended up with this really hawt heat rash. My other allergies are bothering me and I ran out of allergy medicine yesterday, so since today was pay day, I forced myself out of the recliner and drove over to Target to get some more. I was very bad. They had season two of Dawson’s Creek for $14.99 and they had a temporary price cut on the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice so I bought myself another copy since I ended up “giving” my first copy to my mom that I bought earlier this summer. I had made a trip to BN earlier in the day after work to buy my copy of Gregory Maguire’s new book about the Cowardly Lion and the new Jon and Kate Plus 8 book and the holiday Vogue Knitting. I had coupons and daddy’s membership discount so I ended up buying a copy of Up the Down Staircase which I had been wanting to read since I think Sunshine told me about it and it sounded good and it’s a book my sister would read too.
I stopped at Wal-greens and finally found the Tide To-Go Minis! They are like the Tide To-Go stick only smaller and about the size of a tube of lipstick. I let out a teeny tiny squeal when I saw them because I have looked everywhere for them and none of the other stores I frequent had them yet. I feel so old!
We found out that my Aunt D’s dog, Molly is dying. She is a Yorkie and is Haley’s real dog-cousin, their mothers were from the same litter and we bought them the summer that my cousin died. They are 12 years old and Molly has never left my Aunt D’s side and so she is not taking this news very well because the vet says that Molly only has a few days left. I think my Aunt has called my Mom up in tears almost every day this week. It makes me very sad because then I worry about Haley getting old too although she doesn’t have all the health problems that Molly has. It is another reminder that we are not immortal.
I am working on making squares for my Simple Modern Squares afghan, which uses my Homespun scraps and orphan skeins. I started it up because I needed a break from the knitted shawl from HELL. Knitting that shawl is like watching grass grow so I am not very motivated to work on it right now.
Since I am having a gloom and doom day, I decided to make a Cher mixed cd to listen to on my way to my parent’s house this weekend and my crappy errands that I have left for tomorrow. It has just been one of those weeks when everything just becomes an event.
I get to register my Subaru and don’t even get me started on the STUPID TAG FEES which ARE WAY HIGHER THAN ANY STATE I EVER LIVED IN! Let’s just say I could have bought another Coach purse at the outlet mall for the same price.
I think the diet pop is making me crankier. Is that possible to go through a sugar withdrawl? I am going to put that on my list of things to ask my health coach about. She loves it when I have questions for her (honestly, she does!).

Library Fun

So I got my library card for the local library today. It's part of a branch system, but it is THE TINIEST LIBRARY! Seriously, there is no way this library is going to fulfill my demand for large amounts of books but I did find a couple to check out and the librarians there are really friendly and they have free internet so it's not a total disappointment. I guess I am just shocked because I live in a town 3-4 times larger than any of the towns I ever lived in and those towns all had huge libraries.

I came home from the library and like ten minutes later there was a knock on my door and I was really surprised. I opened the door and it's three chicks working the Obama campaign! What a pleasant surprise! Anyways, the cool part is that apparently I can early-vote at the mall. How genius is that!

I also ventured out to Trader Joes this afternoon. I bought some more of their frozen penne pasta with the spicy sauce and some of their peach flavored juice. I have become more adventurous with my food and drink choices since moving out here.

Other than that, not much is going on. i am still working on the knitted shawl from hell. I did vacuum and organize a little bit today. I am also working on reading my little stack of books.

I also got to talk to Sunshine this week! Yay! It is always a pleasure to talk with someone who can carry on an adult conversation and doesn't have kids screaming in the background.

It's Official

So I am officially a resident now. I got my NC Driver's license today and registered to vote in NC just in time to meet the deadline. It was gloomy all day but it didn't rain until I got in the car this evening and halfway to Starbucks it just started raining cats and dogs, and I was like crap!!! because i just had flip flops on. I ended up doing my waddle walk into Starbucks so that I didn't slide across the tile because these flip flops are hella old and don't have much traction left on them. The DL photo by the way, is not too bad. I am having a bad hair day but it looks more appealing than I expected.

My plans this weekend are to hole up with my yarn pile and crochet until my hook snaps. Well, maybe not quite but close. Hopefully it doesn't rain all weekend because I really don't need more problems with allergies.

Spinny

I feel like this whole week has been spinny. Work has been crazy. There is a hint of fall in the air, finally. I have actually worked out twice this week so far at the work gym (it's a miracle). I have also discovered a radio station that plays music and it plays music i like and a good range too!

Since I finished the pink poodle shawl, I decided to unearth the shawl i'm knitting. I have made a lot of progress on it this week. I made it to skein number two and I think I am at least halfway finished.

I would like to say that I have exciting plans for this weekend, but I don't. I am waiting until the weekend after this one to go to my parent's house. That way it will be more spaced out because i probably won't go again until the big holiday-palooza known as Thanksgiving.

Saturday is for Shopping

Saturday’s big event was knitting group but before I could go to knitting group I had to go to the post office and mail the Nicholas Sparks books back to my sister. I also mailed off the scarves my mom and I had made for the Red Scarf Project and I mailed a couple of paperbacks to A. She finished the Harry Potter series last week and she is having a lot of drama right now.

I am also excited because I found out that there is a new book in the Wicked series by Gregory Maguire coming out. I think it comes out on the 14th because there is a couple of other books that are coming out then too that I want to read.

I ended up buying some Halloween hot cocoa at Crate and Barrel. There is some throw pillows that I really like there but they are like $36 each and I don’t have a couch so I resisted buying them. I also resisted some of the kitchen gadgets because I just don’t cook enough to justify the cost. I went to Sephora and bought a really nice lipstick and some black nail polish by OPI, which only took two coats and it has a nice shine to it. I think I was in a girly mood when I walked into that store or something. After I got back from group I went to Old Navy and bought two new t-shirts because they were having a 14.92 sale and these shirts were 2 for 14.92. They are regularly $15.00 a piece, which seems insane to me because these were plain long sleeved t-shirts. I looked around at AC Moore and Michaels but I just didn’t find anything I wanted to use my coupon on.

I made a lot of progress on the Pink Poodle shawl at group. I will probably finish today after my morning Starbucks. Knitting group was so much fun. We always have lots of laughs and all of us have our areas of expertise so it’s nice knowing that if you were stuck on a project you could have some one to help you out.

So Sunday has been a lazy day. I'm not really sure where the day has gone. I did go see a movie. I saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and I LOVE IT... Omg. There was so many things in that movie that reminded me of my upper high school and college years. I found out afterwards that it is based on a book, so I will have to get a copy of that. I think I am two rows away now from finishing the Pink Poodle shawl which is good because I am getting sick of looking at this yarn. LOL.

Books are my Bliss

Last night I finally meet one of my all time favorite authors, Nicholas Sparks. He is one of the only authors that my sister and I both read and like. He also is a local author and my sister has met him twice on tour in Tulsa and she told me to show up two or three hours early. So I left work 30 minutes early and went straight over to BN. I almost didn’t find a parking spot. Apparently, people from all over the state drive to see him in whichever town he goes to in North Carolina. One of the booksellers told me that people started coming in at 10 am for a 7pm advertised reading.
So what is a NY Times best-selling author like? He’s very nice. He posed for countless pictures and signed thousands of books. He just sat there smiling and chatting and sipping Mountain Dew. When it was finally my turn, I approached his table and I seriously thought I was going to melt like the Wicked Witch when I shook his hand and told him how great his books were. I am convinced that he is a literary rock star and the people’s writer. He is really smiley too and it’s a real smile, not a fake one.
Even though I spent three hours in line, and I was tired and hungry, it was all worth it. I had Saffron my itouch with me, so I could surf the web and look up his books when my new found friends in the line and I couldn’t remember a certain plot point or wondered which book came out first. There were moms and daughters and grandmas and even a few guys. I had so much fun. I would definitely go to another one of his signings again.

Meeting authors and poets is one of my favorite things. I love to meet the person behind the page and find out what inspired them.

Beyond books, I am still working on the Pink Poodle shawl and I have no clue what I am going to take with me to knitting group. I think I am just going to end up hauling the Pink Poodle to the mall with me. I made a new cozy for Saffron out of the Red Heart Eco Cotton in Denim. This time I made it a little smaller so it fits her nice and snug and she won’t slide out of it like she did with the other one.

I discovered a new show this week too. It’s called Spain On the Road Again and it follows Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow and friends on a culinary road trip through Spain. It is so fun. The first episode features the windmills in la Mancha and cheesemaking and all kinds of local cuisine. Mario and Gwyneth have a really good banter and watching it is like being a road trip with your friends. It makes me wish I had a Mercedes Benz convertible because that’s what they drive in the show. I keep hoping that they will play some Coldplay on the show.

Peeking Out of My Cubicle

After practically living in my cubicle all week, month-end hell is over with, so yay! How did I celebrate-- with a skinny latte and a shiny new Nine West purse (i got one of the new ones 50% off!!!!) The purse is big and teal and I love love love it. It is a statement bag and it goes well nicely with my collection of black shirts.

I joined the Starbucks and Yarn swap on Ravelry this week so I am excited about it because it involves two of my very favorite things.

Last night I bought the new Nicholas Sparks book The Lucky One and stayed up late reading it (I can't stop in the middle of his books). It was really good and he will be at my beloved Barnes and Noble on Friday so I can't wait to see him because my sister has met him twice.

I am on skein number two on the pink poodle shawl. I have also made three coffee cup cozies this week too.

I'm excited because it's October and that brings Halloween and the potential for cooler weather. LOL. This weekend is also knitting group at the mall weekend so that will be a lot of fun. I always like seeing what everyone else is knitting or crocheting. Plus, my new purse is so big I could stick a tiny project in it!

P.S. Sunshine, I miss you!

Follow Your Bliss

Saturday Day evening:

So today was my little phone chat with my guru or health coach. Today was the call where we came up with my plan. This is a service provided through my work and we get a discount on our insurance premiums for using the service. Some people are skeptical about it but this actually works for me. My guru is really nice and she doesn’t sound like a drill sergeant and I told her about all my bad food habits and caffeine dependency. She gave me numbers and structure so I am ready to go. I feel more confident about this attempt to eat healthier because this is a series of gradual changes with the ultimate goal of breaking old habits. We will see how it goes in a month when we have our next chat. She is even sending me a little goal sheet for my fridge! I think I like the fact that we just talk on the phone. I don’t have to go to meetings or a special facility.
I went to my neighborhood yarn store today. I bought a Brittany L hook (yay!), two crusty issues of Vogue Knitting and a vintage Cabbage Patch clothes leaflet (all in crochet). That was my post birthday mini-splurge.
I am almost done with skein one on the Boston Rose shawl. I bought some Vanna yarn in Pink Poodle today so I started another shawl with my new hook. My mom says that the pink shawls are going the fastest at church so
I also made my Saturday stop to Whole Foods and the post office. I mailed off some Halloween books to little L.
Last night at BN, I bought a copy of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz which has won several big awards including the Pulitzer Prize. I picked it because I wanted something to read that wasn’t something I would typically pick and it just sounds like it will be a great read. I am also re-reading Wicked and Anne of Avonlea. I like to rotate around when I am reading.
My sister’s evil roommate from hell moved out today. She has found a new host family and hopefully my sister will be happier now. She is coming out here for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year thanks to some miles that my Dad needed to use before they expired.
Sunday Morning:
It is also doing the rainy thing here again today.Paul Newman has passed away which is very sad because he was a great actor and philanthropist. I had just purchased a bottle of his Caesar salad dressing at Whole Foods yesterday too.
I went to Starbucks this morning and this time, The Way I See It featured on my cup was highly appropriate.

The Way It See It #268
"Music is what I always turn to when I'm feeling a certain way. It's my reason for everything." --Josh Groban

I have been dreaming of a new purse too. I love my Coach purse that I got back in early August but I keep seeing everyone and their dog carrying the same version of mine in the same color and that is annoying me so I have started using Coach purse #1 again.

I am also really tired of having to drive to four different gas stations just to buy gas. I had to do that yesterday because I was close to running out and I had been putting it off for this exact reason.

28 is great!

Not really but one of my co-workers commented that I was being pessimistic today so I thought I would use a peppy title for my post.

My actual birthday was seriously uneventful. For the first time in 28 years I did not have a road trip or party for my birthday, so I ended up eating leftover frozen pizza and watching Sex in the City the movie (so good--Carrie is my favorite of course) and episodes of The Cho Show.

I am almost finished with the cotton candy pink shawl. i think I have 2 inches to go and then I can start working on the Boston Rose shawl.

I read Dewey:The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron this week. It's a true story and it takes place in Spencer, Iowa so it was a fast read for me because it contains talk about two of my favorite things- libraries and Iowa.

Speaking of books, the professor sent me a copy of her poetry book! What a wonderful surprise. I am totally reading it this weekend. I think I was happier to find that in the mail box then I was to get the $20 birthday check from my Grandma yesterday.

I also think I should get extra brownie points for spending 40 minutes on the eliptical machine at work on my birthday! Too bad that I have drank two pumpkin spice lattes this week. I don't even want to know how long I would have to work out to work those off. It has been chilly out and I need tasty caffeine.

The Birthday Week Begins

So on Friday I took a half-day of vacation (OMG, I know!!) and drove down to my parent's house. Prior to leaving town I finally got my oil changed at Jiffy Lube which was hectic because i was dumb and went at noon but they were fast and friendly. Jiffy Lube is kind of pricey but I'm new to the area and wanted a known company. Plus they gave me coupons and a discount and they had the new issue of People magazine. Now the Subaru is happy again and she has special high mileage oil because we are over the 104,000 mile mark. Knock on wood!!!

Speaking of mileage, I will be turning over the big 28 on Thursday the 25th. Scary! I had my mom cut my hair on Saturday because it was getting way too long and think I lost ten pounds of hair in the process. My parents gave me my birthday presents. I got Made of Honor, Atonement, Private Practice Season 1 and Grey's Anatomy Season 4, two kitchen scrubbies, a yarn holder and a yarn tote that my mom crocheted out of Red Heart Black and Mexicana and it possibly my new favorite bag. You can hold a lot of junk in this!

Mom and I went to a local quilt show on Saturday. I ended up buying a cupcake pin cushion and a pink pig tape measure. Cuter than words. Mom also ripped out the Jayne hat and helped me re-make it. We modified it but it still has the Jayne vibe to it.

I downloaded more shows on itunes, thereby securing Apple's future. I also finally bought a wall adapter for my itouch so life is easier now. I also bought the movie Young and Heart which is this great music documentary.

I am almost through the first skein of the Cotton Candy pink shawl (homespun, of course). I would have made more progress but Mom and have been out and about all weekend.

All over the Place

I'm on a quickie business trip again. I really hope we don't have to come back next week. I like the people but all these quickie business trips in the middle of the week are getting old. The best part is being able to watch my Bravo shows at the hotel. I think I am having a cranky day because my brain hurts and I had to get up early and we rode down in my boss's stick shift car and she's a jerky shifter!!!!! It just makes me further appreciate my automatic Subaru. Subaru really is Love. There is just so much going on in my head right now. I just can't seem to shut my thoughts off.

The Montana Blue Sky shawl is finished. I am almost done with another Special Olympic scarf. I am almost out of the white yarn so I might have to pick up some more this weekend to be able to add the fringe on.

I ended up buying a North Face backpack to haul my laptops around in. I tried to find a rolly laptop bag but I couldn't find any for a decent price that passed the curb test and that would fit under an airplane seat. Normally I don't like backpacks, but I tried this one on and it just fit perfectly. I even had the salesman load it up with a bunch of junk and I didn't feel like I was being pulled over backwards or that it was cutting my shoulders. It has some nice padding in it and a MILLION pockets. My sister is super jealous and offered to take it when I get tired of it. LOL. It's like two different shades of blue.

I am actually taking half a day of vacation Friday afternoon. I just kind of felt like I needed a little break. It has been a long month. Work has been really busy and there is a lot of drama with my sister that is stressful. I didn't want to take a whole day because I feel like I should be saving up my vacation for God only knows what and I hate missing a lot of work at once because it always seems like you get slammed with emails and crap when you're out of the office. I just wanted to have a little extra time at my parent's house this weekend and we are celebrating my birthday early since my birthday is on the 25th and it falls during the week this year. I need to get an oil change too before I head down because I didn't get to do it before I left on this business trip because it was raining really heavy and I just didn't want to mess with it then since I was cutting it short on time since I left work a little later than I planned.

Update: I was ranting and I forgot to brag about the fact that I worked out for 30 minutes over lunch and I didn't pass out and die and I wore my new Nikes that I bought because I didn't have any work-out friendly shoes. I am trying to make this a routine. I used the eliptical machine with the arm movement thing and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Friday

It's Friday! Yay! I love Fridays the best. Today we went out to eat at a Chinese buffet that is my co-workers favorite. I like the sweet biscuits. I'm not an Asian food person but I am sociable so I tagged along. Sunday is knitting group so that is exciting because I missed group last month due to stupid work.

Right now I am hooked on this newer British show called Gavin and Stacey that just started airing on BBC America but is also available on Itunes which is how I am watching it. It is hilarious, and I loved the music in the first episode so I am currently downloading episodes 2 and 3 as I speak.

Gas is going up again. Yuck. Stupid oil prices and hurricanes!

Right now I am re-reading Anne of Green Gables and I just bought this interesting memoir by Michael Gates Gill titled How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Like Like Everyone Else. I also received the 75th anniversary edition of Esquire so I am reading it too but it is taking awhile because there are a bazillion articles and profiles.

Still working on the shawl and I am hoping to make a couple more Special Olympics scarves this weekend.

Humid

Dang Apple! I just bought an itouch this summer and then I go to Apple.com and they released a new pimped itouch and new Nanos in wild colors that remind me of what the mini used to look like. there's a gray nano and a purple one and lime green and i am having serious Apple envy right now. the new touch has built in speakers! and cheaper price! the 32 gb i think is the same price that I paid for my 16gb. I am seriously annoyed about this right now but I will get over it. I will have to stop by the Apple store this weekend and pet them.

So the business trip is going well but I am of the opinion that most of our projects could have been completed via conference calls. It was nice to put faces to the names. I am also enjoying the free hotel hot breakfast and Bravo tv, I'm just a tiny bit sad that we aren't staying wed. night so that i can watch Project Runway's new episode.

I have finished skein 1 of the Montana Sky Blue shawl and started on skein 2. For some reason these skeins were wound really tightly so when i tied on skein 2, i pulled out yarn barf twice. This is the last of the Homespun that I bought on sale over Labor Day weekend so I will probably have to go and get some more after pay day. This time the 15th falls on a Monday which sucks. i like it better when we get paid on a Friday because then you have it for the weekend and the first paycheck of the month seems to be when my more expensive bills fall.

I don't have any major plans for the weekend other than knitting group on Sunday! Yay. No work interference this time. I hope all the humid weather goes away and the tropical storms/hurricane stuff. I would just like some nice, cool, hoodie and jeans weather, please.

On the Road Again

So tomorrow morning at o-dark-thirty I leave for a business trip with the newbie, my boss and my boss' boss to go to Charlotte. This should be interesting. I would love to just chill in the back with my itouch but I have a feeling my boss is going to talk NON STOP!!! We are staying at hotel brand that I don't usually stay at so I hope it's not gross. When you travel as much as I do, you have every right to be picky and have favorite hotels. LOL. But it does have tv, free wi-fi and free breakfast so my basic needs will be met. I will be traveling with two computers! I am bringing my mac and the stupid work laptop so that I can use my mac in the evenings. I really need to work on finding a rolling briefcase that is still small enough to fit under an airplane seat. I saw one I liked at Best Buy but it was over a foot deep and if i took that on a plane with me that would be like the main carry-on!

I finished the deflt Homespun shawl Friday night. I started another one made out of the Montana Sky Blue Homespun and I also made a Special Olympics scarf on Saturday and I am half-way through Special Olympics scarf number #2.

I also talked to my health coach Saturday night. It's a free service through my company's insurance and if we signed up for the program we get like a big credit on our insurance premium. Anyways, I am supposed to write down what I regularly eat for the next two weeks so that she can figure out my plan of action. She's really nice and she sounds like a peppy cheerleader on the phone. We will see. I'm sure I'm going to notice some eating trends. I'm not trying to look like a toothpick but I know i packed on the pounds this summer and I would to get rid of those since the weather is starting to cool off and it will be easier for me to make myself go walking. We will see. I'm kind of curious to see what my daily caloric intake is because I have no idea.

Happy September!

I caved and went to Wal-Mart Saturday. I bought a wooden pre-assembled drying rack because my sister kept all of ours when I moved. Target didn’t have any wooden ones that were assembled and Mom needed to refill some prescriptions so stopped at Wal-Mart. I also stopped at Mc Donalds Friday night on my way to Charlotte because it was easy to get to and get back on the highway and traffic was SO AWFUL that there was no way that I was going to be able to wait until I got to my parent’s house. I left straight from work at 4:40 PM ET and did not make it to my parent’s house until 9 PM which is ridiculous. I left today (Monday) at 2PM ET and made it back at 4:45 PM ET which was a personal best. The traffic was much better and I went the speed limit because there was cops out like crazy.
Sunday night I finished the Candy Apple red Homespun shawl, my mom thinks that it is the 10th shawl that I have made this summer. This morning before I left, I started another one , this time in Homespun Delft (which is a painterly shade of blues and a little bit of white). I have at least 6 inches done on it.
My Kiehl’s order arrived on Saturday while I was gone but it was waiting on my doorstop for me when I came back. I ordered a bottle of their new Aloe Vera Bipgradable Liquid Body Cleanser, which is made out of 100% biodegradable ingredients and it is in partnership with the lovely Brad Pitt so 100% of net profits go to JPF Eco Systems which supports global environmental initiatives. It’s very light feeling and it makes you smell really good without it being overpowering. I will definitely be ordering another bottle. I love ordering from Kiehl’s because you get three free samples of your choice with your order and they are great for air traveling and for little stocking stuffers.
I popped into Books A Million on Saturday and I ended up buying a copy of March by Geraldine Brooks (which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize). She tells the story of Mr. March , the father from Little Women, and what happened to him while he was away in the Civil War. I think it will be a quick read and I will probably take it with me on one of my work trips this month (or that is my intent, if I don’t use it as my bedtime reading).
I figured out when I came home this evening that I had downloaded FIFTEEN SONGS and one tv show through itunes this week. I am blaming it on my internet binge and the most recent copy of Blender magazine because I was reading the magazine and I would see a song that looked interesting so I would download it. I guess you could say my music dry spell is over.
Mom and I watched a lot of movies and HGTV and occasionally the news for updates about Hurricane Gustav.
I had a lot of fun this weekend and it turned out to be a highly productive one, I just wish it would have lasted a little bit longer. I can’t believe that September is here already and soon it will be my birthday (the 25th) and then we will be thrust into the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s holiday craziness season. I am looking forward to this humidity leaving and having the opportunity to wear jeans and my hoodie without sweating to death.

Holiday!

I fell off the wagon hard. so far I downloaded the latest episode of the Cho Show and after reading the new issue of Blender magazine, I ended up downloading about 10 songs on itunes. I bought a book, eight skeins of homespun and probably four magazines. the only thing I have not been able to find is a rolling laptop case that is small enough to fit under a plane seat and non dorky. Carry around a bunch of work crap and the huge work laptop is killing my shoulders and i can't use backpacks any more because i feel like they are pulling me backwards and it still doesn't help the shoulder thing.

Mom and I hit a bunch of the Labor Day weekend sales, hence, the shopping mentioned above and now we are just chilling watching Jane Austen movies. Right now we are watching the BBC version of Mansfield Park.

I started another shawl, with some Candy Apple Homespun that is a really nice shade of red and I really like how it is turning out so far.

I was naughty and had a mango rasberry swirl smoothie and a chocolate chip bagel from Panera for breakfast this morning. I did take the dogs on two walks around the neighborhood today so hopefully that balanced things out.

Traveling!

This weekend is Labor day weekend and I should be at home rounding up the yarn and the Jane Austen movies. it's been kind of a long week and it will be nice to have a little break. My ditzy boss told me this morning that I will be traveling down to Charlotte four times this month. seriously! One of them is right two days after Labor Day but it's little 2 and 3 day trips during the week so it's not that advantageous for me but if the company wants to pay to put me up in the hotel and all that goodness, then I will happily go along with it.

I finished the Gothic shawl that I started this weekend. Last night at Michaels I discovered Bernat's new glow in the dark yarn which comes in tiny skeins but it's pretty cool so I bought a skein and made a cozy for Saffron the itouch.

My delft blue Red Heart arrived yesterday so I am excited because I can work on the Special Olympic scarf this weekend. I also received my Emily Dickinson print (ordered from the Emily Dickinson Museum) so now I just have to find a frame to fit it so that I can put it up over the manual. It's very tasteful looking. Now I am just waiting on my Kiehl's order but it didn't ship until Monday and I am not really expecting it until after the holiday.

Victory!

I finished the quilt block and it looks pretty good! I know it’s not perfect, but I think I did well considering the fact that until Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t even figure out how to thread the bobbin correctly. I packed up the sewing machine and drove it over to the local sewing machine repair store and told the lady my whole sob story. She helped me thread the bobbin and showed me how to fix the tension (the tension knob had been knocked around during all my moving this past year). I took it home and was able to finish the block in under an hour. I really need to buy a table so that I can have a place to set up the sewing machine without having to move stuff off my desk to sew.
I made a stop at Jo-Ann’s and they are carried Dritz branded Project Runway sewing notions now. It was really tempting but I didn’t buy anything because I didn’t really need any of it. I can’t wait until season 4 of Project Runway comes out on DVD. It will be fierce!
Speaking of fierce, I was at Barnes and Noble and discovered Mia Tyler’s new book, Creating Myself: How I Learned That Beauty Comes In all Shapes, Sizes and Packages, Including Me. It was so good that I started reading it this afternoon and read until I finished it. I really need to buy another bookshelf. I have two five shelf bookcases and they are packed with books. My DVD rack is also completely full too. I did watch a couple of episodes of The Tudors last night.
I was able to finish another dishcloth yesterday as well. It’s made from the Sugar N Cream Stripes too, but it’s the blue-green stripes that remind me of the ocean colors. I have about six inches done on the Gothic shawl. I really like how this colorway looks. I am using the M hook on this one because Homespun is easier to crochet with the larger hooks.
Yesterday morning when I was at Trader Joes, I discover their store brand lip balm. It’s spearmint flavored and you get three tubes in a package for about the same price as one tube of my all-time favorite Burt’s Bees. I wasn’t planning on going there this weekend but I needed mail off my car insurance payment and there was this giant festival downtown which is where the closest post office is to me but there is another post office that is over by Trader Joes and Whole Foods, so I decided that since I was already in the area it made sense to go over there. Sunshine will be amused to know that I finally discovered where Wal-Mart is located. The funniest part is that it is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM WHOLE FOODS!!!! Now, let me explain how it is possible not to notice this. Across the street from Whole Foods is this strip shopping area that is at the bottom of the slope. So Wal-Mart is at the bottom of the slope and this street is really busy but since it was early Saturday morning the traffic was light and I just happened to notice what was actually down at the bottom of the slope. I didn’t go there but at least now I can say that I know where it is. I just think it was funny that it was right under my nose the whole time because I go to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods at least once a week if I am home during the weekend.

Flying By

This week has been crazy. It really nice that I don’t have any place to go this weekend because I know this coming week is going to be rough because it’s month-end and the fiscal year end is drawing near.

Last weekend I discovered Trader Joe’s oatmeal and cranberry cookie dough. It is packaged into 16 little dough balls and smells like heaven in the oven. I have so much fun every time I go there just reading the little stories on the packages and the employees are laid back and friendly. I still love my Whole Foods too because they have my favorite croutons and dip and the trash bags I like.

I scored The Tudors Season 1 on dvd at FYE’s big dvd sale this week for only $15 and this normally retails for between $30-40. I think I am going through a Brit Lit phase again. I re-read Jane Eyre recently for the first time in ten years and then I found the BBC/Masterpiece Theatre edition on DVD and loved it. I also watched the new versions of Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion and the biopic Miss Austen Regrets. I also bought Smart People on DVD with Ellen Page and Sarah Jessica Parker and it is hilarious! I am happy that I bought that one too.

I finally read Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks (LOVE IT) just in time for the movie to come out next month(?). I also finished reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. This book is definitely the most dark and twisty book in the series but I was happy with the ending. I also read Looking for Anne of Green Gables: The Story of L.M. Montgomery and Her Literary Classic by Irene Gammel and White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson & Thomas Wentworth Higginson by Brenda Wineapple. Both books were excellent and make me want to visit Prince Edward Island and Amherst. I have been reading like crazy lately and so that’s why my crafty progress has been slower.

The sewing machine drama continues. I still can’t figure out how to thread the damn bobbin so I am going to go to the Singer store on Saturday and plead for help. I have the new needle installed and threaded so I am so close. I have over a foot completed on the knitted shawl but I am using two strands of TLC Amore and I knit really super slow so it is taking me forever. Plus, I am also halfway done crocheting a dishcloth and I started crocheting another shawl out of Lion Brand Homespun in Gothic (which is the deep purple that I really like). I haven’t made much progress on the tote bag I started crocheting in Virginia Beach because I have to alternate stitches every row and I keep forgetting which row I am on. I might be ripping back and marking it off as I go on a Post-It.

Breezy Days

I honestly don’t know where this weekend has gone. I ended up watching several movies, including The Notebook and Lars and the Real Girl. I also watched Sex in the City Season 1 today which sounds like a lot but the first season only has two discs. I have watched the entire series several times but I still laugh every single time and I can’t wait until the movie comes out on DVD. I have finished the Prairie shawl, the blue shawl and I am halfway done with the purple shawl that I started yesterday. It sounds like a lot but it’s a really simple pattern and I can crochet really fast when I am watching a movie or TV shows or if I’m with a big group of crocheters or knitters.
I should have been sewing but I have a small problem. I managed to thread the machine and find a bobbin and then I look down at the machine to thread the needle and I realize that there is NO NEEDLE!!!!!! It was like after lunch and I thought I would practice a little so that I got all the kinks worked out before I started to actually sew the block. So, I am just going to wait until next weekend because I have already been to Jo Ann’s this weekend and for some odd reason I just don’t feel like going out again today. Then I had to call my mother and admit how much of a spaz I am so that she could tell me what kind of sewing machine needles I needed to get because there is like a bazillion different kinds and they are all for different purposes. I think she got a good laugh out of it. Hell, I was laughing too just because it was so typical of something that would happen to me.
I am really excited though because I was reading the new issue of Crochet Today and they had mentioned that Red Heart had a new kind of yarn called Red Heart Eco-Cotton blend which is made up of 75% recycled cotton. I thought that it would be cool to try but I didn’t seriously think that any of the craft stores would have it in. Much to my surprise, AC Moore had some so I picked up a skein in Denim. It’s like 3.39 for 145 yards. There was even a free leaflet for it that has a washcloth, a hand towel and a soap holder. I think I am going to make the soap holder because it looks really cute and I have all this free hotel bar soap.
Yesterday, I had this sudden cleaning kick and I ended up reorganizing my yarn stash and my knitting and crochet books. The yarn has been consolidated more but I still want to buy some cube like shelves so that I can actually see it on display and know what all I have. The books are all on the shelf and group together by category. I am not motivated to organize the magazines, because I just have a ton of magazines in general and most of them are the reference type.
Last night I started reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I still need to finish Breaking Dawn too. I am really bad about having several books going at once and switching back and forth depending on the mood I am in. I haven’t read Jane Eyre in about ten years, so it’s like reading it for the first time all over again.
Musically speaking, it’s marching band season again. YAY! I think I am going to go to a couple of football games this season just to hear what the local marching bands sound like. One of my favorite drum corps, Phantom Regiment won the championship this week and my other favorite drum corp took third place so I was overall happy. I got to watch clips on You Tube so that was cool. I’m seriously thinking about buying the DVDs when they come out so that I can see all the shows in their entirety. I have also been listening to Coldplay, Alanis Morrisette and the Mamma Mia soundtrack. I think Violet Hill is my favorite song off the new Coldplay album so far. As for Alanis’ new cd, I actually enjoy the whole cd and it is in heavy rotation in the Subaru. The Mamma Mia soundtrack is just fun peppy music to listen to and I have always been a fan of ABBA. I was actually listening to it yesterday while I was cleaning and organizing things. I came to the conclusion that I need to hang some artwork on the walls or something because since I spent the entire weekend in my apartment for the most part, I realized how boring the walls are and they are painted that “apartment white” color that just doesn’t inspire me that much.

Here

I'm not sure how this happened, but the temperature managed to drop a few degrees today. I think I even felt a breeze walking out of the office this late afternoon. The second awesome this is when I got to Barnes and Noble, I could hear the marching band practicing and I think I let a little tiny squeal of joy out.

I did managed to find another skein of the blue homespun so I can finish the blue shawl and I am almost finished with the second skein of the Prairie shawl that I started while I waited to find more blue. Hopefully I don't run out of the Prairie. I have not worked on the Summer tote much. it uses a G hook and it alternates between single and half double crochet and so it is very slow progress.

I also have ambitious dreams of threading my sewing machine this weekend and making the quilt square this weekend for the quilt raffle at work. Lol. This could be interesting, but I have a back-up planning of taking it into the local Singer store if I can't understand the manual. I won't be going to see Mom until Labor Day weekend and we are supposed to turn in our squares on the 22nd, so that is why I am sort of paddling without an oar. I really want to learn though. My mom is a sewing goddess, so I think that somewhere inside of me I must have some repressed sewing talent. If this works out then I would like to make a little kitchen curtain and a big curtain to cover my bedroom window that faces the disgustingly bright street light.

Anyways, I am home for the whole weekend. it should be fun, I think. I have mountain dew and soy ice cream so I should be good to go.

Just Beachy

I woke up this morning and my breakfast arrived and it was huge! I forgot how big the portions are when you order room service. It also came with the world's largest Heinz Ketchup packet, so i am totally taking that home with me. Anyways, I took a picture of the whole thing because my sister likes vacation food pics.

I am nearly finished with the blue shawl but since it is a little wider than the last one I made with Homespun I am almost out of yarn and I'm not sure that it will be long enough and I know I won't have enough to add fringe. damn. I am going to hunt around for another skein this week. Hopefully AC Moore will have more of it because when I originally bought it, they only had three skeins left when I originally purchased the yarn. Oops! Once this is finished I am going to start a bag made out of kitchen cotton. It's a free leaflet pattern that I got at Hobby Lobby while I was visiting my parents the other weekend.

Since I have time to burn before the reception I am going to go back to the beach. I already checked the weather report at weather.com and there is not supposed to be any sprinkling or rain going on today.

Road Trip!

I woke up this morning and fell off the purse wagon hard. Yesterday at work, one of the other female accountants told me at lunch that I should go to the outlet mall in Smithfield because they have a Coach factory outlet store there. Smithfield is just south of Raleigh so I decided that I would take a little detour on the way to Virginia Beach. If there is such a thing as purse heaven, this would be it. I bought a brand new "Carly" purse with the purple strap (to go with my new Converses). I basically bought this purse for cheaper than my first purse that is like half the size of this one. I definitely plan on coming back. they have the scarves and the matching wallets and the keychains in all the styles and colors and shapes. I just wish that a Coach purse would have qualified for the tax-fee holiday but I got such a deal on this purse I can't complain too much because it was around 50% off the original price because it was on sale. The nice thing about buying at the actual Coach store or the Coach outlet stores is that they give you the little brown bag to store your purse in when it's not in use. They had a Fossil store there too so I was able to buy a new wallet for my sister. It is so cute!!! She needed

I'm not sure how long it took me to get to Virginia Beach but it seemed like it took awhile. The only bad thing about road tripping solo is that you don't have someone to chat with on the way there. I think the trip home will go a little faster because I will be driving straight there.

I stopped at the Virginia visitor's center and got a free "Virginia is for Lovers" bumper sticker and a map (just in case). I drove through the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel and went over the bridge. That was interesting. The only other time I have driven through a tunnel like that was when I drove through the mountains on my way out here. I stopped at First Landing State Park and spent twenty minutes on the beach before it started to rain a little. So I packed it up and headed for the hotel. The cool thing about the bay is that you can see all the barges off in the distance and the Cape Henry Lighthouse. I'm not too sad though. It has been a long week and it's nice to just hang out in the hotel and relax. I am going to finish the blue shawl and probably read some more of Breaking Dawn (soo worth the 3 1/2 wait at the store).

the best sign I saw on the road trip has to be at this Baptist church in Virginia. The quote on their sign out front read "Wal-Mart isn't the only saving place." Unfortunately, I was driving and I couldn't snap a pic. I had to smile because I haven't been to a Wal-Mart since I left Oklahoma. I was also excited to see the Welcome to Virginia sign because it meant I was almost there.

Anyways, tomorrow is the wedding reception and then I will head home to the Triangle. I can't believe that summer is almost over.

Breaking Dawn!

The wait is finally almost over! I am really mad because a certain bookstore claims they dont have my reservation. I think it's because the chick entering it had never done it before and she was a beyond air head. It just ticks me off. I wish they would give you some sort of confirmation number or something.So I am debating on whether or not to go yell at customer service or stay in one of the few chairs left in the cafe. I did not wear my fish nets today. it is like humid and 100 degrees, so i settled on the black sparkle shirt and my black pants.

the other fun thing about today is that I bought a pair of gray and purple satin double-tongue Converses at Lady Foot Locker today and they also qualified for the sales tax holiday. Hell yeah. I am wearing those right now as I speak. I went to the mall looking to find actual clothes that fit which was a total joke and most of the stores are switching to fall and it is too hot to wear long sleeves right now.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Virginia Beach. YAY!!! I am stopping at the big outlet mall on my way that is home to the Coach Outlet store. I want to look and see how much (if at all) cheaper they are then buying them from the regular mall. it is hit and miss with outlet stores sometimes. Too bad a Coach purse isn't part of the sales tax holiday. They should be. Every woman needs at least one really nice expensive purse.

It’s The End of the World

Not really but the end of the month is awful in the corporate accounting world and we are not playing with a full team this week so it kind of sucks a lot. I am focusing on the prize at the end of the week. Friday night I am staying up really late so I can go to the Twilight Prom at Barnes and Noble and buy Stephenie Meyer’s latest book in the Twilight series – Breaking Dawn. I am honestly excited about this book. I will probably be stoned for saying this but her books appealed to me more then Harry Potter as far as my personality goes. Plus, she has excellent taste in music and I love the playlists that she created for each book. Anyways, you are supposed to wear your dress up clothes so I am going to dust off one of my gothy party outfits. Shudders…. Yes I do have gothy type wear. I love wearing black and fish nets thigh highs. It’s not full fledged goth, just gothy. Plus, I am dying to see what people are going to wear or if they dress up because when they would have the Harry Potter release parties some of the outfits were as hardcore as attending Comic Con.
Then part two of the weekend begins when I drag myself out of bed and drive up to Virginia Beach for some fun in the sun and a wedding reception. I don’t have my outfit yet but I am planning on going to the mall Friday night before Twilight Prom so that I can find something. I live in black t-shirts and business casual. I don’t really have a lot of in between outfits because I tend to buy clothes based on what I will wear the most times.
I am halfway through the second skein of the Cobalt Homespun. I made this one a tad bit wider then my other Homespun shawl so I am a little paranoid that I won’t have enough to finish because I bought the only three skeins that AC Moore had that day. Oops. It is the brightest prettiest blue though, so I had to have it.
Since I spent the weekend at my parents house it was a big movie weekend. Mom and I watched:
1. Juno
2. Penelope
3. Definitely Maybe (April was my favorite girlfriend and I loved all the Nirvana references and Jane Eyre books)
4. Pride and Prejudice (The BBC Edition with Colin Firth – he is the only Mr. Darcy in my book)
5. And MAMMA MIA!!! (I love love love ABBA! And Colin Firth! Plus, it had Amanda S. from Big Love)

I am feverishly trying to use up my yarn stash and it didn’t help that Mom stuffed a bunch of yarn in my Subaru. Mom has discovered the art of knitting socks and as soon as she makes it through her first sock she is going to attempt to show me how. Did I mention that she has 6 socks started? We were trying out different types of dpns and weights of yarn to determine what would be the ideal.

Soundtrack of the Week:
1. If Ever – Foo Fighters
2. Free Fallin’ (Live) – John Mayer
3. Chasing Pavements – Adele
4. Heart Songs – Weezer
5. Dancing Queen – ABBA
6. Anything played on the sound system at my corner Starbucks

I would list the books on my bedside table, but I would be typing all night. Currently I am finishing up Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin and I finished The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch while I was at my parents house. I do make an honest attempt to read at least one book a week. I would read more but working and crocheting slow down the reading pace a little bit.