IHSW, TUSAL and a Winner!

Wowzers! Thanks so much for the lovely, uplifting comments on my photo. I know...it's taken forever for me to post one but deep down at the core, I am a shy, private person. As a kid, I hid from the camera. Most of my childhood friends have pictures of me with something in front of my face (book, hand, hair) to prevent the photo.

Natalia said I have to post more photos so I am posting one more...super cheeser of a photo.

***

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW) wasn't as successful as I had hoped. I did manage to stitch quite a bit on Sunday but didn't finish the stocking. So close though. Here is a photo of how far I got.
I only have one small band of flowers to stitch at the very bottom and then to sew on all the charms and buttons. I am close! I adore the little village and the meadow. Look at all the little sheepies! So cute.

It's also TUSAL time. It's amazing how many threads I have in my jar already. All the orts are from Sadie's stocking and the perle cotton sure does take a lot of space in my ort jar.
But that's all I managed to do. I didn't even do any finishing.

***

Yesterday was the last day of the Year of the Bunny. It was a good year. I found clarity. I found my smile and myself. I made some wonderful blog friends. I shed some of my shyness and most of my sadness. I realized I am happy to be single and even happier to make friends instead of dealing with an endless string of first dates.

I have great hopes for the Year of the Dragon. New friends, lots of fun, good health and a someone to love. We'll see what happens. You never know.

Now to the winner of my surprise. The winner is Catherine! Catherine, I think it's your lucky weekend. Go buy some lottery tickets! Please email me with your address. I hope you don't mind waiting a bit because, uh, I never got to finishing this weekend and next weekend is already going to be insanity. I'll make it worth the wait, ok?!

Well, that's it for me tonight. I need to veg with the tv a bit before hitting the hay. I've got a busy couple of days at work. I don't even think I'll get much stitching in!

Until next time...

I'm Pleased To Meet You

I always said that the most smile inducing photos are the ones that capture the real you. When you aren't really aware of the camera and you're living in the moment.

I suppose that in the midst of all the flash problems he was having, he captured me in mid-laugh.

I've been writing in this little blogspace for going on seven years. This is the first time I've posted a photo of myself. It's nice to finally meet you.

Much love,
Valerie

Busy Weekend and a Surprise

Hello my lovelies! Hope you all had a nice weekend. And a quick welcome to my new followers and commenters. Things have been pretty busy of late and I haven't had a chance to get back to everyone to say thanks and welcome the newbies. Thanks for stopping by my little blogspace.

The weekend was great! I took an extra day off so I had a four day weekend and go back to work in the morning. I will have a lot of work cut out for me. Lots to get done in three days.

I managed to try a few new foodie places this weekend. No wonder the scale is yelling at me. I tried Nopalito after wanting to for the past couple of years. It was tasty and fresh trendy mexican food. I'd go back but it didn't fulfill that craving for artery-clogging refried beans loaded with melted cheese and Spanish rice. Hmmm, this is probably why the scale is screaming at me. I've been having really unhealthy cravings lately. Chicken and waffles anyone? The next foodie place I tried was Bar Tartine for brunch. I had buckwheat speatzle with trumpet mushrooms and fried eggs. Yum! I really need to try this place out for dinner. And lastly, Tanpopo for ramen. Probably the best ramen (except for NY) to date. Ugh, I think I better load up on fruit and veggies this week.

I watched two movies. The Iron Lady which was fantastic! Seriously...don't walk...run and see it. I didn't know very much about Margaret Thatcher but the movie was enlightening and Meryl Streep seriously did a fantastic job. She was very deserving of her Golden Globe this past weekend. I also saw Hugo in 3D which was different than I expected but very good all the same.

In between all the eating and movie watching, I fit in a 4-mile hike around the city and nursed a sore back. I also went to a restorative yoga class that then did wonders for my aching back and made me realize I really need to start up with the yoga already. At least with the restorative classes until I can build up the stamina for the 90 minute vinyasa yoga classes. 90 minutes of fast paced asanas can really kick you in the ass when you're out of shape.

Today, I went to a photo shoot. I had bought a deal for the hell of it and with the intention to get some new, fresh photos of myself. I don't really like having photos of myself taken so this required a lot of self peptalking. But I did it and I am hoping I have a couple of decent photos. I'll find out in a week. But I think the little ego boost was being asked out on a date by the photographer. I'll wait to see how the photos come out first! But it was nice to just be asked out at random in a real life situation instead of the annoying online dating scenarios I've placed myself in.

In between, I've stitched some on Sadie's stocking and it's really coming along. I'm hoping to be finished by the end of the week or the weekend at the latest.
I don't feel like taking it off the scroll bars to take a full photo but that will come soon with the finish! The bottom section is my favorite with the little village and the tiny sheep grazing in the meadow.

***

So I said that when I reached 200 followers, I would have a little surprise to celebrate and ring out the Year of the Bunny which ends on Sunday. Here is a terrible photo of a sneak peek.
The prize will be a finished pincushion and floss tag which will happen when I finish the above. I stitched iStitch Sew a Brown Bunny last year hence the 2011 already stitched on it but will leave it in since 2011 was in fact, the Year of the Bunny. It's been stitched on 40 count Antique White (or Ivory) Ricamo with CC Secondhand Rose and Cocoa Bean. I'm hoping to use IHSW to do the finishing but please don't be upset if you are the winner and it takes me a bit longer to finish and send it on. I will find a couple of other goodies in the stash to send along as well.

To enter:
1. Please comment,on this post only, saying you want to be entered;
2. Be a follower or regular commenter;
3. Do not post about this on your blog as it's for regular readers and followers;
4. Tell me what your favorite candy is!

Easy Peasy! I will draw a name on Sunday, January 22nd after 5pm PST.

Ok, time to head to bed and prepare for a crazy end of week.

Until next time...

Owwww!

I've been feeling ouchie and low...
Kinda like this guy...

For being an "old youngish" girl, I've got a lot of back issues. Note to the younger generation...
1. For the love of all that is holy...lift with your knees. And don't lift more than you can by yourself.
2. Try to limit crazy falls down multiple full flights of stairs to none if at all possible. Not like the six and counting of yours truly.
3. Don't hunch over your computer. I see you hunching...stop it!
4. Don't sit weird. Like sitting with your right foot under your left butt cheek. Don't do that. I see you...stop it. You'll regret it later.

Oh, I'm sorry...am I exuding 80 year old cranky old lady? I've been trying to ignore the ouchie back all of last week but it came to a head this weekend when I had to try and take it easy and ice and heat and lie down and rest. I don't have time for all that! I'm busy. Or I was...

I will say one thing...I have no idea how my friend managed to get that christmas tree up the stairs by himself because I about passed out trying to get that monster of a tree out of the building by myself (which I shouldn't have done with a back about to go out on me). I will miss the twinkly lights but oh my, the space...and the light...how I missed thee!

I am so excited to have surpassed 200 followers! Thank you so much! I really do appreciate you all reading my drivel and commenting. I read every one and they make my day full of smiles. Thank you so much! I better get cracking on my surprise now.

Progress on Sadie's stocking has been dress fill-in. *yawn* No photo today but I did finish the fill-in so it's onto the hem, legs, shoes and sheep! Progress photo to come soon!

I am hoping to slowly feel more myself and less ouchie, get into some gym routine and back to my happy social self.

Happy Monday folks!

Until next time...

Busy, Busy!

Hello my lovelies!

Can you believe I was off for 10 days and my apartment looks the same and I'm running around like a chicken with her head cut off?! Some things just never change. I do have to say that I had a wonderful time off from work and it was mighty hard to drag myself into work Tuesday morning.

In the last days of my furlough, I managed to:

~Go to the Walt Disney Family Museum and learn more about the man behind those fantastic movies I loved as a kid (who am I kidding, I still love them now!) and Disneyland. It was wonderful.
~Tried chinese soup dumplings which I'm still on the fence about.
~Saw The Artist which was fantastic and I recommend highly is you like classic films, the silent era and/or black and white cinematography. Loved it!
~Had a facial and was told by the estetician that I have nearly flawless skin and who was shocked that I was 36 because she thought I was 28. God, I loved that! I'd keep her if I wasn't so loyal to my Russian estetician who I've been seeing forever.
~Read a book...The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. It was a good read but I preferred The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose.
~Made a pot of soup.
~Saw My Week with Marilyn which I was pleasantly surprised over. Michelle Williams did a great job exuding the spirit of Marilyn and the insecurities she must have felt during her rise to stardom. Fantastic and I recommend this one too!
~Had a nice visit with an old friend who has the knack for making me believe the things I don't from other people. You know, the comments about being beautiful and having a lot of things going for me and being a good person. It's rejuvenating to hear and I've decided to listen for a change, hold it close to my heart and allow it to carry me through. I feel a little spring in my step and feel better than I have in ages!
~Saw The Descendants. Sad movie but well done.
~Met up with a friend who's starting a new relationship. I hope I imparted some good wisdom. "Don't change because they want you to. Change because YOU want to. Don't lose yourself. Be true to who you are." I'm hoping I don't lose another male friend due to female jealousy and insecurities but only time will tell.

So you can probably imagine that I haven't gotten as much stitching done on my furlough as I had hoped. And I did not start my Fairy Moon BAP on New Year's Day. I've decided to carry on with my stocking until it is done and I need to start a small project that a fellow stitcher was kind enough to lend me the chart for and can be my "carry around" project since I can't take the stocking with me anywhere. Once I finish the stocking, I'll start Fairy Moon and it will obviously have to be my "at home" project since it's so big!

In the meantime, the stocking seems to stitch up fairly quick and I am about halfway done!

I somehow need to find the time to put away Christmas and drag a tree down three flights of stairs! It's much more fun to put up decorations than take them down!

I noticed that I am about 6 followers away from hitting the 200 mark. I'm planning a little surprise for when I hit 200 followers and to also say goodbye to the Year of the Rabbit. The year wasn't how I had dreamed but it was a good year for me nonetheless and I'm incredibly grateful to put that terrible streak of bad luck behind me. It will be time for the Dragons to have their fun. So if you're not a follower, become one! I'll have a little surprise worked up in the next couple of weeks or so.

Until next time...