Dating and Stitching

Thanks for the nice comments on my last post. I'm definitely frustrated but I think it's just heightened by it being the hormonal time of the month and obsessively wasting time on the damn site. There's nothing for me there so I need to throw myself into other avenues of distraction like the gym and home projects.

Not all dating experiences have been bad. I made a new friend and that's a plus. I even had a guy tell me I look like a cross between Marisa Tomei and Mary Louise Parker. I consider that a positive thing! Mind you, the guy is dressed up like a pirate in his profile pics. I seriously have no idea what that is all about and really don't want to find out either! What a way to market yourself. Ahoy cute girl, come on an adventure with me and I won't make you walk the plank!

Today, I had a different guy send me an email that said, "what do you like to do for fun?". Period. I list all my fun stuff in my profile. Stop looking at my pictures and read my profile already!

Ok, that's it. I will stop talking about dating now. It annoys me. Oh, but I guess you all figured that out by now. =D

How about stitching? I can talk about stitching because I've actually done some. Last weekend was pretty quiet. I was a lazyass with the exception of Sunday when I dragged myself to the Park to partake in the Opera in the Park event.
It was a gorgeous day...just perfect to lounge around in the sun with a little picnics and a handful of friends. I did manage to get a funky sunburn because I didn't spray my SPF70 very well. Yep, they make sunscreen that strong and I still manage to get sunburn. I'm just happy I had it because otherwise I would have turned as red as a lobster! Remember how I said people look familiar because I've seen them on the dating site? Turns out I recognized a photo in the program as one on the dating site. That guy is an opera singer! So weird...I recognize people everywhere!

Anyways, on my lazy Friday and Saturday, I managed to finish the 7th Rule and stitch the 8th Rule in Christmas Rules! ANd I made a tiny start on the 9th one as you can see here.
I signed up for IHSW even though I have a pretty busy weekend planned. I am hoping to at least finish this 9th Rule. If you want to join in on the fun, go sign up on Joyce's blog!

The weekend arrives and it's probably good I have a busy one so I don't sit at home sulking on the state of my social life. I'm heading out with Claire tomorrow and we haven't decided what we're doing but should be fun no matter what. She has decided to crash in on part of my birthday getaway in a couple of weeks. It's been so busy lately that I haven't even had time to plan anything other than the rental but I think it will be nice to just do things as I go and be leisurely about it. I seem to pack things too full if I think and plan so I'm not. The plan so far is wine tasting, hiking, visit the beach, stitching, tapas dinner and hitting the quirky coffee shop and delicious bakery as much as I can.

Saturday will be an urban hike with my new friend to show him Coit Tower, the murals, the view and the cottages inset into the Filbert Steps. I wonder if he'll think I'm weird if I take a ton of pictures. Who's the tourist...him or me?! Sunday, I have my choice of Comedy in the Park or a Scavenger Hunt. I think the Scavenger Hunt sounds like a ton of fun and am leaning towards doing that. I've been lazy about the gym this week but I think I will make up for it with these Sat/Sun plans.

Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Until next time...

No Pouting!

Well, I never really caught up on sleep this weekend so I'm feeling a little quiet and lethargic. I guess that's what happens when you stay in the city into the wee hours of the morning, have very little sleep (again!) and then eat a ginormous brunch of french toast, bacon and egg (uh...food coma) and then walk an art festival in the sun for hours. By Sunday evening, I felt like a truck hit me. Thank goodness I had an extra day off because as it was, I spent the entire day in my pajamas watching NCIS episodes like it was the last tv show on earth and only ventured into the neighborhood to pick up lunch/dinner at 5pm since I never got my act together to go to the grocery store. I still haven't...I may starve to death in my apartment. Oh wait, I have an endless supply of popcorn. I'll be ok.

I did get a bit of stitching in though and finished the 6th rule and reached the halfway point on Christmas Rules. Yay!
Excuse the wrinkles. I don't iron until I'm completely done and I have this one all rolled up on an 8" qsnap.

I even got a little farther and am almost done with rule #7. I wonder if I can finish this in the next month or so.

I've been debating what to do with Drawn Thread's Almost Halloween. I haven't been very happy with it even though I am almost done. I followed the intructions despite my own hesitations and preference. The instructions call for using 1 strand of floss over 2 threads on 32 count. I can already hear the collective groaning. Exactly! The coverage is spindly and sparse and I am thinking of ripping it all out and starting over. I think it may just be the project to resurface on my little getaway at the end of the month. Something to work on on the deck or in front of the fireplace at night.

Hope everyone had a nice Labor day weekend! Tomorrow is Thursday already...wow, I can't believe it!

Until next time...

IHSW Update

So...I had grand expectations for the weekend. But you know what? They kind of fell flat. I was super restless as the work week drew to a close and that usually means that I flit about and waste a lot of time without getting anything accomplished. Does this happen to anyone else? It's like I can't relax and have all this pent up energy and if I have nowhere to go...oh boy...I become this restless, anxious, cranky mess.

I think this all came about because I spent the week with a work, gym, home routine all week with no social output. The gym is not social! I don't want to be talked to when I'm a sweaty mess. By Friday, I was ready to go out and have fun but had nowhere to go or anyone to go with. This is dangerous because I will troll on the computer and waste my entire evening without a stitch being accomplished.

I had stitching group on Saturday and was supposed to get tons of stitching in but I ended up being a social butterfly and then a sleepy butterfly after I ate my lunch. Note to self: pack lighter lunches for stitching group. Of course, the hostess is such a sweetheart, she wouldn't have minded if I had a little doze on her sofa. lol I did manage to finish the 5th rule on Christmas Rules so some progress was made albeit minor.
After stitching group, I met up with a friend for dinner and to see Breakfast at Tiffany's at the classics movie theater.

I spent Sunday exploring the city. I should have brought my camera but I always think about that after! I walked between Pacific Heights and Russian Hill in the search for cool glasses and a seafood lunch. I found some cute frame options at a fun boutique in Russian Hill. Glasses have been a frustration for me lately. I have a long, oval face and a skinny nose bridge but I like nerdy plastic frames because they are nerdy and are good at hiding the thickness of my hi-index lenses. It is impossible to find a decent frame! At least I have some options now. Now to decide and see if I can find them cheaper as I don't think I can afford a new pair with my budget at the moment. I had my heart set on a yummy seafood lunch at Swan. I hoofed it all the way there only to find out they are closed on Sundays! I settled back over to PacHeight and tried out Woodhouse Seafood instead. It was average and just made me sad that I missed out on Swan. I will have to save it for another day...that's not a Sunday!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Until next time...

Weekend Recap and More!

Hello my lovlies....Happy Wednesday! Two posts in under a week...that's a record breaker for me nowadays. I thought I would come back to let you know about my weekend and a little bit of stitching.

I gave myself a 4-day weekend by using a couple of furlough days. I need to take 13 (!!) in the year so I have 11 more to go. Having days off during the week is wonderful but despite having a 4-day weekend, it flew by as if it was a normal 2-day weekend.

On the first day, I went to the Picasso Exhibit with a friend. Let me just start off by saying that Picasso was a strange, strange man with very strange taste in art. I had gone to a lecture at the library last month for a quick lesson on his style of art which was very helpful for me and my friend. For whatever reason, the DeYoung received the exhibit from the Musee National Picasso Paris under the agreement that there would be no chat boards. I really think that chat boards make an exhibit so not having any was strange. This also means that you walk the exhibit in under an hour since there is nothing to read! My friend was lost so I explained to him the things I learned in the lecture while we walked. The realm of "periods" Picasso painted...such as impressionist, blue, pink, cubism, surrealism, modern, etc. and how the wives and mistresses played as his muse. My friend got to the museum before I did thanks to a crapload of traffic and he picked up docent tour tickets so we walked the exhibit on our own first and then did the docent tour. It was helpful to hear a little bit of history...at least for those people who didn't know much about Picasso other than he's famous and you have to go check out his exhibit! The downside to the docent is that they skip over a lot of the paintings. So if you want to go and see the Picasso exhibit here in SF, get the audio tour! I cannot stress that enough. I was fine with the self walking and the docent tour because I already had some Picasso background but for newbies, the audio tour is the way to go.

After the exhibit, we rested in the cafe for a little bit and then walked over to the California Academy of Sciences. This is a great place to visit if you have kids. Me...I have no kids but I have guy friends and they are like grown up kids so I sometimes get the chance to go see the fishies and Claude the albino alligator. They have a snake exhibit going on now so we went to see that. Frankly, the huge hairy spider on display scared me more than the snakes. I could barely look at that thing. It was huge and hairy and all you saw is web...I scurried past squeaking in apprehension. Ugh...can't stand spiders!!

After that, I met with Claire and we had dinner at Burma Superstar. This place is awesome but you seriously have to get there right when the restaurant opens at 5pm to avoid a long wait, it is that popular. We indulged in too much food but had a great dinner. After, we browsed the shelves at Green Apple Books. I need to go back with a list next time. Each time I go, I get overwhelmed with all the book choices that I can't even decide on a book to buy! Does anyone else have that problem?

So that was Day 1! It was a very long but fun day. Day 2 consisted of me going downtown for an appointment and then I met up with another friend and we went to North Beach for a cheap lunch. We went to Golden Boy for some Sicilian Pizza slices. I've talked up Golden Boy already so I'm not providing a link. It's a little hole in the wall place whose draw is square pizza sold my the slice. After that, I needed to go to Stella Pastry for my cannoli. My friend says that Stella is high-end and he refused to order anything. I have no idea what he's talking about but I'm dealing with someone who will go to hole in the wall places and refuses to go to any "yuppie or foodie" places. After that, I went to spend a little bit of time with the 80-year old set and see how they were doing.

Day 3 was quieter. It was farmers' market and errand day for me. I picked up some peaches, strawberries, fresh corn, plouts and grapes. No hazelnut croissant today...that's at Sunday farmers' market. I will have to get one this coming weekend and take a photo for everyone...so many people commented on it on my last post. I've been trying to tidy up and organize my apartment so that was on the agenda too with a little bit of stitching.

Day 4 I treated myself to a movie and went to see The Help. Has anyone else seen it yet? I thought it was very well done. Lots of laughs and tears...bring tissue! I feel that considering the time constraints, they did the book justice. Be prepared...the movie is 2.5hours long. I tend to get fidgety in movies but the movie didn't *feel* that long to me. I really enjoyed it. After I got home from the movie, I stopped by the street festival near my house. It is held every year but this year, it seemed to have crept up on me unnoticed. I walked out and saw so much traffic and didn't know why until I saw the huge tents a block away! The booths could have been better but I enjoyed a yummy gyro and margarita while listening to some great music from the bandstand. I love street festivals!

I had it in my head I wanted to make a fresh peach pie entirely from scratch and so I did. It was my first time making pie crust. What a pain it is to roll that out...I need a larger cutting board to do that. I don't think the crust came out that great but I think that was because I didn't roll it off thin enough (small cutting board) and the dough got warm and overworked. But I still took the pie to work and everyone raved. I guess maybe I'm my own worst critic. It was tasty...I just wanted a crumblier pie crust. Here's my pie...no beauty queen but certainly tasty!

So I'm going to pose a question to those of you who have gotten this far and haven't fallen asleep already. *poke, poke...hey, wake up* Sunday night, my apartment manager (I should say former because he got fired due to some shady new hiring of property management that I am not happy about), knocked on my door and told me to look at a chair and footstool he had in the hall. So I did. And I saw this.


He told me to take them otherwise he would have to throw them away. He's moving and couldn't take everything since his new space is smaller. He said he'd had them for 30 years and they were given to them. I couldn't let them be thrown in the trash! But I don't know what to do with them. Needlepointed chair and stool. It looks like they were done at different times since the wood on the two pieces don't match exactly and one fabric is darker than the other. Or maybe that's dirt in which case...ewww, and how do I clean it?!

So if you found these, what would you do to restore them and make them shine? I know they need some cleaning and new stuffing/padding especially on the chair. I do have an old friend whose husband does upholstering so maybe I can ask her what to do and if he would give me a good price on the work. That's not in the budget right now so it will have to wait another day. In the meantime I will hold onto them to save them from the trash bin. But I would love ideas!

So I obviously had a busy weekend. I think I've forgotten how to relax! But I got a bit of stitching in and finished the 4th "rule" in Christmas Rules which is Honor Traditions. I am almost finished with the 5th one but not quite.
This Saturday is stitching group and since I plan on going and stitching my little heart out, I signed up for IHSW on Joyzse's blog. International Hermit Stitching Weekend is the 3rd weekend of every month but this is the first time I'm joining in. I might actually get a lot of stitching done. Time will tell.

Well, I hope I haven't bored you all but thanks for sticking with me. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Until next time...

p.s. For those interested in my tombie hardware. It is manufactured by Images Stitchery Design and I ordered mine from Inspired Needle. I know that Attic Needlework also carries it too.

Lots and Lots of Stitching Stuff!

I'm here, I'm here...omgosh...what day is it?!

*I am still tired...need more sleep!

*At farmers' market on Sunday, I bought breakfast and a hazelnut chocolate croissant to indulge in later. Seriously, I don't know why I wait. I should just slather it on my hips as that is where it will end up later. That's besides the point though. For the next two days, I was wondering what happened to my croissant before I realized I accidentally put it in the fridge! Oops.

*My last three posts each have exactly 17 comments. Weird! (well, they did when I started writing this on Wednesday! lol)

*Last weekend, I worked a garage sale at my coworkers house and managed to sell a few things. I haven't done one of these in years! It was entertaining! I also went to SFMOMA to see the Steins Collect. It was a wonderful exhibit and if there are local readers who are into that sort of thing, I really recommend it. The Steins were a wonderful group of people who really tried hard to bring wonderful art to the masses and they still do to this day. I am heading to the DeYoung tomorrow to see the Picasso exhibit!

*I need to find my notebook and carry it around me so I can jot down my ideas as I go. I always remember things in the shower, in the car, in the grocery store. Yea, basically everywhere I don't have a computer! Once I get in front of the post screen I forget!

But that's ok today because this is a real, honest to goodness stitchy post. Shocker!!

I've been working on Christmas Rules whenever I have a spare minute or two. Since I haven't had too much time to stitch, progress has been slow! There was also the dilemna with my WDW Bullfrog. It was too olive-y. I went around looking at all the skeins of Bullfrog I could get my hands on and those were either the same as mine or even more olive-y. I didn't like the effect at all. There was lots of mumbling and grumbling on my part and I finally got around to just switching that color to CC English Ivy. I am much happier with it! The only place the Bullfrog survived was the little tree branch the bird is perched on in the 2nd block.

I also worked on Almost Halloween a little and am close to being done.
I am really enjoying Christmas Rules now though so not sure if I will get back to it anytime soon.

A little while ago, I decided to send a few things on to KarenV for finishing. I knew I'd never get around to it and she is so creative. For those that don't know, she has started her own finishing business and I took advantage of it. I sent her L*K Boo Club, Shepherds Bush Wish and Blue Snowgirl. I love them all! I will let the pictures do the talking.
I can't get collage to work in Picasa! You can see more and much better pictures on Karen's blog here. She did a wonderful job and I am wondering how I can stitch faster so I can send her more things to finish!

Here is a close up of the tombie hardware. Click to make it bigger so you can read it. The epitaphs really make me giggle and I think it's perfect to set off Boo Club. I am so happy they started making this one in black!

And last but not least, TUSAL. It's way late but better late than never. There are lots of thread in there from Christmas Rules and all the cursed Bullfrog frogging.
Well, I think that's it for me right now. I am taking a couple of furlough days this week so I can explore the city and take care of a few things. Time to relax a bit before tackling traffic or BART.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week. The summer is flying and I can't believe kids are already returning to school!

Enjoy the weekend!

Until next time...

Ow?

The weekend flew by...as usual. I forced myself to relax, stitch and organize. Ok, maybe force is a harsh word. But I kept on thinking up things to do this weekend and then kept on reminding myself, "you're supposed to be mellow this weekend". Yes, I lecture myself sometimes. Don't we all?!

I had a new start! So far, it reads "Ow" but will soon read Halloween. Here is my start on The Drawn Thread's Almost Halloween.

I bought this as a kit back when it was released last year. I thought it was the cutest so I am using the recommended 32 count Wichelt Tumbleweed linen and the DMC/Anchor/Theadworx. Boy is this linen stiff! I hear a little *pop* each time my needle pierces the fabric.

The pumpkin is a little off but I didn't feel like frogging it out and going back to the beginning. Would you have noticed if I hadn't told you?

I think this project will be a quick one.

I can't believe I started yet another project. This isn't like me. I tend to be more of a one at a time project type of stitcher with one in the sidelines in case I get bored with the main focus but I think this makes 5-6 wips now!

I came across a little dilemma with Christmas Rules and just don't feel like figuring things out just yet. I am almost done with the header with the exception of the dark green background on the letters U and E. The green is WDW Bullfrog but my skeins of Bullfrog are more medium green than dark green and it so obviously looks dark green in the photo of the header. I much prefer the look of the photo. I pulled the DMC equivalent and I'm not 100% thrilled with that either and I really prefer overdyed to DMC as it is. I am just too lazy to look for an alternate and I also wonder if I just got some bum skeins of Bullfrog. You know, dyelots and everything. They can be so iffy! What would you all do?
So until I figure out the Bullfrog situation, I am putting Christmas Rules on the back burner.

I did spend some time each evening cleaning out one of my closets. I knew I had a lot of clothes that I haven't worn in years and it was just time to really assess what I have. From that little closet, I have 1.5 bags full for donation, about 8-10 pieces I will try to consign and a couple of things I may set aside for a future garage sale one of my co-workers may put on. Living in an apartment, it's hard to have a sale. One closet down, three more to go!

Getting rid of clothes is hard for me. There's always this feeling of "what if I need it", "what if I lose the weight", "what if I gain weight", "do I really want to get rid of my fat pants". This time, I pulled out things I've saved for years and I don't know what I was thinking. I had things that were too high waisted (hello 90's!), too big, too long (I must have shrunk), too out of style. I had a couple of surprises with pants I thought were too tight which miraculously fit...with room to spare. And there were a couple of things that were a bit too tight which will now be my incentive to get my lazy ass to the gym. Ugh...I hate the gym!

I hung a couple of skirts I like on the door which I never wore because I figured I would lose the 5 pounds easily and I'd be able to wear them. Well, they are still tight. So I will hang them on my door so I can see them.

Maybe it will motivate me and I'll have cute outfits for upcoming dates. Well, none are planned but I'm open to the possibility.

Did I mention I have three more closets to purge. Sheesh...how does one person acquire so much stuff yet wear the same things all the time?! I can at least find work pants and my weekend pants now.

I also took myself to the movies and saw Midnight in Paris. I loved it! It was Woody Allen in true form. Owen Wilson did a fab job although I really wanted to strangle Rachel McAdams. She was a pain in the ass and such a money hungry snob. You'd think for all that attitude, they'd at least touch her roots up to act more the part. But anyways, if any movie is filmed in Rome or Paris. I am apt to watch it. I figure that even if the movie is terrible, I am getting my money's worth in seeing beautiful sites I would love to visit. There are movies I can see over and over which I think are fun but I also watch them to see the backdrop. This was no exception. In 2000, I took me, myself and my broken heart on a 9 day trip to Paris and I walked every inch of that city. Throughout Midnight in Paris, I kept telling myself "I've been there and I've been there". They even showed the Shakespeare and Company bookstore I spent an afternoon in browsing the titles. It made me itch to go back but with a fun someone and not nursing a broken heart. The movie also features an era I love! So seeing the costumes and hearing the music was thrilling! I would totally recommend it if you're into Woody Allen's quirkiness.

Well, that's it for me tonight. Going to see if I stitch for a little bit before bed. Hope you all have a great week!

Until next time...

This and That; Here and There

That's been my life the past couple of weeks. Very social. Very busy. Very tired. I think I need a break from being social and am planning on a hermit weekend. Will save me a little money too as this being social business can be taxing on the pocketbook!

I've been to open to the public brewery night which resulted in a spirits tasting and countless pints of beer. Ok, 3 pints but I kind of lost track because I did that cursed (but yummy) spirits tasting first thing. I had to ask my drinking mate the next day how much I actually drank since things around that second pint got a little fuzzy. Great beer, fun music, great company. It was a great night and I'd do it again. Just need to plan better and make sure I have a big lunch that day...like a burger or a burrito...definitely not a salad! I also have to remember that I can't keep up with the guys...I've gotten a little too old and lightweight to keep up.

I've been to Tales of the City. If you read the Armistead Maupin series, they made a musical out of it and it was fun and fab. It ran a little long and so that made for a really late night on a school night but I survived the next day with lots of coffee.

And I've been to the symphony because I couldn't resist the 2 for $20 deal they offered. So I invited a friend and we went to one of my favorite pre-symphony eateries and had fun cocktails and coq au vin.

I met up with another friend I hadn't seen in almost a year and he taught me how to play chess. I think I've forgotten now. So many rules...these move up and down and those move diagonally, these can move multiple spaces but these only one at a time. I need a cheat sheet! But he was very patient and was nice not to kill my queen right off the bat and we had a nice little game which I of course lost, since I've never played before but I made a valiant effort and want to play again! I just need a cheat sheet. Throughout the years, I've asked many people to show me chess and no one ever did so I was very happy that someone finally took the time to spend an afternoon in a pub with me and teach me chess. We got lots of strange looks at the pub but there's plenty to do in a pub besides drink and watch the game(s).

I went to acupuncture. My earpopping is still driving me nuts so I've turned to modern medicine and am taking claritin for that. It's getting better but still happens. I've never had this happen with summer allergies...it's so strange. My mood is better assuming annoying exs leave me the hell alone but the getting out and being social is hugely beneficial for me at this point.

I met up with an old coworker and his lovely wife one afternoon for lunch at Barbacco. It was nice to just take Bart to the Financial District. It was a glorious day and the food, company and conversation was great. I am having fun reconnecting with all my old friends. I hadn't seen so many in so long it's a shock to see some of them as they seem to have changed. And it was also nice to try a new place...I definitely have to go back to this place. The pork meatballs and lasagna were delicious!

I went to the Fillmore Festival which is my favorite out of all the ones offered in the city. I wandered, people watched, had a margarita or two*, listened to music, ate and caught some rays. It was another scorcher in the city and this meant I had to run to the drugstore to buy sunscreen otherwise, I'd have ended the day looking like a lobster! Thank you Neutrogena SPF70!

I went to the beach and breathed in foggy, misty, salty air and watched the pups run in and out of the surf and chase down their balls. And did a quick lunch with a new friend and had a sweet, buttery, cool crab roll.

So...I've been busy and very little stitching has taken place as evidenced here. I'm on my third week and only have half of the header for Christmas Rules stitched. It's a very sad sight!

I also think that my stitching mojo is fading. I haven't been in the mood to put more than a couple dozen of stitches in at a time. I guess I'm having too much fun being social and running around. If I'm not social, I'm trying to finish reading my book (which is now overdue at the library), watching a bit of tv, spending too much time on the computer or sleeping.

I'm tired!

The TUSAL jar looks about the same except with the bright red, white and green from Christmas Rules. I frogged so there's lots of red in there.

Well, that's about it for me. If you got to the end of this short story, I did want to say that I finally managed to complete my collection of Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazines(yay!). In trying to complete it, I had to buy a small lot and have an extra copy of the 1998 Just Cross Stitch Ornie edition that I would like to sell. This is a hard to find magazine as can be indicated by the current $30 and $65 starting bids on eBay. Those people are nuts! I'm a reasonable person (despite being a total stash hoarder). Please email me if you're interested and we can discuss price. I can take payment via 123stitch gc, paypal or trades. The first person who emails and agrees to price and payment gets the magazine. Easy peasy. (Magazine has been sold!)

Well, I don't have a free night to myself until Friday. I can.not. wait. I'm looking forward to my hermit weekend. Should I watch tv? Stitch? Finally clean out a closet? Organize stash? Hmmmm....

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July and Canada Day! Hope the week has transitioned to an easy one!

Until next time...

*I may sound like a boozer in this post but I usually don't drink that much.