Egglings and Nyokkis

Well, I've gone ahead and done it! After ooohing and aaahing over Carol R's eggling and eagerly watching its growth process, I've gone ahead and bought my own plus a couple of little buddies to keep it company. I decided on the basil eggling in the hopes that having fresh basil handy will inspire me to cook. That's a complete and utter laugh since 1.) I can barely keep plants alive and 2.) I cook at most two times a year. But we'll see. Hopefully I won't kill it and I will be inspired. While looking at the website to find out how to order the precious eggling, I saw the Nyokkis and they are too cute to pass up! They are grass plants and once the grass (aka hair) grows in, you can style it. How cool! so I bought the froggie and the chickie. Here they are in a row. Don't they look too cute?!
I took the picture above a couple of days ago and already I can see little bits of grass and buds of basil growing. So fast! But then, my apartment is very warm and I think it's conducive to them growing provided I remember to water them. I'll post progress snaps once the plants really start to noticeably grow.

Hoe Freebie Exchange to Leigh

I heard from my Hoe freebie exchange partner, Leigh, that she received my exchange for her and enjoyed it. Here is a picture of the stitched part of the exchange. I wasn't able to take a good picture of it since I took it in the dead of night and had to post it early the next morning. That's what I get for being a slacker. And with the yellow being on the lighter side, it doesn't show up well in photos at all.

Summer Sparrow, Waxing Moon Designs

28ct. Light Mocha Cashel, GAST and DMC

Above is the entire exchange. Along with Summer Sparrow, I included needles, DMC in shades of pink, 2 pieces of backing fabric, a magnetic notepad and some flower seeds for gardening. Oh, and let's not forget the chocolatey mints. There are my favorite! I'm glad Leigh enjoyed everything.

HoE Freebie Exchange From Mylene

I received my HoE freebie exchange from Mylene on Friday evening. It was the perfect way to end a hectic week! She stitched me this lovely design by A Mon Ami Pierre in the lovely shade called Rose of Sharon in Belle Soie silk. It is finished perfectly and I absolutely love the color. I had seen this stitched up elsewhere and had thought to myself that I would need to find it to stitch for myself but it's a lot nicer to have it gifted to you. Thanks Mylene!
Mylene was also very generous to include goodies. She sent me some needles, a package of different red ribbon and some Crescent Colors overdyed. I love Crescent Colors and I didn't have these colors in my stash so that's even better! It was also my first exchange received from overseas.

Two Weeks in Review

Well, I've had this window open for the past 5 hours or so and haven't been able to write a word. So I'm just going to wing it since I don't seem to have structured thought. The past week has been quite busy and emotional in many ways and as many have noticed, I'm a little "wound up".

My trip to Dallas went as well as could be expected. I hadn't been in three years and everything stayed pretty much the same with the exception of seeing my sister's new old house. It's an older house they moved to in a different neighborhood hence it being a new (to them) old house. The weather practically knocked me flat! It was 95 degrees and humid yet it looked quite deceiving. When I would look out the window, it looked overcast and cold but once I would step outside, it was "Ooooffff" and I would have to rush to where ever there was air conditioning. I went to Dallas because it was my neice's 8th grade graduation and she is in the throes of teenagerdom. Hard to believe I was like that as a kid but I know full well that I was. All in all, it was a nice weekend with family. The trip back to mecca aka home was not so nice. It took me 10 hours, from the moment I stepped foot into Dallas - Fort Worth Airport to the moment I retrieved my bag at SFO to get home. Ten whole hours!! It was awful. Maybe if I had a good iPod, a trvel dvd player and a few airplane size bottles of good whiskey, I could endure 10 hours of what should normally take 4 hours max. Sober and without fun electronic toys...not so much. First, my flight got cancelled but that wasn't until they had boarded half the people on the plane and then tried to determine what the mystery mechanical issue with the plane was. I feel bad for the people who had boarded already. I have made the master decision of hitting the ladies room before attempting to board since those teeny airplane bathrooms are awful! Good decision on my part since I got to walk around the terminal and pace around the gate while trying to figure out what the heck was going on versus being stuck on the plane. The flight was downright cancelled after 1.5 hours of the quasi-boarding. My attempt to get onto the next flight failed and I was stuck on the last flight landing into SFO. By the time I've talked to multiple gate agents trying to get onto a flight, tried to get a better seat and had to get to a completely different terminal, I was beyond cranky and frustrated. Thank goodness for some friendly Texans and Maker's Mark at the nearest bar I could find. The drink took the edge off and I waited out my flight. It was one long, awful day!

I returned to tons of chores and errands to run. I also had to visit with the folks and then send them off for their annual trip. It was immediately hectic...as usual. It was also my last week at yoga and I started the Bar Method classes. Sheesh, those classes kick ass. Hopefully I will see or feel some results soon. Because of the crazy and hectic, I was late mailing my Freebie HoE Exchange. Shame on me! But I was only two days late and my partner should receive it soon. I hope she likes it...I wish I had had the time to be more adventurous with my finishing but at the point I was at, I just had to get it off into the mail.

I am back to status single on the dating front which I'm not very happy about but I'll get happy soon and back into the dating moshpit shortly. If anyone knows any cute, tall, single guys who are employed and not into polygomous relations, send them my way. Dating in the city is just insanity and I am slowly losing my patience with it.

Now that dating is nonexistent and my class is over, I'll be focusing on exercising and stitching.

I was going to write more but it has literally taken me a week to write this post. I seem to have severe writer's block at the moment!

Off to Dallas...

Well, the weekend proved to be a busy one with not much time to stitch. And what time I do have has been devoted to putting a few stitches here and there on exchange projects. This past weekend was mixed. I had to deal with the tail-end of our heatwave and I was at my wit's end. Being a "foghead" for most of my life, I have no idea what to do when the temperature is above 75 degrees...unless I'm on a vacation and in a swimsuit. In that case, I could care less what the temperaturer was as long as there was water, a margarita and a sliver of shade somewhere near me.

Saturday, I decided to try that Bar Method class. Talk about a drill sargeant experience! I was corrected at least 50 times, had a love/hate relationship with the instructor, saw more Lululemon women clad in one room than ever before and had a very tough time climbing up my building's 50 stairs to get home. The soreness in my thighs lasted a good two days. How the heck am I going to be hard-core about this for one month?! It may kill me...but then, what doesn't kill you does make you stronger...right? I'll think about that a little more.

I did finally go see My Blueberry Nights and what was even better was that it got moved to a theater near me. Yay! There were four of us total in the theater which wasn't a big surprise since Wong Kar Wai definitely isn't mainstream and that's what the majority of the populations heads for. It was a good movie...not great...but enjoyable. Crazy lovelorn waitress is all cuckoo over this boy, involves a cute waiter in her heart's lament and they become close. She decides that the only way she can move on is to move away and she leaves but sends letter to cute waiter. He tries to track her down to no avail and he is left to wonder what may have been until a year later when she returns to him in his diner and he makes her feelings known and they share a blueberry kiss. Plus, there was good use of music but the director is good like that.

Next, was a work function. By that point, it was 4pm and all I had had all day was popcorn and yogurt. Yep, the brunch of champions! I heard there was cold pizza in the fridge and snagged a slice. While I was chowing down, the guys were sneaking lovely pizza-eating pictures which subsequently made it to the departmental hard drive. Sometimes, it's really hard working with a bunch of guys who treat you like a little sister.

The rest of the weekend was reserved for what seems to be a failing "relationship" and a fun Sunday watching the Bay to Breakers spectacle. That was so much fun! And talk about a circus. I love Bay to Breakers and usually participate but since the last couple of months were so busy, especially this month, I decided to settle on just taking it all in this year versus being a part of it.

We are quickly moving into the middle of the week and I soon head off to visit family in Dallas. I looked at the weather forecast and it's supposed to be mid-90's and humid with thunderstorms on the horizon. OMG!! Gonna die...I'm not made for those types of weather conditions. I can only hope that there will be some fog here when I get back...

Class is Over!

Yesterday, my instructor posted the final and I decided that I must get it over and done with. I hadn't really prepared but it was open book...how hard could it be?! Yea, it was hard...really hard! Each time I thought I found the answer, I had to reference to another part of the code book and come to my own conclusion. It was only a 50 question test and I had three hours to do it in. Three hours! Hey, I'm a smart cookie, I know this stuff, I've been reading about boring codes for the past 8 weeks...this'll be a breeze. Not! As the clock ticked on, the more stressed and frenzied I became. I couldn't believe it as taking me so long to go through the questions. There were only 50 of them! At last...I hit the submit key and I got my score and time. Time passed was 2 hours and 56 minutes. Geez! I had only had 4 minutes left?! Score...I passed! 84% Frankly, as an open book test, I should have scored better than that especially since I passed all my quizzes and discussions with flying colors. But...I passed! Yay! That means class is over and I get my certification from the State.

It is such a relief to have this class done and behind me now. I finally have my weekends back and can do fun stuff. I think that was what was bothering me most about the class besides it being really boring...it was eating away at a lot of my personal time. I finally feel like I have time to stitch, go to the movies, pick a random neighborhood to explore on the weekend and follow my own agenda.

School's out for the summer!

Forgetfulness

Ay, what a week. Why does it seem like the older you get, the more weight you put on, the more forgetful you become and the busier you get?! I'm not even married or have kids! I would give anything to be a twenty-something now. I wouldn't have taken all that time for granted and moaned about being "soooo bored!" Now I moan about being "sooooo busy!" and not having enough time to do everything I want. Lately, the things I feel like I've been missing out on are stitching, movie viewing and checking out local events. I don't see much of those things happening until June! My class does finally end at the end of this week. I need to take my final and state certification exam by Friday night. After that, I am free from class obligations...woohoo! I cannot wait...it will be a huge weight off my chest. But freedom does not arrive that easily. I'll have a couple of events to attend between Saturday and Wednesday of next week and then I leave for a long weekend to visit family in Texas. Freedom begins the Monday after Memorial Day. So for the time being...still busy and a tad stressed. I miss my lazy evenings and weekends!

I have been able to squeeze in a little bit of stitching. I finished the stitching on my HoE Freebie Exchange and had started another freebie piece in case I changed my mind on the original freebie I picked. Now the original freebie has grown on me and I think this current freebie would be a good little christmas pillow ornament instead. The colors I picked scream "holly jolly" to me. It's a very quick stitch and I decided to use Gloriana thread. I've never used silk thread before and this Gloriana floss is dreamy! It's very soft and hasn't knotted at all. I haven't been able to progress onto my personal stitching though...not enough time for that. Now I just need to decide how to finish my Freebie piece for my HoE partner. Decisions, decisions...

This weekend, I drove to Alameda to pick up my framed Love You Mom project from The Urban Forest. They have framed a couple of pieces for me in the past and done a good job plus they are the framer that NiaH recommend to their customers. I loved the overall look of the project and the pale gold lattice frame really looked good with the colors of the piece. However, I was a little disappointed. If I'm going to drop $60 to frame a small 7x7 piece of needlework, I would really like it to be perfect. I am very selective about what I take to a finisher since I don't have a lot of extra money to spend. This was a special piece since it was for my mom and for Mother's Day but when I received the framed piece, there was a small little chip in the finish of the frame right in the front and a small little dark mark on the stitched piece itself. Both aren't completely noticable but I know how I turned my piece into her and I am also a completely neurotic perfectionist when it comes to my things and things I am giving away. So I was less than thrilled. Of course, everytime I go to this shop, the framer is never there so I couldn't voice my complaint to the person who actually did the work and see if they could fix it or tell me what to do. I did tell the lady who was manning the store at the time and she touched up the nick in the frame so it wasn't as noticable but it is still noticable to me. I am a little frustrated and don't know if I should let it go or call up the framer and let her know that I wasn't 100% happy with the work done. I do kind of feel like she is the only experienced needlework framer around here. NiaH exclusively refers her and the other needlework shop near me couldn't even name one framer that she knew of. I don't anticipate having anything to frame in the near future...Fairy Moon would be the next project and she only has 40 stitches in her at best right now. Do I really need to be all that specific to a framer that when I pick it up, I expect there to be no chips in the frame and no marks on my needlework?!?! I couldn't very well leave my piece there to take up this discussion with her at a later time as Mother's Day was the following day and I couldn't show up empty-handed. It put me in a tough spot of sucking it up and dealing with it but I guess I'm not dealing with it very well if I've talked this much about it already. Oh, and since I was all preoccupied with the disappointment of a less than perfect piece, I wrapped the gift and forgot to take a picture of it framed beforehand. I told myself to take my camera to my folks for when my mom unwrapped the gift, I could take a picture. And you know what?! I forgot again! Next time I head to the folks, I'll remember to take the camera to snap a shot to share. I was doubly bummed out that I forgot to bring the camera since my brother came by the folks with Mondo, his wanna-be-a-bunny chihuahua. Mondo cracks me up!

In other news, I am totally debating whether or not I want to try this exercise program called the Bar Method. There is a studio very close to my job and it has received rave reviews. The only problem is that it's very pricey. I can deal with pricey if I see good results and am commited to the program. Ummm, commitment would be my other problem. I'm lazy and love to go straight home and veg in front of the tv, stitching and snacking most of the night which is why I need something like the Bar Method. Ideally, I'd like to tone and lose 10 pounds but it's not really the number on the scale that bothers me...it's the jiggles. I am seriously debating trying their introductory offer when I get back from Dallas and immerse myself in the program in that month and see what results come into play. I think I can realistically try to go to the classes 3-4 times a week. If I don't like the program, don't see results or think that it's way beyond the means of my pocketbook, I'll probably just sign up with a local gym that has a cheaper and unlimited yoga program per month. It would be cool if I could go to the Bar Method class at 6am on weekdays before work but that would be hysterically funny as I can't even get up before 7am! How do people get up that early to workout?!

And my goal for the week is to go see My Blueberry Nights before it leaves the theater. I've been saying I would go see it for three weeks now and I am scared it will leave the theaters before I see it. It's a small, unadvertised movie about a lovelorn waitress played by Norah Jones of all people. She is not why I want to see this movie though. It is directed by Wong Kar Wai. If the ex left anything to me (besides loads of frustration), it's an appreciation for movies that are "outside the box". Wai directs films that pull at the strings of emotion and make you think. Normally, his films are in mandarin and subtitled in english but this movie is all in English. I've been dying to see it since it's come out but it's only playing at small obscure theaters in the city that aren't all that convenient to me. I must check this one out! Maybe today?

The Blahs...

Despite having a nice time on my weekend getaway, I came back with a minor case of the blahs. My return to work was less than smooth and I am a tad irritated with my coworker for not helping me with work tasks while I was away. I had to try and get a good two days worth of prep done in less than three hours first thing Monday morning. Definitely far from the "welcome home!" I would have liked to receive.

Things with M seem to be a tad stagnant. Lately, I've been doing most of the calling and I usually end up talking to him when he is out, with people or on his way somewhere. Less than the undivided attention I would like when having a conversation especially considering I make sure I have the time and limited distractions when I talk to him so that I can listen and take in what he is saying to me. I feel like it's time to take a step back and see what he's up to or what his next move is. Despite the fact that he has already met some of my friends and I've met some of his, the relationship aspect has been moving a tad too slowly for my taste and I think I've reached the point where things either need to ramp up and progress or we establish that we are better as friends. I know that we are both busy...me with the godawful class and him with house stuff...perhaps things will get better in the next couple of weeks? I don't know...

This godawful class is driving me berserk and stressing me out. I have a term paper due on Sunday on a video the teacher supplied which I am supposed to view. I have tried viewing the video at work and at home and on multiple computers with no success at all! How the heck am I supposed to write a paper on a video if I can't even watch the video?!? Seems like a critical element to the paper, no? The hours are ticking away and as I get closer to the deadline, the more stressed I am feeling about this class and the desired outcome. I've sent an email to the instructor asking what to do and I think his video may be the same one as one I found on youtube but these little technical glitches I keep experiencing with this class only wastes my time and makes me very frustrated with the class and the learning process. Not to mention writing this paper is probably one of the last things I want to be doing right now...right up there with the exam I need to take next week for the same class.

Since I am juggling the class, the boy and the blahs...I don't have very much time for stitching. That frustrates me too. I hope this case of the blahs doesn't last very long. I really haven't got the time to deal with it...

A Balanced Diet...

While I was in Pismo Beach, I gave AM her very belated birthday present. Her birthday was in March but with the distance between us and me being so busy, I didn't have time to complete her present until I had the quickly approaching deadline which was our weekend getaway. Since AM hears me drone on and on about patterns and fabric and floss and colors and what my nightly or weekly progress has been on what project...I decided to make her something so she could have of her own. AM isn't a crafter at all so it's very nice of her to listen to me drone on and on about stuff she has no idea about! (Hi AM!) A lot of what AM and I talk about on a daily basis is food and how the yummy food (or booze) betrays us and how we can still eat the yummy food, how the food influences our weight and not having or wanting to exercise to counter the effects of the yummy, but albiet not good for you, food. Geez, why can't cake be a health food?!?! So I decided to make her A Balanced Diet by Lizzie*Kate. AM likes cookies...me, I like cake more...if you haven't figured that out already! I decided to finish it as a flatfold so that she could put it in her office as a decoration. Lucky her! I still work in a cubicle! It's my first ever flatfold and I'm very happy with it. I realize I could have been a bit better cutting the matboard exactly the same but I think I need a heavy duty matcutter as my wimpy one is not very good but given it's my first one...I really liked it! Here is the front...

And here is the side...I used some pretty blue trim that matched the backing fabric.

And here is the backing fabric...I picked a pretty blue paisley fabric to go with the deep blue floss used in the upper half of the saying in the project. Plus, I wanted something fun and trendy which would catch the eye of visitors and not make it appear as some hokey handmade something or other that AM's granny friend made for her.

AM said she really liked the present plus the extra goodies I included for her (cookies, champagne and Sephora gift card) so I was very happy. Yay!

SLO-Town Recap

I'm back and have loads of pictures to share so be prepared for a photo-heavy post! I had a nice weekend away. I drove down with Claire and met AM in Pismo Beach. I've only driven through the area and that was about 8 years ago so it had been a really long time since I've been in this up and coming locale of the Central Coast. The weekend was filled with lots of chatter, way too much food, even more wine and what I would like to think was a good time had by all.

Here is the view from the deck at the hotel. This was not the view from the room but from the public deck at the rear of the hotel near the lovely pool and spa that we didn't have the time to visit. I guess all that wine tasting got in the way of sunbathing and beachwalking!

Birdie footprints in the sand

On our arrival, we took a walk to Pismo Pier and then walked back to the hotel. Here is the view on our walk back.
On our visit to Alma Rosa Winery, I came across this little excerpt from a poem hidden behind the door. Considering the pretense for the weekend, I had to take a picture. It reads "Now here it is, the morning after the night before; The drinking and singing are sone... Red-eyed greeting the bird-song dawn, Trying to remember all of last night's fun." This poem does hit home as there have been many headachy mornings in my past where I have tried to remember how much I have drank, what regretful things I may have said and most importantly, how the heck I got home! My days are much tamer now...I don't usually get all crazy despite people calling me a "wino". This was also an interesting winery as they claim to be completely organic...interesting.
The vines at Justin Winery. The grounds at this winery were beautiful and welcoming. Plus, their Orphan wine was super yummy...

Another vineyard snap at Justin Winery.

Here is a snap of the bizarre and eclectic collection of wigs and hats at Clautiere Vineyard. We had a few laughs trying on the various ones as we wine tasted but I do have to say that the attitude of the pourer left a lot to be desired. There was that visible "oh great...more people" air to the gal as we walked in and it didn't make this seemingly fun place feel very fun. I would have walked out of there with nothing if their port hadn't been to die for. It was funny how one of the places reviewed to be one of the most fun wineries in the area was one of the least fun for us.

Final evening hoping to catch the sunset...showing off my cute feet!

Pretty flower that caught my attention as we were waiting. Yes, I know...easily distracted.

Ohhh, look at the waves!

I love these beach pictures...I can't ever imagining living far away from the ocean. I have lived near water my whole life! And even when I go on vacation...it's usually to some beach destination or tropical place. I had a lot of fun staying so close to the water and listening to the air, wind, water and birds. It was relaxing. Besides the photos above, some of the top sites of my trip were the Taste of the Valley tasting room in Solvang. The guys working there were very fun, friendly and gracious. They had some wonderful wine available to taste and it was VERY difficult to decide what bottles to take home with me...and try to limit myself!! I would definitely go back to socialize with the pourers here as they set the experience. Thanks Eric and Phil!

I absolutely fell in love with every wine at Opolo Winery! It's a good thing we headed back to try this place as we had to rush to make our lunch reservation and had to initially skip over Opolo. We had to retrace our steps to go back here after lunch...good thing we did. I had such a hard time deciding here as well, and so I became a wine club member!! Yep...it was that good. Plus, the pourers here were wonderful. They made an effort to draw out conversation and were so friendly. They gave you samples of sausage and chocolates to try with their various wines. I walked out of there with their Voignier, Sangiovese, Cabernet and Late Harvest Zinfindel. I'm having wonderful dreams about that Late Harvest...omg, so yummy! Can't wait to treat myself with opening that bottle one day. Anne, our pourer, was a total doll and made me an Opolo fan! I can't wait to get my shipment in the Fall considering I took my summer shipment home with me! =)

And our last winery stop was a ton of fun and a complete surprise. We stopped at Tobin James before heading home and talk about a party winery! They have three wine bars in the establishment and each has at least 20 people at each! It was funny to see bikers and their babes wine tasting too. The pourers here were extra friendly and made a tremendous effort trying to find a nice wine for our "doesn't drink a lot" friend, Claire.

And last but not least, I was told to go to the Old West Cinnamon Roll place in Pismo Beach. I love sweets as do my friends so it wasn't hard to convince them to go try this place with me. The cinnamon rolls were great! I ordered an original with cream cheese icing and it was yummy!

So SLO-town trip = lots of fun!

Off to SLO-Town!

Things on the blog will be quiet for a few days because I am going on a road trip to SLO-town aka San Luis Obispo! Yay! I can't wait...I am counting down the hours! Claire and I are driving down together for a road trip and AM will meet us there so it will be a girlie weekend filled with food, wine, beach/pool time and chatting. I am so excited! I really need this break from work and so I am just taking me, clothes, a couple of books and a small project with me on the trip. Cell phone to be used in moderation to check in with M and no laptop. The evil computer is staying at home! I spend way too much time on the computer on a daily basis and I've found that if I take a laptop with me, I spend too much time online and not enough time relaxing and taking in my surroundings. I'll be sure to bring my camera so I can take pictures and share about my weekend when I get back.

I know it's only Wednesday but I wish everyone a happy weekend!

A Small New Start

Oof...what a weekend! It was a good weekend. I went to a birthday party for a good friend and had a nice time...saw people I hadn't seen in years. The weather was amazing all weekend! Sunny, bright, warm and clear. I made the trek out to Alameda and really and truly had to resist the temptation to go to NiaH. There wasn't anything I really needed and I already have plenty of stash. I was very proud of my willpower. I went to the framer to drop off my LYM project and I am really hoping I made the right choice for a frame and that my mom likes it. I always get nervous until I see the piece in person and even then, I have to warm up to how it looks. I got the guarantee that it will be done by Mother's Day so that makes me happy. On Saturday, I went into the city with Claire for an insane shopping day downtown. Luckily for my pocketbook, it was more Claire that was going insane with the shopping and I got a couple of good deals on tops good for my versatile range of casual to work to trendy. Those deals make me happy! I squeezed in a visit with the 'rents and did loads upon loads of laundry. That wasn't too fun.

Otherwise, the weekend was quiet. I decided to attempt a start on a new book. I've been very bad with reading lately since all my free time is being eaten up by my class (only three more weeks to go!). I had seen a commercial on Lifetime that they made "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" into a made for tv movie. I never got around to seeing the movie but it reminded me that I had wanted to read the book for a long time now. When I went to the library last week, there it was, sitting on the shelf and I grabbed it. I've only just started but it's pulling me in. This will be a great book for me to have with me on my road trip at the end of the week. I can read in the car. Don't worry...I'm not the one driving!

Since I finished LYM and I am a little disheartened with my freebie design at the moment, I decided to pull out Fairy Moon and do a start. I tried to take a picture but it didn't show up well at all...mainly because I started with a dark dusky purple on a dark blue/navy fabric. But I made a start! Yay!!!

99.3% Done!

My goal for the weekend was to finish all the stitching on my LYM project and it is 99.3% done! I finished all the stitching and only have three buttons to attach. So close to my happy dance! But I hate sewing on buttons!
I am very happy with how it turned out. Initially, I was a little skeptical of the WDW Hazelnut which constitutes most of the words on the front with the exception of "mother", "mommy" and "love". I thought it might be a tad to orangey to go with the pink but I like it. I need to attach the buttons soon though. My parents aren't going on that trip as soon as I had thought so they will be in town for Mother's Day. I will need to go to the framers this weekend and hopefully they will do a quick frame-up job for me so that this sucker is ready to be wrapped and given away on Mother's Day!

On other stitchy news, I am working on exchanges so I think pictures will be scarce in the next few weeks. I started my freebie exchange project for the HOE board. It's coming along. I am thinking of making some color adjustments but will wait to the very end to decide on that. Since I don't have much time to stitch right now, the exchanges are all I can get to and poor Santa and Fairy Moon (which I never started!) will have to wait a while.

The class I am taking is keeping me very busy and very frustrated. It's hard to motivate oneself in an online class especially when the subject matter is a huge snoozer! I also think that the syllabus isn't very clear. I end up reading pages of material to only find out that it's not what the activity is on and I have to read even more things to be able to properly do the activity. And I especially don't like that it eating my "at play" time on the weekends. No fun staying home reading when there is tons of fun city stuff to revel in.

I am still going out with NNG...we'll call him M now. I think it's been about a month and despite us being frank with each other...we haven't scared the other off. Amazing. I don't know if I'm what is his usual type but M definitely isn't my usual type so the pairing seems odd to me. I'm trying to get used to it. But we have loads in common, he cracks me up and we can talk hours upon hours about nothing. We are our own Seinfeld sitcom! I guess we just need a George and a Kramer to add into the mix!

**Sorry for the crummy picture. The fabric just does not want to photograph well but it's so pretty in person that I've actually gone back to NiaH for another stitcher's quarter.

LYM Progress Shot

I haven't been able to get very much stitching time in because things after-work have been hectic. The work-related class I am enrolled in right now is taking up a lot of my free time. I'm not very happy about it since the class material is very dry and with the weather being as nice as it has been, I'd much rather be outside "playing" in the sunshine instead of cooped up indoors trying to get through reading and class activities. I really need to figure out how to divide my time up during the week to do a little bit of class work at a time versus all on the weekend.
But I did find the time to stitch some and here is the progress on my LYM project. I think that I may be able to have it all done by the end of this coming weekend. I just need to finish the bouquet/ribbon on the left and stitch some sporadic flowers and hearts and it'll be done. This is a very easy stitch! Hopefully next time I post about LYM...it'll be all finished!

Pinkeep Revealed!

I heard from my HoE pinkeep exchange partner last week saying that she received my exchange package and enjoyed it very much. My partner was Cathie L. from France! I was a little worried about what to send her since her entire blog is in French and my four years of high school French really didn't get me very far. I saw that she liked more traditional designs and so I picked Spring's Notice by Blackbird Designs with is more along the traditional vibe of the contemporary designs I like to stitch. I stitched it as charted despite not being very sure about the pink satin stitch...but that's mainly because I have a bias against most pinks. I'm slowly getting over it...
I was very excited about this exchange and included a lot of small extras. I included the JBW Designs French Country Flower Basket, a fat quarter of a starred green fabric for finishing, DMC needles, 3 skeins of spring colored DMC floss, pale green ribbon, some chocolate squares and my favorite See's lollipops. Cathie said she enjoyed everything. Yay!

Here is a closeup of the front. It is stitched on 25 count jobelan...I forget which color. It was a very easy fabric to stitch on. NiaH, my LNS, sells odds and ends scraps of linens perfect for smalls so this was a small square I pulled out of their basket which was exactly what the pattern called for! I love it when things work out perfectly that way.

Here is the back of the pinkeep. I had a hard time finding a fabric I liked but this pale green viney leaf pattern was a great pick. It complemented the green on the pinkeep and had a little bit of character. As you can see, I went crazy with green. Green fabric backing, green pins plus all the greens in the extra goodies. Green is a definite marker for me for Spring and it seemed appropriate since that's the current season.

I had a lot of fun with this exchange and have signed up for three more...like a crazy! I better start stitching on those now! But they are a lot of fun and I have "met" a lot of cool stitchers through these exchanges and I've only done two so far! Next ones are freebie, quaker and christmas ornament. At least they are all pretty small.

A Little Lazy About Everything...

It's Friday morning and I feel tired and lazy. Don't know why I feel tired since I've been taking advantage of my downtime this week to be uber-lazy. I just hope that I'm not getting sick like NNG has been all week. So the dating front has been quiet and slow since he's been nursing his cold. I'll probably see him tonight or this weekend though just to remember what he looks like. It feels like it's been forever since I've seen him!

Since my huge deadline at work has passed, I've been slowly playing catch-up and taking my time. That's been nice as I don't make a good "stress case" anymore. I used to thrive in the hectic and busy lifestyle but nowadays, I thrive when it's mellow and I have the time to do a little bit of everything that I love to do like watch tv, see movies, stitch, take a walk in the sunshine and discover something culturally or artistically inspiring. Sitting at a desk and stressing about a deadline and rallying people to help me and stick to the deadline really isn't my thing. So this week, I have watched loads of tv, I watched more of The Sopranos and August Rush, I worked on the Love You Mom project and just plain relaxed.

I do have picture updates to do but no pictures here. My HoE pinkeep was well received in France. I was so relieved it got there ok and my partner liked it. The Love You Mom project is slowly coming along. I ran out of one of the colors! Oh no! I need to go to NiaH to buy more...along with a lot of other stuff. Provided I can get through my coursework fast today and this weekend, I'll continue to make good progress there.

Until the picture updates...hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Tulips and Love You Mom Update

I went to Trader Joes on Friday and saw so many lovely bouquets of tulips that I just had to grab one so I could enjoy a bright splash of color throughout the weekend. When I took the picture here, they were all over the place but today they sit ramrod straight and very perky in their vase. I absolutly love the color! The weekend was jam-packed! I had a couple of dates with NNG and things are going great! He's got a few very hectic weeks coming up so we may not be able to keep such a busy dating schedule right now. The rest of the weekend was mainly errands, studying and a visit with the parents. I did get a new hair-do that I am still trying to get used to. It is much lighter than I am accustomed to and I am mourning the loss of a lot of hair but I think this is a good change. I've got mondo layers and lots of body now and it will be good when the weather warms up. I wont get overheated as fast because of my super duper blanket of hair! Otherwise, the weekend was normal and unexciting. This week should be mellow...I hope. I am done with the super stressful deadline I had at work and I have no other deadlines on the horizon. Yay!! I just need to concentrate on yoga, stitching and more coursework. I should also be able to squeeze in another date with NNG this week. He has to see my new hair! I kept freaking him out by saying that "next time you see me, I'll have a boy cut". I couldn't ever get a boy cut as I love long hair but it was funny to get shocked looks out of him. Guess he's a long-haired girl fan. I had to reassure him on the phone that although I lost a lot of hair, it's still long.
Here's the progress picture I promised on Love You Mom. I haven't gotten much done since I took this picture yesterday. Stitching time has been slow during the weekend. This is a pretty fast stitch though. It doesn't look like much now but once I add the flowers and hearts, it'll totally pop.

Ok, time to sleep...take care.

Sleep-Deprived

Sorry for no pictures today. I got done with stitching after dark yesterday and was too tired and lazy to download a picture.

I am simply and utterly exhausted! My sleep pattern has been all over the place this week and I don't know why. Is it stress because of my deadline and not getting enough help from co-workers? Is it my excitement of NNG? I'm not sure although the nights I have the worst sleep are the evenings that I've gone out with NNG. I guess I'm into him...what did AM tell me last night? Something about how I'm all excited and am thinking about him during my sleep. I'm not too sure about that but then I don't really remember dreams and such so the possibility is there.

All I know is that the lack of sleep is totally bogging me down. Monday I was up until 3am because I couldn't fall asleep and the other night I went to sleep at 1130pm, woke up feeling fairly rested and realized it was only one hour later and it took me another two hours to fall back asleep!

NNG and I are having fun and we went out locally on Wednesday and I'll see him again after work tonight. I will need a pick me up before then but I think the caffeine from my morning coffee is finally kicking in.

Yesterday, I had training up in Sacramento so my boss and I drove up there. I was chatty in the car on the way up, sleepy throughout the training (obviously not exciting) and then attepted to stitch on the way back. How do people stitch moving at 70+ miles per hour?! It was hard! I did get a good amount done and am moving amazingly fast with the Mom project. I only have mom, mother, mommy and love left to stitch along with the flowers. Not bad for less than one week! I'll have a progress pic to share over the weekend when I'm actually home during the day.

I managed to get my project in 2.5 hours ahead of the deadline. Talk about stress! I am just so happy to have it all over with and now I can focus on having fun with the NNG tonight, meeting Claire for a nice lunch in my neighborhood, lots of classwork (yuk!), a possible new hair-do and a visit with the parentals.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. Happy Friday!

Ma Mere

I should have gone to yoga today and I should be reading a boring chapter for my class right now but work was crazy again today and I felt like my eyelids were being held up by toothpicks by the end of the workday so I came home, took a mini-nap and finished my pinkeep. I am very happy with it! I can't show pictures though until it is received and it has quite a ways to go. I packaged the exchange and it is now sitting near my purse to be taken to the post tomorrow during my lunch break. I started to do my flat-fold but don't feel motivated enough to really attempt it right now. So instead, I started Love You Mom. I stitched "Ma Mere" from the chart already and the next word will be "Mum". I decided that I was very happy with the browns I picked at NiaH as the colors in my stash were less stellar than the WDW Chestnut and Hazelnut I had picked at the shop. I think it'll come out nice. I did discover yesterday that my parents decided to go out of the country for a few months so they will miss Mother's Day and Father's Day so this will now be a birthday gift for my mom for when she gets back. My mom's birthday isn't until September so I have plenty of time to stitch it and take it to the framers. Since I already started...I may as well continue and just set it aside until her birthday.

Sorry for the crummy picture. Hard to get good pictures at nighttime.

Since I'm already on a stitchy topic, Carol R. (different Carol from yesterday) convinced me to participate in a new exchange on the Quaker Inspired board. Actually, it didn't take much convincing. Since the pinkeep exchange is over, I need a new challenge to help master my finishing skills. It's just that I get nervous when I sign up for one of these exchanges because I don't want to mess up the stitched piece with a lousy attempt at finishing or disappoint my exchange partner. Carol made me feel better and even offered to send me finishing links if I needed help. She also said that if she could, she'd give me a lesson. Isn't that sweet?! Thanks Carol! Too bad she lives in the UK because Carol R finishes beautifully too. A lesson from her might teach me a lot! This project is to stitch one of The Workbasket quaker animals and finish it how you want. I don't have too much exposure to Quaker but I really like those Quaker Animals so that'll be fun!

Ok, time to prep my materials for the flat-fold and head in for the night...

Wonderful Mail Surprise!

Today I came home from a very hectic day at work to find a wonderful surprise in my mailbox. At first, I was trying to remember what I had ordered until I saw the return address and realized what it was. It was my pinkeep exchange from Carol S.! I absolutely love everything! Thank you so much Carol! She stitched Remember Me from Praiseworthy Stitches and I absolutely love that flower. Very cheerful and very appropriate for Spring. She did a great job picking out something I like not to mention extra goodies! She included a lovely piece of light blue linen, a fat quarter of red gingham fabric, a couple skeins of red floss (she picked up on me liking red...as you can tell by the pillow in the background of my picture), needles and some yummy lotion.
Carol is a wonderful stitcher and finisher. I hope to be as good as her one day. I kept examining how she finished the pinkeep so that I could get ideas for constructing the one I need to make for my exchange partner. Here is a close up of the front of the pinkeep. I love the colors in this piece!

And here is a snap of the back. More red fabby! I love red and I will find a special spot in my bookcase to display it!

It was a wonderful mail day indeed! Since I am already on the topic of pinkeeps and exchanges, I spent most of the evening trying to construct my pinkeep. I am 90% done. It seems to take me forever to do these things but this is only my first pinkeep so I am being very slow and careful to not screw things up. Not to mention I forgot there was sewing to do. Why did I think I didn't need to sew for this project?! At least I didn't prick myself this time! The only thing left for me to do is the embellishment. I had ribbon and I didn't really like how it looked and I have trim but it is the wrong color so I will have to shoot to Joann's tomorrow to get the right color trim so I can finish this and send it off to my exchange partner. And I was so hoping to be done and get this off to the post tomorrow. At least I will make it in the post a couple of days before the deadline so that's good.

Quick Weekend Post

It's late and I should be getting nice and cozy with my down comforter right now so I can catch up on my ZZzzzZZZzzz's and be refreshed in the morning but fact of the matter is that I'm usually a zombie first thing in the morning and coffee will be a necessity in the a.m.

I had a nice weekend which was all over the place. I did have two dates with the "new" new guy and I have to say, I am having a terrific time! Time completely flies and it just leaves me floored! Friday we headed into the city for a tapas dinner in the Mission. We started the night off with some crummy sangria. Sadly disappointing as I love me some sangria and I can make a pretty mean batch. Dinner was fairly good with the exception of the shrimp which was marinated in a good head of garlic. Gah! But as I keep saying, we can be left to our own devices and get along ok. After dinner, we walked in search of a lowkey bar to hang out in and continue our conversation. We found a Greek wine bar and managed to while away a couple more hours despite the weirdness of a Greek wine bar. They pretty much kicked us out as we didn't want to drink anymore and we headed to the car. I was shocked to find that it was already past midnight! We had managed to fill 5 hours with laughter, conversation, joking, wine and food. I had a great time and the company was steller. I had mentioned to him that I wanted to go to the Stanford to catch the last day of the Hitchcock Festival and he said that he would like to come along hence two dates in one weekend. Since he wanted to come along, I wasn't about to drag him to the double feature as that's a long time to sit in a theater. He picked The Birds and so he picked me up today and we headed to Palo Alto. We both needed a pick-me-up and we headed to a cozy coffee shop and sat outside to chat and catch up on the week. We headed over to the movie and let me tell you, those birds in the movie are scary! It was my first time watching The Birds...I don't know if I can look at birds the same way again! After the movie we enjoyed the brief organ music and then headed out in the cold to try and find a place we could tuck into and chat somemore. We accomplished that and whiled the hours away. NNG (new new guy) dropped me off back at home 7.5 hours later. Yep, it was a long date that didn't seem to last longer than the lenth of the movie! Me and NNG have a ton in common. Bay area upbringing, catholic schooling, immigrant parents, spanish, snarky, sarcastic humor, entertaining mannerisms and local residences. But we aren't so alike that it's boring. My mannerisms crack him up and his crack me up. We are both entertainers. I'm not sure if people understand what I mean by that. Usually, I'm the entertainer on dates, the one that talks the most...trying to get that other person to get out of their shell. I have no shell...not really...I go into dating with a "what you see, is what you get, take me as I am" type of an attitude because I know I will not change and I don't expect anyone to change for me either. I've dated so much that dates don't really faze me until real, true feelings start to mix in. I am the one who entertains...chatty, asks loads of questions, I have funny stories and I'm a good entertainer...but I am pretty tired of playing that role. This is a guy where the entertaining is 50-50 and I enjoy that. We click, we communicate amazingly well and we have fun. I am completely looking forward to seeing him again.

I did go to NiaH on Saturday to pick up the Bent Creek Love You Mom chart. I was hoping to grab the stuff and run but Mary noticed that the colors called for in the chart weren't really true to the picture image and I ended up spending 1.5 hours trying to pick out just the right browns for the project. I'm not even sure I'm really happy with my choices but I wasn't very awake at the shop because of my late night the day prior. I'll have to ransack my stash to see if I can find something better. I didn't really get stash...just the chart, fabric and three threads for the project plus one goodie for my exchange partner and some flossaway bags in the hopes to get organized so no good stash pics this time around. The rest of the day was spent running errands, tidying up and attempting to get through Lesson 1 of my work-related class. I managed to get through it all with just one missed question and minimal frustration.

It was a busy, hectic weekend which was enjoyable but did not provide any time for stitching or finishing. I am behind and must work on finishing my exchange project tomorrow as it needs to be posted by Friday. Oh and it has such a long way to go! I had hoped to have this all done last week. How did I get so behind?!

Stepping into the Whirlwind

I'm hesitantly taking that big step into the whirlwind of what will be the next two weeks. Work is CRAZY busy and I am starting to feel myself becoming a tense stress case because people expect me to do all my normally time-consuming things, plus extra projects plus meet big deadlines. The people who have to help me meet the big deadlines are big procrastinators! So a lot of my responses for help have been met with, "um, pretty busy, maybe I can look at that in a couple of weeks". It amazes me that I work with a bunch of people that want things now....like RIGHT NOW...this very minute!!...but when I need something...it can take forever! My big deadline is April 4th so I will be ecstatic when that date is past. I am hoping that my stitching time will not be affected by the stress but sometimes when I am stressed out, I can't concentrate on patterns and just need the time to stare blankly at the tv and decompress.

The week so far has been filled with the normal day-to-day things like cleaning up after myself, cooking and yoga. Tonight is another Symphony night. Normally, my symphony dates are not so close together. That should be nice...it's Mozart this time. The rest of the week will be more yoga and possibly a date.

Oh, I forgot to mention that part of the reason I am stressed...besides the big deadline...is that my work-related class started yesterday. The instructor wants us to read one chapter per week, watch powerpoint presentations and do homework and participate in online discussions. All this needs to be completed by the Sunday of each week. It doesn't sound like a lot but it is when you haven't had to do anything academic in years! I haven't even cracked open the book! So this will be interesting.

So yesterday, I got to thinking about how I've stitched for many people but I haven't really stitched for my mom. She's the one who taught me to cross stitch and I think she has a lot of my earlier stuff when I was trying things out and not really what I considered good. But like a good mom, she keeps everything...serious packrat here. My mom and I always butted heads for as long as I remember...but the last year or two, she has mellowed out and I think that despite our different opinions and ways of life, we've accepted that we're different and don't really have the time or energy to be shoving it in each others face anymore. So now she's the mellow one and my dad has become the needy one. They've switched places somehow. Now if only both of them would get hearing aids, I'd be happy. But anyways, mom is acting cooler and I think it's time I make her something so I thought this would make a nice Mother's Day present.I liked it because over the years I have called her all these names except mum or mere. They should have ma because that's usually what I scream through the house when I'm trying to find her (def. needs a hearing aid). I have 1.5 months to stitch it and finish it. I'm not sure if I should frame it or make it into a pillow. My mom has so much crap I don't know where she'll put it but we'll find a place!
So with this sudden vision of enlightenment, I emailed NiaH and asked them if they had the chart and they do! Yay! So I am off to Alameda this weekend to kit the project and start it right away. Looks like poor Fairy Moon is going to the back burner for a while longer. I also need to finish (already stitched) two exchange projects...one a flat-fold and the other a pinkeep...neither which I have ever done before so I am a little nervous. I also need to read a chapter and do schoolwork...yuk! And I most definitely need to go to the Stanford Theatre to catch the very last day of their Hitchcock Festival. I must...I don't care what gets in my way...I am so there. They will be showing The Birds and Psycho. OMG, those are two of his best movies!

So it looks like along with a busy and hectic week, I will have a busy and hectic weekend too.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope that everyone had a lovely Easter Sunday. Mine was very nice! I managed to drive into the city (yet again...third time this weekend) because I had to go pick up a St. Honore cake at Victoria's Pastry in North Beach for my aunt's birthday. It was her birthday on Friday but today was the first chance I had to stop by considering my hectic Saturday. This cake is my favorite cake ever and my mom loves it as well. I will make the trek into the city especially for this cake...it is that good! I love that Victoria's makes it in a smaller size that is good for 6-8 people. Usually, the cakes are garmongous and we are left eating cake for the entire week (which doesn't help my lose 10 pounds in '08 quest). With 5 people, only one generous slice was left as everyone wanted extras. Good thing I left that slice at my parents since I probably would have eaten that as well by now. North Beach was beautiful today. I drove in, found street parking right away (the Gods are truly with me today!), picked up the cake and went to my coffee version of Cheers...Caffe Greco. The guys who work here know me on sight and they are a funny bunch. They make my coffee just how I like and it's a primo spot to people watch all day if I want. I didn't have the time to people watch though. I read a bit while I drank my coffee and then it was time to head to my parents. I tried stopping off at Joann's and Beverleys to get fabric and goodies for my exchange but both places were closed! Looks like I will have to push the deadline. The Joann's near me is not that great and I really wanted to go to the one near my parents since it seems nicer and better organized. I don't know when I can get there now. Easter at my parents was nice and low key. We chatted, I arranged a ton of flowers, ate homemade chicken soup and ate really yummy cake. After that, I headed home to work on my exchange piece and relax. I chatted a bit with the new guy and I'll be seeing him at the end of the week. So overall it was a good day and a nice Easter. Above is a picture of daffodils that I bought at Trader Joes (so cheap!). Daffodils always remind me of the beginning of Spring and their bright yellow color makes me smile and feel cheerful. I thought I would share them with you as they sit on top of my tv so they are in my constant line of sight as I'm a tv junkie. Happy Easter!

A Beautiful Day

A couple of days ago, I asked Claire if she would check out a new place for brunch on Saturday. We always go to the same place and I just wanted to mix things up and I had gotten a Yelp email about comfort food places and it mentioned Slow Club. I like comfort food and I have heard good things about the restaurant in the past. Claire is a big walker so I have to trade going to brunch with taking a walk. Ok, I can do this but I should say that taking a walk with Claire is more like taking a three mile hike up and down hills or stairways within San Francisco so it really is a workout and I get very whiny which luckily, she can tune out. So we picked a walk in Potrero Hill and I know that Hill is part of the name but I never realized how hilly it actually is! I got a major glutes workout! At one point during the walk, we hiked up a moderately steep hill and this was the view I saw from downtown. Not the nicest view considering the freeway and new construction but it is a view that people don't usually see in postcards, etc.
We walked through a park called McKinley park which is dog-friendly so we made nice with the dogs. And as a native, I learned something new. Right off the park is the city's second most crookedest street. Everyone has head of Lombard Street but there is a section of Vermont Street that is as crooked if not more. The turns are 90 degree with about 4-5 curves in the street. It is not as scenic as Lombard but it was interesting all the same. We finally got back to the car after climbing the biggest hill ever and we made our way to Slow Club.

Slow Club was pretty cool. I wasn't fond of the interior...lots of silver, chrome and cement which made it seem too industrial. Potrero Hill is fairly industrial though. The food was good. I had the fried egg sandwich which was very yummy...and messy. Claire had the turkey sausage hash which wasn't like any hash I've ever seen but very tasty as well. I think next time, I'd like to sit outside if it was a nice day and there was a table free.

The rest of the day was busy. I had dinner and Symphony plans with another friend and we headed to Absinthe for a pre-dinner cocktail. Despite my curiousity about Absinthe, I couldn't bring myself to try an Absinthe cocktail. I opted for my usual sidecar and they make them perfectly here at Absinthe. It's a fun bar that has that whole feel of the "Belle Epoque" French period. I think next time, I'll have to ask the bartender to help me choose an Absinthe cocktail to say that I've tried it. We headed to dinner and to the Symphony. It was a great performance of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite that was conducted by an up and coming conductor from Venezuela who is only 27 years old. All I can say is Wow!

Saturday was a perfect city day!

Can't I Just Date in Peace?!

Before I go into it all, I know that the person I'm referring to in the story had good intentions but I really, REALLY wish I was more anonymous within the radial area that I hang out in.

On Wednesday, I had a date. It was a new guy, not the old "new guy". I was looking forward to the date and wasn't really nervous, things seemed on track and we had loads in common already. We'd proven to be very chatty in emails and on the phone, energy was good so it was time to meet. We picked a place and a time, we were both on time and jumped right into it fast. And frankly, it wasn't the typical first date conversation...at least not straight off the bat. The new guy has lived abroad for nine years and 5 of those years was in the country my entire family is from. We had plenty to talk about regarding that. Different towns, weekend destinations, the freaky encounters with bats, taratulas, cockroaches, monkeys...oh and mosquitos. And frankly, the mosquitos are the worst of the lot. It's a beautiful country but that's what you get when you go to a tropical destination that has heavy vegetation. We probably talked a good hour just about that commonality! And the new guy has more latin mannerisms than I do and I'm the latin one...go figure! About an hour or so into the date, I feel an arm on my back and hear a "Hey Valerie". I was right in the middle of talking about something and that arm really distracted me. I turn around and see that it's one of my co-workers! Geez! Last thing I want to do when I'm on a date is run into someone I know...let alone a co-worker. They are chatty guys and rival old ladies in the gossip department. This particular co-worker is also on Match and I was hoping to God that he would say something stupid like ask me "Oh hey, are you on a Match date" because for once, this was NOT a Match date and don't really feel like divulging that bit of information to the new guy. I did the introductions between the new guy and the co-worker and the co-worker moved on. Whew!

After that encounter, I was so distracted. Lots of thoughts were racing through my head. Is he here on a date? Has he been here the whole time? Where is he even sitting? How come I didn't see him? But to be honest, I have tunnel vision on dates and when I'm out with friends. I completely focus on who I'm with and the conversation at hand assuming I'm having a good time. If I'm having a crap time, I'm all about people watching to get through the experience.

I managed to get back into the flow and we're chatting, laughing and joking and we finally get the bartender to come around to refill our water glasses but the real reason he headed in our direction was because the co-worker wanted to buy us a round. Gah! Dude, I'm on a date...stop bugging me! I've already had 2 glasses of wine and so had the new guy so we passed on the offer. We kept talking and then it was time to visit the loo. I passed by the co-worker and gave him a tap as I walked by and on the way back, he stopped me. He's all chatty and introducing me to the girl he was with...couldn't tell if it was a date or a female friend. He makes some comment about how people can't believe we (he and I) are latin based on how we look. Co-worker looks WAY more latin than I do...he's nuts! I make my excuses and get back to my date. The next thing we know, co-worker is near us again and making comments about how the place is trying to shut down and how it was so unlike me to "close a place down". Frankly, co-worker only knows me at work and work Valerie is very different from free time Valerie and I made a comment as such. But I was completely surprised that we did in fact close the place down...2 glasses of wine, no food and 3.5 hours later. We were so into chatting that neither of us was really very hungry! So I had a good time.

I probably would have felt more relaxed if it hadn't been for my co-worker being there though.

Highlights from the Weekend

My weekend was fairly productive and unassuming. I didn't have any major plans other than chores and was actually pretty focused on getting them done...for a change. I would make the worst wife. I detest cleaning...dishes, vacumming, dusting, laundry, organizing. I dislike all those things yet, I like a clean house. Go figure!

But it was a good weekend. I treated myself to a manicure/pedicure...and already managed to chip a nail. Ack! How does that happen?! I ordered take-out which I am still eating. I only do this once in a while because then I remember why I don't order take-out after eating the same thing for four days. It was yummy chinese food though so I'm not totally complaining but I probably will not be eating chinese again for a while now. I took the car in for it's oil change and headed to my parents for a visit and the opportunity to wash my four garmongous loads of laundry. Yes, I'm 32 and still wash my laundry at the folks. I got some decent stitching time in which is proven by my recent Sweet Dreams post and I managed to get a trip into the city in. I drove in yesterday to visit with my friend Kevin who I only get to see on Sundays, once in a while, because we have completely opposite schedules. We went to eat at the Bell Tower in Russian Hill where I had a huge, yummy bacon cheeseburger with fries and Newcastle beer. The waitress made some comment about how I was eating a "guy's meal". Yep, that's right. Every once in a while, a girl will gorge herself and eat a huge burger with beer and we're okay with it. We don't have to eat salad all the time! She was probably all freaked out that I'd eat like that in front of a guy but I have no shame. After lunch we headed to the theater to see The Bank Job. It was a beautiful day so we walked from Russian Hill to the AMC and managed to get in before the movie got crowded. It was a great movie with good actors although the only one I really recognized was Jason Statham, who I think is a cutie. It had suspense, excitement, sadness and humor. All around, all the things you look for in a good film. I do have to mention that while Kevin was checking out Saffron Burrows on the screen, the lady who chose to sit next to me was driving me berserk. I always get the weird ones when I go to the movies...the talkers, the cringers, the invading my space-ers. I always get to a movie early to scope out my spot and get comfy but people who make me move at the last minute because they are late annoy me. As do the people who check their cellphones repeatedly during the movie and the super bright glare in a super dark theater distracts me. And don't even get me started on people who think it's okay to have a phone conversation during a movie. Those people...get yelled at. Like I said, I have no shame. If I'm going to a movie, I sit down, shut up, turn off my phone and pay attention to the movie. I would hope that others do the same. Uh-oh...looks like I went on a mini-rant there. Anyways, this lady next to me kept putting her large bag in my legroom area and I kept knocking into it. Anyone who knows me in person knows I need my legroom as I'm more legs than anything else! As if having her huge bag in my way wasn't enough, she kept grabbing it and rooting around in it for who knows what and anytime anything potentially violent came up on the screen, I heard "oh god, oh no, I don't think I can watch" commentary and she cringed and covered her eyes. She did this through the previews and throughout the movie! Sorry lady, but if the movie is too violent for you, you should have gone to see Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day or Horton Hears a Who. I'm sure those are just as enjoyable but considerably tamer movies for someone so scared of violence. The movie was called The Bank Job...no bank robbery ever goes smoothly in any movie...you know there will be guns involved and people may potentially be hurt. It's the standard "recipe" for that type of movie. Despite the distractions, I was still able to pay attention, follow along and enjoy the movie though.

After the movie, we walked back to Russian Hill to collect the car and I was amazed that for 630pm, the sun was out, the sky was blue and despite the coolness in the air, the evening was perfect. It was such a beautiful day and I was just happy to be out in it. And that was the end of the weekend.

The Infamous Wine Cabinet!

Ah, the infamous wine cabinet...in all it's wino gloriousness! AM has been asking me to write more about the wine cabinet...mainly she wanted to see a picture because she's been eyeing the same cabinet for her abode. I'm hoping that if she decided to purchase it, it is with much less hassle and anxiety than I experienced with mine. But all in all, I love it. It's small and compact which is a good thing for apartment living. It fits my jumbo wine glasses and champagne glasses. And look...even with all my wine, champagne and whiskey, it's still not full! I have four empty slats. I highly object to all those folks joking that I was a wino! Now I got to go buy more wine though...empty slats is no good. Ruins the whole flow...dontcha think? I am very happy that Crate and Barrel stepped up to the plate on customer service and leaving a happy customer behind. Now I can try to plan when I am going to go back to pick up the dinnerware I've been eyeing since last October. I guess I better get to packing up and donating my old dinnerware before buying new stuff though. It would make the transition much, much easier. If anyone has good wine recommendations to help fill my four slats, let me know. I like to be in the know.

Santa Baby...

I spent a good amount of time working on Sweet Dreams the last couple of days. In fact, I can't seem to put it down even though there are loads of other things I should be doing. I think I just have to admit that I am a one project type of girl. Although I need to try and change it up. The last week had been productive in the stitching department. I've finished all the stitching in Santa and am about half way through his goodie bag...just three presents and the drums with drumsticks and I can move up the side to the top border. I am hoping that once I reach that halfway mark, I can bear to tear myself away enough to make a decent start in Fairy Moon. For all my talking about how I was so eager to start her, I haven't even made one single stitch. This project has me pretty engaged and distracted enough as it is. I think part of my hangup is the dark fabric. It's beautiful fabric but my eyesight isn't what it used to be (ok, let's just admit here that my eyesight was never what it could have been considering I've been wearing glasses for the past 22 years!). Since most of my stitching is done at night and my eyes are tired from staring at a computer all day, the lighter fabrics seem more appealing at the end of the long day. I just haven't had any daylight time to attempt the start of Fairy Moon...soon though...very, very soon.
Say hi to Santa! Hope you've been good so far this year. You don't want to make the naughty list! I'll have to put Santa aside this week. I really need to work on my exchange piece as it has quite a distance to travel. I already know that I will have to devote part of next weekend to goodie and notions purchasing, construction and mailing. Should be interesting as this will be another "first".

Floss Stash!

Finally! After one month of waiting, I received the floss I ordered from Stitching Bits and Bobs. Even though, I anticipated a wait, I still didn't think it would take over 4 weeks to get my 28 skeins of floss. Most of this is for Quaker Christmas which now means that this project is fully kitted! Woohoo! The other floss was for my exchange piece but since Bobbie was taking forever to get this to me, I had to do an emergency purchase at NiaH as I didn't want to be further delayed. I called NiaH on a Tuesday and received them in the mail on Saturday of the same week. Why do I stray from them!?! I know why...that beautiful 4-letter word...SALE. Stitching Bits and Bobs always is having a sale and I like to save money. Crescent Colors and GAST does NOT come cheap! But I am wary of purchasing from them in the future. I had emailed saying that I was worried it was taking so long and if she could at least send me the GAST ahead of schedule so I could start the exchange project and she told me she would receive shipment in a couple of days however it wasn't until another week and a half that I received the email saying my shipment had been posted. I also had put in an order in the beginning of December and that order took six weeks to be posted yet they charged my credit card at time of order instead of time of shipment. I don't really like it when people have my money long before I have my things. If anyone has any leads on a friendly and service oriented online needlework store that has sales, let me know. Otherwise, I should just support my local needlework store which is NiaH. They are a great little shop!

Shades of Grey

Last night was a good one. My wine cabinet saga was over and I was happy to finally see it all brand spanking new and assembled in my dining room. After work, I stopped by Costco to buy a new dvd player and I managed to find the Sony one I was eyeing for $45. Total deal! So I drove home on a positive note, installed the dvd player and was able to finish the rest of Moulin Rouge. Yay! Now I am all ready for my Netflix arrival this afternoon. Can't wait! I can catch up on The Sopranos. I am so curious and hooked on that show despite it's violent pretense.

Most of last night, I worked on Sweet Dreams. I was really hoping to finish all the grey in Santa and his goodie bag but I couldn't. Almost done though and I will probably finish tonight...the grey that is...not Santa. So I finished the tree already and I want to finish Santa and his goodie bag and do the top border and name before I tackle all the backstitching. I figure I'll do half the project, backstitch that, then stitch the bottom half and then backstitch that. I usually backstitch everything at the very end but this is kind of big and there is a lot of different backstitching. The pattern even calls for something called "couching". Does anyone know what that is?! Looks like I will have to do a google search on that one. Sorry the picture is all wrinkly and jacked-looking. The camera wasn't picking up any of the white or grey which is what I've been working on for the past week so I had to shove it in the scanner and the scanner wasn't being very cooperative. If you look really hard, you can kind of see the white/grey shading on Santa's jacket cuff, hair and beard. I think I'll have santa done by this weekend...

Wine Cabinet Solution

So, I got a call from the same Crate and Barrel manager this morning that I talked to on Saturday and the solution is one that I really appreciate. We'll see how the transaction actually happens though. They assembled a wine cabinet for me and will deliver it to my apartment this afternoon and will take the old one with the disassembled parts away. Wonderful! I don't have to inconvenience friends again, borrow someone else's vehicle or haul this up 50 stairs. I'm just hoping that it doesn't get scratched between the store and my apartment. So happy! Now I've got to run home and get things together for when the delivery folks get there.

UPDATED: I went home for lunch today and right when I was leaving to come back to work, the delivery truck came. I wouldn't have even given the truck a second look as it wasn't a huge truck like I expected. Crate and Barrel didn't tell the courier service that I live in a third floor walk-up so it was just the guy and the cabinet. It's pretty hard to get a piece of furniture up all those stairs by yourself so I helped him and we got it upstairs ok. Thank goodness they had the foresight to cover it up and wrap it in plastic! It looks great. I got my landlord roped in to help the guy get the old stuff down as I felt downright bad for him. Yay!! Nice new ASSEMBLED wine cabinet. Of course, now everyone is teasing me about being a wino and needing a cabinet for all my wine but it will be more of a liquor cabinet and a much safer set-up than what I currently have right now. I'm really happy that Crate and Barrel came through on customer service.