Birthday Bonanza!

I participated in Phoe's 30th Birthday Bonanza contest. To celebrate, Phoe decided to give away presents. (How cool is that? I don't know many people who would give away presents for their birthday) I put my name in for the purple package and won! (I never win anything, so this came as a nice surprise :) The package arrived last week. It contained some pretty lime-green yarn and a beautiful handmade necklace! (also in green, which happens to be one of my favorite colors) Thank you so much Phoe!

Late Resolutions?

I'm really not a fan of resolutions; I've never really made any before, but maybe it's time to start.

I am getting married in a little less than 15 weeks (!) and my first dress fitting is on February 21st, which is a little over 5 weeks away. When I bought the dress, I was several (or more?) pounds lighter than I am now. The reason I don't know is because I don't own a scale. There was a scale at David's house, so I weighed myself every so often at his house. We haven't been staying there at all since August, so I haven't known my weight until about two weeks ago, when David brought the scale over.

Now, I am not one to really complain about my weight; and maybe some people would call me crazy for even worrying about it, but I am feeling a bit chunky these days, and the scale and my clothes are agreeing with me.

I lost some weight after college; I guess the lifestyle change was enough, because I didn't feel like I was on a diet or a strict exercise plan. Then last fall I lost even more weight, and was at the skinniest I have been since high school. This was around the time that David and I were having some issues, and when I'm upset I don't eat. I guess this went on long enough for me to lose about 5+ lbs. Now I'm back at my "happy" weight....and I think I've been a little too happy lately.

Right now I'm at 125.5 and I'd like to be at between 112-115lbs for the wedding. Do you think I can do it? I joined dailyplate.com and I began my "Buff Brides" work outs again last night. (It's a book w/simple exercise you can do at home using dumbbells, ankle weights, and a core ball) I'm on the "12 Week Crash Course" and I'm hoping this will help tone my arms (a problem area for me)....I'm wearing a strapless dress. I'm also going to try to go to the gym after work 2 days per week, and once on the weekend. Hopefully all this doesn't sound too vain. I'm just a little disgusted with myself after the holidays, and I really need to be more healthy and active.

So...we'll see how things go. I really feel like I have a reason to be serious about this--hopefully the honeymoon won't screw up everything. We're going to Croatia, where there is lots of wine and fabulous, fresh seafood...and one of my favorite things to do is eat :)

Christmas Knits Etc.

I managed to get my two Christmas gifts completely finished and wrapped before Christams Eve this year! My original plan was to make my Dad a pair of socks, but it wasn't meant to be. I didn't have his foot measurements (I wanted the socks to be a surprise) so I guesstimated using David's foot as a model. Everything was going well (*mostly, except for the deep heel)until I started the toe. (Notice the gold toe...my Dad likes to request gold toe socks for gifts) I knitted it in the car, on the way home to St. Louis from Tulsa, and it ended up being way too long. It's huge...here it is:




I decided not to do the second sock, and wrapped this one up with the promise to knit a new pair.


As a replacement present, I whipped out the Shedir Hat from Knitty. I used Rowan Wool Cotton in Moonstone, a grey color. It was the first time I used any Rowan Yarn, and it definitely lived up to its reputation. I went up one needle size to a US 4 to ensure that it ended up "man-sized" This was also my first knitted hat, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out!






















For my Mom, I made a scarf from the Victorian Lace Today book. I cut the width in half to make the scarf narrower. I used Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn in Capri and a size 4 needle. This was my first lace project and I'm very happy with it!























Finally, some miscellaneous Christmas pics:

I'm sure I've already gained at least 3 lbs...

It will be good come January when all the holiday food stops arriving in the office. I tell everyone that I wish it would stop coming now, but that is really a lie, because I like to eat. On Tuesday it was a huge platter of home-made cinnamon rolls from one of our interior designers. On Tuesday afternoon the first Harry & David's tower came. I cannot resist the mixed nuts. I eat all the cashews as fast as I can. (And I don't care if it's a piggy thing to do, because some of my co-workers are human vacuums all year long when there is food in the kitchen) On Wednesday a wooden crate came from Hollyberry Bakery. Apparently there was a story about this place on the local news. Inside was regular and chocolate gooey butter cake, cookies, brownies and another type of "bar" treat, and kettle corn. We divvied up the treats and I ended up w/one cookie and the kettle corn. I cannot resist kettle corn and I ate it all yesterday afternoon in one sitting. (it was a small bag...) It was excellent. I would highly recommend this place to anyone wanting to send me a corporate gift. Finally, another large plate of cookies arrived this morning. The best item here (after sampling several kinds) was a small sugar cookie "sandwich" with icing inside. I love frosting/icing. In fact, one of my favorite indulgences of all time are the cookie sandwiches from the cookie stands at the mall. Usually they feature two normal sized chocolate chip cookies with a large (an inch or more) amount of frosting inside. Yum! I haven't had one of these in probably two years or so because I feel like such a pig when ordering one of these. The calorie count must be astronomical.

Anyway, obviously the holiday treat season isn't over yet. I still expect at least one more Harry & David gift tower to arrive. I secretly wish for one of those tins of popcorn w/the three sections. One came about two years ago, but was not here last year. If they made a cheese and butter only one, that would be even better. (the caramel is only good for a short while)
I also plan to make Christmas cookies myself, so that won't help matters. I have a recipe for sugar cookies from David's family. These cookies must be as addictive as crack. We're planning on having these for wedding favors, with the recipe included. Yum!

Look, I'm blogging.

Here is the baby cable sweater I made for a co-worker. Her baby boy is due November 16th. The pattern is from Debbie Bliss' "Simply Baby." I used Debbie Bliss cashmerino yarn. I LOVE the way this turned out. I didn't want to give it away...I wanted to fold it up and put it away for future use :)

Another Fun Way to Waste Time

If you like cats (or even if you don't, I think), check out this website:

Basically, people submit photos of cats (and some other various small mammals and even reptiles) and write a caption in this weird "language" It's strange, but sometimes hilarious.

Here's my latest favorite. Maybe it's partially because it looks like my baby, Lily.

So Behind.

I seriously need to blog. I have some pictures to post too, but have I downloaded them from the camera? No. I have not. I liked when I used to be able to download, and then post right away on the same computer. Sigh. I just need to break down and spend the money to get internet at home again.

First, I owe a big thank you to my Sockapalooza pal, Jenni.She knit me the Spiral Boot Socks from the Summer Interweave Knits. They're fabulous. I have pics to post, coming soon. She also sent some other things along with the package, including some beautiful beaded stitch markers! Alas, I still have not heard from my sock pal, so I'll have to assume that she received the socks I made for her. I left a post on her blog, but have not heard anything. Unfortunately I cannot seem to locate an email for her on her page :(

Second, thanks to Kathy for giving me (yes, giving me!) some beautiful Mama Llama ( I think!) sock yarn yesterday at knitting group. It's beautiful. I usually gravitate toward greens and blues and don't have any yarn in this color. (It's reddish/pinkish/purplish. A pic is necessary) Thanks again! I'll repay with some beautiful yarn someday.

Third, I start class tonight. Yuck. Mondays are the worst day; I have two classes, going from 530-945. At least the bad day over at the beginning of the week.

Fourth, if you never hear from me again after September 9th, it might be because I've died. I'm signed up to do the MS150 ride in Columbia, Missouri. It is two days of riding a bicycle 75 miles. I've started training, but as usual, I put it off waaay too long. Please wish me luck.