Where o where have I been?

Nearly three weeks without a posting and you would think that I'd been out of the country again. You would be wrong.
i have had a lot going on though.
First there was a friends birthday, which I once again baked the cake for:


Spice cake with seafoam frosting and caramel. It turned out nicely and was liked by all.
The following Saturday I headed east on I-80, stopping at the Donner Lake vista point for a photo op:

a while later I reached my destination:

Reno, where I met up with 6 friends for a bachelorette party

We had drinks that came in fishbowls

It was great fun, and one of the worst hangovers I've had in years.

Then, there was last night.
I THOUGHT that I was going to the suprise birthday party for a friends boyfriend and it turned out to be a suprise wedding. It was quite the shock, and an absolutely beautiful evening.

Auntie Nessie

I got to babysit on Monday night.

Cooking and Talking.

I made dinner tonight. I was going through some of my Grandmas magazines this afternoon - she buys all of the magazines at the supermarket checkout for their recipes, yet she doesn't cook. Anyways, I found a recipe for a lasagna that I just jad to make this evening. Instead of using lasagna noodles, you use chees raviolis. It was fantastic - I forgot to take any photos though so you'll just have to trust me as to how good it was. I did modify the recipe a little though and added some spinach to the layers.
While cleaning up after dinner I realized that I must talk to my grandmother about my coworkers A LOT. She asked me if I wanted to take some of the leftovers to work tomorrow, and I said yes. Then, she said "I suppose you'll need some for your two boys as well, won't you?"
Also, I'm in a wedding next month. My oldest friend Caren is getting married. I'd like for my nails to grow out some before the wedding so I think I'm going to have to resort to my old stand by for getting my hair and nails to grow for a special occaision - prenatal vitamins.
I leave you with a photo of my niece Kylee and I, this was taken about 3 weeks ago. She is so cute! I can't wait for her personality to really come out.

Happy Birthday Erin

Today is my dear cousin Erins birthday.
I have to point out that Erin is more than "just" my cousin. We grew up together, taking summer trips to Disneyland with our grandparents, building forts in our grandparents backyard, being given baths together in grandmas kitchen sink.
Erin is more than just a cousin to me, shes like my siter, and shes my best friend.
For the past few months, Erins been going through some rough times - nothing I'm going to elaborate on here in respect to her privacy - but it has not been the best months of her life. Today is her birthday, and with her birthday coming up I felt that she deserved an extra special celebration.
A little over a month ago, she and I were commiserating over dinner and it got brought up that she'd like to attend horse races sometime. With her birthday approaching, I decided that we would celebrate with her friends at the Sacramento Harness Races. To make it a more festive occaision, "Derby Dress" would be encouraged.
Erin and I in our Derby attire:

Saturday afternoon we met up with friends at the pub, then took a couple of taxis over to Cal Expo for the races.
We had a fabulous time. With a group of close to 25, all in various attire, and a handful in some outrageous hate, we drew a little bit of attention to ourselves. For the 4th race, Erins birthday was announced and we rode in the pace car:

You can't tell, but we are in the car there on the left and are being watched by some of our friends lined up at the gate.
Riding in the pace cars was great, and it was reassuring when the driver and another guy who sat in the back watching advised us that the jockeys are not allowed to whip the horses at any time and the SPCA has a box from which they watch every single race to ensure that the horses are treated humanely.
At the end of the 7th race, our entire group was taken out to the finish line for a photo with the winning horse:

Then 5 of use were taken up on the roof to the announcers box:

Afterwards, we headed back to the pub for further festivities and cake that I'd made the night before:


Happy Birthday Erin, I LOVE YOU!

The Department of Health Is SERIOUS

I had the following conversation with my coworker "Bob" Friday afternoon:

B - So, did you hear about that restaurant in Natomas where one of the cooks had Hepatitas A and all of the employees had to be euthanized?
V - (laughing) Wait a minute. All of the employees were EUTHANIZED??
B - not euthanized, I mean embalmed
V - (laughing even more) thats not any better, "Bob". Are you sure you don't mean vaccinated?

Motivating

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~Mark Twain

I love this quote and the message of free-spiritedness (is too a word) which it conveys.

I try to apply this thought process to so much that I do.

Introspective

The past couple of months I've gotten a little introspective, looking at the things I like and don't like about myself and how I'd like to redirect my life and the things I'd like to change.
Theres nothing major, just a lot of little things and many of them are very superficial.
Perhaps it has something to do with having turned 30 last year but I just feel so incredibly frumpy and I'm tired of it.
I think my complexion is always dull, my hair is always pulled back in a ponytail or one of those half assed buns on top of my head, and I'm always wearing jeans and some tired t-shirt.
So, this past week I've done some shopping. I've bought some shoes, a couple of cute skirts, even a sundress. Wearing them to work the past week has drawn some attention, especially considering my typical wardrobe of jeans and a tired, frumpy t-shirt.
I've also been wearing my hair down, curly, and have been wearing a little bit of makeup - which I don't normally do either.
The complexion -- I've been using Immortelle Brightening Polish by L'Occitane. I think it works great, I don't know what it is or how it works, but after using it a couple of times there is a considerable improvement in my skin - more of a glow. I've also ordered this trio of products in Olive Forte from Laventine. Its gotten great reviews all over the web, and I tried some of the facial wash before ordering it.
Even after using the Brightening Polish I felt there was still room for improvement for my skins texture and clarity, and it still looked a little dull at times, so I was at the store tonight and picked up this skin polishing kit and used it as soon as I got home this evening. So far it seems like its made a difference, my skin feels smoother and seems even clearer and brighter. I'm thinking that by the time the Laventine products arrive I will have my skin regimen down pat - just in time for summer, and my 31st birthday.
Thats just some of the superficial stuff though.
I'm tired of being so passive, I allow people to.... disregard what I have to say a lot of the times, to talk over me in conversations, cut me off, stuff like that. Its one of my biggest pet peeves as well.

You Can't Even Afford An Airplane!

Why are the weekends always so damn short?
Friday night was great, I started it off by leaving work 2 hours early and hanging out at the pub until the very last minute when I had to leave to go to my brothers high school graduation. considering he was graduating from a very small private school with a graduating class of only 38, you would think the ceremony would be fairly short. You would be dead wrong.
First, there were 3 girls tied for valedictorian. All 3 spoke. All 3 thanked each individual member of their family and each individual member of the school staff. The third girl to speak had learned how to use Power Point the month prior and put together a slide show consisting of 3 pages of pictures of every single graduating senior. Then the principal spoke. The principal is also the pastor of the church (its a christian school). He spoke to every single senior. THEN, he gave his testimony. I actually thought there was going to be an altar call.

At that point I started to itch, because I'm a heathen.

The timing was great though because I was going to pick a friend up from the Oakland Airport. Shauna, thank you for flying into Oakland on Friday night. You saved me from what had to be the longest high school graduation ceremony in recorded history.
Picking up Shauna was definitely worth the drive to Oakland and back. We were able to catch up on a lot, and its great to see an old friend whenever I have the chance.

Saturday, I slept in then that night I went to Kelly and Megans for a girls night. Several beers were consumed, snickers cake was snacked upon, and I discovered that Megan and I make a formidable team for Pictionary.
Sunday I went over to my cousin Erins and hung out with her and her parents while they figured out her wireless internet/phone/cable/tivo set up. I also napped with her cat Turtle. He has got to be one of the best nap buddies ever - the epitome of cuddlyness.
Before going to Erins I had to take my grandma up to Placerville to pick her car up from the mechanics. About a month or two ago I decided that what I'm going to do as my birthday present to myself is take an introductory flying lesson. On the way up there from Sunrise and Highway 50 we could see some of the airshow that was going on over at Mather Air Field - at that time they had the small planes doing the aerial acrobatics, which I figured was a good time to tell grandma that I'm going to take flying lessons.
Appropriate timing, don't you think?
I'm anticipating her response to be something along the lines of "dangerous, blah blah blah, assinine, blah blah blah, JFK Jr, blah blah blah, what do you need to be up THERE for, blah blah blah, assinine" so, I brace myself.
"Grandma, I've figured out what I"m going to do for my birthday"
"What?"
"Take flying lessons"
"Great. Just what we need, a PILOT in the family" - now, I cannot express in words the tone in which that was said. The closest equivalent statement would be if you substituted "PILOT" with "DOMINATRIX" or "CAR THIEF" because, as you know, my family - with its addicts, petty criminals, and numerous unwed mothers - is the epitome of white middle class decorum. But, the minute someone becomes a pilot, its all down the crapper.
"Grandma, you know it does take more than 1 lesson to become a pilot. I'm not saying I definitely want to get my license, but if I like it after the one lesson I may end up doing that but it would take a while to actually get my license."
"You can't even afford an airplane!!"
I love her thought pattern here - you want to learn to fly? you're going to have to buy an airplane - too bad you can't afford it. Essentially she's saying "keep your ass on the ground where it belongs"
Erins mom thinks I should make a fake sales contract for a Cessna, take the one lesson and tell granny that I LOVED IT then ask her to cosign on a Cessna. We torment her because we love her.

Seeing Stars

Its been a full week.
I've been spending a lot of time at the pub, my time there is not completely spent drinking - I socialize with friends and also use it as some valuable knitting time. I also run into other bloggers, like Tanya (on the right) and her friend, Janet.


This week I decided that I wanted to make Beth's Little Star Afghan. Its a pattern that I've wanted to make for a while, just was awaiting the occaision, and that occaision would be my cute little niece.
I showed the pattern to my cousin Erin, and she had a BRILLIANT idea... make it look like a starfish. So, I doubled up the yarn and did the center with orange and white and the outside with blue and green.
Here is the finished product:

Thats Erin on the right. She doesn't consider herself to be a crafty person, but she had a great idea, don't you think?
Since I doubled up the yarn, this workerd up INCREDIBLY quickly. I started the starfish section (the orange and white) at the pub Thursday evening, and finished the orange section the same evening while still at the pub. The blue and green I started when I got home that evening - I worked on it a little bit that night, a little more Friday night, and finished it Sunday morning. In total, I would say that the whole project took somewhere between 8 and 10 hours.
This is definitely a pattern I will be using again and seeing how many different ways it can be adapted.
Melissa did a beautiful version of it here with some adorable matching pillows that I know I will tackle one day, once I get my "to do" list whittled down some.
The weekend was a blast,
Saturday afternoon/early evening I attended the birthday party of my friend Megan. her birthdays always have themes and this year it was the letter "M". People were dressed as Mary Katherine Gallagher, Memoir of a Geisha, Marlboro Man, a madam, I was Martha Stewart - I wore regular clothes and brought my craft projects with me - but, I think the best was my friend Phil. He threw on a mariachi hat with his regular clothes and claimed to be a mariachi man. We all thought that did not display any tremendous effort in costume until THE MARIACHI BAND HE'D HIRED SHOWED UP! Do you think I'm kidding? I'm not.



Phil is not one who could ever be accused of doing something half assed.
In fact, he went way further above and beyond that evening and got on stage at a concert to propose to his girlfriend of 3 years, Celeste.
She said yes.
My love and congratulations to the happy couple.

Plaid Baby Afghan & Knit Newborn Caps

When starting this project, I knew that the final steps of weaving the various color yarns through the body of the afghan would be a fairly tedious job - I just didnt realize HOW tedious it would be. It was tedious. As tedious as organizing an entire library according to the dewey decimal system from scratch. I started weaving the pieces through, and half an hour later I only had a few rows completed. I honestly thought that this part would go much much quicker than this - it is just weaving yarn through a mesh blanket after all. YAWN, this project got really boring very quickly. I made it more interesting by taking it down to the pub with me. A couple pints of ale + conversation with some friends made it much more pleasant.
However, I do like the overall effect and the end results:





I'm sure that if I were to actually make the afghan again I'd think of a couple ways to modify it to make it simpler. I'm half tempted to write out my pattern, but I know that its inspired by a pattern that I saw in a book somewhere almost 10 years ago and not knowing how much like the original pattern it is, I dont want to risk infringing upon anyones copyright.

Also, I made a knit cap for my little niece.


It looks SO SMALL. I didnt follow a written pattern, just swatched the yarn, then Googled the average head circumference of a newborn (14" by the way) and went from there. I'm hoping it fits. In the past, I've been notorious for making hats that were too "short" for most adults - mainly myself, I have a HUGE head - but fit on kids. I'm worried about this one because I wasn't following a written pattern, I was just eyeballing it. I had a gnawing feeling that the hat was not going to fit the kids head. So, I've started to make a back up just a little bit bigger.


The Sideways Shell Afghan turned out well. I just love love love this pattern.



The Winnie the Pooh quilt is still in progress, and will be for a while. Really, with everything else that I'm working on, my goal is to have it done by the kids first birthday. If its done anytime before then, then I'm ahead of the game.

I have a feeling that baby/child patterns are going to be my focus for a while.

Happy Saturday!

Earlier this week I was looking forward to the weekend, thinking that I would have both days to myself. I was so happy at the thought of sleeping in and just lounging around the house doing NOTHING. Yesterday I realized that I would actually have a pretty full Saturday.
I did get out last night, went down to the pub and hung out with some friends. Perused the newest issue of Interweave Knits with a fellow knitter and had a few beers.
This morning I got up, went to visit my perfect little niece - she and my sister came home yesterday - and got to hold her and examine her mop of hair, perfect little lips, adorable little finger nails, and most of all.... the cheeks! I just love those round chubby pudgy little cheeks!
Afterwards I took my car in for an oil change and tire rotation. I suppose I could have sat in the waiting room for the hour and a half and worked on the crochet plaid afghan during that time - I had the feeling that the cashier was a knitter or crocheter (just got that vibe) so she would have appreciated it. Instead, I saw the Big Lots across the street and thought I'd just browse for that hour and half. Can you ever "just browse" in a Big Lots?? I think not. $50 later I walk out with 3 bags of stuff I really don't need. Sure, I got a couple of cute stuffed animals and onesies for Kylee, something for an upcoming birthday gift, a steering wheel cover, and some shampoo and conditioner.
Then, it was a fmaily dinner at Outback to celebrate my baby brothers 18th birthday. My sister and niece joined us, and Kylee was perfect the entire time - slept most of the time and only woke up twice, took a look around, then went back to sleep. She could sense when it was time to eat though. As soon as her mothers food was served, Kylee wanted her dinner as well. I offered to feed her so that my sister could eat her dinner while it was still hot, but she had it covered.

Other than that one feeding, Kylee slept through all of the noise of an Outback restaurant on a Saturday night.


By the way - that cute lavendar afghan? Thats the Sideways Shell afghan I crocheted for her. I gave it to her before I photographed it, so this photo will have to suffice.

Tomorrow, I am knitting. Thats it. Well, and most likely having a pint or two down at the pub.

Vital Stats

I forgot to include Kylees stats in last nights post.. I was out of it from lack of sleep.

Kylee Rose
May 15, 2007 5:31 am
7 lbs 4 oz
18.5 inches long
cheek diameter - Pi (theres no end, they just keep going and going)

Astrological stats:
Sun - Taurus
Moon - Taurus
Ascendant - Taurus
Venus in Cancer
I'm not sure what all of this means, my moms into astrology and immediately ran Kylee's chart the first chance she had.

Introducing

Kylee Rose
Have you ever seen a more perfect pair of cheeks? I think the cheeks alone make up half of her total body mass.

I am a very proud auntie.

My week in review

Last weeks baby shower went over fantastically. The food was very well received. I intended to take photos of the food and all of the festivities, but I was in the kitchen cooking for almost the entire time. Everything was going so quickly that I missed out on most of the party. I think the favorite dish by far was this Pesto Turkey Baguette. The original recipe called for prosciutto, but with how many people were going to be there I substituted turkey because that much prosciutto would get very pricey very quickly.
It is a great sandwich, very very tasty. I didn't get one at the shower last week, so I made another batch today for our Mothers Day family dinner. This time I used both turkey and a small amount of prosciutto.

Other than that, my week was rather uneventful. Nothing exciting or exceptional. I'm itching to get out of town for something, I'm just not sure what. I'm thinking a day trip to the coast will be coming up soon.

A Little Q & A Session....

Shananigans asks five questions...

1. You are quite crafty. What was your first craft obsession, and what was the best item you created ever?

Hmmm... this one is tougher than I'd thought it would be.
I think I was about 6, maybe 7, when my great-grandmother first taught me how to crochet. I wasn't that great at it and it didn't really offer much in the ways of instant gratification so it didn't hold my interest for too terribly long. Around the same age I had a brief obsession with beads and would make these friendship pin things with small seed beads and safety pins - my dad kept his on his corduroy blazer for a LONG time (hey, it was the 80's - give him a break about the corduroy blazer already. Geesh!)
I don't recall the little safety pin friendship beads obsession lasting too terribly long though.
After that it was cross stitch. It started with me wanting to make something for my grandmother in Oregon when I was about 10 or 11 and my mom got me to cross stitch some tea towels for her new kitchen. I THINK I made a set of 7, one for each day of the week. Last year, after my grandmother passed away, my family was going through some of mer memento boxes looking for photos to have up at the services and reception afterwards and I found this piece of one of the tea towels I'd made her nearly 20 years earlier

My grandpa said that she'd been wanting to have the piece matted and framed to hang in the house.
It was so touching to see that she'd kept this faded, tattered and worn piece of cross stitch that I'd made as a child. We found a lot of things that I'd made her over the years - hats, scarves, afghans, photographs, drawings, lots of things, but this piece touched me the most.

2. What are looking forward to most about becoming an auntie?

SO MUCH! Theyre mainly all selfish reasons though, like the benefits of essentially having a child vicariously through someone else. Watching her little personality develop, from the first time she coos to her learning to say my name, subverting her mothers authority (hehe!). When she's old enough I look forward to taking her for the day and going to the zoo or the park, her thinking I'm the coolest auntie ever, feeding her a huge sundae untile she's wired on the sugar and then handing her back over to her mother. All of this without having to push a human being out of my va-jay-jay.
Also, I have 2 aunts myself - Gloria was incredibly cool, more like an older sister. I could talk to her about ANYTHING while I was growing up - like boys, kissing, stuff like that. She was only 14 years older than me, so I grew up thinking that she was incredibly cool and hip. While she was in high school and immediately afterwards, she used me as a litmus test for the guys she was dating. If they thought nothing of taking me to the park as their afternoon date, they were okay as far as she was concerned. If they found it annoying to be hauling around a 3 year old on their date, they failed and she dumped them.
My other aunt, my cousin Erins mother, Marla, is more cultured and would take me to the symphony, ballet and opera. She is a high school french teacher and would take students on European tours every other summer, bring me back little souvenirs from everywhere she went and teaching me about the various cultures. When I was 6, and they'd returned from the first tour that Erin was allowed to go on (she was 7) she helped Erin teach me about the french cafe culture, setting up coffee service on their patio table and allowed me to have a teeny tiny glass of redn wine with a french dinner that she'd cooked. I thought it was amazing that she allowed me to participate in such adult activities and that it made me so elegant. She taught me french phrases and I would have to use those during the french dinner or cafe time.
Neither or my aunts ever treated me like a child, never spoke down to me, and always expected me to treat them with respect and they gave me the same in return.
Basically I want to do the same for my little niece that my aunts did for me. Share the cultures that I encounter, and introduce her to the whole world.

3. You’ve got the travel bug. I know you’ve traveled in Europe and have another trip to Italy coming up. Are there any off the beaten path trips you really want to take, like Antarctica or something?

One of my goals in life is to visit 6 of the 7 continents - all except Antartica. There is some controversy on the issue of Antartica though. My father says that I should visit Antartica, that he's heard how beautiful it is and that I should go just for the ability to say that I've seen all 7 continents. That is tempting but I'm not too sure. First of all, COLD COLD COLD! I don't care for the cold. Two - I read something lately where a person had done a cruise down to the Antartic and how beautiful it was and that in a sense they were tempted to tell all of their friends to go, but at the same time hesitant because it is the one continent that has had very little human influence and the more people see it the more you see evidence of that human influence. I feel as though I shouldn't contribute to the degradation of that environment.
There are some other trips I want to take though - after Italy, I'm hoping to make my way to a continent other than Europe. I would LOVE to go to South America, I just have a hard time deciding where. Argentina? Chile? Brazil? I would like to learn to tango in Buenos Aires. Climb to Macchu Picchu (sp?) to see the ruins. Stand at the foot of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil and feel small, even though I'm not overtly religious.
I would also like to go to Asia, but again can't decide where. Japan? China? Hong Kong? Laos? I would like to see the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Walk along the Great Wall of China. See the Cantonese Opera perform, then do a little shopping, and finish the day by watching the sunset over Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong. Go to Laos and feel at peace in a Buddhist Temple.
There are so many places I want to experience.

4. If you could quit your job and make up your own career (threat of financial instability notwithstanding) what would it be?

This one is easy - travel writer and photographer. If I could market myself as the female version of Rick Steves I would do it in a heartbeat. Offering travel guides and tips for the independent woman would make my soul sing.

5. You, like me, are a pub dweller on occasion. What’s your favorite from the tap?

That depends upon where I am.
Here in Sacramento my favorite is Newcastle Brown Ale. When I can find it I do prefer Amber Bock, but thats not easy to come by on tap.
In Ireland - Guinness, hands down. The flavor of Guinness over there is completely different than here, it has a sweeter, almost chocolate, taste to it.
In Germany, it would be Kolsch. I'd never heard of it before going there, and it is much much lighter than what I normally prefer but it was great. I've heard that Curve Ball by Pyramid Brewing Company is highly comparable to the Kolsch of Cologne Germany, where I had it, and we have a Pyramid Brewery here in Sacramento so I may be going there to try it soon.
In France, I only drank wine so I'm not really in the position to suggest anything from there.


If anyone else wants to answer 5 questions, let me know - the first 10 to respond will get 5 customized questions from ME!

Preparations

Saturday is my sisters baby shower and I have a lot of prep work to do. A lot. Theres going to be up to 40 people there and my sister wants the menu theme to be "miniatures". So, I'll be making finger sandwiches, hors d'ouerves, cupcakes, and petit-fours.

To start with, I have about 65 recipes to go through and narrow down the menu for the occaision. Today, Friday, after work I have to do all of the grocery shopping and at least make the cupcakes and petit-fours so that I dont have to do EVERYTHING Saturday morning.

Tonight, I start with narrowing down the menu...

I'm Sick

I've been sick for most of this week.
I finally called the doctor this morning and talked with the advice nurse - he thinks it sounds like I could have strep throat. GREAT. So, I went in today to be gagged with the giant Q-Tip. I should have the test results tomorrow morning.
In the haze of my sickness I've been drinking plenty of Hot Toddies - I firmly believe that enough brandy, lemon, tea, and honey will cure anything that ails you. Or at least it makes the illness a bit fuzzy around the edges.

Sis is out of the hospital and back home on bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy. I've been crafting away. I've finished the body of the "plaid afghan" and just need to weave through the colors now. I've started knitting a cap for when she's born, it should be finished tonight. Sis asked that I make one for the newborn photos that will be taken at the hospital. I've also started a new afghan - its a great pattern I got off the Project Linus website - I'm doing the Sideways Shell Baby Afghan. It works up fairly quickly, has great texture, and I've used it countless times.

I've found another pattern that I'm going to make for the kid, this cute little pony! The baby's room is being decorated in a fairy tale wizard like theme, so I'm thinking that with a couple of minor adaptations, this cute little pony could easily be a cute little unicorn to better match the theme of the room.

I'll post pics of all completed items as they're finished.

On the Flip Side...

This week we found out that my sister is having a girl. Wednesday night she was admitted to the High Risk Maternity Ward for mild toxemia and contractions. Everything is being brought under control and the docs dont think its anything life threatening for either one of them, but they do want to keep her in for a couple more days and are thinking my little niece will most likely come a couple of weeks early.
Last week I had not started a single project for the kid, but now I am overflowing with them. I've been crocheting the plaid afghan I mentioned last week and am over half way through the body of it - next I just have to decide what colors to weave through. I also have a crib quilt started - I went with Winnie the Pooh, its a classic and gender neutral - I'd picked it out before we found out that the baby is a girl.
Yesterday was when I went a little nuts.
A yarn shop down the street is closing so everything is on sale. I picked up some yarn.
Then a fabric shop is closing as well so everything theres on sale too. I got even more yarn, and some cross stitched bib kits, and then some yarn. At this point, I'll still be knitting and crocheting for the kid when she has her own kids.
This afternoon Sis called from the hospital bored to death and begging me to bring her something to do. I took her the cross stitch bib kits, hung out at the hospital with her for a bit, and then came home to watch The Amazing Race. I've been in since, working on the plaid baby afghan, only taking a brek to paint my nails, and write this entry. I am going to be hauling these projects everywhere for the next couple of weeks, I've got a lot to do in very short order.

Being an auntie is going to be SO FLIPPING COOL!

I am SO getting THIS for my pending niece or nephew.

Where o where have I been?

Pretty much nowhere, really.
Since I haven't posted in three weeks you may have thought I'd taken off for someplace exotic or was on some adventure somewhere. So not true.
I did go somewhere though - two weeks ago I went to Redding for the 2nd birthday of a friends son. Other than that, I havent been up to a whole heck of a lot.
I did get my nose pierced though, see:

Yes, it did hurt. If anyone ever tells you that it doesn't, theyre full of crap. It wasn't too bad though, but it was tender for a few days afterwards. If you're ever inclined to have your nose pierced and are in the greater Sacramento area, I highly recommend Elton at American Graffiti - he was great!
In other news, Ive been planning my trip to Italy for November. What started out as a group of three of us, myself and two coworkers, has now grown to EIGHT! Myself, the two coworkers, my friend Shauna and her husband Jesse, my lovely cousin Erin, and our friends Sheena and Laura. It is going to be a blast!
My sister is still pregnant, and you would think that with a little niece or nephew on the way I would be busy with knitting and crocheting and stuff like that. You would be wrong. i haven't started a single thing, which is so unlike me. I have looked at plenty of patterns and thought of varous things I can make for the little one, but have yet to start a single project or even gotten the supplies for one. I suppose part of the reason that I haven't started anything yet is that we're not yet positive of the gender. Whenever an ultrasound has been done, the technician says that they don't see evidence of any "boy parts" but because of the angle they can't be 100% positive that its a girl. Evidently the little bugger is modest.
I do talk to the belly from time to time, saying things like "I'm your cool auntie. When your mom gets on your nerves, and it will happen, you'll come hang out with me. I'm the cool one who travels all over the place and will bring you toys from all over the world".
I am looking forward to being an auntie, a little scared at the thought of my sister as a mother though. If you knew her, you'd understand.
Given all of this, I am going to start crocheting an afghan today. It will be based upon a pattern I found a number of years ago that the body of the afghan was crocheted so that there were holes every other stitch, then lengths of yarn were woven through the holes, creating a pretty plaid like affect. I figure that I'll crochet the body in white and then can finish it when the little tyke is born, weaving in either pink or blue at that time. This way, at least I'm starting something that will be quick and easy to finish once the baby is born. I just wish I could find the original pattern - if I remember correctly it was a book of numerous afghan patters published by Red Heart and had some really pretty afghans, and some spectacularly tacky ones as well, I just have absolutely no idea what the title of the book was or what the cover even looked like.
In other big news, I'm no longer drinking beer. Not that this is some noble attempt to quit drinking or anything like that, I've just switched to wine is all. I have heart issues on both sides of my family, so red wine will help with any genetic factors I may have inherited. Plus, I'm trying to lose some weight before Italy and am cutting back on carbs which means, no beer. sigh. It hasn't been hard or anything like that - a glass of red wine at the end of the day is nice.