4.30.2007

Okay, Okay.

I'm a liar. I didn't post pictures, but man-o-man did I take a whole lot of them this weekend!!! Whoop! Too bad I can't post them while I'm here at work.

Anywho, the weekend was spectacular. Friday night I went out around Bay Shore with Jackie. We had a blast, and I was only out for a couple of hours. Saturday morning was the Parkinson's walk, and the weather was great! We even won some of the raffles, including a VIP wine tasting at Pindar! I'm pretty stoked about that! We stopped by Jackie's to pick up my car (I was in no condition to drive her home Friday night, whoops)and finally got to meet her boyfriend Rob. We picked up some hero's and went over to my parents house to eat, then left the pup with them while we went to Pearl Paint to get the Acrylics for Luca's Mural. $80.00 in paint later, I think we have enough to begin the painting tonight, but considering how big the wall is, I think we're going to run out at some point. We had enough time to run home for a quick nap before meeting Erin and Glen at Painter's for dinner. Dinner was fabulous! I love that place! I can't even say enough about it! Soooo delicious! We were home by 11pm and I was asleep not long after that.

Brodie had to work Sunday morning, so I slept in and spent the rest of the morning finishing knitting Calorimetry and making cards. I don't even want to talk about how completely gigantic Calorimetry came out. I'm pretty bummed about that. I remember thinking 120 stitches was just HUGE when I was casting on. Should have trusted my instincts with that. Oh well. It's not completely unusable. It makes for a nice hammock for Dylan. We head over to Brodie's sister's house around 1pm for a couple of family birthday's. There were lots of babies around, and it was super fun chasing them around. We spent the entire day there and Brodie helped his brother in law open the pool. We're all pretty siked about that!!! (and it's heated!) I was completely shot when we got home last night. I didn't have it in me to download or upload pics. I think I was asleep by 10. haha!

I brought the dog to work with me today and he's pretty pissed that I'm doing this and not showing him any attention, so I'm going to go play with my boy. Cheers!

4.27.2007

Being creative, and loving it.

This week was full of super productive craftivity. (I'll make up words whenever I choose to do so, deal?) Everything should be a list. Here:

1. Friday night I finished the hat I was knitting for a certain baby girl who has yet to enter this world, and I actually remembered to take some pictures of it before it's gifted to the mommy-to-be. I'll post them eventually. Maybe. Who knows.

2. Saturday was GORGEOUS, and spent mainly outside, but Brodie and I did have a two and a half hour sitting in traffic adventure on the way to the city that night (we listened to the entire Yankee game, and had quite a fun time just being silly), and, thankfully, I brought some yarn and needles. I really didn't have a plan, I just started knitting. I think it's going to turn into a border for something, possibly a skirt. Hard to explain right now, but I did get a picture of the progress, so I'll post it when I get home.

3. Sunday? Hmmmm...Nope. I wasn't very creative, but I was really productive. Brodie and I spent a couple of hours lying on the beach, which was completely relaxing and therapeutic seeing as we (or, I) spent the night drinking (this, clearly, wasn't productive unless getting a tan is productive, then it was fantastically productive). We rushed home to pick up the pooch, and so that I can change out of my bikini and into my overalls, and we hurried over to Mark and Linda's to work on the vegetable garden (afterall, it was earth day!). We got tons of work done (cleaned up from the havoc the winter wreaked), and got super dirty in the process. Dylan got to play in the yard, and let me tell you, he was the happiest pup I've ever seen! We ate dinner real quick, then I dropped Brodie off at rehearsal and ran home to shower. I put on comfy clothes and a hat (wet hair still dripping), and went to the supermarket for a power shopping session (I say that b/c I spent $100.00). I got home and decided to tidy up my room and play with Dylan. It was a rather exhausting day with absolutely no knitting production. Oh well.

4. Monday night I set up all of my card making/scrapbooking junk (card stock, crazy scissors, glue, stamps, ink pads, brads, yarn, ribbon, sayings, etc.) and made some general blank cards as a gift for my boss for her birthday. I think I made 8 cards total including Birthday, Wedding, Baby, Graduation, and just a general hello type of card (I misplaced my Thank You stamp and I'm pretty bummed about it). Of course, I didn't take pictures. Doh! Well, they came out quite lovely, if I do say so myself. I left the crafting area a mess (Sorry Jen!) so that I could make some for myself...Still planning on it, but I really need to find the time. Possibly Sunday night.

5. Tuesday I began working on Calorimetry from Knitty during a lull in my work day. I actually cast on for it on Monday, but the needles I had were way too short for the 120 required stitches. Whoopsies. No sweat, I found the correct length needles in our knitting arsenal (thanks Grandma!!), and brought them to work with me on Tuesday. I've made this once before for Kiesha for her birthday this year, but I used much larger yarn and needles, so it knit up pretty quickly.


Kiesha's Calorimetry completed 1/4/07

In following the actual pattern it's taking quite a bit longer, but I'm loving how it's coming out. I'm making it for the aforementioned (previous blog entry) birthday stash I'm planning on building (although I really want to keep it for myself). Tuesday night is our scheduled Stitch n Bitch night, but nobody has really been showing up at the bar, so I invited the two gals that usually come out, Malina and Angelina, to our place to sit on the couch, chat, knit, and watch American Idol. Malina was busy, and Jen was being completely awesome with her new exercise routine (I'm really sooooo jealous of her rollerblades!), so it was just Ang and I. It was fantastic. She's super chill, and down to earth, and so fun to talk to. It was a good night. Barely made a dent on the headband, but the conversation was worth it.

6. I loss track of my numbers for a sec. Wednesday. Well, ok, not so productive. I knit a little bit in my car on my lunch break. It was the only night that Brodie didn't have rehearsal, so we did a big and very much needed laundry night. I hate going to the laundromat, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I knit for maybe 5 minutes in the car while my clothes were washing, but that was it.

7. Maybe this week wasn't as crafty as I thought...Wait, no, now I remember why I originally thought that. Thursday night we went over to Mark and Linda's and Scott and I began a mural that we're painting on baby Luca's wall. It's a jungle theme, and, although we only sketched it out last night, I think it's looking fabulous!!! I did some quick sketches a couple months ago while bored at work, and Scott is an amazing artist, so we just freehanded the images about 10 times bigger on the wall. So far we have a gigantic tree with a monkey swinging from it, an elephant and a giraffe. Scott had this cool projector thingy, so we thought we were going to be able to cheat, but the thing wouldn't magnify the images large enough, so we had to squash that plan and just go at the wall with our pencils. I'm really excited to begin painting, but I really need to find some quality acrylics on the cheap. We want to start painting Monday night, so I'm going to have to fit an art supply run into my jam packed weekend.

Weekend!!!

Whoop whoop!

I have officially 2 more hours until it's my weekend. I'm so pumped!

It looks like it's going to go a little something like this:

Tonight: Still up in the air. Maybe stay in and watch a movie. Maybe eat dinner then go out to see a movie. Maybe eat at Mark and Linda's and hang out there for a bit. Maybe lay down for a nap and sleep for 5 hours straight (on no, that's what I did last Friday night, not going to waste my night like that again).

Tomorrow: We're doing the local Long Island APDA chapter's Parkinson walk at Belmont Lake State Park at 9am. I love going to these things. I've raised about $300.00. Not too bad. Afterwards, I volunteered Brodie and I (Hi Brodie, I may or may not have mentioned this to you yet, sorry) to go to my parents house and help them clean up the yard and start planting (I secretly just need as many excuses as possible to wear my overalls). Then, we have a dinner date with Erin and Glen at 8pm at Painters. Mussels. I just want mussels. I'm anticipating mussels sooooo much.

Sunday: Brodie is working in the am, and I'm going to try to get out to Pearl Paint to gather up some acrylics when they open at 11am. Then we're doing brunch at his sister's house for a couple of family birthday's (which we haven't gotten gifts for yet. hmm). Sunday night is all about relaxing, and maybe some knitting, and maybe some card making, but definitely a lot of snuggling and cuddling, and being happy with my boys. Love love love.

Have a fab weekend!

4.19.2007

Birthdays.

Tonight, I'm heading up to Gallery 4222 to celebrate Pedro's birthday. He's a swell guy and I haven't seen any of my friends since I can't remember when. I'm pretty siked, but I wish I had a little bit more of a heads up so that I could knit him something. Doh! I really should just knit a bunch of things that I could potentially give as gifts and have them hanging around in case of a surprise birthday like this. Not surprise in the sense of "SURPRISE!", because it's not quite a surprise party, but more in a way of "Suzanne, you've tried this a million times and you really need to get your ass in gear and write down everyones birthday's so that you aren't surprised to find out that it's TODAY." Gee. I know I wrote it down somewhere. What I really should do is put them all in my ical or google calander so that I get reminders. I have all of this technology at my fingertips and I don't ever put it to any good use. Lame-O.

Anywho. Off to Pt. Jeff I go. I'm bringing the pup! Unfortunately, Brodie has rehearsal, so he's unable to attend. Boooo. I have to stop and get a bottle of something first...Any suggestions?

4.18.2007

Why does this keep happening?

The Virginia Tech massacre is such a horror. I can't read an article about it without becoming entirely angry and overwhelmed with sadness. They mention the victims and my eyes well up and I'm forced to close out the window. 33 dead. 33 bodies not breathing the air in our atmosphere any longer. 33 families missing someone they love. I've always had a terrible time coping with death. I just don't understand how life could be over in a blink of an eye. Just like that.

My heart and thoughts go out to everyone who is suffering through this horrible loss. xo

4.17.2007

I live.




Update? Why not?

Hm. I suppose I left off about two months ago. Wow, imagine if I kept up that exercise routine? I would look like a completely different person. Ok, well, maybe not. Turns out that I lost 5 pounds without doing any exercise at all. All I had to do was change my pill to a Lo-Hormone dose (you wanted to know). Anywho, I feel way better all around because of the new pill, and I wore a bikini all vacation without even thinking twice about it. Ohhhh, Vacation! Let’s discuss…

Brodie and I were in dire need of a little get away, and we wanted to bring Dylan and not spend too much money. Our solution? We drove down to Florida to visit his father and Ramona. It was a blast, and I spent all of $150.00 on the entire trip! Buddy and Ramona were gracious enough to put us up for a few days, and they even watched Dylan for us as we spent our days laying on the beach or driving through safaris. Whoop! We left 4/4/07, at 3pm and arrived in Lake Worth, FL at 10:30am Thursday morning. This is how it went from there:

Thursday 4/5/07
-Arrived
-Ate at Denny’s
-Went out by the pool to sleep in the sun
-It was so hot! So I spent most of the time swimming.
-Being unable to sleep in the heat, Brodie and I both showered and napped in bed.
-Ramona cooked White Bean and Escarole Pasta Faigole!!!!!!
-We ate like champs, then watched Casino Royale, then went to bed.

Friday 4/6/07
-Slept in.
-Ramona made us egg sandwiches for breakfast.
-We left Dylan with Buddy, and went to the Lion Country Safari, a drive through safari about 20 miles away.
-The safari was soooooo much fun!!!
-Then we walked through the rest of the park.
-I got to see a sloth!!! A two toed sloth!!! Sloths are my absolute favorite. I was in heaven.
-We attempted to feed giraffes, but they weren’t hungry.
-Did I mention I saw a sloth?
-We ate expensive amusement park lunches.
-We wore sunscreen like responsible people.
-We took silly pictures.
-On the way back to Lake Worth we stopped at Jamba Juice and drank fantastic smoothies.
-Back at the condo we prepared for Ramona’s special dinner…
-We dined on the best king crab I’ve ever tasted!
-We watched The Good Shepard, and went to bed.

Oh, I might mention that both of these nights included lots of cocktails. Mainly, Martinis.

Saturday 4/7/07
-Slept in again.
-Ate cherrios.
-Went to the beach. The perfect, 75 degree, white sand, blue ocean beach.
-Came home and Brodie and Buddy went to play golf while Ramona and I layed by the pool.
-Brodie and I decided we should take Buddy and Ramona out to dinner (both of their birthdays were in March), so we went to this awesome Mexican place called Rosalita’s!!!!
-Ramona was driving, so she brought us to this ourdoor dance bar called Panama Hatties.
-We all danced to Regaee music and drank our respective drinks.
-Home and to bed.

Sunday 4/8/07
Easter Sunday
-Brodie and I hit the beach early in the day. It was perfect! Almost nobody there!
-Then we went to Boca Raton to celebrate Easter Sunday with Brodie’s father’s cousins, who also happen to be my father’s friends from growing up. (Yes. Very weird connection that we didn’t figure out until we were dating for many months.) It was awesome! Everyone was so nice and had so many stories about my parents growing up. I learned that my father’s nickname was nytol because he used to work so hard during the day that when he went out at night he would fall asleep, be it at a concert or a party or anywhere. Everyone was tons of fun! We were able to bring Dylan, and there was another yorkie named Misty there, so they had a blast! The food was fantastic! I came in 6th out of 14 in our poker game. It was a super nice time.
-We got home late and went to bed.

Monday 4/9/07
-Beach day!!!!
-We got up early and hit the road to find a different beach. We wound up finding some sort of state park where the beach was practically empty and there were no lifeguards on duty. Brodie almost got eaten by a shark while I soaked up the sun. We rented kayaks and took them out for an hour. It was so quiet, so wonderful, but so windy! Man it was hard rowing against the wind! It was so great.
-We came home and showered and packed.
-Ramona made another surprise dinner of Mussels and Ravioli!!!! Oh man, it was insanely scrumptious! Two of my favorites!
-And then, sadly, we hit the road around 8pm.

We drove through the night, into the cold, and arrived back to a quite chilly Bay Shore at 3:30pm on Tuesday. We unpacked like champs and relaxed for the rest of the evening, dreading going to work the next day, but completely excited and thankful for such a wonderful trip, and for the love. Man do I love him. A perfect road trip/beach vacation with my two favorite boys; I got it made in the shade.



Here are the pics!

4.12.2007

'tis a sad day.

Rest in Peace Kurt Vonnegut.

xoxo