putting the knit in shizknit

iLove my new iPod

Earlier in the week I made a spontaneous purchase. This used to be my lifestyle in the past, and I'm sure if you took a look at it psychologically, it was to fill other voids in my life, blah blah. I've come a long way, where some months will go by without a pair of new shoes (gasp!). I've had my eye on this damn new little contraption, and I fell into the point of no return as I walked into Best Buy the other day. I had good reasoning, however. This was a reward for cleaning/shredding last weekend, a reward for losing .6 lbs at Weight Watchers this week, a reward for ... hell, getting up in the morning. This also gave me an opportunity to upgrade my gym music, as I retire my Rio and will be sent complimentary to my sister, Lisa.

PS - Not only have I been extremely busy, but I've gotten sick again!! I'm a bit behind on my posts...

shreds of the past

Every few years or so, I'll have the time and the courage to go through my "keep pile" (comprised of receipts, letters, other random non-trash) which has accumulated over the last few years. I go through the pile and filter it down to a "keep indefinitely" pile for one reason or another, something quite difficult for a hoarder like myself. Shredding is quite therapeutic in a sense, a "delete" button for physical memories that have been long forgotten in our current state of mind. It reminds us of the good times, when life at one point seemed much simpler but it also keeps us humble, as we remember the events of the past and how it has changed our lives forever. Refresh and renew, just as the current rains of SoCal have brought to the area.

"Man Enough to Knit; Strong Enough to Purl"

Yes, men have jumped on the knitting craze bandwagon. Perhaps T and I could have a knitting night together, I think it will relax him from all the World of Warcraft stress he's been taking on lately. :)

Month 3 Lasik Update

I had my 3 month checkup today. Left eye has improved to 20/25, right eye at 20/20 still, seeing 20/20 both. I know that they "measured" my left at just slightly less than my right, but I feel like I can notice a significant difference between the two eyes. I don't know if I'm just being overly sensitive, or picky, because originally the doctor wanted me to come back for my 1 year checkup. However, you forfeit your free adjustment after 1 year. Instead, he has me now coming in for my 9 month checkup. In the meantime, I'll go see my regular OD as well. Overall, its still a life change altogether, It could be that I'm being overly sensitive about it. :)

Update: After seeing my regular OD in July (8 months after surgery), I was seeing 20/15. He remarked at how perfectly my eyes have healed - in fact, had he not been seeing me for the last 5 years he would have thought I was one of those lucky people with perfect vision! Yes, he couldn't even see the incision anymore... yay!

Destination: Summerland, California

Our lovely weekend getaway turned out to be to Summerland, California. T arranged for a wonderful getaway to a bed and breakfast overlooking the ocean (and the 101 freeway) at the Inn on Summerhill. Everything was not all peaches 'n cream, as I've been battling this damn cold since last Wednesday (and it had been raining on and off as well). By Friday it had gotten worse, but I still tried to get myself in "vacation mode" with a manipedi (gorgeous nails always seem to have some therapeutic effects!). Other than a horribly sore throat, its a head cold, so I'm totally congested. Nose, sinuses, the ear popping, the whole enchilada. The worst part is that I can't smell anything, thus, I can't TASTE ANYTHING! We left here around 9 PM, got some dinner (which I couldn't taste, damnit) and off on the 101 northbound. We pull off the freeway and up a driveway of a cute cottage building right at 11 PM and I was feeling pretty whoozy. Dinner at one point had been making me nauseous, and all I wanted was a warm bed and some fresh kleenex. I don't know what I was expecting, but we were welcomed by the cutest room! Warm lights, fireplace, classical music, jacuzzi tub, chocolates on the beds (wonderfully luxurious feather beds) and fresh flowers everywhere. It made me feel a tad bit better (enough to snap some photos) to walk into something so cute.

It was a sleepless night. It all started when I found Food TV (I really do need one of those Kitchenaid stand mixers) and their All-Chocolate Weekend. All the episodes revolved around CHOCOLATE. Of course my stuffy head and nose (yes, I was drugged up with Dayquil, Advil, Vicks Vaporub etc) didn't help much either. My poor nose desperately needed a break from my constant blowing. During the night, I found a notebook on the nightstand that turned out to be a "guestbook" of sorts, signed by those who had stayed in the room in the past. The book was almost full, which meant there was plenty for me to read. There was one mother and daughter duo who had come twice, one year apart after losing their father. The first time was to sprinkle his ashes out in the ocean, and on the anniversary, to sprinkle rose petals in the same location. There were lots of families, from all over the world, some who were returning with kids they didn't have the first time they had visited. It was quite interesting to read the entries, as I never think about those who may have stayed in the past - but these were like written footprints keeping a historical record of people, their experiences, their families and holidays where the only common bond between all of us being that we all stayed in Room 3. Finally, it was daybreak (and it was miraculously sunny!) and soon breakfast time. On the porch was the morning paper, attached to it was a handwritten note card with the weather, and today's events. Like I said, it was all the small details that made this place so special. They had a small dining area with a fantastic breakfast. Unable to smell or taste, I still had a faint suspicion that it was all very good. After breakfast, I started not to feel all that great again, so we decided to hang out, read the paper and eventually, we just slept. Eventually, we ventured out to State Street in Santa Barbara which of course holds many memories from early on in our relationship. We got in line at The Palace at 5:20 PM, praying we would get in for first seating. Luckily, there were a few who didn't show for their reservations and we were seated. Their muffins, whisky wine sauce and bread pudding....oooooohhh... and I started feeling better (although of course, nothing tasted the way it usually does)! Back at the Inn, they had tea and dessert in the evening, so we splurged on some of their sweet delicacies and more Food TV, etc.

I slept through the night, thank god, and took a long, hot bath in the jacuzzi tub. Today was rain, which was fine since we were on our way home anyway. Then, breakfast arrived! I've never had breakfast in bed before (I can just imagine my mom cringing as I spill crumbs everywhere) and I was hopping with excitement. As you can see, that photo of me with the food was the first real smile all weekend. They had wonderful scones, muffins full of blueberries, fresh fruits and today's special was a quiche lined with corn, spinach and bacon...yum!

On the way home we stopped by one of the largest orchid farms in the world. They had huge wearhouses of orchids, it was amazing! It took awhile to pick the right one, but we did! It barely fit in his TT. Despite being (still) sick and the weather, it was a wonderful weekend getaway for Valentines weekend. :)

Love at first.... sight?

I'm forever having problems remembering people's names, but I am sure good at remembering faces, nuances of people such as how they wear their clothes, the rhythm of their gait, etc. So imagine the shock when I saw T's twin at Best Buy today. Its been a particularly gloomy morning which started with some popo drama down in Van Nuys which prevented us from eating Pho and messy rainy traffic as they closed off an entire 3-block span of Sepulveda. Lunch was then rerouted to a hotdog and pretzel at Target, which obviously isn't a worthy substitute. With a long drive back to WLA, this was something that caught me off guard. In a daze, I walked row to row as T continued to search for his item. All of a sudden, he was right there, looking at ....... then T showed up! This guy was like a TWIN! From the side, the way his hair, glasses, chin, jacket, the butt in the jeans, black shoes, everything..... I made T give me his Treo to take a photo (yes, the crazy asian stalker I am, I snuck up right behind him to take it!) Will the real T please stand up?

NO MORE SINLESS SWEET CREAM!!!!

WTF?!?!?!?! Cold Stones no longer has Sinless Sweet Cream!!!!

Rose Ring & Knits

My newest handmade jewelry project is the Rose Ring. This is another project that is part of Ralph Goldstein's repertoire, and I can see why - its a toughie! What you see above is about 7 hours of work. The Rose "petals" itself were drawn with a compass on flat sheets of silver, then hand-sawed out. Any imperfections were hand filed and sand papered, then rounded with a mallet and round-tipped metal pipes. 5 lines were hand sawed and each of the petal corners were filed to roundness. Wire was also made (well, I had some left over from another project which worked great) for the triple band. The photo on the right shows the triple band completed (not soldered together yet) and the rose petals had been shaped with two round nosed pliers and soldered together. Soldering the petals together was such a concentration-intensive event my hands started shaking. This is why I'm not a surgeon! Next up, pickling (which removes some of the discoloration) and putting the bands together.

Last week I had started the Angela sweater, which didn't quite seem right with the yarn I had bought from a store clerk recommendation, so I started something new from another book (yes, I have too many!) Book 2: The Purl Stitch which is the follow up book to Book 1: The Knit Stitch. As corny and simplistc as these books sound (and look at first flip through), they are fantastic reference manuals. I'm not a total newbie, but I do need help often, and I've found that out of allllllll of my books, this set has the best instructions and photos for all the details of knitting. Another neat thing is that all the patterns are open to what type of yarn you can use. It breaks the gauge down for you, so you can be easily flexible - so I was able to find a pattern for a "Simple and Sleeveless" top which in fact, has been very simple. I've finished the front half, now working on the back half (which is the same as the front) and next up is learning how to block! The Chunky Misti Alpaca is really going to work well, as soft as it is!

Canals of Venice, California

I've lived in Los Angeles now for 7.5 years and just a few months ago learned that there are actually canals in Venice. Who knew? The only Venice I knew was of the street performers, sidewalk shops and psychics that line up along the beach..

There are free-roaming ducks swimming, mating, hanging out along the sidewalk which borders the canals. It's actually quite peaceful and would make a nice morning run as long as you are careful not to slip on wet duck shit :) The homes that run along the stretch range from shacks to millions-of-dollars renovations with some gorgeous gardens!

destination unknown....

Does anyone know who sings this? I think its an 80's song, I believe it was alternative, someone said it was Berlin from the Top Gun soundtrack, but I'm not sure. I don't know the lyrics but the chorus sounds like "destination unknown, ruby ruby ruby so ho" and I know that isn't correct.

Why am I humming this unknown tune? Because that's where I'm off to next weekend for a nice getaway..... a nice surprise to look forward to, courtesy of T.

New Month, New Page

Ahhhh... the first of the month. This usually means payday, paying bills, paying rent, and of course, flipping to the next page of my Orlando Bloom calendar. Oh, and reports go that he's single now. :)