Dramatic Thing # 23478 said by my Mom. RE: Viva

Background: I was discussing with my mom the option of bringing Viva to the cabin with me for the annual 4th of July festivities.

With that I present to you: Dramatic Thing # 23478 said by my Mom:

From "Carol"
06/30/2005 02:57 PM
To "Delia"
cc
Subject: viva

Deli*: Talked to Nanni, she said to bring the cat to her house. I would hate to think of viva getting out of the room at fish camp and running out the door to escape all the people. If she should take off in the mountains, I don't think she would survive a night with the wild life up there. mom

* family nickname pronounced "Dee-Lee", not like an actual Deli

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Viva, marked for death by the paws of the wild animals in Fish Camp.

A Monday Potpourri

Here are some more photos from Sonoma. I know, I am THAT far behind on downloading photos from my camera.

The drive through the hills of Sonoma County. I couldn't help professing my love for tree-lined streets.

My turn to be the drunk woman. I think I embarassed Jason in this photo.

This is at Korbel, our last stop. Because a long day of wine tasting should logically end with Champagne, right? They kicked the doors shut on us when Jason and I walked out back to look at the grounds, so we kept their glasses. AH HAH! I say. I'm not really sure why it looks like I am missing my left hand in this photo.

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Wanna see the new addi's to my stash? Awe common, I know we all love a little fiber-porn on Mondays.

	4 Balls Cashsoft DK for Clapotis II, 4 Balls Cotton-Ease for the OSW and the new blog-bag phenomenon, and 1 ball of Art Yarns Merino for another ever-talked about heart sachet.
I've also got some WIP photos that are about, Oh, 10 days old. Hot Lava is near completion (less than 1 ball Manos remaining) and the sock is done (finished during the day of racing on Saturday @ Infineon Raceway. Go Jr!) Better late than never, I guess.

Speaking of those who love racing, my dad let on that he is a bit jealous of Da' Bears sweater (by the way, ya'll made Jason's day with your hysterical comments. Yes Kris, he promises there will be less shots of the Orange Polo once the sweater is done). Thus, dad has picked out Larstorp from the Corneila Hamilton book as my next sweater project. He had even offered to BUY THE YARN. Have I mentioned how much I love the men in my life?

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Finally, an Ode:
You are the epitome of perfect.

You match every outfit, don't clash with my shoes, and add a retro touch to jeans and a white tee.

You are big enough to hold a shoulder wrap, a 1/2 knit Arabella Tank, 1 wallet, 5 random lip glosses, 1 sunglass case, a PDA, a GTS unit, a bottle of perfume, L'Occitane Hand Cream, and a big'ol wad of keys, yet small enough to not get in my way when going about my day.

You have experienced trans-continential flight, as well as many, many trips from my home to the office.

You cost less than it does to fill up my car with gas.

You cross generational boundries with your amazing function and stylish ways.

YOU are the BEST DAMN PURSE on the face on the earth.
< / serious bag love>

Da Bears

You remember these guys, right?


Jason definitely does. And he has a mean impression of Bill Swerski dancing with Michael Jordan while singing 'Da Bulls da Bulls da Bulls da Bulls'. I've been humored with the jokes: "Who would win in a fight, Ditka or God? Trick question, Ditka IS God!". I even sat through the Superbowl Shuffle and found it vaugely exciting. But now Chi-Town love has been taken to a new level in this relationship.

Jason looks at me on Friday night and goes "So, how good are you at knitting?" My eyes raise in suspicion. "Pretty good", I reply, assuming that he was going to ask for another hat with some sort of White Sox emblem on it.

Of course I was still skeptical; I have previously tried to get him excited about a Noro Silk Garden hat (but look at the colors!!!!) and a super-soft broken-rib scarf (you can wear it with that blue jacket!), but he has never really shown a massive amount of interest until this very moment. And this scared me.

"Could you make this?" he asks and slides the laptop across the couch to me.


Yes ladies and gentleman, my boyfriend wants to become Mike Ditka. How bad does he want this? We promptly went to Michael's where he helped me select the right colors and then whipped out the plastic to buy about 3,000 yards of Navy, White, and Bright Orange Acrylic.

Pray for me.

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PS - VOTE FOR VIVA!

Ride the Wave

Seeing all the fun we are having out here in California riding the land waves, Wanna come play?

Common, we're having a whole lotta fun over here:

From "JS"
06/17/2005 11:53 AM
To "'DR'"

Subject: RE: Party On!

the earth is gonna crack open and i'm gonna fall into the liquid magma!

JS. (<-- From the midwest, did not participate in Earthquake drills as a child)

For some reason, earthquakes don't scare me. Lord knows that I am scared of almost everything else, but I am not scared of the earth dancing the hokey-pokey under my feet.

Native Californian, I guess ;)

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Knitting updates:
Once again, no photos. I'm still Delia and still too lazy - sorry.

--> Hot Lava is coming along nicely; I picked up and started knitting on the stitches that form the body of this shrug last night. I really like this pattern because she has written it so you can keep modifying the size as you go to fit your body. I knit the shrug part as a size small, am doing the main body a size medium, and then you can even customize the bust size (HUGE points for someone who is 5'2" and um, well-endowed.)

--> Socks are my new best friends. Seriously. I think it's the lack of finishing that draws me in. I am going to turn into one of Jacqueline's Sock Zombies before long. In other good news, I've revived the hope that the Vineyard socks will fit my brother's monster feet. I'm also eyeing yarns for my next pair...

--> Bits and Pieces elsewhere, although I discovered that I can't start the Baby Kimom until I finish Arabella because she is using the needle I need. Bah!

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Food
I made this EXCELLENT Salmon with Horseradish Sauce last night.

Sauce
3/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup lowfat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons prepared white horseradish
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon chili powder

Salmon
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon prepared white horseradish
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
4 1-inch-thick salmon fillets (each about 6 ounces)


For sauce:
Mix all ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
For salmon:
Spray grill rack generously with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Whisk oil, horseradish, soy sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper in another small bowl. Brush oil mixture over both sides of salmon fillets. Grill salmon just until opaque in center, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer salmon to plates. Serve with sauce.

Makes 4 servings.
Modified from Epicurious.com

I served it with grilled tomatos and a dallop of the horseradish sauce with a touch of mesquite liquid smoke, and a side of asparagus seasoned simply with lemon juice and pepper. We drank Rex Goliath Pinot Noir (LOVING this winery, BTW). Quite a nice, cozy, quiet little Thursday night. Now if I could just get Viva to stop running laps around the apartment @ 4am....

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Editted to add: You poor, poor girl. If Brit is the new Liza, does this make Katie the new J-Lo?

It's Raining Babies

Guess that title doesn't leave much to the imagination about where this post was going, eh?

Not to keep you in suspense any longer, I found out last night that my best-friend-since-birth Danielle has a little one in the Oven. Due Date? January 1!!!!

Of course, I had to run off to the LYS right away! So 3 Balls Rowan Wool Cotton and a set of size 0 dpns later, the Summer Interweave Knits is going to get some serious usage. This time with plenty of warning, of course, so there are no freak-out moments like last time. Nothing like showing up to a baby shower with only 1 bootie in tow to get your ass in gear.


When we were little girls, Danielle and I used to talk about how our little girls were going to grow up and play together. Obviously one of us has a running head start ;).

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Today I re-discovered the best lunch downtown SJ, Zanatto's. I am a gourmet-grocery store whore, what else can I say???

I am NOT drinking any f-ing Merlot!

Quote from Sideways, not a personal vendetta.

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This weekend I was back at Heaven on Earth (aka Wine Country).

March, 2005	June, 2005

Thursday night was a trip to Half Moon Bay to watch Jason's co-workers AWESOME band at the San Benito House. Friday, was like Christmas; we got both wine club shipments AND I got my 2nd order [in as many weeks] from Adagio. I can't help it - I am addicted to the stuff!!! After I pryed my teapot from my hand, my roommate Jenny and her BF came over to Jason's for dinner [a dinner which almost became take-out pizza; I attempted making Risotto for the 2nd time in my life and it came pretty close to being a 'what not to do when cooking for 4'. Of course I saved the meal, but that's for another post.] We were tasting in Sonoma County all day on Saturday, then retired for dinner in the quaint little town of Sebastopol, CA.


There it is. Sebastopol. The main intersection.
And then there is me. I'm always the one who indulges a bit too much on these trips and ends up doing something goofy by the end of the night. Last time it was throwing all my clothes from the suitcase as Jason tried to get some things packed up. "Just Do This!" I exclaimed as I tossed them in the air with glee.

This time, I was taking model shots of myself in the car.


The next day, a very chirpy Jason and a very hung-over Delia went to watch Formula Races in Sonoma. I ripped out and re-knit the heel of my Vineyard Sock about 10,000 times before getting it right. I tried to blame this disaster my state of mind, when in fact the sock is just plain smarter than I. I'm finally chugging along the foot and hope to have it done this week.

Before we headed home I insisted on stopping in at a Ben Franklin craft store (I've never been in one and just wanted to check the prices! I PROMISE!). It one of the back aisles I happened upon a stash of Cotton-Ease [which I have now built up to be the Holy Grail of yarn thanks to the rush of excitment about it in blogland]. So I gave in and submitted to the power of persuasion and bought a few balls. I'm going to make one more stab @ the Mini-Sweater, and this yarn will be called into action when that day actually gets here.

Of course to GET THERE I need to FINISH something, and I am proud to say that The Farmers Market Bag is pretty much done except for a few ends to be woven in. I have never had more excitment crossing something off a to-do list!

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I've also been working deligently on Hot Lava.


I was a bit hesitant about this one at first, but when I tried on the nearly completed shrug part last night, I had my faith renewed. I am using size 10 1/2 dpns and a 29-inch Circular, and I did the cuffs with a size 8 to make them appear a little more size-appropriate to the sleeves.

Some yarn porn and other knitting-related photos have been hanging out on my camera for quite some time now, and some day I might get around to putting them up. Until then, I will return you to your Monday.

PS - I'm definitely one of those people who associates music with certain times and events in my life, and just hearing the opening notes can send me back into a memory that is as vivid as it would be if it was yesterday. Two songs (Waiting on a Friend - Rolling Stones & Sweet Melissa - Allman Brothers) have picked me up and danced me off to somewhere else during this post... back at UCSB, sitting on the deck of Big Yellow - A cold Hornsbys in my hand...... AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.....

My Knitting Has Conspired Against Me

I think there is a revolution going on in my knitting basket. All my WIPs have turned against me.

The socks slipped off a few of the heel stitches and hid themselves until I started to pick up stitches.

The edging of Clapotis unraveled when the dropped stitches reached their destinations.

The Retro rib tank used it's boldly striped powers to convince me that "k2tog" actually meant "m1".

Bastards.

Warning: Lots of Wine Talk Ahead

Thanks for all the help about softening up the socks... I am feeling a bit more confident that one would actually want to wear these bad boys.

Once again, the weekend flew by with no intent of slowing down, even for me to actually dread the start of the week. Literally. I woke up this morning going, WHOA, I have to get dressed up and go to work today?

This was a great weekend on so many levels - I could sit here and blab on and on about all the knit progress I made, the great meal I cooked, and the Sunnyvale Art & Wine Festival (which I will, don't worry!) but it was just icing on the cake when paired with the fact that I have the best BF in the world. We talked a lot of talk this weekend - that kind that gets you all giddy about things to come and slaps you in the face like 'WHOA, is this really happening to me?'. < / mush >

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Friday night was my cousin Mitchell's 8th grade graduation party. He's at that totally fun age where he is so easily embarassed and being the cool older coz that I am, I take full advantage. Do I feel bad about this? Hell no! I can still remember being 14 and I believe this is a serious case of "Pay it Forward"

Saturday we took my ever-fabulous Nanny to lunch before running a billion errands. She was visiting for the above-mentioned graduation, and she welcomed the chance to escape the pre-teen chaos for a few hours.

This week, Jason and I managed to put enough plant food in our tomatoes so that they grew to be about 5 feet tall, then promptly fell over because we hadn't put enough support up for them. It wouldn't be a Saturday without a trip to OSH!

While we were in the area (hmmmm, how did THAT happen?) I stopped by Commuknity for a few bits of fiber bliss. Jason, now fully understanding my addiction to yarn shopping and my distaste for having to drag him along, took up a patio seat at the Starbucks across the street and called his mom (probably to rant further about my problem).

I have been resisting additional purchases until I actually crank out somemore FO's (to salvage a little morsel of my completely moronic un-obtainable goals), but I finally caved because I am dying to make Lelah and I spend at least 30 minutes a day scouring the internet for yarn to purchase forthis top. I finally settled on Rowan Cashcotton DK. Obviously this is going to take a little pattern tweaking, but like everyone else in the wholegoshdarnknitblogging world, I fell in mad, mad love with this stuff. I also got another hank of Artyarns Supermerino for yet another Heart Sachet. Maybe someday I will get around to posting finished photos of the others.




While I was checking out, devising my story to tell Jason why I had more yarn (I just want to go look, I PROMISE), Emy (who was working at the register) recoginized me and said hello. Amazing how this little knitblog ring brings us together, isn't it?

Saturday Night I cooked dinner. I was opening my bottle of Joseph Phelps 01 Cab, so there was going to be no skimpping on the taste content of the meal (i.e. how much butter in those mashed potatoes?). I ended up making GRILLED STEAKS WITH BLUE CHEESE AND CHILES and HORSERADISH MASHED POTATOES WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS. The Blue Cheese and Chili topping was excellent, but I thought when paired with the steak it was too much. It would be awesome stuffed into chicken breasts and thrown on the grill. I also discovered the worlds BEST vinegarette, which I will share when I blog from home and have my notes sitting in front of me.

Sunday we went to the Sunnyvale Art & Wine Festival, where we drank some vino, browsed the booths, and bought a few things here and there. My big score was a pair of mother-of-pearl hoop earrings, and Jason's was a cityscape print of Chicago (his hometown). We ended the day by having an early dinner on Murphy street in Sunnyvale (my FAVORITE spot in the South Bay) and spent the rest of the night lounging and watching CSI.

Obviously Wine Country didn't work out (BOOO) so we are going to Sonoma next weekend (YAY!). JSwag spent about 40% of the weekend working out the plans, before finally booking a room on Sunday. Hopefully we'll be hitting Barefoot, Clos Du Bois, Ferrari-Carano, Toasted Head, and a few others along the way.

Of course, I requested that we absolutely MUST go to Domaine Carneros, because, well, this place is HEAVEN on EARTH and nothing kicks off a day of tasting like sipping champagne on the patio of an estate located in the beautiful Napa countryside.

This used to be Jason's stompping ground when he was a student at Russell Racing, so we will be catching the Formula Race at Infineon on Sunday.

Is it Friday yet?

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I spent most of Sunday morning seaming up my Farmers Market Bag, and realized somewhere along the way I totally f*cked up when I lined up the gusset between the two side panels before seaming and one side turned out all wonky. Am I ripping back to try again? Nah. This is something I plan on throwing a bunch of crap in week after week and basically wearing the hell out of, so as long as there are no holes, it's A-OK with me. Just a refresher on what this project is:


It's Lion Cotton with size 8 needles. The pattern is based off of Zeeby's Bag in Stitch and Bitch

I'm plugging away in bits and pieces at all my other FO's, with nothing too significant to report.

Line um' Up and Knock um' down is the theme for June!

Good Things...

... as our old pal Martha would say.

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Good Thing #1: Yay Viva!

I hope this gets you out of that little self-esteem slump you've been in. You know, the one where you lay next to my pillow all day, sighing heavily as I try to coax you out with a fresh catnip plant at night. I think Dad has even forgiven you for digging in the plants earlier this week, so there is no reason for you not to have a great weekend!

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Good Thing #2: Drinking Wine + Tea
Speaking of a great weekend, I kicked it off early last night with Arabella, some vino and the DVD of Sideways. Oh. My. God. I don't like movies but I LOVED this one. First off all, it took place in my old college stomping ground. Second, it was HYSTERICAL. Third - Um, REALLY good Vino? I literally got chills with Maya's thoughts of drinking wine:

"I do like to think about the life of wine, how it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was shining that summer or if it rained...what the weather was like. I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle it's going to be different than if I had opened it any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive - it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is until it peaks - like your '61 - and begins it's steady, inevitable decline."

Someone pinch me! I will definitely be opening some Pinot tonight.

In other beverage-related news, I would like to openly thank Lizzi for rekindling my tea obcession with the gift certificate to Adagio Teas. I have promptly fallen in love with Fruit Medley, thus saving me from my impending-addiction to coffee that this office was fostering. It's 2pm and I am ready for my next cup. Chamomile, anyone?

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Good Thing #3: Knitting, of course
[imagine photos here, I have definitely been lagging in my knit-photography]

Does anyone know how to soften up Superwash Wool? More specifically, can someone advise on how to turn my Knit Picks Simple Stripes socks into something that doesn't resemble sandpaper's younger, less intimidating cousin?

And file this one under "Knitting Satisfaction": I am about 1 hour away from finishing the Farmer's Market Bag, which is my oldest WIP. Hopefully it will be ready in time for Sunnyvale Art & Wine this weekend. Celebration will come in the form of the pattern for the Sunburst Sling.

Due up for the next up for the big cast off: Clappy I.

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PS - Ways you know you are living in the Silicon Valley: KFOG is giving away Adobe® Creative Suite 2 Premium software as a prize in a running contest.

But At Least I Have 1/2 a Sock.

All I want to do is go outside, scream at the top of my lungs, then fall into a blissful sleep through tomorrow morning. Is that so much to ask?

We may go here this weekend. That makes both JSwag and I happy. He gets cars and I get wine.


I must be getting good @ DPN's (or at least spending a lot of time on the phone) because I have whipped through about 1/2 a sock in the last 3 days. Doesn't sound like much, but this is my 'knit while calming down a kid who's freaking out over the phone' project.

Lotsa disgruntled kids out there, I suppose.