So That Happened

Half-Birthday

Yesterday I realized that it was my half-birthday.  I'm six months away from turning 32 years old. 

No, I'm not freaking out about that pending date, or age.  I'm just thinking about how this year I had designs on finding another job, finding a place I could buy (HA!) in Los Angeles (AHAHAHA!), learning how to drive a manual transmission, learning how to ballroom dance, learning how to play chess, things of that nature.

Let's go through the list, shall we?

1. Find Another Job: Nope.  Still at the same place.
2. Buy A Place In Los Angeles: AHAHAHAHA!  Sometimes I amuse myself.
3. Learn How To Drive A Manual Transmission: Still haven't done this.  No one is willing to teach me! 
4. Learn How To Ballroom Dance: Nope.  Haven't done this one yet, either.
5. Learn How To Play Chess: YES!  I learned this year.  Hooray!

At least I have one thing knocked off of the list.

Mini-Vacation

I'm spending the next few days in the Bay Area with my family - a very, VERY welcome getaway from work, which lately has been getting under my skin.  Argh.

Amusing note: I broke out the knitting as soon as I sat down in my seat and started adding the fluffy yarn to the sides of the earflaps.  Right when our plane took off at LAX, I was binding off the last four stitches of the trim.  Hee.  Taking off, binding off.  Okay, so no one cares about or is even slightly amused by that (not even other knitters) but me.  Ahem.

The niece (whom I adore and who turns two on Sunday!) has already thrown the phone at my head and quickly followed up with a solid headbutting.  She even managed to hit the same part of my face TWICE. 

Sigh.  They grow so fast.

A Questionable Obsession

I can't stop looking at the latest photos of the wives and girlfriends of England's football team.  Sky Showbiz is my hookup for such things.  (Thanks also go to Celebrity Baby Blog for providing the link to the source of the photos.)

I just love seeing all the different women with their fabulously styled hair and high heels and jeans (or, in the case of Victoria Beckham, aka Posh, the Queen Bee of the Wives, short shorts.  She has killer legs, making it practically mandatory for her to show them off, but she really could use a sandwich or twelve.) and Balenciaga bags as big as a sack of potatoes.  They look smashing 24/7 and I love love LOVE them for that. 

Oh yeah - England's team isn't bad to look at, either.  Jen has already claimed Joe Cole as her own, and Lauren's fancying Wayne Rooney right now.  I for one am admiring both Joe AND Ashley Cole, but I'll always love Beckham.  POSH + BECKS 4EVA!!

A Knitting Update: The Suede Baby Hat

After finishing the oh-so-cute faux Ugg booties, I started working on the matching Suede Baby Hat.  It's supposed to look like one of those hunter's caps with the earflaps.  (I KNOW!) 

Here are some photos documenting the hat's development.

June 18: I cast on two days before this photo was taken.  I'm in the middle of the stockinette stitch part of the pattern, which took seemingly forEVER.  (By the way, I took this picture at Boule, a place I love and will be writing about shortly.)

June 23: Go me!  I finished the body of the hat in a week's time.  Now I just have to knit the earflaps, straps and brim, plus finish the hat by seaming and sewing all the bits and pieces together.

June 27: At this time I have since finished knitting the earflaps, straps and brim.  All that was left was the seaming of the hat itself.  Color me thrilled as it has now taken shape and no longer looks like a weird washcloth.  Since this was knitted flat, I had to seam it up the back, which was a knitting technique I had not yet done before and was nervous about attempting.  (Okay, so I seamed the Ugg booties, but they [the seams] look a little wonky and therefore I am not going to post photos of them.)

Here's the thing: I'm a bit of a lazy knitter.  I'll make gauge swatches but not all of the time, and, seaming?  What's seaming?  I haven't had to do anything like that as all of the hats I've knitted have been made on circular needles.  Since this was going to be new for me, I sat at Tuesday's SnB with my knitting book in hand, fully committed to mastering the art of the Invisible Seam.

Ta-da!  With Sara, Faith, and Allison as my witnesses, my first attempt at invisible seaming was a success!  You can hardly see it!  The only giveaway are the few stitches near the bottom that I should have pulled together more tightly.  You can see them make what looks like an upside-down V just above the fluffy part in the middle.  Still, success!  I was so pleased with the result.

Here's a photo of all the players just waiting to come together.

Cute, no?  I just have to knit the fluffy yarn onto the sides of the earflaps and then sew them plus the brim (that small white half-moon thing in the upper right-hand corner) onto the hat. 

My niece (due in less than two months!) will look so very adorable in this.  I can't wait to see her in it.

Next Stop: Rumination Station

I am what you would call a Thinker.  I'm constantly going over events and exchanges in my head, which is (perhaps too) easy to do considering I spend a great deal of time alone.

I've been thinking about my earlier post as well as Jessica's thoughts on said post, and I came to the same conclusion: while I am loved by my friends and family (and for whom I am so grateful), I do wish to have someone hold me and tell me that I am pretty, smart, loved, and that everything really will be all right. 

On that same note, I miss the sense of security I felt knowing that someone cared for and was thinking of me, and the sense of joy knowing that I felt the same way for them. 

I miss the little things: the silly e-mails full of newly developed inside jokes; the phone calls just to see how I was doing; the hand on the small of my back when we enter a room; the simple yet powerful gesture of someone taking my hand in theirs.

I miss the look that crosses a man's face when he first sees you after a period of time has passed.  It could be five minutes, five days, or five months, but when someone looks at you with that expression of relief, desire, and happiness, it makes you feel so special, as if there is no one else in the room but you.  I miss being seen in that way.

The problem is this: every relationship has a Gardener and a Flower.  I tend to be the Gardener - the one who wants the relationship more and is always working to make sure the Flower is okay and that everyone and everything is happy happy joy joy.  In turn, the Flower does little to nothing to help cultivate the relationship because they don't have to do anything.  The Gardener is doing enough work for both of them.  It's exhausting, unfulfilling, and unrewarding.

I'm tired of doing all the work.  I want someone who is willing to put in some effort - to be the Gardener - for ME.  We can be two Gardeners trying to make the best of it.  That would be nice, wouldn't it?

(Crap.  This post is making me sound desperate.  I don't like it.  I'm not desperate to hitch my wagon onto someone else's at this time.  In fact, I am feeling quite wary of dating and have my guard up.  Getting hurt will do that to you.  However, I know that my guard won't stay up forever, and that I will put myself out there again.  Just...not right now.)

Movie Review Haiku: The Lake House

Somewhere In Time it's

not.  Some plot holes.  Still, okay.

(Call me, Keanu!)

My Sunday Random Ten: The "Like, Ohmigod!" '80s Edition

1. The Tide Is High / Blondie (Best of Blondie)
2. What I Like About You / The Romantics (Totally '80s)
3. Need You Tonight / INXS (Kick)
4. Monkey / George Michael (Faith)
5. Dirty Laundry / Don Henley (Actual Miles)
6. Wild Boys / Duran Duran (Decade)
7. Strut /Sheena Easton (A Private Heaven)
8. True / Spandau Ballet (The Wedding Singer)
9. Weird Science / Oingo Boingo (Best O' Boingo)
10. Karma Chameleon / Culture Club (Totally '80s)

Damn You Sandler and Barrymore

Tonight Jen and Lauren introduced me to The Wedding Singer, which I had not seen before until now.  Although I bought both soundtracks (yes, there was a volume two - did you know?), I purposely stayed away from the movie because I am not an Adam Sandler fan, nor am I a fan of Drew Barrymore and her face which seemed to be touched with a bit of the palsy.  That mouth thing of hers annoys me to no end!  So, for that matter, does Alicia Silverstone's, but that's for another post.

Anywho, the movie.  Turns out I really liked it.  A lot!  Color me surprised.  I adored the music (of course) and just loved the costume design, although Drew's Julia was the only character who seemed totally out of place.  She was in very '90s-inspired clothes, y'all.  Whither the crimped hair or crunchy bangs, Drew?

Now that I like this movie, I can't say that I hate Adam Sandler or Drew Barrymore anymore.  Dammit.  I hate it when this happens.

Somewhat Related and Yet Somewhat Embarrassing Aside: The line that kind of got to me was when Robbie's best friend, Sammy, says that all he wants is for someone to hold him and to tell him everything will be all right.  Now that I've been single for some time (well, the Boy - and I'm not calling him a man because he ultimately didn't act like one - and I never said we were exclusive, but we were dating, and that whole "Are we just dating or are we exclusive?" period where you don't know where you stand with the other person is just so weird, but now not having heard from him in months pretty much tells me where I stand with him, I guess), I've been thinking about love and other matters of the heart, and I can't help but believe that that sentiment is true.  We all want that, don't we? 

An ABC After-(Pre-)School Special In the Making

From a conversation held yesterday.

Me: "Hey, how's my niece?"

Sister: "I'm giving her a bath now.  She threw up milk."

Me: "Ew!  And, aw.  What was wrong?  Was it the milk?  Is she sick?"

Sister: "No.  She put something in her mouth."

Me: "Did she make herself gag and throw up or something?!"

Sister: "Yeah, I think so."

=====

Good grief.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  Months ago, my niece used to make herself gag by sticking her little plastic spoon into her mouth!  The hell?

SHE WILL BE TWO YEARS OLD IN A WEEK.

Why on EARTH is she turning into a bulimic toddler?!

Dancin' It Out

I am TOTALLY into So You Think You Can Dance, y'all. 

Martha and Travis (Krump): Here's the thing.  Can you teach someone how to krump?  I don't think so.  It is a wholly organic style of dance to me, and seeing it choreographed was just painful.  The routine felt completely neuteured.  Ugh.  Travis also has to not make "gorilla" references.  That was just cringeworthy.

Jessica and Jaymz (Foxtrot): Jessica does nothing for me, and Jaymz has a goofy-looking face.  That said, I thought the choreography was lovely.  Too bad I don't care for them.

Allison and Ivan (Hip-Hop): GodDAMN I can't stand Ivan.  He's not that cute nor is he as great of a hip-hop dancer as he believes himself to be.  It's like watching the youngest brother from Malcolm In The Middle try to break it down.  Loved the choreography but hated the music (love Busta but it was lacking) and Allison's weird shirt/tank top thing that only covered her boobs.  Again, don't care for these two.

Joy and Dmitry (Samba): Man, do I hate Joy's round face and forced smile.  Annoying.  Dmitry looks good, though.  Not loving the Mas Que Nada as filtered through the BEP machine - why not use the original?  He was much better than her.  She should go.

Natalie and Musa (Contemporary): Oh, I loved them!  They were totally smokin' hot.  Loads of chemistry for days, and the choreography and music were beautiful.  Yay them.

Heidi and Ryan (Pop): I liked them!  I too wondered what kind of dance Pop is, and it seemed not unlike Contemporary in that it is about the narrative.  Their choreography was fun: I particularly liked the move in which she literally jumped onto and wrapped herself around him.  It looked great.

Ashlee and Ben (American Jive): I can't stand them.  I don't like watching them.  It's painful.  I hate her bowlers and his emo hair and Cojocaru face.  Ugh.  They're definitely the weakest couple of the lot.

Aleksandra and Jason (Hip-Hop): I was quite surprised by Aleksandra - I thought she did okay.  Sure, she could have brought more funk to the game, but she was good.  Jason was fantastic.  I loved the choreography a whole lot, and this song was much better than the one used by Allison and Ivan.

Benji and Donyelle (Cha Cha): I love them SO MUCH!  I love them separately and as a couple.  They have the best chemistry ever, and how fantastic was their dance?  She looked gorgeous and he was hot.  My love for Benji has grown exponentially.  I'm not kidding.  Never thought I'd say this about a Mormon, but he was one sexy mothereffer.  Yeah, I said it.  He's the BEST!  I love you Benji - call me! 

And now I have to watch Benji and Donyelle dance again and again and again.