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Monday, July 31, 2006
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Sleepy! I hate that Mondays are always like that, but what can you do. At least I had a nice weekend. Of course, sleep didn't seem to get as much attention as it deserved, but ohh well.
Friday night I was supposed to meet up with Corinne and Ron and others to celebrate the end of Ron's bar studying (exam was Wednesday and Thursday) and his new job (at a firm that does subrogation - yeah, I had never heard of it). I managed to get caught in a downpour, and Corinne and Ron never made it (first the orange line wasn't running, then Gene's Mercedes was broken into), but I did have a lovely dinner with Ron's brother Jordan and his friend Dave (both of whom I met that night). While dinner was nice, I figured it was time to cut my losses for the night, and go home, but did tell Jordan and Dave I would be happy to give them a ride to Corinne's birthday party in New Hampshire the next day at around noon.
Of course I did not do the smart thing and go to sleep once I got home. No, I went out again, this time not making it back until it was light out. I did have a lovely time, with plenty to drink (including yummy beer that tasted like nutmeg) and a good conversation. I also got to see a new (for me) bar, The Asgard, which seemed very lovely, except it's ridiculously expensive. So fun night, except I had to be up by 10:30, and got less than 4 hours of sleep.
Corinne's birthday party was pretty fun, though would have been better with more sleep and less of a hangover. :-) I did manage to sneak away for a trip to the yarn store in Nashua, though, which I enjoyed (but again, would have been better without the exhaustion and hangover), and bought 2 skeins of pretty sock yarn. I now have more sock yarn than I know what to do with! That makes me happy. There was no badminton for me this year, which is sad, but I did get to try a few new games that other people brought - Bang and Settlers of Catan. I really enjoyed Settlers of Catan - it seems like it's right up my alley of strategy games, and I won when we played, so that was awesome. Corinne also seemed to like the bag and scarf I made for her, and I'll be sure to put up pictures on Flickr soon (maybe tonight, since it's the last day of July).
Yesterday I went shopping, and very happily purchased new black leather pumps, which I love. I already have a pair of shoes by Bandolino, and was quite happy to find another that was exactly what I was looking for.
This week there will be lots of knitting. I have one more deadline that's stressing me out, but I think if I work hard enough, I'll be able to meet it. Then I can relax again, a little, and maybe work on something for me! Though there is still lots of presents to be made at some point. *sigh* - I don't know what made me think this was a good idea. I found out someone at work has just started to knit, and it's nice to talk to someone else who is excited by yarn and sweaters. Completely foreign to most people, I'm sure.
- Lizzardie, at 3:05 PM
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Thursday, July 27, 2006
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I forgot an entertaining story from Connecticut. I only remembered it this evening while driving home from work. I noticed that I was following a car with an Ithaca Is Gorges sticker on it. My mind works in somewhat strange ways sometimes.
Late Saturday night, most of the guests had gone home, and the only other person who wasn't staying the night, Jen, said her goodbyes and left. She walked back in a few minutes later, asking who owned the car with the Phi Sigma Pi sticker. I relunctantly admitted it was mine, thinking there was something wrong (was I blocking something? I don't see how. Is it open/damaged/headlights on? All extremely unlikely, but people usually don't ask after cars unless they're really nice or something has happened). Jen then told us that she was also in Phi Sigma Pi - she was part of the charter class at Florida State! I'd been hanging out with her all day, and had I not had those stickers on my car, I never would have known she was also in PSP. Small world.
Anyhow, tomorrow might be important, so I should go to bed. :-)
- Lizzardie, at 11:13 PM
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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
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I have a little bit of downtime, so I thought I'd let you all in on the exciting things of the last week or so.
Monday I went over to Rosanne's, where we had nachos for dinner and apple pie with ice cream for dessert. We had a nice conversation about many things, including work and family. It's nice to feel like I've made another friend, who I can hang out with for more than just poker games.
Last Tuesday I went to The Blue Grotto in Providence with Kathy. First of all, I can finally check Rhode Island off as a state I've visited - I'd previously driven through there and flown out of the airport, but had yet to actually do anything in Rhode Island (even though I've meant to, whether it's hit the beaches or visit some of Providence's craft stores). The Blue Grotto was amazing - not so much to look at outside, but very elegant inside. It was Restaurant Week in Providence, so both Kathy and I of course ordered off the prix fixe menu - I had a salad with basil, oranges, tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette - very simple and tasty - as well as Osso Buco and Chocolate Tiramisu. I'd never had Osso Buco before - braised veal shank with stewed vegetables and some sort of orange dressing with this one as well as a side of mashed potatoes - and I wonder where it's been all my life. I forget how much I love stew - this winter I'm definitely going to try making it. I was stuffed by the time dessert rolled around, and was only able to eat about a third of the oh so delicious and rich Tiramisu - tragically I had to take the rest home with me and eat it the next day. :-) I'd definitely love to eat there again, or try any number of restaurants on Federal Hill, which is a very cute (albiet maybe mob-infested) part of Providence.
There was a lot of lightening on the way back to Kathy's and then on my way home, but I was apparently incredibly lucky with the whole trip and made it back without much rain or other incidents.
Wednesday was poker, and I came in second. Once again, I went in vowing to drink less, like I do every week, and once again failed. Ahh well. :-)
Thursday was the first bit of relaxation I had all week, and late into the evening Ryan and Cat arrived. I didn't get to spend that much time with them, because we did all need to sleep, but the short visit was very nice, and they brought me wine. :-)
Friday ended up being somewhat of a mess - there were bad storms while I was at work, and when I drove through my part of Somerville and a little of Medford in search of food, there were trees and branches down all over the place! I wish I'd taken pictures, because it was awful - I don't think I've seen that much damage in a long while, and I'm glad that it was at least limited to the trees (there was one tree blocking an entire street with a car very close to it - the tree either JUST MISSED the car or the car pulled up to the tree, not sure which). A lot of roads were blocked, and it took a long time just to get the half a mile home from this sandwich place. I actually finally gave up on getting to my street and parked my car a few blocks away. After that adventure, I was in no mood to do anything that night, though I feel bad about turning down invitations from both Patrick and Susan.
Saturday I headed to Connecticut for a party thrown by Dana and her friend Kelly. Kelly's house is HUGE - I'm talking, with tennis court and pool (complete with hot tub), set back from the street, 4-car garage, exquisitely decorated. The party was fun, though would have been nicer if the weather had cooperated. Chris and Rob were both there, which was nice - all of Dana's high school friends seem really nice. I stayed at Kelly's Saturday night - I was given a guest bedroom with the most comfy sheets and pillows (good thing, since I forgot my pillow for the first time in a very long time), and it even had its own bathroom and television (not that I watched it) - I felt like I was staying in a hotel! Sunday we went over to Dana's parents' house for a little bit, and then I headed to New Haven, where I met up with Corinne, Demetri and Kerry for a nice pizza lunch. I was happy to see Demetri and Kerry, and I will get to see them again this weekend. Corinne and I then headed back to Boston.
This week has started off much quieter, which means more knitting, and I'm thankful for the downtime. Busy is fun, but sometimes I need time to collect myself and recharge. I'm looking forward to taking time off of work in August for some added relaxation - maybe some beach time? We'll see.
- Lizzardie, at 12:57 PM
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Monday, July 17, 2006
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I keep vowing that I'm going to go to bed early and get up early to go walking, but it really doesn't seem to be happening. It's after midnight and I was going to go to bed at 11pm. Right.
The weekend was relatively pleasant, despite the heat. Yesterday I went to the Red Sox game with Kathy, her mom, Corinne and her dad. It was a Cornell Club thing, which meant it was unbelievably expensive - we kept making up things to justify the price (Schilling pitched, we got to go to batting practice before the game, unlimited Fenway Franks, our seats were near where they sat in Field of Dreams, etc...). All in all, though, the seats were decent, I finally got to see the scoreboard change, and the Red Sox got their first shutout of the night. :-)
Today I wanted to go to the beach, but it didn't happen. Then again, I also wanted to go and buy yarn, but that didn't happen, either. :-) Instead, I spent some time knitting, and then went to get dinner with Corinne and Ron - we went to this little sandwich/Italian shop place in Medford which I could walk to. The sandwiches are good, and the market has a lot of the same stuff Dave's Fresh Pasta does. It's also within walking distance, but a little farther. However, it is open on Sundays, so maybe the next time I get a craving for fresh bread on a Sunday I'll go there. :-) We ate our sandwiches at Corinne's, in the air conditioning, while watching the Cubs-Mets game. I left after the Mets got their second grand slam in the sixth inning - I could take it anymore (*sigh*).
The other exciting thing about the weekend was that I made ice cream. The cheesecake ice cream came out really, really well - the best I've ever made. The blueberry was just okay. I'm thinking that it would be fun to make an icecream cheesecake sometime, and then just make a simple strawberry syrup to put on top. Yum.
This week looks to be busy - tomorrow I'm having dinner with Rosanne, Tuesday I'm going to Providence with Kathy to have dinner at the Blue Grotto (the menu looks amazing), Wednesday is poker like normal, Cat and Ryan will be here Thursday night, and Saturday it looks like I'll be going to Connecticut for Dana's BBQ, which will be an overnight trip. Maybe I should go to bed soon!
- Lizzardie, at 12:28 AM
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Thursday, July 13, 2006
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Bored. I really should be doing work right now, but I'm just not feeling it. It needs to get done eventually, but I figure I'll just work diligently (ha!) tomorrow and use some weekend time if I absolutely have to.
I've been feeling rather stressed lately, but yesterday was a pretty good day. Despite the hangovers on Thursdays, it's so nice to go out and play lots of poker Wednesday nights and hang out with people I wouldn't normally hang out with. My weekend schedule seems to be filling out for the summer, too, which is nice.
I need to make a few decisions about plans. One of them involves whether or not I want to (voluntarily!) go to Connecticut next weekend for a party Dana is throwing. I'd get to see Chris, and Dana of course, but it is a 3 1/2 hour drive and it is Connecticut. I don't have anything else going on, so we'll see. The other decision is about my upcoming birthday. I know it's still a month away, but everyone's summer schedules get booked up so quickly. I was considering throwing a party, but my roommate doesn't seem keen on doing a joint birthday thing (she also has an August birthday), and the dinner thing seems kinda old, particularly with restaurant week(s!) right around the corner from then. Maybe I'll just be happy with inviting whoever wants to go to poker on my birthday, and be happy with getting ridiculously smashed (and not working the next day).
Is it sad that Labor Day weekend is the most exciting thing I have to look foward to in the next several months? I think not.
My plan is to go to the beach either Saturday or Sunday this weekend. I'm going to make it happen, go early, get tan, relax, read, knit. It's supposed to be hot and I think several hours in the sun by the ocean will be just the right thing.
- Lizzardie, at 3:27 PM
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Monday, July 10, 2006
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I finally made it to the beach yesterday! I was all set for a normal Sunday - laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, knitting - and I was just about to head out of the house when I thought to check and make sure my grocery list had all the right ingredients for what I wanted to make. Opening my browser showed my email, and one caught my eye - Rosanne had emailed me to see if I wanted a "Girls Day Out." I momentarily thought that no, I shouldn't call her because I had things that should get done and I was tired and needed to get work done as well. But then I realized that it was silly to sit around my house all day, just like I had done on Saturday. So I called her, and we went up to Ipswitch - the water is still FREEZING (only really got my feet wet) but it was pretty with nice smooth sand, clear water, salty sea air smell and lots of shells! Plus it was nice to chat with Rosanne - I've only really spent time with her when she and Eryk have invited me over for poker. She said that she'll call me more often (I suppose when she's not in Finland for work!) and I'm looking forward to that.
I need to get a basket for all of the shells I brought home. I also plan on going back - who knows, maybe even this weekend! I'd like to go a little earlier in the day (we didn't get there until about 3:30pm) and do some reading/knitting. And of course get some color and find more seashells. :-)
Knitting is going well - not so much for myself these days as I'm trying to pump out some presents. I'll get some pictures up on the Flickr site soon, hopefully - there's still some finishing details I need to do on some projects. There will be a geeky project up here at some point, too, that combines knitting with math (more than usual) and I'll want to show that off. Today I received some sock yarn, that will end up being a present for someone (yes, I'm going to knit socks as presents, which is a little daunting - I hope I'm able to make them fit!). I ordered the yarn off of Etsy, and I gotta say that it's some of the best service I've ever received. I was looking at tracking this afternoon at work, and it said my package had been REFUSED and was being sent back to sender - it didn't make any sense! When I got home, though, the package was on my porch (need to start sending stuff to work again, apparently) and all was well. The seller, however, had emailed me because she had seen the same message I had and wanted to make sure I had gotten my package - it was so sweet - she even emailed me thanking me for my quick reply telling her I'd received the yarn! I decided that I wasn't going to email her back again telling her thanks again in a neverending cycle, but instead I will promote her Etsy site, Fearless Fibers. She dyes all of the yarn herself, it's super soft, lots of yardage and a very pretty color. If any of you have an interest in yarn (doubtful, I know), check her out.
While I'm on the topic of Etsy, I will also promote Susan's Etsy site, Speck Designs, and Kristen's Etsy site, Think Pink! Crafts. Both make jewelry - Susan's is kinda funky, while Kristen's is more traditional and classy.
I had more written about knitting and non-knitting from this weekend, but I just lost it. And now I don't feel like writing anymore, so I'll try and update more later.
- Lizzardie, at 10:26 PM
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Monday, July 03, 2006
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Well, this hasn't been the best 4th of July weekend I've ever had (though I guess that if you consider last weekend probably the best, and two years ago as the worst, it would have to fall somewhere in between). I've spent the majority of the weekend on my couch, nursing some sort of bug and trying to stay cool. Today, I worked all day - not because my company didn't give us they day off (they did) but because there's so much to do this month. I'll be working again tomorrow. I went into the office today because I couldn't download the files I needed, and what I thought would take half an hour ended up taking two hours. On my way home, I was pulled over for illegally making a left turn (the intersection gives a green arrow at the end of the light; there's no red arrow light, but there is a sign that says left turn on arrow only and I ignored it). Apparently I have issues with left turns, because of the five times I've been pulled over in my driving history, one was for an accident, one was for speeding and three involved left turns. Thankfully the officer only gave me a warning.
It's hard to write when I'm sneezing every couple of minutes.
I reiterate my wish for air conditioning. At least this time when I went into the office on a non-work day, the air was on.
Our mailman is young and wears a wife beater.
Last weekend I saw a bumper sticker on a car that read "Santos McGarry 2005." It made me smile, and I can't believe it was the first time I saw one!
I want to go to the beach, but timing just hasn't been right.
I think I'm just going to go back to Law & Order and knitting. It's all I really do anymore.
- Lizzardie, at 7:57 PM
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