Living the stereotype.

The courtyard around my office building is really pretty nice, especially for Oakland, but the lunch choices tend to be somewhat limited. I usually stick to San Francisco Soup Company because it's reliable, it's relatively healthy, and occasionally I get to say words like "mulligatawny." Today, on my way to a warm bowl of minestrone, I thought about turning in my spoon for some popcorn chicken and ducked my head into Popeye's to sneak a peek at the menu. As I stood there waiting in line, I realized that in the restaurant were eleven African-American patrons...and me...in the fried chicken place.

Are you geographically challenged?

I know I certainly am. But I did much better than I thought I would on the Chron's annual Geo Quiz. I got 19/50. Anyone do better?

Freaking Out Loud, Over.

I just couldn't do it. I'm still trying to finish the first d@mn sleeve. So I got him an I-Tunes gift card to open on Christmas and he'll get the sweater in January. Once I made that decision, the rest of my weekend was amazing and fun and completely (ok, well, mostly) stress-free!

In wedding news, I had a fantastic meeting with my Day Of Coordinator and the Event Coordinator for the Lodge. Both ladies were fabulous and wonderful and really got me excited again about planning. Oh! And my Cake Issue was resolved. In the highly unlikely event that I haven't already complained about this to you, here's the story: A cake comes in our event package, but they have two bakeries you have to choose from. One is an Italian bakery, but I don't like Italian desserts (sorry, Italy!) and the other...has really awful cakes. I thought maybe I was being overly picky, so I called someone over to look at the cake photos online. She agreed--they don't even have level layers (and they're not *supposed* to be Mad Hatter cakes). But the Lodge said it wasn't a problem and I could have any bakery I wanted. More cake tasting! Mmmm...cake tasting. =) And I also found out that their house wine is Valley of the Moon, a lovely local, Sonoma county wine! It's been a while since I've had any, but I'm going to hit BevMo and stage a private tasting. Anyone interested?

Freaking Out Loud, Day 2

24 hours later, I have 6" of one 19.5" sleeve completed. I'm probably about halfway done with that sleeve, because it accelerates with the decreases...but it's still only one sleeve. So here's the revised schedule:

12/14
Finish sleeve#1
Start sleeve#2
Pin out front & back for blocking

12/15
Finish sleeve#2

12/16
Duplicate stitch the W
Block sleeves

12/17
Seam shoulders
Knit kneck

12/18
Complete seaming

12/19
Mail!

Freaking Out Loud

Let me start by admitting that this Freak Out is of my own making and that it could have been avoided with a) proper planning and b) a little less laziness. Because FeministSAHM has hand knit 3 complete items in less than a week. But I don't think she's human. She's got to have bionic fingers or something. Seriously.

Nevertheless, here I am with half a sweater to knit and 12 days until Xmas. And I have to ship it to the East coast. The front and back are both done and the ends woven in (no small task!). Here's what I have left to do:

1. Knit sleeves
2. Block front, back, and sleeves
3. Sew shoulder seams.
4. Sew sleeves to body and seam up the sides
5. Knit kneck
6. Duplicate stitch the W onto the front

Here's how I'm going to do it. I think I can knit one sleeve today and one sleeve tomorrow during the day (let's hear it for commute knitting!). Then 12/14 I can pin out the pieces to block. They should be dry by 12/16, at which point I can sew the shoulders, do the seaming, and knit up the neck. Then on 12/17 I can stitch the W, wrap it up and mail it off on 12/18.

There's no way. Sigh.

Today's lesson

It's impossible to be in a bad mood in the face of Mariachi. Not that I'd otherwise be in a bad mood, slight Christmas-knitting-freak-out notwithstanding. I'm just saying. If I had been in a bad mood, I would be no longer.

For the last couple of weeks the fine folks at my office complex have been sponsoring holiday music every Thursday. There was a gospel choir, carolers (complete with period dress), and last week was a klezmer band (representing for the Jews, I imagine--Shalom!). Today there was mariachi, which doesn't strike me as very Holiday, but they were rockin' the carols along with the standard repertoire, so I can't complain. Besides, they were really awesome. And I think the outfits are growing on me. I just might need a pair of the studded pants.

Holy Cr@p, it's the 11th!

Seriously. The amount of shopping and knitting that I have to do is staggering. Not to mention the deciding--oh, lord, the deciding! My apologies in advance to anyone who ends up receiving a used book, a vase from my cupboard, or a piece of lint. I promise that they will at least be properly wrapped. =)

My new favorite magazine

And the sun shines on the bay-ay...

Man, I miss San Francisco. I left my City job a few months ago for a cushy gig across the bay and, from a career standpoint, it was the best move ever. But I was back today for a seminar and, walking around I realized how much I miss it. I thinik I'll wander back out this weekend for some Christmas shopping and an urban fix.

Blogging is hard, m'kay?

Even though I failed NaBloPoMo, I swear I didn't intend to give up blogging completely. But, man, is it easy to let the days fly by without posting.

Since my last post, G & I went to the 110th Big Game between the Stanfurd Junior University Fighting Trees and the California Golden Bears. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, but as FeministSAHM already reported, things did not go well for the Bears and a lack of photographic evidence is perhaps not the worst thing in the world. The day was not a total waste, however. I did get to check out the new Stanfurd stadium and I have to say--it's not bad. It's not the best, but it is pretty and new and has seat backs, which is more than I can say for my beloved Memorial. Additionally, the Cal Band played an encore of its Video Game halftime show, which through the magic of YouTube, you can watch here: