There's a stain on my notebook, Where your coffee cup was

Just as someone else I know, I was anxiously awaiting this weekend, my bestest bud, Marilyn was meeting me for our supposed to be monthly girls day out. This time she was coming into Queens, and I decided we would go somewhere different. We usually go to Forest Hills and I was tired of the same old sameold, instead we had a wonderful brunch at Cafe Henri in LIC, we split a goat cheese and mushroom and a chocolate banana crepe. It was yummy! Then we walked around the neighborhood - going in and out of shops - I found this at a second hand store:



and these:


I love the black rose button.

Then we drove back to my neighborhood and I finally got a chance to visit the Atlas Park Mall, it is really weird, like stepping into a suburban mall dream sequence. It did not feel like Glendale at all. Some interesting stores though, saw a fabulous pair of brown suede boots I would kill for and lots of fall fashions. I love fall and can't wait for the cool weather to finally get here.

A few weeks ago I filled out a survey from Senseo on their coffee maker - when we were in Paris a few years ago the apt we stayed in had one of these and I fell in love with the coffee! I even wrote the company when we came home to see if it was available in the states. It was not at the time so I forgot about it - Then I received this email questionnaire, if I qualified they would send me a free coffee maker, so I filled it out and guess what - I got my coffee maker yesterday! I am so excited - I got the coffee maker and a box of coffee pods. I am going to bring it to work and put it in my office - finally one perfect cup of coffee whenever I want.

David left this morning for his last week in Albany - neither of us can wait till this is over. Next Sunday he leaves for 2 weeks in Atlanta and then he finally starts work in the Bronx. It will be so wonderful not to have him gone any more.

A pretty face but you do so carry on and on and on and on and on

Progress is coming along nicely on the test sweater - I finally got to the split, it felt like those 9 inches of knitting took forever and no matter how many rows I knit it never seemed to grow. Every time I measured it on Tuesday night it was still 8", some kind of weird inverse length to yarn ratio or sumthin'. But last night I finally reached the required and elusive 9" and joined the second ball of yarn and moved along swimmingly after that - did about 2 more inches when I realized that I had crossed the yarn and was knitting from the wrong ball - damn.rip.curse.rip. reknit. After all that this is what I had:

I am so loving the way the yarn is pooling and stripping. It makes me very happy.

I am feeling really lousy today, so I am planning to go home snuggle under the blanky and knit a few more rows. Once I get past the sleeves I will be finished in no time. Which is good, because I have to start swatching for the International Scarf Exchange. I have been contacted by the knitter making my scarf and I have contacted the person I am knitting for - I just need to decide on the pattern and yarn. I have narrowed it down to 2 patterns - the swallowtail or the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style - Both are by Evelyn Clark. The yarn is either Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in grape, or some lovely fingering wt I bought from Red Bird Knits in a pinky purpley color.

I also really want to finish the LUG - the weather is getting cooler and I so want to wear this now.

The coolest water bottle ever:

Thank you Jolie

I want a New Toy (oh ay oh), to keep my head expanding

I want a New Toy (oh ay oh), nothing too demanding

Well, at least she's pretty:

It was time to turn in my phone and get my new in 2 from Verizon- I couldn't resist this little beauty and its Chocolate! I hate carrying around my phone and notIpod around so I thought this would be cool. They don't tell you that you need to buy may accessories to use it as a music player - accessories that will cost me more than the phone did, but

I heart it, the sound is amazing - it takes great pictures and it's cute. I am happy happy.

I was trying to explain my redecorating plans to a friend but she wasn't seeing it so I am posting pictures to help her visualize what I am planning

My inspiration

my paint swatches:

some additions:


Things are moving along on the test knitting - I did a few more rows last night and should be done with the sleeves by this weekend - if not sooner. A few people commented on the pooling the yarn is doing - normally I don't like pooling, but I think it is really cool in this pattern - it looks right and everyone who see's it agrees. I love the way it is working up - I think it is gorgeous!

Do you have the time To listen to me whine

About nothing and everything All at once

David just left for Albany again -I really can't wait for this training to be over - I hate his being gone all week, its lonely and I miss him. Thursday I took Amtrak to Albany, he met me at the train station and we went out to dinner - Olive Garden, of course. We had a lovely time, and this hotel is much better than the last one. He has a suite with a little kitchen - I made him buy food to keep in his room, so that he is not eating fast food for every meal. Friday he had class so I spent the morning on my laptop in Starbucks and the afternoon at the Mall and Barnes & Noble. I spent all the overtime money I earned in Jersey last week but it was worth it - I bought cute shoes in payless, 2 fantastic bras in Lane Bryant - I wear a 38 DD and it is very hard to find bras that fit and are really supportive without looking matronly , so I was thrilled to find all these great bras in LB - pretty, sexy and full support -I will definitely buy my bras there from now on! I also picked up 2 CD's, My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday and I spent $$ in CVS - I am a lipstick whore - can't resist buying new lipstick as well as hair care products - I spend a fortune on hair care. Funny how my hair never looks it.

We picked the boys up on the way back on Saturday - it was too bad the weather was so awful - we were stuck in the house all day. The boys are excited about starting HS tmrw. I really hope they like it and do well. I hated HS, so I try not to pass my negativity on to them - David loved HS, so hopefully they will too.

Yesterday, we took a ride to home depot for some washers, we have a leak in the bathroom. While we were there, we picked out some of the stuff we will be needing to refurnish our apt. We found a ceiling fan we liked for the living room, and I picked out paint for the living room, kitchen and hallway.

The best part of taking the train on Thursday was all the time I had to knit - I got a lot done on the test pattern:



I have done more since and I hope to be up to the spilt by the time I get to LIC SnB tmrw night. It's been weeks since I was there and I am really looking forward to getting back, but it will be different now that Maritza is gone - she should be settling in to her new home, but I am really going to miss her!

One last look at the yarn:

Hangin' round downtown by myself

And I had too much caffeine And I was thinkin' 'bout myself

Now that I have finally caught up on my sleep I am ready to go back to work and start all over again. Last week in Jersey was actually much better than expected, even though the training was intense, everyone seemed to find it valuable. This was the most fun I have ever had on a business trip, though I am getting too old to stay up late drinking everynight.

I didn't get as much knitting done as I would have liked ( knitting and caffeine don't mix ) I still managed to do more than I thought. I will post pictures soon.

David left for Albany again tonight. I have Thursday and Friday off this week, so I am planning to take Amtrak up on Thurs and drive back with him on Friday. So far he likes the training and is enjoying the work. He called me little while ago to ask me if I would go to parent orientation at the HS Tuesday night for the boys. I told him I would, this way we know what is going on with the kids now that they have started HS. But it means I will miss LIC SnB, which I am really not happy about - I was looking forward to seeing everyone, especially since I missed last weeks meeting. This will also be Maritza's last Tuesday in NY, she is leaving for Cambridge at the end of the week. I hate to miss it, but David would really like one of us at the school and it is important that we are involved in the boys education so I will have to miss it.

Speaking of Maritza, she just open her own Etsy shop, check it out!

City of the dead At the end of another lost highway

Signs misleading to nowhere

Yes I got lost on the way to Somerset on Sunday. I always get lost in NJ - I swear this state has something against me. My 1 hour drive (ha - even without getting lost it would have taken me more than an hour) took 2 1/2 hours. But I arrived safely and have been working ever since.

I will miss the LIC SnB tmrw - that is what I really regret, but at least David is gone this week too so I am not home alone.

I have finished about 10" on the Sundara Pattern, so I will have progress shots soon. I am liking it more and more as it is knitting up!

I can't wait to get home on Friday though, living out of a suitcase lost it's appeal awhile ago. I am "overly caffeinated" tonight so if I am not making much sense, blame the beer.

Later.......

We're traveled like gypsies Only with worse luck and far less gold

I am leaving Sunday for a week in NJ - another business trip. Yesterday my drive back from Hartford took 3 1/2 hours and my check engine light is on again. Oh well.

I did the swatch for Melissa's test pattern last night - her recommended needle size is 5 but I got gauge with a 3 and I am spot on perfect row and stitch! See:



18 stitches and 31 rows = 4"

So now I have cast on and am knitting the test pattern - I will post pictures as I progress, they will just be slightly obscure, since the pattern won't be available from Sundara till the end of September.

Doesn't the yarn remind you of these:

I showed the yarn to a few people who read my blog and they thought that the picture doesn't do justice to the color.

Figs and leaves and autumn sun

My yarn from Sundara came today:



Isn't it lovely - the color reminds me of a bowl of fresh figs. The color is the picture is a little too bright the yarn is actually much subtler in person. This yarn is so soft and cushy and knits like a dream, I am knitting the swatch now and will post pictures shortly.

On another note - I have joined the International Scarf Exchange 3 - I was a part of both 1 and 2 - the first time I received a lovely loopy scarf in red/black Point 5, # 2 flaked on me and I never received anything, I should have let the organizers know, but I heard from her and she told me she was sending it late so I didn't say anything, but never got the scarf either. I had fun making the scarf for my partner - it was in elann's baby cashmere and I was really pleased with how it turned out. I enjoyed being part of the exchange and that's all that matters, so I signed up for round three.

Tomorrow I will be in Hartford all day, I am hoping I get back to the city by 6 - it is a 2 hour drive from my home to Hartford. I want to get home and work on my new yarn - I want to get it set up before I leave for NJ next week. A whole week at the Doubletree hotel and conference center - oh joy! At least I will have something gorgeous to work on at night!

Someone left the cake out in the rain

I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

Fortunately, I didn't leave it in the rain and I do still have the recipe - here it is:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

7 oz good quality dark chocolate (I used Lindt 1 bar each of 85% Cocoa and 99% cocoa)
200 gr. butter (about 7 oz on the scale - a little less than 1 1/4 sticks)
1 1/4 cup sugar ( if you use a sweeter dark chocolate only use 1 cup sugar) divided in 1/2
4 eggs separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350

break up the chocolate and melt with the butter - add the vanilla, cayenne and cinnamon

Beat 1/2 the sugar with the egg yolks till creamy and light yellow
Beat 1/2 the sugar and the egg whites till stiff peaks form

Fold the egg yolk mixture into the the chocolate
Fold the egg whites into the chocolate - gently, it should be light and fluffy.

I use a 2 piece pan - the kind where the bottom separates from the sides so all I did was grease it - if you use a regular 9" cake pan you need to line it with parchment paper then grease it - the cake is very sticky.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake at 350 for 40 or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Be careful not to over bake - this is more like a souffle - it will rise up very high then drop and the resulting cake is intensely chocolate and chewy, but not very sweet.

This cake tastes best served with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream on the side.

Enjoy!

I remember, I remember when I lost my mind...

Lots to post today.

[Can I just tell you I hate Justin Timberlake - I have fuse on in the background and the are showing Sexyback - maybe it is just me, but no f*in way sexy and JT go in the same sentence.]

Back to our regularly scheduled blogging

I had a good week, it was great coming hoe to a quite empty apartment, but I missed David a lot at night, I haven't had a good nights sleep since he left last Sunday to go camping. I don't know what I will do while he is away in Albany - Excedrin PM?

At least Tuesday night was LIC knitters, Burt, one of the knitters, brought a shopping bag full of fresh pears. They are sitting in a brown bag in my kitchen ripening. I see a pear tart in my future. I really enjoy Tuesday nights.

I finally got my car fixed - new sensor no check engine light. I brought it in Tuesday morning, but the part never came so I had to bring it back on Wednesday, but now it is running nicely. Oh and I didn't have to drive the VP afterall - one of the Account Manager's took him instead. He was meeting his wife at the airport, she was supposed to arrive at 5, but will all the increased security and tension on Wed, she didn't even board her flight till after 4. I don't think she landed till after 8.

Thursday night I went out with some friends for drinks, it's been a long time since I sat around drinking and laughing with my girlfriends. Seems like all the women I was really close to just drifted away; family, work, life, just seemed to push us apart. Slowly, steadily - like the continental drift, before you realize, the whole map has changed. I didn't notice till it was too late. I had a great time, we were loud, overly caffeinated and laughing really hard. It was a good thing.

Of course Friday morning I wasn't exactly in peak form, and I had to run a webex training session at 7:30 that morning, and I hadn't exactly gone through the material completely beforehand - it's a good thing I can think fast on my feet. I had a professor once that said, if you aren't really sure, but you sound like you know what you are talking about, people will believe you. It's true. I held another session at 4 and that one went smoother.

Last night I went over Marilyn's - we ordered in Greek food and ate out in the yard. I really wish I had a backyard. Today I am supposed to clean house before David gets home tmrw. I am blogging instead.

I won a bid on eBay for cashmere yarn from ColourmartUK 3 cones of 1150 yards each 3500 total:



They are mill ends so the yarn needs to be washed after knitting to bloom, they recommend knitting a swatch, then washing it so see how it looks. It is lace wt so I am thinking I could double it to make a sweater - it would also make a beautiful shawl - maybe I will use one for a shawl and 2 cones together for a sweater, or does anyone know of a good lace wt sweater pattern?

I also ordered 3 skeins of Zephyr from theknitter.com in vanilla:


I am planning on using this for the Flirty Ruffles Shawl from Fibertrends.

and here is the cell phone cover I made: