Have you seen this?

Okay, I admit I may be on the slow end of technology, so maybe you have already seen this, but it blows my mind, really. Photosynth. I can't really explain - other than to say that people who love photographs or computers (or if there are people out there who love both) will be impressed. I also saw a demonstration on some guy's laptop in an online video and it really is amazing how fast it is.



All this from the internet and it seems to load pictures so fast! I of course can not try it at home since we have a Mac... but this looks super cool. Oh and the video says 9 minutes, which seems long - but the last 2 minutes are a commercial... But be sure to watch the first 6.

Happy 4th of July!!

Well- It was mostly a relaxing 4th here. We got up late, we ate good food. We watched movies. We read. We folded clean laundry. I mean really, what can a person want more out of their 4th of July?

A clean Closet? Some Fireworks?

I cleaned out my closet of all the clothes that don't fit anymore. As you can see ---> over on the sidebar I am almost to my first Weight Watchers goal of 19 pounds. I hope I'll be there by next Wednesday. I knew I didn't want to talk much about it here on the blog, but I do have to say I am so happy! I now weigh less than I did when I got married. How exciting is that? I'll have some new goals next week and will post them so all of you who read the blog can keep an eye on me.

Anyway I just thought I'd share. There is a lot less clothes in my closet. There is still some time before the ones in there don't fit anymore. I saved a lot of my skinnier clothes along the way... well at least my favorites... in hopes that someday I would fit back into them and that someday looks to be fairly soon. At least by next summer!!

Oh - and Fireworks? Well I didn't want to go to the Capital (not a big crowd fan nor a traffic fan) especially since I don't have tomorrow off. So then we were going to go to a local high school but when we got there they had canceled due to the weather earlier in the day (we had terrible thunderstorms, with hail in some areas and a threat of tornadoes.)

So then when we were driving back we saw that from the highway near our house you could see fireworks so we decided to stop off at Trader Joe's Parking lot. And man, from there we could see all the fireworks from the area! We saw 10-11 different firework shows from the towns around us. Well actually - one of them, I swear, was on the Shenandoah mountains. You could just barely see these little itty bitty fireworks from atop a ridge in the distance.

So while I didn't get the true firework experience - and I didn't get any pictures for my blog - it was still pretty cool, especially when you would see the grand finales of several places at once. It was hard to tell which way to turn your head since they surrounded us.

Now it is time for bed. Would someone tell all the people in the apartments around us to stop firing firecrackers?

Happy Independence day!!

Birthday present to oneself

So, a friend of mine once told me that she gave herself a birthday present every year once she started working. She said it was so she was guaranteed a present that she loved. I'm pretty much guaranteed a present I love anyway, because I have great present givers surrounding me.

I mean, have you seen what Susan's making me over here? Holy freaking cow, a quilt! And in Orange even, my favorite color!! Doesn't totally freaking rock? I don't even know how to talk about it without squealing like a five year old girl at the idea of getting a Pony.

And my parents and Harland always get it right.

But just to tip the Birthday presents scale in my favor I've adopted the birthday present for oneself. I always try to make it small... last year I got a manicure and pedicure with my friend Lenka.

This year I decided to buy this sweater pattern from Knitpicks - The Vanilla Pullover
I have to say that I wasn't sure if I was going to be happy with the cotton yarn. But I LOVE it. The yarn is so incredibly soft, not like the worsted weight cotton I've been making dishcloths with - plus this DK yarn is so light!! I am very excited, it feels like a very light chenille, it is Awesome. Anyway - the yarn and the pattern was less than 20 bucks and it is going to make a fantastic summer lightweight sweater.

I'm so excited. I've never made a sweater, so we'll see how long it takes me. And maybe I'll need some help when I get to the end. Especially when it comes to sewing the seams.

Here is what I have so far of the back:

Happy (30th) Birthday to me!

Okay so I've been 30 for over a day now, and it's not so bad.

So far.

I had a lovely weekend, we went to my parents and had a nice relaxing time. We went to Lancaster, PA for a while (H. had never been there) and we also went to Millersville University (where I got my undergrad) and walked around. It was in between summer sessions so it was pretty dead. But it hasn't changed as much - which is nice.

Then my dear parents took us out to dinner, and then afterwards we went and played some mini-golf which I really enjoy and don't get to do very often. There is a really nice mini-golf course near my parents' house.

I didn't win, (Dad did) but it was a decent 2nd place. Then came cake time, which is personally my favorite time on birthdays.


Dad played a little trick and got some trick candles... the kind that keep lighting over and over again.

But joke was on him - see all the smoke? The smoke alarm went off.

Note that we are drinking champagne with our cake. Now that is what I call a birthday. If you know me at all you know I am a lover of champagne.

So it was a good time, we even had a chance to pick black raspberries this morning before I left... and I think right now I'm going to eat some of the fruit of my labors. Quite literally. Tomorrow I'll post some knitting news. My aunt Patty has stated I haven't been posting enough, and so I'm going to step it up a little. :)

Blog Fodder

Well, since I have been sick, there isn't much to post on the blog.
Well, not much besides that it is... Lychee Season!
Whee! I love fresh lychees.

Now - the first time I had lychees was last summer when my dear Mother-in-law bought me some, before then all I had had was the canned kind in the syrup. The canned kind are too sweet and overwhelming that way.

But fresh lychees are much better. It is like eating sweet flowers in grape form or something. I love them. They were also the favorite of Emperor Li Longji's favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan. Just for a little Chinese history lesson.

If you want 5 tips for making the best lychee martini, I did the research for you - click HERE.

You just peel them, and eat, although watchout for the seed inside. You can't eat it - it is slightly poisonous... and it would crack a tooth.

I took some pictures of a lychee I ate.. It was more on the redder side than it looks here... Hey - I told you it was a slow day here... eating lychees is better than blowing my nose which is the only other thing I've done today!!

SOCKS ARRIVED!!

Oh my goodness. I am so happy that Susan's Super Socks finally arrived. I was really starting to get worried that they would never get there (not that I couldn't re-knit them, but wouldn't that be such a bummer?)

I'm enclosing two pictures here of the socks sans feet. Susan has such delicate feet, and let's just say there was no way my big clodhoppers could model these. But she modeled them like crazy on her blog (no one can ask anything more from a person who receives something one has made than the enthusiasm level you had about the project while making it!!)

She posted a fantastic blog entry about them, so go over there and see what they look like on her actual feet.
Susan's Blog Post

Her Incredibly Fun Cats are in on the great fun as well.

I'm so relieved they got there. (the socks not the cats).


What are the details?
These are my first completed pair of socks made out of sock yarn.
Pattern: Madder Ribbed Socks from "Knitting Vintage Socks" by Nancy Bush
Heel: Dutch Heel
Toe: Pointed Toe
Yarn: Socks that Rock
Color: Ruby Slippers
Needle: size 1 (2 circulars) from Knitpicks
Note: The pattern says to leave 3 inches for the toe, but my toe only took 2 inches so I had to go back, rip out and re-knit the 1st sock




Isn't it interesting the way the purple pooled at the bottom of the ankle area? It did it on both socks (although one slightly more than the other) so it looks kinda cool.

One awesome technical thing is that I learned how to correct a mistake in stockingette and also how to pick up stitches while knitting these socks. I admit, before these socks, I used to just frog (rip back) all the way to wherever the mistake was and start knitting again. But now I know how to drop a stitch on purpose and then pick it back up again in pattern. I have to say to all of you out there who are scared (like I was) to try it... just try it!! Worst that can happen is you'll have to frog anyway back to that point.

What else is new with me? Ugh I am going to stay home sick today - I feel miserable - Sore throat, achy head. What the heck? It is summer! No one is supposed to get sick in the summer! Ugh I am heading back to bed.

No News Is maybe not good news?

Hey all, Not much going on here. I was hoping to have been able to post some handknit pictures... but even though I sent Susan something Priority Mail I guess it hasn't gotten there yet. I think I am going to start using something other than the US Postal service... I have been very disappointed as of late in how long things take to get places... It is certainly not as fast as they say.

Other than that things are good. H. went to a Diehards meeting. The Diehards (not the British military group) are a group of people that love Vanguard and investing in index funds. Since learning about them and their methods from this book, H. has been quite a fan of the group. He paid his money to go to this meeting a long time ago, so we weren't able to go to my Uncle John's 60th Birthday.

So wish my Uncle a happy belated birthday.

well I better get going to work. Have a fantastic day!