I wish that this weather would never leave...

hi friends! here we are!

Colorado, the Sunshine State! Gorgeous!

It's been a long summer, and I figured today was as good a day as any to dust off the ol' bloggerino. As many of you know, Ollie has been in Las Vegas since May, taking one for the team and "temporarily" filling in until they're able to hire someone permanently, since, you know, we don't want to move to VEGAS. ew. We're pretty well versed at long distance love, but dude, I am so OVER THIS ALREADY. Fortunately, word around the bog is that he could be home for good by the end of September! Fingers crossed.

We have managed to squeeze in some fun though, with trips to yosemite (for Ollie), LA and SD (for Pants), the annual GTB weekend (this time in Wisconsin!) and I even managed to head out to Vegas for a long weekend over the fourth.

vegas finery

More recently, we were lucky enough to spend the weekend in Denver for Todd and Isabel's wedding. We are so. very. happy. for them, Isabel is a total keeper!

twu wuv

Sadly, the weather here in the Bean was piss poor through most of June and July, but August has kind of redeemed itself. With Ollie absent, I've blazed through a lot of reading and knitting. I'm trying in earnest to finish up my Central Park Hoodie, and have a trip planned this week to Windsor Button to pick up the finishing touches! My first sweater knit for myself!! In time for Rhinebeck!

In keeping with the knitting for ME theme, I'm also halfway through my second Marigold. Since it's my first pair of socks for me, I used some of my precious Sundara sock. Also, these are my first toe-ups, which, seriously, I cannot believe I've waited this long to try. LOVE LOVE LOVE. It's brilliant. Cut your skein in half and knit it all up! Pam's pattern is really well written, and thoughtfully available in a multitude of sizes.

As the summer winds down, I have to pace myself on all the new projects I want to start in my abundant free time. Said free time that is about to disappear with the start of the fall semester. Gotta start that Christmas knitting so I'm not pressed for time around finals! Thank god it's my last year.

....summer's gone, and so are we.

la isla bonita

Our spring break trip to Isla Mujeres was unbelievably perfect. Dream-like even. Lazy days on the beach, amazing food and drinks, swimming with the fishes and a romantic breezy palapa at Villa la Bella. Head to our flickr stream for the full story, I'll give you the highlight reel here.

Villa la Bella serves as a perfect home base. Beautiful, quiet, relaxing but still plenty to do and people to chat with. Ashley and Curtis are gracious hosts, and were sure to keep our bellies full with delicious breakfasts and top-notch pina coladas!

The island is small, friendly and easy to navigate. Cabs are cheap and the drivers know the island so spanish or english, you can get anywhere you need to go. Two new favorites from this visit?

El Varadero: sunset and amazing mojitos



Snorkeling at Garafon!

We'll definitely be back next year!

O HAI!

now you know how to greet people in lolspeak!

I say this because clearly we are terrible bloggers. But I have an excuse. Well not really an excuse, but a reason I guess. I've been playing around on flickr (and twitter and facebook) so much, that I've lost my blogging mojo, like there's nothing to say that hasn't been said. I didn't even do christmas cards this year.

I have to say though, that as someone who never kept a diary or a journal, the 365 project has turned out to be a lot of fun. I've met some amazingly fun and kind and funny souls (online and in real life!) and have a sweet photojournal of my year thus far. I'm really glad I started it.

2008 Roundup! We survived finals and the holidaze. Clio for thanksgiving with the in-laws, Christmas with Eoin and Susan and Festivus with the restofus before we all got back to the grind. It was a blast, we'll definitely do it annually. Ollie went ALL OUT.

shrimp canapé from Martha's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook

Now, sadly, we're back to the grind. The vespa's out of commission and winter classes are in session. Sigh. But on the knitting front, I'm THIS close to seaming the shoulders on my CPH! WOOT!

Now on to the sleeves....

I managed to eek out a few holiday gifts, (some of which sadly still haven't been delivered so they can't be named here) and a lovely pair of handwarmers for myself (new year means trying to knit fer mahself!) SUCH an easy project, I highly recommend it, and will definitely be making more.

fingerless mitts from weekend knitting in Oasis Farm Fingering

Up next? The Pants & Ollie Weight Loss Challenge!^TM Ollie joined a weight loss challenge at work and I've decided to kick his ass. So far, notsomuch, but we're headed back to Isla Mujeres (East Emmy Lou Harris for those who can't understand my mumbling) for spring break in march and I am DETERMINED to be comfortable in a swimsuit. So if you run into him, offer him a beer, a basket of fries, ANYTHING that will help me win, and if you can prove you did it, I'll knit ya somethin' real nice. REAL nice.

Halloween....

was a blast, we had a great turnout for our party, and our costume? I think it was pretty close:

Where did November come from? I failed miserably at accomplishing even one pair of socktober socks, I did manage to finish a mismatched pair:

And in honor of NaKniSweMo I've started working on a CPH with the Rhinebeck yarn. But dear readers, realistically, we all know I'll get nowhere near complete until after finals. Actually, the responsible law student in me SHOULD NOT get anywhere near complete until after finals.

Clearly there are more important things to focus on. One of which will be tomorrow. Big day. BIG day. I like to avoid talk of politics in every forum, but I'll leave you with this....

Please vote tomorrow, it's not only a right, it's a civic duty!

leaf peepin'

...and campin', hikin' and rhinebeckin'.

Our weekend in the Catskills was amazing, the leaves were at their peak and indescribably beautiful! It was of course, FREEZING, but still very very fun. Emily, Pat, Lisa and Kane were brave enough to face the cold with us. We did all the typical car camping activities: eating, taking walks to the lake, eating, drinking, eating a little more and a LOT of keeping warm by the fire. Despite the cold, the location was idyllic, and Ollie was the consummate car camping chef, keeping our tummies very full!

We hiked the short, steep trail up to Kaaterskill Falls; apparently New York State's highest falls?! Having been to Niagara about one bazillion times, including a few times in January, I'da toldya that Niagara was definitely higher, but I think the sheer volume skews one's perspective. The firepole of a hike up Kaaterskill was pretty steep so I'll take New York's word for it.

Kane was pretty beat after our day of playing at the falls.

Sunday we split up and Ollie, Emily and I headed to Rhinebeck for some yarn shopping, punkin chuckin, and sheep dog trials. We had a great time, made some new friends, (hi danielle!) and even had a celebrity sighting. You know, US Weekly is right, celebrities are just like us!

They pump their own gas! They go to sheep and wool festivals!

I wasn't stealthy enough to capture this shot, but I found it on Flickr, and Alex was kind enough to let me share it with you all! Little Ramona looks just like Peter, and was the cutest thing EVAR!

I think our trip to MA Sheep and Wool and WEBS satiated my yarn needs for a while, because I only whipped out the wallet once, for this lovely worsted weight tweed from Oasis Farm Fiber Mill.

I'm thinking I'll use it for the Central Park Hoodie that's been in my queue forEVER now, and use the debbie bliss casharan to make myself a grown-ass woman sweater ala Flintknits! Oasis also had the most vibrantly colored fingering weight, I picked up a green skein. I was tempted by their beautiful angora sock kits, but held off as I thought of my overflowing sockyarn stash at home. Maybe next year I'll pick some up, because WE ARE DEFINITELY GOING BACK (freezing camping trip and all), it was so much fun.