final-ly

I'm done with finals! Woo hoo! As you can imagine dear reader(s?), most of march, april, and may were spent in fits of studying, procrastinating, pouting, and no blogging. Good thing Ollie is such a Pants fan, 'cause I wouldn't wanna put up with me. Needless to say, it's over. How did I do? Dunno. Not much I can do about it now, it is what it is. Besides, I'm sure it's not hard to make the dean's list when you're in kindergarten, right?

Anywho, after finals were finished, I headed out on a whirlwind tour to see fam and friends. First I jetted over to chi-town for a quick visit with Nita, Matt, and Evan. They're doing fantastic. He's a great baby and Nita's such a good mom!

ohmygoodness he's so cute, but boy, do babies poop and puke A LOT!

I managed to finish his blankie in time for the visit, but apparently dropped a stitch (during finals? no! what a shocker!), because after a good washing, it had a ginormous hole in it. Daphne was relieved to find I would be leaving the reject at home. I knit him up a new one, and I've been told he's thrown up on it a few times already. Yay!

I also stopped in for a quick visit with the in-laws and a few bottles of wine in celebration of mother's day...good times were had by all!

don't mind the blurry pics, I wasn't exaggerating about the wine

Since my trip was technically a vacation, I also managed to sneak in a little fiber hunting and found some lovely noro kureyon sock at wool and company, a great LYS in Geneva...which was kind of on my way to Glen Ellyn, according to Carmen (the garmin I rented). Isn't that what everyone does on their vacations?!

After chi-town, I headed to L.A. for three perfect days with my grandma, aunties, and cousins. Grandma was game for a drive to Pasadena to check out another LYS, this time skein. While the store carried a lot of nice yarns, it was WAY overpriced; Gram was commenting on the prices for two days after our trip :-)

She's doing great and she looks fantastic. We hung out, worked on a puzzle, watched the dodgers, watered the flowers, chatted on the porch; you know, the usual. It was a low key visit, but exactly the quality time I love with her. Her front porch is easily my favorite place in the world. The one comfort in saying goodbye was that I knew I'd be back there next month for her 95th birthday party.

Yes, 95! She doesn't look a day over 80!

I've started knitting her a cardigan for the big day, but my progress is slow, and there's a good chance it will turn into a christmas present.

bristow cardigan, lorna's laces shepherd worsted (superwash!) in periwinkle

I'm almost finished with the back section, I've left out the waist shaping and plan to knit the sleeves in the round. Think I can have it seamed by June 7th before my flight?

Yeah, me neither.

Last, but certainly not least, I drove from L.A. and spent the weekend in S.D. with BA and Timmy. I managed to sneak in a great brunch date with Kate and Beth at the americana in Del Mar, and Timmy was a gracious host and picked us up some In-n-Out for dinner on Saturday! It was great to see them, the boys are HUGE, and I got a lot of quality time with frankie.

she's irresistible

They're amazing parents, I really don't know how they do it. I volunteered to help out and take frankie off their hands, but Beth wouldn't have it. Hmph. (Neither would daphne, nor our landlord for that matter, but that's irrelevant!) It was so lovely to spend time with friends and family, even with tearful goodbyes. I'd give anything for a real summer break, but as Butch always says, wish in one hand....

Coachella

For those of you who are regular readers of our Blog (do we have regular readers?) and are waiting for some new baking or knitting news you will be disappointed. While I always enjoy the fruits of Nancy's labor I will not be discussing her current projects. Instead I will be discussing my annual Coachella adventure. As Nancy mentioned in the previous installment she was unable to join me for the second year in a row. This year Jeremy and Courtney joined me on the jaunt to Indio. I stayed at the Embassy Suites Palm Desert which is the location I have been staying in for the last three years. This year I was fortunate enough to hear about a pre-party that is held every year by Filter magazine.

The party featured the band Wallpaper play (as shown above). They were a ton of fun and even covered a Michael Jackson tune. The party also featured free vodka and beer. It got to the point that one of the bars ran out of mixers so they decided just to pour half glasses of vodka (yikes!). After having too much fun, the next morning came around way too early.

Coachella Day 1

After the fun of the previous night we did not get as early of a start to the day that we had planned, but we still got to the Empire Polo Grounds at a reasonable hour thanks to no traffic on the way in. We started the day by seeing the Battles.

The sound quality in the Gobi was a little rough and I thought some of their songs went on to long but I would give them another listen in the future. We followed this set by checking out a little bit of Dan Deacon who is so much fun to see. He started with getting the entire audience to go through some stretches followed by a count down in which after zero we were all to yell "Matrix 3 really was a good movie, really" or something close to that. It was fun, we checked out a song or two and headed over to the outdoor stage to catch Architecture In Helsinki.

They were fun to listen to and had a sound a little reminiscent of the B-52's but in a good way. After an extended break (much needed in that desert heat) in which we leisurely heard a little bit of Tegan and Sara who I personally thought were awful we headed over to see Goldfrapp.

Goldfrapp were amazing! Her voice sounds live exactly as it does on the albums. The crowd really were happy with their performance and cheered and clapped. Alison Goldfrapp seemed genuinely surprised with the audiences reaction which was great to see. After Goldfrapp we swung by the Sahara tent to catch a little of Aphex Twin's DJ set.

After a short stint in the tent we headed back over to the Coachella Stage to check out the Verve who have recently gotten back together. I forgot to mention that when I had arrived into Palm Springs and was waiting for my luggage the Verve also happened to be waiting for their luggage which was kind of cool. Anyway back to their show. They sounded great and played some new material as well. I took a video of The Drugs Don't Work but I am having some trouble loading it up. I will try to add it at a later time. One thing that I did learn is that Richard Ashcroft is a chain smoker. He lit up at least 4 times during their hour long set. Now is the point where I have to rant a little. The crowd that had gathered for the Verve were a little annoying not Tool annoying but annoying none the less. Most of the people had obviously only heard of Bittersweet Symphony and proceeded to talk during the entire set. The most annoying part is one couple I was standing next to in their hipster clothing who fidgeted and talked the whole set until the second to the last song, which was of course Bittersweet Symphony. They then danced, sang along, and left immediately after. I do not expect people to be familiar with their work but at least give it a chance and do not talk through the whole set when others are there to see them perform other songs. OK enough with the ranting moving on, we then went over to the Sahara yet again to check out Fatboy Slim. The beginning of his set was fun but after the long day we decided to call it a night to prepare for the next day.

Coachella Day 2

We arrived a little earlier the second day which was nice. We got some lunch and listened to VHS or Beta (ironic considering Nancy's earlier post about our version of a Beta purchase). They were just OK. Maybe I am just getting tired of all the post punk sounding bands. The best of seeing them was when Courtney (who is a good 10 years younger than me) asked Jeremy and I what a Beta was. We proceeded over to the Mojave to check out Man Man who I really knew nothing about.

I think Jeremy said it best when he said you do not need to put your kids on Ritalin just put them in a band. They were crazy fun and put a big smile on my face. At this point we spilt up I wanted to see the Cold War Kids and Jeremy wanted to check out MGMT. I believe we were both happy with our choices. The Cold War Kids played some new material which was really good so I am looking forward to their new album when it arrives.

We met up afterward to check out Kate Nash. She was not really good live and looked terrified when she came up on stage. We ended up staying the whole set but I could have left after the first song. Following her set we headed over to an overly packed Sahara tent to catch Hot Chip.

They put a dance inspired set that got everyone moving. After the energy we spent dancing we decided that it was time for a break. We headed over to the beer garden between the Coachella stage and the outdoor theater to relax. This turned out to be a wise choice because we were able crash out and see Kraftwerk. Following our break we split up once again I heading over to see Portishead and Jeremy and Courtney heading over to see Flogging Molly who Courtney really wanted to see. Portishead were unbelievable. The bass was so heavy at points that I could feel my eyelashes vibrate. I am looking forward to the new album though it does sound like it will be different than previous albums based upon the material they played while at Coachella.

We stuck around for Prince but we only stayed for about 40 minutes due to lack of energy and also being so far away that we really could not see much. He was putting on a great show and brought along a ton of guests including Shelia E. who performed her hit from the 1980's.

Coachella Day 3

Jeremy and Courtney decided to bow out for day 3 since they had to work on Monday and had to drive back to Lodi CA. Having no one to hang out with or wait on at the hotel I ended up getting to the show the earliest of the three days. I checked out the Institubes when I first got there. I was not sure which member was spinning at the time but it was a good set of house music. One of the impressive parts of the set was when he through on a track that he sang to.

Perry Farrell came on next in the tent and I was expected just a DJ set but instead he came out with two members of Satellite Party and proceeded to perform dance versions of old Jane's Addiction songs. I thought it was quite entertaining.

I did leave a little early only because I wanted to see I'm From Barcelona and I am glad I did. They came onto the stage 17 members strong carrying giant red balloons that they threw into the audience. They had the whole crowd singing along and performing hand gestures to their songs. There was also plenty of confetti to go around. They finished their set by a couple of members of the band leaping into the audience and forming a Congo line. If they ever come to Boston I am definitely going to go and see them. I recommend if they come to your neck of the woods that you see them too.

This day turned out to be the day I spent the most time in the Sahara tent as I went to catch Deadmau5. His set was great and I danced my booty off for the entire hour. He did wear the mouse mask that he is known for but wisely removed it during the set since it was pretty darn warm.

I caught a little bit of Metric but was not really drawn in so I decided to wait until My Morning Jacket before seeing any more acts. In my opinion My Morning Jacket are the best live rock band around today. I have probably said this at least a 100 times but their albums do not do them justice. They performed a great if too short set which included my favorite Gideon which gives me goose bumps every time I hear it live.

Next came one of the most amazing concert experiences. Roger Waters performing Dark Side of The Moon and other Floyd hits. It was crazy. There was a surround sound system, giant inflatable pigs, pyrotechnics, and a giant prism like the one on the cover of the album. Oh yea and the music was good too. I did leave before the encore only to beat traffic and being completely exhausted after a weekend of baking in the desert sun. Additional pictures of the weekend including some of the cool art work can be found on the flickr page.

Well it is back to reality I am heading to Houston for a conference tomorrow and Nancy is studying hard for finals. Hopefully we will have some new and exciting things to post in the near future.

this one's for all you sweethearts out there...

...let's go buf-fa-lo!

Ollie went way over the top this Christmas and bought us two of the greatest seats for last Saturday's Sabres-Bruins game at the Garden. What can I say, we're dinks!

It was Numminen's first game of the season.

I'm going to bore you non-hockey fans with the details, but my-oh-my was it fun! We've sat on the glass before, but behind the bench? Amazing. Amazing and very distracting. I could not focus on the game, because I was so focused on what was going on at the bench, watching the players interact with the coaches, line changes--it was all so fun.

Despite the fact that the Sabres were out of contention for the playoffs, Vanek's natural hat trick made the night even more fun, and I was lucky enough to snag a sweaty towel from the bench. I use it at the gym everyday!

I was trying to catch the guys coming out of the tunnel, all I got was footage of my towel!
Don't worry, I washed it.

In knitting news, things are moving along nicely on Evan's gifts. Much of my knitting is confined to the T, bus, and tv watching after class, so progress can be slow. Fortunately, this blankie is knit in a bulky gauge yarn which hides imperfections, and knits up quickly. Daphne approves!

Heaven Mini Baby Blanket knit in Plymouth Heaven

I keep resolving to knit for myself as soon as these gifts are done, but Ollie shared our flickr pics with the fam and my FIL discovered that I'm still not knitting the argyle socks he requested a year ago! My fear of seaming has got me thinking of trying intarsia in the round with Lucia's pattern generator.

Sadly, I'm light on adventures as finals are looming. Ollie on the other hand has an action packed adventure coming up; his annual coachella pilgrimage! It really grinds my gears that I can't go. Last year I missed Arcade Fire! Travis! Björk! This year I'm missing Prince! Prince! And I'm certain that by the time I'm finished with law school and can go, the lineup will stink like bonnaroo, and I won't want to go anyway! Pouty much?!

¡ándele pues!

Our trip was all that one can hope for....relaxing, sun and fun filled, and of course far too short.

We had a fantastic time with Todd and Isabel, they were the perfect vacation partners! We made sure to get plenty of pan dulce, margaritas, frijoles and avocados. I'll spare you the details of eating, sleeping, drinking, beaching, swimming, napping, check out the flickr page for fotos. Ollie went a little crazy with the sunset pics, and as you'll see I did a lot of vacation knitting, but the pictures pretty much sum up the trip....rest and sun.

In other adventure news, Michelle and Aidan road tripped it out to Boston for a quick visit. Their whirlwind tour included dinner at Stephanies, a stroll on the freedom trail, lunch in the north end, shopping on newbury street, a quick tour of Harvard Square, dinner at Om, a trip to the ICA, lunch at Flour and hair of the dog at Lucky's, and a farewell dinner at Sonsie. Phew! We ate our way through Boston, and kept the lights on at the Drop to boot!

It was lovely to see them, we're looking forward to more qft at Christmas, but I'll be in Chicago soon because Nita launched on Wednesday and made me an Auntie again! Everyone, meet Evan:

Clearly I'd better get knitting or he'll never fit into that sweater! Don't worry, Auntie Pants has already started a blankie!

antsy pants

Thus far, March has been a dry month for posts. Perhaps it's the calm before the storm, as we leave this saturday for Vallarta! Woo hoo! And while I have a ton of actual work work to do between now and then, I cannot stop myself from packing, planning, and listing for our trip. I honestly do intend to do some studying for the ol' law school on the plane, but if I were a betting girl....I'd put my money on knitting projects winning out.

I mean look, just LOOOK at the yarn I'm eagerly hoping will arrive before we depart:

Val over at actual size creations has ingeniously hand-dyed yarns in shades inspired by Wes Anderson movies! Ollie's going to get his first hand knitted socks out of the lovely shade above, "Rushmore!" I ordered a bunch more, including Belafonte, Bottle Rocket, Mordecai, and Royal Tennenbaum. I am so dorked out!

Elsewhere on the knitting front, the requisite birthday surprise is past due. Sigh. I managed to finish one sock for My Lisa, (no thanks to the crapload of work I got slammed with) yet failed to get it to her, since la casa de Pants y Ollie was fun-free all weekend; with document review for me (see, actual work work) and Ollie out with the bronchial nasties he's been battling since January!

So My Lisa, if you're watching, Happy Birthday! Feliz Cumpleanos!* Your family misses and loves you! Here's the first half of your birthday present. I promise it will be a pair after our trip.

New Year's Day Socks from Dipsy Doodle
in Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Watermelon Tourmaline.
Short row heel a la cosmicpluto and misocrafty.

Anyway, like I said, we're off on saturday for a week of boat drinks, body surfing, beach knitting, and maybe a little teency bit of airplane studying. Updates and photos to follow. And should you mistakenly think that the fun ends there, Aidan and Michelle are road tripping their way here two days after we get back! Oh, my how the adventures just keep piling up!

*(anyone who knows how to html the proper punctuation including the upside down "!" and "~" over the n, lemme know!)