Monsoon Season Already?

This past weekend we visited Asia! Ok, not really. We did go to the Asian Festival though. Which is cheaper (free!) than going to Asia. Also it doesn't require flying. So I saved all that money in Xanax. (We also ate sesame chicken for dinner tonight - that has to count for something).

Anyway, the Asian Festival happens every year, and sadly enough, this was the first time I've ever been! What is my deal? Why have I not been there before? (Also to the Greek festival - helllloooooooo baklava!) There were a LOT of people there, and lots of vendors of different types - restaurants, various Asian associations, martial arts schools, visitors bureaus, and shops selling Asian fun stuff.

I resisted the urge to buy one of those round pyramid rice paddy hats, although Noel thought they were fetching. :) And NO, I didn't sign up for Kung Fu classes even though I wanted to.

And on that topic, let's all have a moment of silence for that master of modern Kung Fu, David Carradine. We'll miss you, Bill!

I digress. Back to the festival. We stopped at the Indonesia travel table, because WOW would Indonesia not be awesome? They have incredible temples there, and just gorgeous textiles, arts, fantastic stuff. I mean, check out these costumes:

How gorgeous are these outfits!? I coveted. I admit it.

There were also performers, and when we first arrived there was an extremely talented drumming group that were so full of energy and excitement for what they were doing, it was absolutely contagious. At the end of their performance, one of the players was so pumped he just kept on shouting and throwing his hands up in the air, and then realized that everyone else on stage had stopped, and he shrugged and said "Sorry!" to the audience, at which point the entire audience started cheering yet again for him. What a great thing to witness, someone so carried away by what they're doing that they completely forget where they are and just let the enthusiasm carry them along.

Also? That drumming group was GOOD. We wanted to see more, but unfortunately came in at the end of their performance, so we only got to see a few minutes of it. Super cool, and also, these people probably never have to go to the gym, what with the large stick wielding and such. It was reminiscent of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics with all the drummers, except instead of 2000 or so, there were only 8.

So yeah, now I want to go to Indonesia again. Managed not to buy anything at the market, although they had some pretty silk dresses. Those aren't very easy for curvy women to wear though, because they just don't make them to fit curvy women. I have fabric to make my own (someday).

Speaking of sewing, I did quite a bit today. I'll post a picture of my work tomorrow - a baby bonnet for a friend's baby's christening. Sewing baby stuff is fun because it's small projects and fun stufff with little ribbons and ruffles.

Ok, so we decided to leave the Asian festival and walk around downtown for a little while. The only problem was, apparently these Asian performers brought the monsoons with them:


Yeah, that's the curb there, underwater. This was rain that fell in about 15 minutes or so (and it didn't stop for a while after that). Can you say Flash Flooding? Thankfully we had an umbrella. Unfortunately the car was about a 15 minute walk. And it was a bit windy. So. By the time we got to the car, we were...damp. To put it mildly.

I'm trying to wring out my skirt here. It was SOAKED.

See? (OK, so it's a black skirt and you can't see how wet it is, but it was WET.)

So as I mentioned, I've been working on some sewing projects, and will have another one to work on very soon. I was at work the other day and had a wardrobe malfunction.

This looks pretty bad, huh? Just wait....

To get a real feel for how bad this was, check this out (please pardon the cotton undies! but better than NO undies, right?):


YEAH. NICE. Thank the gods Noel was the one who discovered this, when we were leaving work. He politely offered me his shirt to wrap around my waist. At first I just tried to pull my shirt down to cover it.

Yeah, that wasn't happening.

I had a sweatshirt that I used to cover my tushie. These pants though, I refuse to relegate to the Cleaning Rags pile. I'm going to make them into a cool (hopefully) skirt in the mode of http://www.alabamachanin.com/ - some embroidery, some patching (for obvious reasons!) and hopefully it'll turn into something lovely. That won't show my entire rear end.

And I though the only work hazards I had to worry about were the gators!

And now for your Daily Dose of Cuteness. Check out Poe taking a nap.

Hee hee! He has his tongue out. I could even touch it and he still kept it out. How funny!

A Few Words on Envy

I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about envy. I tend to have a lot of it. I envy thin people, I envy (natural) redheads. I envy wealthy people. It's been a way of life for me so long. I guess because I'm natually very competitive? I never thought about myself that way until Noel pointed it out - I'll compete over anything! Therefore if someone else has something that I perceive as better, I get really frustrated and envious about it.

The funny thing about it is, it's such a wasted emotion. I spend a lot of time reading blogs, books, etc. and looking at other people's (public!) lives and thinking: wow. If only I could live like that. If only I could decorate my house in really bright fabrics (www.annamariahorner.com) or if only I could have a business designing knitwear (www.glampyre.com) or if only I could be some world-traveling bon vivant who lives life the way she wants, and appreciates what she has. And is Put Together.

Does anyone else have this hangup about being Put Together? When asked to define it, I can't. It's a mish-mash (in my mind) of living creatively, having a clean and well-decorated home, a healthy and open relationship, a pet (or 2), a worthwhile job that's fulfilling, and a general sense of satisfaction with life as it is, TODAY. Not wishing for the future, not waiting for someday, not constantly What If-ing life. I look at some of my friends and think they're so Put Together. And then am surprised when someone else tells me that they think *I* am Put Together, because I guess it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

One self-helpy thing that I do want to work on, however, is a sense of appreciation for the moment. Not constantly living for the future, because (1) the future isn't guaranteed, and also (2) the future never comes. If I live life looking forward and not at where I am, I'm going to miss all the wonderful things happening to me now. And I do appreciate them, I guess it's more that I look for changes in myself to be satisfied with who I am. In the future I'll be in a job I actually enjoy, I'll be thinner, I'll be wearing clothes like I want (www.anthropologie.com and www.alabamachanin.com) and won't life be grand? I'll be who I want to be.

But here's the thing: I won't get there if I don't actually take steps TODAY to be that person. I want to wear fun colorful clothes? Then why not wear them TODAY? I want to be thinner? I need to lay off the potato chips TODAY. What a concept. Sometimes it's hard to wrap your brain around though.

Speaking of clothes though, I've been working on a dress made up of the leftovers from Noel's kilt. I'm thinking I might have an idea for the dress - I have it put together but it's a bit boring right now. We'll see.....

Palace Envy

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry about that! I have no excuses to offer other than I've been busy and also extremely crampy. So sorry.

Anyway.

We did end up going to NC for Memorial Day weekend, and had a nice time. I have bokoodles of pictures to post, so here goes:


It was lovely up there. We went for a drive on the parkway, went to the Artisan Center to look at the local arts and quilts and such, and the weather was very pretty.


How can you not appreciate this kind of scenery? Gorgeous!

We went to Biltmore Village that day as well, because I wanted to see a fabric shop there that's reputedly very expensive, but we found it to be reasonable and full of gorgeous fabrics. It's called Waechter's Fine Fabrics and is the oldest continually running fabric shop in America: http://www.fabricsandbuttons.com/ I found some lovely fabric there that I got a couple of yards of, to make a fun little summer dress. Let me see if I can find it....Yup! Here it is:

http://www.fabricsandbuttons.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SandiHenderson-11770&Category_Code=MichaelMiller

Adorable, no? The shop itself is very pretty, and the staff is helpful.


So we did that, and then stumbled upon this little beaut:


Woo hoo! Yarn store! And you know what I bought there? NOTHING. I am an oak. Also I have a ton of yarn already and just couldn't justify shelling out money for knitting that I might get to sometime in 2014.


Moving on! The next day, we went to the Biltmore Estate to take in the finery and expensivity (is that a word?) of the Vanderbilts. These folks really know how to spend some cash. It's the largest private home in the U.S., with 250 rooms in it. We saw only about 60-70 rooms. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us take pictures on the inside, so I only have shots from the outside and the extensive gardens.


First, the house itself:



Cozy and quaint, no? Unfortunately it was rainy that day, so you can't see the mountains behind it. Oh well. Here's a detail from the outside:


Fancy schmancy!


Here are some pictures of the gardens and greenhouse. First, the cultured gardens, which Mom really enjoyed:



I like to call this one Still Life of Noel Among Orchids and Lilies:



The greenhouse is impressively large (just like the house) and full of weird, exotic plants.



That kinda looks like a plant that could, with enough motivation, eat you. Scary.


And for those of you who just can't get enough Things In Sky:


Japanese maple tree:


Greenhouse ceiling:

Arbor and vines:


Scary plant leaf that makes a lovely light filterer:

Another still life: Noel in Tree, Exuberantly


I guess the nice weather agreed with him (that and the whole Being Back in the Mountains thing, as his dad lives in TN). He couldn't resist climbing this tree in my mom's backyard and got really high up there before I could dig out the camera. I then related my Learning To Climb Trees story, which involves my cousin Brooke in West Virginia, much grunting and strenuous attempts to grab lower branches, and a misguided idea to climb a pine tree, resulting in copious amounts of sap on my clothing. Note to self: don't climb pine trees. End of lesson.

So we had a nice time, ate a LOT (thanks Mom!) and enjoyed a weekend replete with several very exciting things that we don't experience frequently here in the SAV:

(1) NO BUGS. This is uncanny, to be able to sit outside and not be 3 pints of blood low because of the swarms of mosquitos waiting to ambush you ninja-style by the door. Unbelievable.


(2) Cool breezes. As opposed to hot breezes that smell vaguely of sewage. Nice.


(3) Clean roadsides. Noel pointed this out, that there is very little or no garbage on the sides of the roads. I hadn't noticed it til he mentioned it, and then realized that it's really quite amazing. I guess we've gotten so used to people not giving a crap, and emptying their car floorboard onto the road at redlights (I've seen this happen, and sersely? The world is not your garbage can, asshat.)


(4) Real forests that have lots of trees. So pretty. The mountains are beautiful.


But now it's back to heat, mosquitos, sewage smell, and Hardee's wrappers on the side of the road. Ah yes, Savannah. How we (didn't really) miss thee!

Rain Rain Go Away (No, really don't!)

You know, for a depressive, moody type such as myself (well, particularly during a few days per month), I shouldn't like rain as much as I do. I love the way it sounds on the roof, I love the way it makes everything look faded and yet reflective, and I love the smell.

It's raining again today. We're supposed to have lots more in the next few days.

The only thing I find hard to deal with regarding rain is the fact that I don't easily have homemade potato soup accessible. One needs potato soup on a day like today. Potato soup and knitting. And CSI.

Speaking of knitting, I'm progressing like mad on my shrug:

Noel is worried I won't like it once I get it done, because I tend to hate things that make me look puffy and/or like the Michelin Man. This sweater is a little bit roomy thus far (those are the sleeves and back of it) and the sleeves in particular are a little big. However. I usually have the opposite problem, that the sleeves are too tight! So I'm going to reserve judgment til later. If all else fails, I can make the sleeves smaller.

I'm pleased with how fast it's coming along though. Maybe if it turns out nicely, I'll make another one. (Ha. Who am I kidding? I love making new stuff with new patterns, and already printed out 3 patterns today that I like).

It looks like this weekend will involve a trip up to NC to visit my mom. It was her birthday a few weeks ago and I wasn't able to go, so this will be a belated birthday trip. I'd love to get some real bbq while up there. YUM.

Kilts and kittens and knitting, Oh My!

Hello, all! Long time, no post. But I will more than make up for that here, with the copious numbers of photos I'm about to post!

So, just to get us all started with Photo Extravaganza 2009, let's discuss work.

My job has descended upon me like an avalanche of paperwork lately. I somehow end up taking on not only my work, but also the drudgery of paperwork that no one else wants to do either. So! Fun stuff. Here's my desk:

Note that there seems to be a bit of clear space on the front corner, but that's only because the stuff that's supposed to be there has been temporarily relocated into a box on the floor. Insanity! I'm trying to clean it off, but really? It's hard to care sometimes, especially when people keep coming by and dropping off more and more stuff. Awesome. So. There's that.

Moving on!

Now that my Mom's birthday/Mother's Day has gone by, I can show you the shawl/wrap that I knitted for her:

I was very pleased with how it turned out, and I love the delicate leaf pattern on it. It ended up being around 6 feet long and the yarn is a bamboo blend, so it's super-soft and cuddly. MMMmmm...soft yarn!

Since my niece's birthday hasn't come yet, but she's not likely to go onto this here blog and search around for pics of her gift, I'll show you her birthday sweater as well:

This is a crocheted pattern and is super fast. I completed this really quickly, and I just loved the button so much I wanted to make it a focal point. My niece loves her some pink fluffiness, so I figured this yarn would be a good choice. It's also probably going to be a bit big, so she can wear it for a while I hope.

Since I got that done so early, I started on the shrug (see previous post) and am making out like a bandit on it. Here I am so far, done with the back and most of 1 sleeve:

I love this yarn. Too bad I don't have this done today though, because it's cold and rainy out.

Now onto other things! I know that some of you must be wondering what the title is all about, with the kilts and all. Well, if you read my last post you'd know about the Scottish festival. We had a great time. Irn Bru was drunk in large quantities. We watched caber tossing, which is impressive any way you look at it. These guys take this telephone pole and try to throw it to go end over end. To prove that Shorties Are Capable Too, the smallest guy out there was one of the only guy able to actually get it to go over! (This isn't him, but it gives you some perspective on how huge those cabers are.)

Throw it, buddy!

And I was able to finish Noel's kilt in time! Isn't this fetching? I love this picture.

He loved the kilt so much, he wore it a few days later when we went to Charleston to visit the aquarium. Here he is in the swamp room:

He did get some "What's up with the skirt?" comments, but also quite a few "cool kilt!" and "what tartan is that?" and "man, that thing looks comfortable!" comments too. He was very proud to wear it and that made me feel good. I was pleased with it too. Next up, one made out of a khaki fabric, like a utility kilt. Fun stuff! :)

I have to say though, the moray eel didn't seem impressed with it.

Ah well. Everyone's a critic.

I suppose that's enough for today. Have a lovely week!

Will Miracles Never Cease?

I don't believe it. Hell must have frozen over. I actually finished a birthday present ahead of time. Unreal. And even more unbelievable? I finished TWO birthday presents ahead of time. What's happening to me? I'm suddenly able to plan my time? WTF?



I finished my mom's present (I do have pictures but I can't post them until she gets the gift this weekend) and also my niece's birthday present. And I found out that the pregnant woman in my knitting group has registered at Target & Babies-R-Us, so therefore I'm off the hook for handknitting anything for that party on Monday. She probably needs fewer handknit hats and more wipes anyway, right?

So for those of you keeping track (all 0 of you), that mitigates 2 of the issues I had with knitting the shrug on the Lion Brand knit-along that starts tomorrow. The third issue was that of yarn, and needing to buy some and Oh The Horror of having to buy new yarn! Whatever shall I do? Gasp!

Then I went digging in my stash. And guess what I found? Some gorgeous Italian yarn, enough to make the shrug (I hope) and it's lovely - turquoise, with glints of shiny metallic pieces in it in all different colors. I'll take a picture for you. I tried to find a picture of it online, but this yarn must be discontinued because no one seems to have any for sale. Glad I bought out the store when they were going out of business! :)

So obstacle #3 is gone now too. So! Guess what I'm starting on?

Very exciting.

What's also exciting - our plans for this weekend! The Scottish festival will be in town, and I do love some telephone-pole-throwing Scottish people. The festival isn't huge, but it's still fun - vendors, dancing, heavy athletics (see aforementioned telephone pole) and of course, Scottish food! YUM. The Scots are southerners at heart, really (or maybe southerners are Scottish at heart?) because these folks can deep fry anything. Including candy bars. It's good stuff, their meat pies and such. I'm excited. They also sell this:

I don't know how to describe Irn-Bru to you if you've never had it. It's...kinda like orange soda, but with more battery acid. But it's good! Scotland is supposedly the only soda-drinking country on earth where Coke isn't the soft drink of choice - Irn-Bru is. It's a particularly Scottish soda and I do plan on having at least one for old time's sake. Ah, St. Andrews, how I miss thee!

It's supposed to be HOT this weekend though. They're saying Saturday will be up to NINETY degrees. Wow. Better bring some sunscreen. I also hope they think to shear the sheep before the herding competition, or we might be having some broiled mutton at some point in the day. Sorry sheep! That was mean! I do hope someone thought of that though....poor little sweaty sheep.

Do sheep sweat? And if so, wouldn't their wool shrink? Huh.

On that mind-bending note, time to get to it. Ta ta!

Warning: Knitting Ahead!

Hi everyone! Happy May Day!

Because of spring and warmth and such, I decided to change the look of the blog. Also? The dark color was REALLY dark. Sometimes the words didn't show up right. So! New colors. La la lovely fun!

I'm excited today because they're having a knit along on Lionbrand.com with my favorite knitwear designer, Stefanie Japel! (Check out her stuff at http://www.glampyre.com/ - fabulous). They're making a shrug that I've been eyeing for a while - most shrugs make me look like a linebacker, but this one is fitted, lean, and lovely. Here's the link to it:

http://blog.lionbrand.com/

Of course, there are a few reasons why I shouldn't participate in this knit along: (1) I need to buy more yarn for this project (oh the tragedy), and (2) I have 3 other projects waiting to be finished: my Mom's birthday present (will be done probably tonight for shipping tomorrow), my niece's present for her birthday in May, and an emergency baby gift for a woman in my knitting group. Apparently I'm unaware of how long babies gestate, because for some reason I was thinking that I had still 3 or so months before the baby arrives. Um, no, 6 weeks. Oops. So our knitting group decided on Monday to have a shower for her on the 11th, which doesn't leave much time for dawdling! I think I can crank something out pretty fast though.

Anyway, I've been wanting a shrug to wear over my sleeveless dresses but not a bulky one that makes me look like a refrigerator. This one fits the bill I think. I'm thinking a turquiose color would be nice. :)

This brings me to a point I wanted to discuss, of being stuck in clothing ruts. I realize that I've been stuck in one for a long time, primarily because of my former figure (pre-surgery), and now that I'm smaller and more fit, I could be wearing more fitted things, sleeveless and (gasp!) even strapless stuff! But I haven't been, for the most part. I've slowly branched into fitted things, and occasionally will wear a sleeveless dress, and I even bought 2 strapless maxi dresses recently, but then sewed straps on them. I find I'm not very comfortable showing my shoulders yet, probably because of years of always covering up.

The shrug is, in that sense, a security blanket - I can take it off, or leave it on, but that way I can decide my comfort level with a sleeveless dress or whatever. If I feel too uncovered, I can put it on and not feel like I'm wearing shoulder pads or a poncho or something. I love little summer dresses and have fabric to make 3 more of them. Now I need to sit down and make those too (Now that the weather is regularly in the mid 80s!).

Ok, enough about knitting. No, wait. More: One of the women in my knitting group is opening a yarn shop, and the big grand opening is tonight. Should be fun. Noel is going with me - poor guy, exposed to so much alpaca. :) She has said that she needs people to teach classes and bring in samples to hang up, but I don't really have any samples of anything, except another sweater designed by Stefanie Japel that I made out of cotton (big mistake - it droops and sags and is just a little sad). Maybe I could donate that to the cause. Hmmm....

Anyway.

It's a beautiful day outside - the kind of day when it's hard to stay in your seat! I'll have some finished object photos to post soon, so stay tuned!