Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I certainly did. It's been an extra long (Thurs - Mon) weekend break, but filled with activity.
Thursday, we had our Thanksgiving with both our parents, grandma at the house of my father-in-law's God-daughter's family. We rounded off a night of wonderful food with the girls playing mah-jong, and the guys playing 'golf' (compliments of two sets of those golf practice putter layouts).
One of my best friends got married this weekend. Being a bridesmaid meant my Saturday and Sunday were spoken for. Rehearsal and the dinner was on Saturday. I stayed with the bride and two other bridesmaids at the hotel. Then Sunday was the big day. It was cold and rainy - and all of us were frozen solid, but it was still a beautiful wedding. It took all I had to not start bawling on the altar - especially when the groom started tearing up.
My hubby and I both took Monday off to relax, and I took the opportunity to work on another Christmas project. The sweater I was working on is about 95% complete. I just need to sew it together - but geez, even that is tedious! I started working on something more fun.
Remember way back when, I made a little stuffed elephant for my friend?
Well, I've decided that Santa needs to go to Sacramento now to pay a visit. So, I've been working on this little guy.
I've since finished the arms, and now I need to work on the hat. He's really cute so far. I love the little outfit. I got the idea from a Jean Greenhowe pattern of an elephant in a red sleeper outfit, complete with a hat with a tassle on the end. I modified it to make it a Santa suit instead. It's so cute. Santa will only be about 6" tall, so just imagine how small this little outfit is.
Hopefully, I'll finish the hat soon and sew the whole thing together. The white yarn I got is from Plymouth and it's called "Oh My!" I love the name, because when you first touch this yarn, that's the exact reaction you'll have. It is the softest yarn ever. I tried making a baby bootie out of it, but it's way too heavy for that. It was perfect for the Santa suit.
Well, neither have I. And those few who answered "Yes," I commend your dedication.I drove past the Metreon here in SF last night, where they have a Sony Playstation store, and let me tell you... it was utter chaos. CRAZY!!! They blocked off the entire street for the event. Hundreds of people everywhere. There were those spotlights shining all over the sky, a live band - and God only knows what else.According to our local paper, people were waiting before 8am on Wednesday to get a spot in another line on Thursday at 8am - just so that they could buy the PS3 at midnight Friday. As much as I like gaming, I don't think I'm that dedicated. I would like to 'try' it in the store one day though. Just to see the graphics. But it doesn't play my old PS2 games, so that was a big deterrent for me. Ah well, to those who got their hands on one - Congratulations.
OK, I don't love them - but they fascinate me.
1. Oprah's Christmas show. I was amazed the first time I caught the episode a few years back. I finally saw what all the fuss was about. I couldn't believe that everything she was featuring on her show, and it wasn't cheap stuff - the audience received as well. Last year, I happened to be flipping channels at 1am, and I came across a rerun of the show from that day. It was about school teachers - and suddenly, from above comes a whole fireplace scene and lights... ah! The Christmas Show!
Now most of the things she gave away, I didn't care for, but that washer and dryer set was the exact one that I totally want for my house some day. Especially the dryer. You place your delicates on racks and you can run the airdry cycle. No more net baggies - no more trying to unhook all your delicates from the netting.
So, that was my big envy of last year.
2. The Neiman Marcus catalog. I don't shop there all the time, but I get the Christmas Book in the mail anyway. Each year, I eagerly flip through the pages of everything I can't afford, and see how NM has outdone itself again.
Forget about the million dollar bras that Victoria Secret offers each year. From Neiman Marcus you can buy a water park for your backyard for $3.5 million. You and several friends can have a sports lovers dream package, where you attend the major event in every sport next year. For example, tickets to the Superbowl. But not only that. You will also have an opportunity to dine with a legend of that sport. I think they mentioned Troy Aikman for the football part of it. How about a $3.8 million dollar membership to an exclusive resort in Europe? It's not just membership, it's considered equity that you can pass down to your family.
And the grandest, yet oddly cheapest extravagance (considering) - that if I had the money for, HELL YAH I would buy it... A trip for you and 5 friends onboard the Virgin Galactica. A trip into space my friends! For just under $2 million, you and five friends will be prepared for a launch into space! Unbelievable. I would do that in a heartbeat. After that, you get several days with Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines guru - multibillionaire extraordinaire) on his private island in pure paradise. Actually for that part, each of the initial 6 people can invite one more person. So, 12 people in paradise.
Incredible.
Yep, two of my guilty pleasures of the holidays.
I love the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays of the year. I love the preparations for and anticipation of the big family gatherings. The panicked realization that there are only so many shopping days left until Christmas (or actually, the days left to finish my projects for Christmas). The pumpkin spice and gingerbread lattes at Starbucks. I love all the decorations in the stores and around the city. I love it all.It's another drab Monday here in good ole San Francisco. Cold and drizzly. But with my hands warming around a cup of hot Gingerbread latte, all is good.On the flip side of all that is warm and fuzzy this morning - someone brought a slushy machine to work. Yep. A full on, dual flavor slushy machine. Now, normally, I would love a tall sweet cup of Cola slushy -but it's just too darn cold today!
Just 4" to go, and I'll be able to sew up my sweater and wear it!!! Just in time for the winter. It's been a huge learning experience, and I'm rather proud of myself for 'almost' finishing an actual, whole sweater! Whoo hoo!I'm holding off starting any of my 'Christmas' goodies until I finish the sweater - which is good, because I know I need to start on my other projects soon (can't believe it's November already), so it pushes me to finish the sweater faster.So, the other night, while knitting away, I happened to catch Ju On 2 (original Japanese version of The Grudge 2) on TV. It's TERRIBLE!!! The first Ju On freaked me out - so I would call that a successful movie. But this second one, it wasn't like Blair Witch Project, but it was a step above a cheapy movie camera. The sound was bad. And I didn't realize how important background music is to create a mood for a scene - until I saw this movie with limited background music. Horrible. I had no clue what the heck was going on. I admit it, when The Grudge 2 comes out on DVD, I'll probably watch it too. Sad, but true.
