I've moved (literally)

Hi,

I'm not too sure whether anyone stops by this blog anymore, but I just wanted to let you know that I've moved to..... The Crafty Kitchen.

I look forward to seeing you all over there!

We're heading home!

Hi guys!

Sorry it's been a while. Things have been crazy over the last few weeks as we prepare to head home - can you believe we're flying out on Wednesday? Anyway, at this stage I plan to continue blogging when I get home (although it might take a while for us to get set up). I will keep you posted...

Cheers!

Hooray for Hollywood

As I mentioned, we recently made a quick trip to LA. While we were there we stayed at the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel. This hotel was highly recommended to us by Simone and Tim and it did not let us down. The rooms were basic, but provided all we needed after a long day of touring. The staff were extremely helpful and a basic breakfast was included. Oh, did I mention the location - FANTASTIC!!! The hotel is located right behind the Kodak Theater.... All for only $132/night!

Anyway, it so happened that on the day we arrived, it was the premiere of The Bourne Ultimatum. We wandered down to the theater and started the celebrity spotting.... Now, I don't know if I'd call him a celebrity but look it's Larry Birkhead (father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby).

Ok, you should know who this guy is... Mmmmm, Matt Damon!

And finally a close up of Julia Stiles.

I'm not sure if Brad was convinced it was worth standing in 85 degree heat for an hour, but I think a one second glimpse of Matt was well worth it!

The following day we headed down to one of my favourite places in LA - Santa Monica! While we were there, we got some great shopping done on 3rd Street Promenade before wetting our feet in the Pacific Ocean.

Friday morning we were up bright and early to get our tickets for The Tonight Show. We received our tickets at NBC at 8am, then headed over to Universal Studios for a few hours.

While we were there we took the Studio tour and got to see movie and tv sets from some of my favourites!




It's the city hall from Back to the Future (minus the clock tower)




Where's Terri Hatcher? On Wisteria Lane of course (they were actually filming that day)!

Don't go in... to the Bates Motel from Psycho!

The wreckage from War of the Worlds...

After a few hours at Universal, we headed back to NBC for the taping of the Tonight Show. It was a great show with Kevin James (King of Queens) and the guy who swam in the Arctic Circle as guests. Once again, we left NBC and headed back to Universal to finish our day. Needless to say, we were exhausted!

It worked out well that on our final day, we had booked a tour of the movie stars homes (we needed to give our feet a break)! A few of the highlights included....

Elton John's new house in Bel Air - shaped like a piano of course!

Jack Nicholson's house - Love the tennis court on stilts!

Leonardo di Caprio's house - unfortunately we didn't get an invite in!

All in all, we had a great time in LA - a great place to visit, but I don't think I could ever live there!

It’s official…. We’re coming home!

Yep, the tickets are booked and we arrive back in Melbourne on the 21st of September. I can’t believe it – only 6 weeks!

After some waiting (as previously mentioned) I was fortunate enough to line up a position with my previous job and start work on the 1st of October. Although I’ve worked with a great bunch of people over here in Albuquerque, I’m looking forward to getting back into engineering.

Needless to say, things have been very hectic for us during the last couple of months. Brad is extremely busy at work trying to finish up his experiments while I have been trying to sort through all of our stuff and deciding what to bring back with us. It’s amazing how much you can accumulate in 2 ½ years!

We’ve also been trying to fit in a few last trips before we head home. We recently went back to LA for a few days. Although we had been there before, there were several attractions we missed. While we were there we went to Universal Studios, The Tonight Show and Santa Monica Beach. We also saw Matt Damon at the premiere of the Bourne Ultimatum and went on a tour of the movie stars homes. It was the true LA experience! I will post some photos soon...

Next week Brad is heading off to Milwaukee (Wisconsin) for a conference. While he is there, I am heading off on a trip of my own! I’m flying to Tucson, Arizona to visit our Aussie friends (Pete and Maree) one last time before we head home. Hopefully I will be able to survive the heat since they typically average in the high 30’s or low 40’s every day (and I thought Albuquerque was bad)!

In other news, we made a trip up to Santa Fe a couple of weeks ago. Seeing as though it was our last trip there, I bought some beautiful turquoise jewelry and ate some great chicken enchiladas (getting into the New Mexico spirit). We also went to the movies to see the latest Harry Potter, which I really enjoyed. I’m re-reading the 6th Harry Potter book before I go out and buy the final one which I’m planning to read on our flight home (I should get a good portion read in 18 hours)!

Anyway, that’s all the news from Albuquerque. I will try and keep you posted on our movements over the next couple of months, though I'm sure things will get pretty crazy!

Cheers,
Rebecca

A New Hat

As I mentioned previously, I've been knitting a hat for my dad and making up my own pattern as I went along. Well, here's the finished product:


And a top view:

Pattern: My Own!

Yarn: Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool in Ebony

Needles: US Size #7

Started: 7th July, 2007

Finished: 15th July, 2007

Notes: To begin I cast on 112 stitches and worked the cuff was worked in a 1x1 rib for 14 rows. I then changed to a 4x4 rib and completed a cable every 6th row for 38 rows. Finally, I became stuck when it came to decreasing my ribs and ended up just making it up as I went along, decreasing the pearl then the knit stitches alternately. I'm very happy with the results!

Frustration

I don't usually go on about how I'm feeling on this blog, usually it's just knitting or travelling stories. But I feel like venting today because I'm FRUSTRATED!!!! I'm not going to go into all the details but it's mostly about our plans for moving back home. At the moment I'm waiting to hear about something - waiting for almost 3 1/2 weeks! Waiting is the hardest part since you can't be in control of the situation - and I like to be in control!

To keep me occupied and to try and keep my mind off it I've been knitting. At the moment I'm knitting a hat for my dad - my own design too! I've had to rip it out once so far but I think I've worked it out now. I'm using Jo Sharp classic dk wool and I think it's the nicest yarn I've ever knit with. It's so thick and squishy!

I also stumbled onto this website this morning. I have been looking for vintage knitting patterns lately and this looks like a pretty good deal! Hmmm, who's birthday is coming up next month I wonder? Maybe a potential birthday present!

Favourite Socks

A while ago I bought the Interweave "Favourite Socks" book but until recently I hadn't had an opportunity to knit anything from it. Then my mum mentioned how cold it had been in Melbourne and I thought of the perfect gift! I needed a quick knit (this person's birthday is coming up VERY soon) and came across the Elegant Ribbed Stockings which were knit on larger needles (I used size #5) and used sport weight yarn. Yes indeed, these were going to be some warm socks! I decided not to make the socks quite as long as the pattern suggested and only completed the pattern repeat 3 times. I also liked the idea of the ribbon but didn't want something quite as big as pictured. So here is what I ended up with:

Pattern: Elegant Ribbed Stockings from Interweave Press

Yarn: Dale of Norway Helio (as specified)

Needles: US Size #5

Started: June 22nd, 2007

Finished: July 8th, 2007

Oh and by the way, you've probably noticed I haven't been doing so much baking lately. My excuse - it's been too hot! I did make a great summer dessert yesterday though (no baking involved). Basically, it consisted of an oreo crumb crust, filled with peppermint choc chip ice-cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup and decorated with peppermint patties. Mmmmmmm!