Weekend Update

We ended up having a relatively busy weekend... for us anyway.

On Friday night we went to dinner to Los Cuates with Karen (who works with Brad) and her fiance who is visiting from Phoenix. It's a place we'll definitely be going back to - the food was great (even if they did turn the lights out on us at 10pm)!

Saturday I went along to the Knitters Not Quitters group. We had a pretty large group (about 10) and I managed to start shaping the armholes on the back of my little black (green) top. Brad played cricket with the guys at UNM for the firt time this year (and could hardly walk the next day). We ended up crashing on the couch on Saturday night and hired Crash (ha ha ha) on dvd. It was a really interesting movie with some great acting although we both enjoyed Cinderella Man better.

Yesterday we both decided to get some exercise so I hit the gym while Brad went and had a hit of tennis. In the afternoon we went to experience the Trader Joes phenomenon. We were pretty impressed with their selection and picked up some yummy dip and sundried tomatoes. The wines looked pretty good too, so I'm sure we'll be heading back to check them out!

Item No. 2

My list is growing. The second item on my list is.....

Learn to salsa dance! I'm going to need a partner for this one Brad (hint, hint). I might look at the continuing education classes at UNM. So the list now reads:

1. Learn Spanish
2. Learn to Salsa dance

Hmmmm... I'm seeing a trend here. Maybe a trip to South America is in order!

On the knitting front, I finished mum's birthday present last night (sorry it's going to be a little late). I'm planning to finish my second baby hat tonight so that I can mail everything together. I'm also planning to start Jo's birthday present this weekend (I've still got a month).

Don't worry, I'm not forgetting myself. My little green top (also known as "The Little Black Top" from Stitch 'n Bitch) is growing quickly. Photos to come on the weekend!

Book Review

I'm trying to keep up my New Years resolution I set for myself a couple of years ago. I'm never really any good at keeping them (I don't think I've succeeded at any before) but I've got to admit I'm doing a pretty good job with this one.

My goal is to read at least one book a month and although it was a lot easier when I was catching the train to work I'm still keeping up my quota. The last book I read was "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. It was recommended to me by a colleague and is the story of a young boy growing up in Afghanistan. It was an interesting story and one that made me realise how uneducated I am when it comes to world history. I really had no idea about their history and I guess it made me realise how lucky we are in respect to our way of life and the opportunities that we've been given.

It's actually inspired me to put together a list of things that I want to do. Some things will be easy, some things will be things that I've said I'm going to do but I never get around to and some things will be a challenge. So without further ado... the first item on my list:

1. Learn another language (looks like Spanish since I've already bought a "Learning Spanish" CD set)!

Sad But True...

Ok.
I admit it.
I watch "American Idol".
I know, it's sad but true.
There is a reason I'm outting myself.
And that reason is ... Kevin Covais.
This guy drives me nuts!
Come on people, this guy should never have made it to the final 12!
And the fact that he thinks he is a sex symbol. Please, take a look at the guy!
As Simon said after last nights performance - Appalling!

Photo Time!

Ok, so I've decided it's about time that I posted some photos. Let me see.... I think we'll start with our trip to Oz. Here are a couple of photos we took from our trip to the Gold Coast. Yeah, I wish I was back there now. We had great weather while we were there and spent most of our time at the beach. It was even hot enough for me to go for a swim (for those of you who know me, it's got to be pretty hot for me to swim in the ocean)!

This is the view from our hotel room. Although we weren't overlooking the beach, I think it's still a pretty good view. The houses along the river a pretty spectacular. What a hard life living in one of those with a boat parked out the front and beautiful weather all year round... I guess I'll just have to wait until I win Tattslotto!







And here it is! Surfers Paradise and no, I didn't post the photo of the guy without a shirt on purpose (let's just say, it wasn't only the men without their shirts on at this beach)!

The tall building in the background is (supposedly) the tallest residential building in the world. It wasn't even built the last time we were there, about 3 years ago.

Now we're in the process of planning our next trip - New York City here we come!


There's not a lot else to report since we've been back. Brad is busy at work preparing for a conference at the end of the month in San Francisco. I've decided not to go for a couple of reasons, the first being that I've just had two weeks off work and will be asking for another one for our trip to New York. The second reason is that we are planning another trip to California to visit both San Francisco and San Diego later in the year. I guess if were planning all these trips we better get saving!

It's been great catching up with my knitting girls since we've been back. It's amazing how much progress was made while we were away. Jenny finished her gorgeous birch shawl. Her work is so beautiful and inspiring. She really inspires me to knit things that I never thought I could!

These are some of the projects that I've had finished since around December but couldn't post because they were presents we delivered on our trip back home:

This is my first Misty Garden scarf which was knitted for my cousin Lauren for Kris Kringle. The pattern is from the book "Scarf Style" and was knitted with Cascade Yarns 100% Peruvian wool. It was a quick knit hence....









My second Misty Garden scarf. This was knitted for Michelle (who I work with) as a belated birthday present. I used Patons new 8 ply Caressa which I bought when we were in Australia. I cast this on on February 21 and finished on March 3, 2006.








These hats were knit for my dad and brother-in-law Steve. They are a modified version of the Hot Head pattern from the Stitch n' Bitch book. It's actually the first pattern that Brad has seen and said "Hey, that looks really good. Can you make one for me?"








This is my second Bramble Stich scarf. I loved the one I did for myself so much that I made this one for my cousin Alexis for Christmas.











Finally, these are my first pair of socks! YAY!!!! They're so warm and toasty. I really enjoyed knitting them and plan to do many, many more. The pattern was from Interweave Knits (my magazine seems to have gone walkabout so I'm not sure of the edition). The yarn is Plain and Fancy which I bought from the Taos Wool Festival last October.






I've finally finished weaving in the ends on my Blackberry cardigan and hope to block it this weekend (photos next week). Projects that are currently in progress include a birthday present for mum, and a hat for Charlotte.