Here we go again, I kinda wanna be more than friends*

I love long weekends, especially 4 day weekends.  Wonderful.

I got to go visit L and her family on Friday.  I was supposed to help pack/watch the kids/etc.  Yeah, that didn't really happen, we just hung out instead (I am apparently the WORST packing assistant, I did the same thing not helping Mike).   However, it was super fun.  

We went shopping and bought some dresses.  Including this little gem here:

Ok, seriously.  I think this thing is hideous.  I tried it on more as a joke.  And SOMEHOW, between the hanger and putting it on, it turned into the cutest dress ever.  So cute, L, ran back out to the floor from the fitting room and picked up one in her size.  It's adorable, and so flattering.  When I was getting rung up, the sales lady told us she had a similar reaction.  When it first came in, she thought it was so ugly and couldn't figure out who would buy it.  Then, she saw a customer wearing it and had to buy it THAT day.  Love it.

I also got caught up on all the Game of Thrones episodes I had missed and I'm back in line with HBO.  However, I went and read the first book, and ugh.  I'm not a fan of how not happy this story is.  I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep reading it.  

The rest of the weekend was spent catching up an old coworker, more shopping, some sleeping, reading, watching TV, and working on Baby V's birthday gift.  It was so relaxing.  Why did I have to return to work today?  Sigh.

*Neon Trees (Just a fun song)

Underneath your clothes, there's an endless story*

This is going to be the pink sweater saga.  

(However, first things first...the dragon fruit is ok.  It's not my favorite, but, definitely better than the persimmon I tried last week.)  

So, anyways, back to the pink sweater saga.  

I learned to knit about 5 years ago (wow, has it really been that long?  Is that really right D?).  I was still in the hats and scarves stage, but I decided to attempt a baby sweater for Little J (wow, it really WAS 5 years ago).  After that turned out to be successful, L told me she wanted a bright pink (think bubblegum pink) sweater.  

We looked for a while, and found this really pretty pink yarn from www.knitpicks.com (seriously, the best yarn website, I go and add things to my wish list all the time...).  Now, keep in mind, L had just had a baby not that long ago, and was not back to her pre-pregnancy size. 

So, I excitedly cast on and started knitting.  And knitting.  And knitting.  I got about halfway up the back of this monster, and realized, A - it was HUGE, as in, it would probably have fit at least two of L.  And B - L had lost a lot of weight and now it would probably have fit 3 of her.

I put it aside for a few months (probably closer to a year).  Then, she started asking for it again, so I pulled it back out of its hiding place, and started ripping it out.  

I found a sweater that looked a little less boring, and re-cast on for skinny L.  This sweater was a lot more difficult (lots of cables), but I was persevering.  Then, L got pregnant again.  And gained weight again.  And I had no frame of reference to use for size (yeah, L, would never actually measure herself and let me know how big to make this damn thing).  So, I put it aside again and refused to look at it.

After she had H, she lost a bunch of weight.  Yay, the sweater should fit.  So I pulled it back out and started knitting again.  Then, she lost even more weight.  And I realized I was deluding myself.  This thing would not fit her.  It was at least a size and a half too big, and it wasn't the type of sweater that would look ok if it's not fitted.

So, I ripped back the sweater.  Again. 

I re-cast on and found a new sweater that was a lot easier than the last one.  I cast on based on what I was guessing was her size (again, wouldn't give me any measurements!).  She got pregnant again.  I said screw it.  I don't care, I'm going to continue making it this size.  She'll eventually not be pregnant and it will fit.

I finished the body of the sweater last week (Ha, only took 2 years!) and started the first sleeve.  Then, I thought, I should make sure this thing fits her before I do both sleeves.  I brought it up to her this weekend to try on.

Two things. 

A - I'm an idiot.  The sleeve I started?  Yeah, I started it INSIDE OUT.  Idiot.

B- IT DOESN'T EFFING FIT!  It's too small.  

I am pretty sure I am just going to burn the yarn at this point.  It is obviously not meant to be made into a sweater for L.  I never want to look at this thing again.  

*Shakira

Ever since you hung up on me, I'm hung up on you*

I have a lot of random things to talk about and they are in no way connected to each other, so this entry is going to be quite incohesive (I'm pretty sure that's a word, but blogger/google does not seem to agree?).  Anyways, yes.  Random topics.  My favorite.

L is cleaning out her house and paring down, which is great for me.  So far, I have beautiful new bedding (I coveted the blanket when she used to have it in her old house) and some new pillows, that I'm not entirely sure I will be using (but at least she doesn't have to move them now), and some kitchen stuff (yay pyrex baking!).  I also got my hands on this:

It's a Kandinsky print that L used to have, then gave it to me when I lived in VA, then asked for it back when she moved up to north Jersey, then she put it in storage (she just didn't want me to have it apparently), but it's mine again!  The colors in this thing is awesome.  I love it.  

She says she will probably have more kitchen things after this weekend.  Score.  (The kitchen is the one place in my old apartment that I had a lot of crappy things, and when I move, I was planning to have to buy entirely new pots and pans, but if I can just supplement with her stuff, even better).  

Anyways, so that Kandinsky is going to be living in my mom and dad's garage until sometime after September (mom you already agreed, you can't take it back!), however, I haven't been home since I've gotten in.  It's currently chilling in the backseat of my car.

I had to take my car in for an oil change and to get this awful rattling noise checked out (oh, the dread I was feeling for the cost of this repair bill).  So, I didn't really want to leave this in the backseat when I took it there (who knows what they do to my car), so I looked like an idiot carrying this thing through the hotel to my room (it's at least 3' x 4', maybe bigger), and then back out to the car this evening.

Luckily, the awful rattling noise was NOT that big a deal.  Just an idler pulley (yeah, I have no idea what that is, but it was cheap, so woot woot).  I've also apparently been driving around with my brake lights out (I feel like that girl in Bridesmaids), and they replaced those for me (no dad, I usually don't pay for them to replace my light bulbs, you've taught me well.  But, I was there, and I figured the extra $20 to replace them was worth not driving out of my way to go buy the lights and replace them myself).  

And, my car, no longer makes that terrible rattle sound (that apparently I was the only one to hear, and I swear that thing was loud as hell, I have no idea how nobody else heard it) and idles much smoother.  I'm much happier.  

Lastly, I bought a cactus pear last week to try and a dragon fruit today to try.  Unfortunately, I don't think I can still eat the cactus pear, it's a little too ripe.  However, I plan to try the dragon fruit tonight, and I'll let you know how it tastes.  :-) 

I promise to buy another cactus pear and let you know how it goes.  :-)

I had other things, but this post is already pretty epic, so more later :-)

*Fountains of Wayne (I have randomly started listening to them again, and remembering how much fun they are.  It also makes me miss passing that store on my way to my old job).

And now I just don’t know what I should do. I'm twisted all around like some cartoon*

I went to visit L this weekend and while there, I got to see Little J play baseball.  

It's kind of hard to get pictures of the kids playing baseball through the chain link fence, but oy, they were adorable.  I love little kid's sporting events.  So adorable.

And, even cuter, would be the Super Why super hero that came to the baseball game with us.

He also dressed as Batman, and told me, "Don't worry Auntie S, it's not Batman, it's just me...Little H".   Seriously, this kid.  He kills me with the cuteness.

*Phantom Planet

Love, such a silly game we play*

I mentioned a while ago (I'm too lazy to go find the original post), that my friend C, was getting married in June, and I had offered to help her figure out what flowers she wanted to use for her wedding.  So, this past weekend, I hung out with her in DC and we played with flowers on Saturday.  It was so much fun.  (It was obviously also fun to hang out with C, we hadn't done it in a really long time).  It was just a really nice weekend.

The two of us have completely different tastes when it comes to flowers, which made it even more fun (I am weird.  I enjoy the challenge of finding something that someone else will like). I'm all about BRIGHT, HAPPY COLORS and fun flowers, whereas C is more into romantic colors and English garden flowers.  Even more challenging, finding something that would be quick and simple to re-create (she's doing the wedding herself, with help from friends, none of whom really have much flower arranging experience), and all in her budget.

So, we had 48 decorated mason jars to use as centerpieces (seriously, they are so cute!) and the colors had to be pink (but not too pink, more of a rose color), yellow, and white.  

We came up with the following:

 Groomsmen Boutonniers                                                                 Sponsor Boutonniers

    Groom's Boutonnier (Ringbearer is similar but smaller)

Can I just say how much I LOVE using billy balls as a boutonnier.  They are so fun!  And just think, C made all those herself after only a little bit of instructions from me.  She could totally work for a florist.  :-)

Sponsor's Corsage

This is the centerpiece and you can see the cute mason jars.

I'm a little disappointed at how the pictures of the centerpiece turned out.  They were so pretty in person (and smelled amazing), but the angle and the lighting of this picture don't do it justice at all.  It's just a few stems of stock (half will be white, half will either be pink or white hydrangea) with yellow billy balls in it.  

We also picked out flowers for the bouquets for C and her bridesmaids, but we didn't make any of those, and I'm keeping that a surprise.  Maybe I'll post some of them after the wedding.  :-)

I can't wait to see the reception all decorated.  They'll be so pretty!  C picked out some great flowers! 

*Matt White (the song C has on her and her fiance's nearly wed website)

And the more I try to feel the less I'm whole*

I have a total case of the Mondays.

• I saw an old man's butt today.  It was not the highlight of my day.  He was walking into the hotel and his shorts were falling down, and he pulled his shirt up to adjust the shorts, and I saw full on moon.  The ENTIRE thing.  Sigh.
• The guests at the hotel lately are pigs.  They leave chewed gum behind everywhere (like on floors), and everytime I go into the elevator, there is a new pile of sunflower seed shells (so housekeeping is obv attempting to clean them up, and they just keep spitting out more).  And they're loud.  And someone took my clean laundry out of the machine and put it on the floor so they could use the washer.  WTF
• I would really like a cookie.  I REALLY want a cookie.  Alas, I have no cookies.
• My mind is all over the place today.  I don't know why.  
• I just have this completely unsettled feeling going on.  Like I'm dreading something to do with someone.  I can't describe it.  It's just a feeling that something bad is going to happen between us.  It's just this ugh feeling.  I hate it.

Anyways, I hope tomorrow is better.

*Lindsay Lohan (OMG I am DYING of shame right now.  I found a song by Lindsay Lohan on my ext. hard drive, which means I had to have actually DOWNLOADED this at some point.  Why???)

Should I give up, or should i just keep chasin' pavements*

I spent the weekend helping out at the flower store for mother's day (don't worry, I still went home with flowers and bought dinner for my mom...I'm not a terrible daughter).  I was SO exhausted after working there all weekend (I basically worked about 25 hours in 2 days, standing up on a concrete floor the whole time) that I crashed at my parent's house.  

This means I went straight to work from their house in the morning.  Which means I left my dog with them.  Again.  Sigh.  Poor little Oscar.  

So, this also means that I didn't have my running shoes with me.  However, I DID have my laundry with me which had some running clothes in there.  I thought about it, and I knew if I drove home to get my shoes, I would not come back out to go running.

Therefore, I did my first barefoot run.  

I can't say that I liked it or disliked it.  Yes, I ran differently, and different muscles than normal are sore.  But, who's to say that they're the muscles that SHOULD be sore?  I am definitely not sold on the whole barefoot running concept, even though I know there are a lot of people out there that are.  The ONLY reason I even tried it, is because I didn't have my shoes with me.

My favorite part of the run was actually all the people giving me strange looks.  They definitely did some double takes looking at my feet.  That was fun.

So, what can I say?  Not too exciting.  :-)  

Hope everyone had a lovely mother's day!

*Adele

This is looking like a contest, of who can act like they care less*

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  

While most everyone else my age is out at a bar drinking Margaritas, I had a different way of celebrating in mind (A- I am allergic to tequila and B- I have to be at work tomorrow even more insanely early than normal and I would like to sleep tonight).  

My plan was to run five miles for the cinco.  I laugh at my optimism.  

Today was just not really my day.  I overslept, and the one guy at Dunkin Donuts pisses me off b/c he never freaking listens and he made my coffee wrong and it sucked and I didn't drink it, so I was even more tired, and there was an accident so the traffic was horrendous and took me forever to get to work, and it just kept getting better.  At one point today, I managed to fall out of my chair onto the floor.  (Apparently I stretch too hard and just fell out, it was ridiculous).  

I left work later than normal, and got stuck in traffic going home, and all I wanted to do was curl up on my couch and veg all night.  Luckily, the traffic got really crappy at the exit by the park and I took it as a sign to leave the highway and go to the park.  I changed into my running clothes at the park and started out for my jog.  

It was such a NICE day.  I can't even begin to describe how enjoyable the run was.  The weather was perfect, there was a slight breeze, the scenery was beautiful, and I was taking it nice and easy.  I ran two miles, and felt like I could have kept going, but I decided screw it.  

I didn't want to push it so far that I stopped enjoying it, and it's not like I'm training for the marathon, so, cutting it short.  Whatever.  Then, I came home, and the hotel was grilling tonight (woohoo), so ate a hotdog, chayote squash, and strawberries.  Yum.  

Now I'm trying to stay awake long enough to take Oscar outside for his last walk, then I plan to pass out.

*Taylor Swift

Nothing matters in this whole wide world, when you're in love with a Jersey girl*

I am watching the South Park episode where they make fun of New Jersey and I'm so horrified and amused at the same time.  Everything east of the Mississippi is New Jersey!  

So, yeah, this is terrible.  I love it.  

On a completely different note.  I went running yesterday and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  However, when I stopped for my push-ups at the 1 mile mark, I realized WHY it was so hard.  Apparently, I felt the need to run the first mile and stop for push-ups in 10 minutes.  So assuming about a minute to do each set of push-ups, I ran a 9 min mile which is A LOT faster than I usually run.  Then, the second mile was finished in 11 minutes.  So, two miles and 40 push-ups in 21 minutes was fantastic for me.

Unfortunately, tomorrow, I have to do a longer run, and I do not foresee it being as fun.  

*Bruce Springsteen

I could face the day, and all the long night too...if only it were true*

A reason I couldn't figure out how to cook the chacaya squash last week, is because it's not called a chacaya squash.  It's a Chayote squash.  I did find that on google this evening, and will be attempting to cook it this week.  Fantastic. (By the way, ehow.com is GREAT for learning how to cook/serve things you've never cooked before).

The reason I discovered the correct name?  I went back to Wegman's tonight.  Where I may have overdone it a bit in the produce department.  They had grapes for sale!  And I like grapes.  But, they only had the kind I like in a pre-packaged container.  No bag or bunches for me.  So, I MAY have bought 3 lbs of grapes.  

I have no idea what one does with THREE POUNDS of grapes, but I shall endeavor to find out (I'm thinking maybe one gives a bunch of them away).  I also bought some raspberries, strawberries, and more pepino melons (These things are growing on me.  The more I eat them, the more I like them). 

On a completely unrelated note (I had NO idea how to segue into the new paragraph...sorry), I was rejected from the marathon I had applied for.  Stupid lottery system.  Oh well, there's always next year. So, my running plan has to be completely revamped to train for a half in December instead.  Which, is actually kind of awesome, I can cut back on my runs and go back to the 2-3 mile runs for a little longer instead of the 5-6 mile runs I was doing (that I'm not entirely sure you could even consider them running).  I'll probably actually stick with 3-4 mile runs, but just scaling back a little makes me happy.  

So, I'm trying to take the rejection as a good thing.  I mean, come on, who really wants to run 26.2 miles through the streets of New York anyway? (I do).  

Anyways, hope everyone had a lovely weekend and their week is starting out fantastic.

*The Walkmen