Playing catch-up

Ugh it's been forever since my last post! Ok, to quickly catch you up, I came back from Paris the Sunday after Thanksgiving and promptly was swamped at work. Two production cycles ended last week, Wednesday and Friday, and we got everything done and out but it was not easy.

Last Tuesday was the first meeting of the Needlepoint Meetup I signed up for. It was small - just 3 people - but it was nice to stitch with other people for a change! And the consensus was that I could bring cross stitching next time instead of needlepoint, so I'm happy. My needlepoint projects are too big & bulky to schlepp around and work on in public places. The meetup was on the UWS, so I stayed over at JS's & worked in Manhattan Wednesday. It was a really fun night.

Since I was in the city office Wednesday, I saw my friend T who sits in the cube behind me. She just launched a website last week and is selling jewelry, so we have plenty to talk about at work these days :-) After work I introduced her to my bead store on B'way, and T agrees it's a great store. I picked up some beads for a new style of purple necklace and stocked up on metal findings. As soon as I got home I made 3 of the new purple style, and they came out well! I'm thinking they'll make good Chanukah presents.

Thursday was another long, busy day at work, and then afterwards I tried to get some Chanukah shopping done. I found a DVD of 300 on sale for my brother, he liked the movie so I think it's a good gift for him, along with some wine I brought him back from France (he's 22).

Friday was crazy busy at work, so I left really late and just made it home in time for Shabbos. Not good. Shabbos itself was very mellow, and then Saturday night I went to Michaels with my aunt so she could Chanukah shop and I could pick up DMC flosses on sale. She got a cat latch hook and a cat needlepoint for my cat-crazy 9 year old cousin. I got 10 new shades of pink. I took my cousins to see High School Musical the Ice Tour the weekend before Thanksgiving, so I'm covered for them for Chanukah. They really liked it, and so did I.

It snowed Sunday! The first show of the season, and it actually stuck. :-D

Sunday was also JS's engagement party, which involved driving to Jersey with snow on the ground. I only got slightly lost, about 30 minutes worth. The party was in the same shul (shul = synagogue in yiddish) as my cousin's engagement party - unsurprising since JS and my new cousin-in-law are old friends & used to go to the same shul! I ended up talking to the groom's friends (who went to Ecuador with me in August) and JS's HS friends. I also met the other bridesmaids and exchanged info. We're starting to plan the shower already.

What do you think? JS has 1 sister, and she's married. A lot of JS's friends, including me, think that the sisters picked guys who look a LOT alike. When I first saw Mike, I thought he must be JS's guy's cousin or something since I know he doesn't have any brothers.


This is (in no particular order): JS, her guy, his roomate, some of JS's high school friends and me (a college friend). I ended up driving 3 people in this photo (plus myself) home to manhattan after the party, which is probably the only reason why I didn't get lost on my way home!

Yesterday I worked in Manhattan again. On my way home from work I stopped into my bead store on B'way and picked up some supplies to make pink necklaces. They're not coming out as well as the purple, so it's back to the drafting paper.

If I want to finish this post while it's still Tuesday I'd better sign off. Ttys!

PS I forgot to mention - my felted hat wasn't dry when I went to Paris, so I left it in my bathtub to dry out. Well when I came home Sunday it was ready! There's a natural brim to it, due to sitting upright in the bathtub for so long, which I love. It's still a little big but it's wearable, and I've gotten a bunch of compliments. I'll try to post a photo tomorrow.

I found a new bead shop on my way home yesterday! I was walking up Broadway to Penn Station, and I'm not sure of the exact street but I think it was 29th street. Don't ask me the name, there's a scaffolding out front blocking their awning. They have a lot of the crystal beads I like to use as sparkly filler, and I found 2 strands of gemstones that I really liked, and both were in the sale area - :-) I'm proud to report that I only purchased materials for 2 necklaces that will go well with some new work tops I bought labor day Sunday. So my bead stash isn't too much bigger.

Last night I was very restrained, and instead of trying out my new purchases I buckled down and worked on Fat Cat. between yesterday and today I finished most of the Cat aspect, now I have the outlining, eyes and nose to finish. Oh and the Smyrna stitches over the background. In the model you can see where the thread was carried across from Smyrna to Smyrna, quite clearly! I'm going to try to avoid a similar effect on my piece, because otherwise I'd rather just leave out the stitches and avoid the messy look.

Today after work my dad & I went to the dentist. I like our dentist because he was a friend of the family long before we started having a more professional relationship. I think dentists are the only kind of doctor where I wouldn't mind going to someone who is a good friend, and was a friend before they were my doctor. I had a pretty fun time sitting in the waiting area, watching tv and working on JBW pumpkin. The other fun thing about going to the dentist is that we always bring Dr. B a bottle of scotch :)

Since it's a 5 minute drive from the dentist office to my grandparents' my mom sent some things for us to drop off there too. I also brought them a thank you gift - they have a bungalow in the Catskills, and every summer I spend a couple weekends there - as do my cousins, a couple of aunts, and one uncle. Anyways, I found a relatively inexpensive DVD player at Target and thought I'd get them one, since they like watching the movies in the Casino at the bungalow colony and my aunt said they didn't have one. My dad, who usually avoids interacting with his in-laws by using my siblings and me as a buffer, was drafted to set up the box when I got stuck. Of course I was responsible for training on the new system, and I'm half expecting grandma to call my cell at 1 am asking how to fix something. I wrote out & went over instructions on using each remote, so hopefully she'll be okay.


Okay, back to stitching on Fat Cat in the hopes that I might finish sometime before Sukkot. Good night all,
K