Purls and Pugs

It's nice to get a little recognition

As some of you may remember, I help to organize a charity golf outing at work. This year will be the third year we've done it, and it still has its challenges. There are just so many other very worthy charities vying for people's money and time. We've managed to raise over $80K total in the last two years, and hope to raise even more this year.

As a thanks, the woman that I work with from the charity, Ann, came to our division meeting yesterday and presented the team with "Thank you" Awards. It was very nice of them to recognize our efforts.

If you are interested in participating in this year's outing or donating money, please contact Ann Gerardo (847-931-2293) at A.I.D. or visit the website.

Knitting? Where?

I did mention that I did some knitting over the weekend, so I feel like I should prove that I really did knit something. As you can see I am so close to finishing the back of the Drop Stitch Tank. The way the weather is going here, I will be able to actually wear it in August! For those of you not in this area, it's been back and forth being sunny, warm, and beautiful to cold-cold-cold! It's just not normal. I think everyone is just on edge waiting for the super hot, super humid weather...

I love four day weekends!

Too bad I don't have more of them! To round out the weekend, I went to the drive-in with some friends to see the new Indiana Jones Movie. Here is my friend's girlfriend and I all bundled up sitting in the lounge chairs we brought. I had a great time...we brought quesadilla, Garrett Popcorn, and sodas to snack on, and I brought some knitting for the second movie which I had already seen.

Before we went out to the movie, I visited with another Friend of Yoda's - Zeus. This is poor Zeus with this 'Lion Cut'. I feel bad for him...I think he just needs to have the rest of his body shaved to his head and he'd look a tad bit better. I'm just sayin.

Don't worry, I have a funny Yoda picture, too. Here she is passed out under my desk chair. I have never seen her spread eagle like this before. I thought it was rather humorous, so I took a picture. I know she'll hate me to showing it, but that's too bad....it's too cute not to share!

I might move to the city...

This was the weekend of being in the city. The funny thing is that I really haven't been there for a while, so I was loving it. I seriously would consider moving there for a little bit so that I could really experience it. I've heard that people just fall in love with Chicago when living there.

Friday, after a spa day (ahhh), I went out for drinks and dinner. The first stop was Carnivale. This was a fun little place...We had drinks in the bar area, but poked our heads into the dining room. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland where everything was oversized....Huge mirrors on the walls, lights hanging, huge room. Then it was off to the Parthenon for some dinner....mmm....Saganaki, Spanikopita, Roditis...mmmm

Saturday, I got up early and got ready for a day in the city walking around. My friend Jenn and I took the train down and walked down Michigan Avenue. We went into some shops, and we fell in love with these shoes from Cole Haan. I may still go ahead and buy them....

It was suggested to us to visit the Signature Lounge on the 96th Floor of the Hancock Building. We had Lake Shore Martinis and looked at the beautiful view. I would highly suggest it to anyone that has not been up there to go. You'll have to wait in line at the elevator, but it's totally worth it. Also, if you are a woman, visit the restroom. Believe it or not, the best view is from the window in the women's restroom. (I felt a little weird taking pictures from the toilet, so you'll have to just take my word for it!)

We also visited Millennium Park and played with infamous "Bean". The flower gardens were beautiful...great opportunity for awesome pictures.

On the way back to the train, we stopped at Garrett Popcorn and waited for-ev-er for caramel popcorn. I picked up both cheddar and caramel to take with me to the drive-in to see Indiana Jones tonight. When I told my friend that I got popcorn from there, he got so excited! I've never heard a grown person get so excited about popcorn, but it is good stuff.

The beginning of a looong weekend

My weekend began Thursday. I had signed up for the Chase Corporate Challenge, and Thursday was the day. Two of my coworkers and I drove up after work and got ready to run/walk 3.5 miles. I was excited to see friends I have not seen for a while from Peoria.

I was in the non-competitive division, so it really didn't matter my time, but a few of my coworkers decided to run it twice....I was glad to know that I was able to finish before they completed it the second time. I would have felt a little crappy if I had been lapped by people who were running it for fun the second time.

So, here I am looking all disheveled with my fun friends from work. The coolest part was that the company had this massive tent, food, and beer for all of us to celebrate. The people I went down to the city with and I hit up Kitty O'Shea afterward for a quick beer. The place was full of other racers, so we weren't that out of place in our sweats and race gear.

And who doesn't love looking at the skyline at night?

What a bore!

Yup, that's me...I'm a bore. It's been three whole days without school, and I am restless and bored. I guess I never really thought about what I wanted to do with my time when I was done. Now, I am trying to figure out what to do...I know that I would have killed for this time when I was super busy, but now that I have it...

Ok, so I've been thinking about vacations...where should I go?! My sister is leaving for Alaska in a few weeks to see the glaciers before they melt, the doggie training schools, and all the beauty of the state. Too bad the weather won't be much different than here in Chicago. But all her planning has me in a frenzy wanting to go somewhere. Last year I was in Munich at this time, so I'm due.

So far I have discarded Mexico in July (too hot), Lake Tahoe (not ready for that), Vegas (been there already this year, and I'll just keep going back...but I have a feeling I'll end up back there before the end of the year), Myrtle Beach (too many kiddies), and Florida (too smokey right now). I may end up doing some little day trips around to cute little towns in Michigan, Indiana, and Tennessee. We'll see...I'm pretty fluid right now on my plans.

And, no, I have not been knitting. The horror and shame! I've just not wanted to pick it up no matter how bored I've been. So, be prepared for less knitting in the coming days and weeks, and more posts about my adventures. This week I am taking part in the Chase Corporate Challenge, a spa day, and a day trip to the city. There is also a Knit in Bar (KIB) coming up that I will pick up the needles for...beer and knitting, what could go wrong there?!

BTW--that picture is of one of the roses I received from my parents for graduation. It broke off the bouquet and is perfect for the bud vase!

I'm graduated!

I am done with school! You will never have the pleasure of every hearing me complain about another class again! Ok, well, maybe if I ever decide to go back for a PhD or something, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

Saturday was beautiful and perfect for graduation. It would have been even better if I could  have spent some fun time outside instead of driving around northern Illinois. I think I put about 200 miles on my car in one day! But it was for a good reason, so I don't mind so much. My friends and I decided to meet in the morning and take pictures at the Naperville campus. We spent so much time there and none on the main campus that we thought the pictures would be more meaningful at Naperville. There were four of us who graduated on Saturday, one who graduated last summer, and poor Cody (who is not pictured) who will graduate a year from now.

The pictures would have turned out even better if it wasn't so windy, but I think we got some good ones. If course, these are just the ones taken with my camera. Once I get copies from my friends, I'll see if there are any better ones.

After graduation, I took a few pictures with my parents, grandmother, and sister. Strangely, my sister did not send the ones of her and me...I think she said something about them not turning out to her satisfaction. After the quick pics, it was off to dinner.

I ate dinner with my parents, grandmother, and sister at the Bolingbrook Golf Club's Nest Restaurant. The food was really good, but I still needed to get to my friend's dinner at Maggiano's. So, I went to have dessert...you should really never pass up a cannoli. Oh, and chocolate covered strawberries....mmmmm....then wash them all down with a Peroni.

Inch by Inch

I'm still plugging away on the Drop Stitch Tank. As you can see, it's slowly growing to the proper length. But don't worry, Friends, I will not bore you every day with a new picture of this slowly growing piece. I put the back on top of the front to see how far I've gotten...ok, and  a little bit of how much further do I have to go before it's done...and I am just shy of halfway on it, so I'll keep going.

You might have noticed that I take quite a few pictures with my sister. Pretty much everywhere we go we try to get a picture of the two of us together. I think it started in college when we ended up giving my mom a set of pictures of us together. Now we try to update the pictures every so often, and you never know when you'll get that awesome picture. This was taken a few weekends ago at our sorority get together. Don't we look like we are having fun?

I love endorphins

Well, folks, the school semester is winding down. In fact, I have my last class ever tomorrow night. I completed my portion of the last project on Friday, so I've been pretty free of school stress. I have been feeling a little down about the state of some other things in my life, but I had a great workout yesterday. I've never really felt that post workout high. I think I'm usually pretty happy, so maybe I just don't get beyond that, but yesterday I felt awesome after my workout. I felt like I could conquer the world! Those endorphins really were the ticket and a great pick me up.

I had some time last night, so I popped in P.S. I Love You and picked up the knitting. I just knew that the minute I actually sat down to watch that movie, I would turn into a blubbery mess. Oh, and that happened, but it was a great movie. It's based on a book that I have been told is wonderful, so I'll have to pick that up and read it. I even got some knitting done on the Drop Stitch Tank. A couple more nights of movies, knitting, and cuddly Yoda, and I will be done with the back. Then it's just a little finishing!

In my post workout high, I went to Target for a couple things and ended up getting Yoda another bed. She's had one that's been 'broken' for a while now, and I just got sick of picking up stuffing off the floor, so I threw it away. This one is fun, pink, and totally Yoda. Doesn't she look like she loves it?

It would have been graduation weekend...

...if there wasn't come crazy person shooting up the school back in February. Instead, graduation is next weekend, and this was Mother's Day Weekend for me. My aunt had everyone over to her house for Mother's Day dinner on Saturday. I had a good time...ate good food, drank some beer, and had great company. My cousin grilled some marinated shrimp, and they were fantastic. I am not a huge fan of plain shrimp, so his garlic and Asian varieties were just up my alley! I don't think I have ever eaten that much shrimp in one sitting. I also tried some Romanian Moonshine. Let me tell you, that stuff is warming. I had one sip,  and I felt it go all the way down to my stomach! That was the last sip, too...but I was cultured and tried something different. Then Sunday, my mom, dad, sister, and I went to brunch. It was a bad food weekend extravaganza!

Sunday I did have some time to do a little knitting. I worked on the Drop Stitch Tank until I realized I made a big mistake. I tried to fix it by dropping down some stitches, but that became a HUGE mess. So, I riiiiped. This is the back to where I was able to get along with the finished front. I didn't realize the back is all ribbing from now until the end, so I think it'll just move along pretty quickly as long as I sit and work on it.

Yeah, knitting didn't happen...

...well, ok, maybe a little. I finished the front of the Drop Stitch Tank, and started on the back. I didn't get very far before I fell asleep with it in my hands on Saturday night!

It was a great weekend and Cinco de Mayo! (Just give me a reason to drink a margarita...)

My weekend started out with a massage on Saturday. A greatly needed massage...That girl worked out a lot of stress hanging out in my back. Mmmmm...then my friend Jenn and I went to a multiple winery wine tasting. The weather was less than ideal, but it was still fun. I ended up buying 4 bottles of wine from one place. Two of the bottles were a sangria that was really good, one was an almond sparking wine (Jenn would say, "mmm" after each sip), and and a chocolate raspberry dessert wine. Yum!

On my way home I picked up 27 Dresses and Cloverfield. 27 Dresses was very cute. I recommend it for a girlie night in. But Cloverfield was not on my tops list. The plot was ok, but it was filmed as if we were watching a home movie. Halfway through the movie I wondered by I felt sick to my stomach...then I figured it out -- motion sickness. I ended up closing my eyes and listening to the rest of it. So, be that a warning to you!

Sunday I went shopping with my sister and got some new pants that actually fit. I've dropped 3-4 pants sizes since I've taken up 'being healthy'. While I am not complaining that my pants were falling down (because that is an awesome problem to have), I was just a little not wanting to spend money on pants when I might need to get more in a smaller size later. I am much happier, though, with pants that fit!

Monday was Cinco de Mayo, and I broke open a bottle of Sangria that I bought on Saturday. It was yummy! I hung out with a friend and just enjoyed the nice weather. Most of Plainfield had lost power yesterday, and on my way home I needed to stop at the grocery store for some chicken. When I pulled into the parking lot (after spending what seemed like an eternity at the broken stop light), I saw a Cat Power trailer. And, yes, I took a picture of it. It's not something you see around here very often! These are used a lot at disaster sites...nope, no meteors have hit here lately. But it's still fun to see...

Happy Friday!!!

TGIF! Seriously, I am so burnt out this week. Luckily, I have a massage scheduled for Saturday morning...mmm...I can not wait! It's just been one busy week with school and work.

But there are only 2 more weeks of school left! Woo hoo!

In between running around like a chicken without a head and taking Yoda outside to potty, I have been able to work on the Drop Stitch Tank. I am *almost* done with the front. As you can see, I pretty much just have the last 10 rows of ribbing. Then I can hit the back. Without all the splitting, I think it will move along pretty quickly. This really is a simple piece. It's funny how I can do more complicated stuff, but I like the look of all the simple things. Simple = elegant, and that goes for design, too.

I hope everyone has a relaxing, stressless weekend!