Mission Accomplished

A mighty weekend indeed.

massage, margaritas, and movies. Does a girl really need anything else?

Photos coming soon.

La Fille Grenadine

Appearance Check

This is what I look like now, a week before my 26th birthday.



This has been a glorious Saturday. I discovered the joy of antique shopping. God help us I have another hobby and its collecting antique books about the Napoleonic Era (incidentally this happened while I was shopping for a birthday present for my pal Jenny who we need to give a nickname to) I also finished quilting the Freckle quilt and finished phase one of the Knit 1 tank. Not to mention I kicked some MAJOR ass on the Lord of the Rings video game. let's just say that its 10pm and I'm only now just making myself dinner. And I watched Sense and Sensibility and Empire Strikes Bag. Those who would say that I'm not kookoo for film should be ashamed of themselves (not Mr. G btw) Busy Busy Grenadine Girl.

I now dub Jenny L.A. Girl.
I now dub Mr. Grenadine Canberra Boy
Special thx to Superstarra Christie for her funny comments.

GG

Good Morning

Its bright and early on a Saturday morning. I woke up at 6:30am. This is terribly wrong considering that it's a loooooong weekend and I should be sleeping in. However I woke up at 6:30 this morning with a headache and a stuffy nose, which brings me to only one conclusion.

I am getting Mr. Grenadine's flu.

My husband has been home sick for more than a week and I thought that since he is getting better now and I had so far not gotten sick that I was out of the woods as far as catching this flu was concerned. I might have been wrong. Only time will tell. For now I've got to find myself some Advil. I am also quite tired. This doesn't bode well for my trip to the day spa tomorrow with my pal Jenny. There's nothing worse than having a stuffy nose when having a massage. There you are lying face down on the massage table and your nose is running. It's not like you can get a tissue or anything it prevents you from melting into your massage. I see some dayquil in my future.

ugh.

La Fille Grenadine

May The Force Be With You

I just came back from Revenge of the Sith and I loved every minute of it. It's 11pm and I'm going to watch a New Hope now.

You didn't know I was a Star Wars geek too didja?

-Princess Leia.

I mean Grenadine Girl.

Sunny Weather Makes Everything Better

Even work.

Today was a very good day at work, not that they have been miserable or anything, but it's amazing how a warm breeze and blue skies can make the day go faster and work smoother.

I am pleased that my secret pal Cecile got her last secret pal gift, which you can view here. I enjoyed corresponding with her so much and getting gifts from my secret pal that I have decided to join Secret Pal 5.

By the way I wanted to say a special thanks to my secret pal (who still remains a secret). You were so nice to me and I loved everything you sent. Beaucoup remerciments.

I didn't get up to much knitting I was busy caring for Mr. Grenadine who has been sick with the flu this last week, but he's been a very appreciative husband. I'm a lucky girl.

Right now we're cozy watching Young Frankstein. I love Gene Wilder.

Grenadine Girl

Summer's Here and I am Reborn

Another good weekend is almost over.

I woke up this morning having slept in for more than two hours and went straight outside to get the Sunday paper. The air was warm and sweet and I couldn't help lounging on my front lawn with a cup of coffee to read the paper. I was wonderful to bask in the sun while the neighborhood children roll around on bikes.

This beautiful day was enhanced by my adventures in quilting. I'm almost finished quilting The Freckle Quilt and I have washed all of the fabrics for the Wedding Bouquet, which I have to figure out the geometry for.

There's something I've always wanted to do and that's get a master's degree. I could apply for a film studies degree. I already have an idea of a thesis that I would write, but do I really need a degree to prove that I am a film geek? Considering the quantity of films I watched this weekend (while I was quilting and knitting) the geekiness is self-evident. My other idea is to study textiles. I would love to design fabric. When I was young my drawings and ideas made me think that they would only be good for fabric patterns, which at this point is now a good idea.

As such, I'm trying to develop a portfolio of my ideas, which I will work on until I apply for grad school, which could be at least two years from now.

Anyway to the summer rebirth thing. I have a new goal for this summer. Its always good to have a silly life experience goal and this year's is to try every flavor ice cream from Silberman's Ice cream shop. This is good because it's near to my house. Mr. G and I strolled over to the ice cream shop and decided that it was something that we should do more often.

This week's flavor was Chocolate with Peanut Butter Swirl which was absolutely yummy. Just the right combination of chocolate and peanutbuttery goodness, but not too sugary and perfectly creamy. No wonder I want to go every day, I mean every week.

Grenadine Girl

A Fabric Splurge

The other night I mentioned that I was defecting to quilting and I am doing it in a big way. As I write I am washing some new fabric that I have amassed for my new quilt entitled: The Wedding Bouquet. It's made with the colors of my wedding:



While I was busy picking out the last couple of fabrics, I ran across some yarn. Some of that fantastic Joann's brand yarn that I will make a shawl with. And guess what, they're the same colors from my wedding.



Do you see a theme going on here?

To get out of this wedding nostralgia thing I've been working on the Knit 1 tank, which I finally have a photo of:



though I don't think I need the ridiculous hair do. I'm using Rowan All Seasons cotton with is like buttah to knit. I watched three episodes of The Forsyte Saga while I was knitting and you can see my progress:



Now that I've finished blogging, I'm going to eat lunch and quilt. See you later.

Grenadine Girl

I love dishware

And speaking of dishware...



Alex Marshall is having a sale of her fabulous table ware. Go here for beautiful serving pieces in emerald, ox blood and aqua.

I would go straight there myself if I hadn't just spent a fortune on fabric and yarn, which I will show you later.

Bon weekend a tous!

Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Would you be my neighbor?

I must be doing well because I now have good old Mister Rogers stuck in my head. Or perhaps I'm still high off endorphins from my 30 minute stationary bike ride. I love the bike. I read while I'm biking and it makes exercise more enjoyable. And I get to exercise my mind while my legs get a workout. I'm still reading the biography about Madame de Stael. Right now she's in exile from France because good old Boney (Emperor Bonaparte) doesn't like her free flowing ideas and unconventional lifestyle. I love how reading about her has given me a new dimension on Napoleon. All of the biographies that center on him give him a lot more glory than he perhaps deserves. He is such a controversial figure -it's hard to tell if he was good or bad for the French people. On one hand he did create the code Napoleon (which is still the basis of law in Louisiana) and he brought order to what was previously revolutionary anarchy. On the other, he discouraged freedom of thought and freedom of the press. Nonetheless, he and his contemporaries are fascinating to me.

I have started that Knit 1 tank with the Rowan all seasons cotton. This is going to take a long time and I hope for my sake, since I plan to wear this thing that it turns out better than my flower basket. Am I getting myself in too deep? It's a simple tank. It will teach me important things like armhole and neck shaping. And I'll have to whip out my crochet techniques for the finishing touches. I have high hopes for this project. But then I have a secret. I've been a little disloyal to the knitting. Gasp! I've been thinking about returning to quilting! That's right. This Saturday I want to set up my sewing machine in the dining room and finish my mother-in-law's quilt. Its looooooong overdue and she could do with a special gift. Which reminds me that I should email my sister-in-law Tegan. Hello Tegan.

Anywho I should hang out with my neglected husband who is currently watching Star Treg TNG, which I'm not such a huge fan of anymore.

Hey I also remembered to mail my secret pal a new package today. I can't wait for her to receive it. I am still considering whether or not I want to participate in SP5. I have to save a heap of cashola for my Christmas trip to Australia. Has anyone already signed up for SP5?

I hope you're all doing well. I'm excited my birthday is coming up soon.

Grenadine Girl

Lasagne, America's Party Food

Mom's party went well. So well in fact that I have spent the whole weekend at my parents house. I hope my husband isn't feeling neglected. I think it's only fair since he got up early this morning to see a PREVIEW SCREENING OF THE NEW STAR WARS MOVIE. Everyone at the party is surpised that I'm not leaving him because I don't get to go, but I'll live. There's a major race running in the city this morning at the same time as the movie so it will be a minor miracle if Luke gets there on time. Speaking of which, I don't know how the heck I'm going to get home since I have to drive through the city to get home. I'm seriously considering a roundabout drive through the East Bay to avoid all of the crazy traffic. Instead, I'm using this as an excuse to stick around my parents house longer and to go to their LYS, which I'm sad to admit is better than the LYS in my neighborhood.

After posting this blog, I will be reviewing two patterns, one in Rowan's Beach Cool and the other in the Knit 1 magazine (gasp!). There are some sweaters and tank tops that I want to try from the Beach Cool thing (and a hat too). There's a tank top with a ribbon tie in the back that I like in Knit 1.

Here's the Rowan tank top:

I think I'm going to extend the bottom a bit. Its a bit short, making my boobs look humongo, a department in which they currently do not require assistance.

My mom's birthday was fantastic. Everyone had a good time and I enjoyed all of the cooking, though I think I'm avoiding the clean up aspect of the operation.


Anywho i hope you're all doing well and have had good weekends.

La Fille Grenadine

be right back

busy with mom's b-day party. This week I'm planning a major big post with lots of photos. So much to do. I still have to send out my last package to my secret pal, but I've been waiting because I still want to find some fun little gifts, which I might be able to do today in between running around getting all of the food from the Farmer's Market, going to Trader Joe's and preparing the tasty dishes.

We are going to have some fabulous treats:

Bruschetta with Goat Chese
Vegetable Crudites with Guacamole, Hummus and onion dip
vegetarian lasagna
dad's regular lasagna
cheese platter with crackers and french baguettes

party on wayne
GG

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Just want to wish my mom a very happy birthday! I'm throwing her a little party on Saturday. It's going to be a lot of fun!

And for the rest of you have a very nice day.

(mini update: my friend Jenny is coming for a visit. She and I went to film school together. Maybe we'll write a short film. Lord knows I'm not doing anything with my film degree right now!!!)


Grenadine Girl.

Bon Weekend

This has been one of the best weekends I've had in a looooong time. I'm feeling pretty good. Saturday was fantastic. I slept in until 9:30 and read a book (which is a biography on Madame de Stael a citoyenne and author during the French Revolution). The weather was gorgeous and I set upon some garage sale shopping. I found 5 textbooks on sewing and pattern making, so hopefully my sewing will improve.

Mr. Grenadine and I had a delicious lunch of leftover spaghetti made fancier by a glass of white wine. I danced around the house listening to Jack Johnson's new album, then we played Lord of the Rings, The Third Age all afternoon. I read some knitting magazines, Rollingstone and Stitch and Bitch nation. I finished the evening by watching the first episode of the Forsyte Saga, which is glorious, especially while I'm knitting.

Yes, I'm back to the knitting again. I am working on a baby blanket for an expectant mum in Australia. I don't like using baby yarn for baby projects. I'm using some Plymouth bulky acrylic blend and it looks beautiful. An easy, relaxing project.

Today is Sunday and now it's all rainy, which makes for some good knitting time and to watch the second installment of the Forsyte saga. I've already had my cup of decaf and read the Sunday paper. We'll probably have to go to the gym this afternoon and I'm actually going to cook a real dinner tonight. Sorry to Mr. Grenadine for being slack-ass in the kitchen.

Anyway happy mother's day to all. I'm going to call my mom and grandmother this afternoon. Hopefully they've received my cards.

Grenadine Girl

Kelly Clarkson is Still In My Head

I'm going to spare you the lyrics and the song name but the song mentioned in my previous post persists to play over and over in my head. I wish it would go away. Can anyone suggest a better alternative? I had one I heard a New Order song on the radio today on my way to lunch. I think it's called Morning Sun and the lyrics are some of the most beautiful I've ever heard. I used to sing along to that song when it played on Live 105 in high school, but I never understood what the lyrics meant until now. So much more poetic than it seemed when I was younger.

There we've done it, I now have that New Order song in my head. Much better. This has been a good week. Luke and I celebrated two birthdays, my friend Nova's involved a rice-crispy-treat cake, which was delish along with the munchable dinner. Many thanks to Will and Nova for having us over. It was such a delightful way to get over the Wednesday hump. We made initial plans for the Collimpics, a tournament which will include a variety of events starting with miniature golf, ultimate frisbee and bowling. I think we will have a special trophy made, perhaps a gorilla sporting jaguar bikini briefs? Anywho. I hope we spend more time this summer with the Collins gang. Oh by the way they're in a band, pleast listen to their music, which can be found here. Oh and thanks to Rachel for the new knitting store tip.

The other birthday feted was our pal Ren. We celebrated over Mexican food, it being the day after Cinquo de Mayo and it was muey tasty. Its got me thinking about my birthday which is coming up soon.

much love to everyone. I'm feeling very good post-workout.
peace out.
Grenadine Girl

Get Out of My Head Kelly Clarkson!!!

I've got that awful song Breakaway stuck in my head. Then I get that Maroon 5 song stuck. This love has taken its toll on me she says goodbye too many times beforeororor. Then Kelly Clarkson again with the Since you've Been Gone song. Can you tell that there's nothing but crap on the radio?

I revealed myself to my secret pal. Her name is Cecile and she's a fabulous French woman and a tricoteuse avec des aiguilles en feu. She knits like a pro! Please visit her well-designed blog: Le Meli Melo de Cecile. I had much fun writing to her in French and sending her goodies. I still have one more package to send and I'm trying to find extra fun things to send...

I finished another project. The knitty wavy scarf in natural Cascade 220 is finished. I have been sporting it around the office and it is very very comfortable. That wool is so soft. Speaking of sporting. I also sport-ed my flower basket at the farmer's market, but it was such a beautiful day outside and there were so many people that nobody noticed my unique sac a main. Nonetheless it still functioned well for the occasion.

The problem remains: what to make next? I don't want to decide right away because I have been working on the two previous projects for so long that i want to bask in the light of finishing them. Instead I am organizing. I am going through my little room once again and tossing out anything I don't need anymore and I'm selling what I won't keep. That's right I'm having a garage sale. I wonder if any of it will sell because it's a lot of junk.

C'est Fini!

Now, what you've all been waiting for, The Vogue Flower Bag is finished! Please see photographic proof below:





And it all started from this...

Too Much of A Good Thing

You know how yesterday I wrote how sugar and caffein were two things that I should avoid? I totally ignored that sentiment this morning when I dug into my breakfast of cheesecake and coffee. Man I was flying high as a kite at work. Everyone must have thought I was krazy -and that's no typo, I mean crazy-with-a-k, nutty as a fruitcake madness. Then came the crash, which I was expecting so I was able to ride it out with a bit of lunch, but what I wasn't expecting was the gigundo HEADACHE.

I've learned my lesson.

So I have two days off work and I'm already relaxing. I've totally written off cooking an appropriate dinner. Instead I had salt and pepper kettle chips and sharp cheddar cheese for dinner. It was yummy. Tomorrow I will be treated to a facial and I want to go with my mom to a yarn store and a book store. Plus I have some serious writing to do. yay.

BTW I have some gorgeous Cascade 220 (3 skeins) to use up. Any suggestions?

GG

Short Week

I've just returned from the gym. I've been working out a little harder, riding the stationary bike instead of walking the treadmill. I like the bike because I can read tabloid celebrity trash while I cycle. From now I'm only allowed to read magazines at the gym. I've got to make the most of my time. I'm lifting weights too. Gotta get those endorphins. It was an o.k. day today. The phone rang off the hook at work and I lost my patience with a customer. I have to stop answering the phones at work. I'm losing my mind over it. Unfortunately this is a major requirement of working in customer service.

On the lighter side one of our work associates sent us some cheesecake, which is my number one food group. All of that creamy yumminess was worth the major sugar crash at 4pm, which come to think of it was around the same time I snapped at the customer. Sugar and caffein, two things that I should avoid. There were two cheesecakes to sample and surprisingly the brownie chocolate cheesecake surpassed the plain one in flavor, the plain one being too sugary and vanilla-y for me. These came from world famous Junior's in Brooklyn by the way.

Come to think of it I can't think of a better week i've had at work. This is probably because I'm taking Thursday and Friday off, but you really can't beat days off and cheesecake in one week. But now I remember that my mom is treating me to a spa day and I realize that this may be one of the best weeks of my life, aside from the week of my wedding.

As for knitting. I am determined to finish the wavy scarf this week. it's almost summer around here and I can't abide an unfinished scarf project to begin the summer. I don't know if I will be knitting much after the wavy scarf. I think I may have over-done it since the flower basket and the wavy scarf, but that said I have a baby blanket to finish as well, but at least that's a simple project, little garter stitch squares of Plymouth colorspun Bulky in the colors of the sea, greens, teals and blues. I think of them as Earth Day Colors.

Anyway I hope you're all doing well.

Grenadine Girl.

Monday

This is one of the better Mondays I've had. Something right must have happened because when I rolled out of bed I didn't agonize over what to wear to work, I put on a little bit of makeup and wore my sassy shoes, which for this occasion were a pair of Clarks wedge mary-janes. I felt good this morning. I slept soundly the night before. My mind is clear and alert.

Work was good too. My mind was organized, though I was feeling so good I pondered my personal goals instead of work ones. I wrote today, though not the morning babble, but wrote outlines for a tv show, which I suppose is something.

The drive home was problem free, no traffic even and I had packages in the mail. A Rollingstone magazine, a new sweater from the Gap and the Hot Springs Arkansas tourism material I had requested.

The Rivers Cuomo interview creeped me out. Apparently our beloved Weezer front man has turned to extreme meditation to alleviate his anxiety, which aparently includes being alone in a dark room for hours. Something about that doesn't seem healthy. He's also given up all of his worldly goods and god help us has become celibate. I've decided not to judge him. Maybe this makes his life a better place to be. Who am I to judge? I guess its just so anti-rock star.

I've got dinner in the oven. I think i'll veg out in front of the tv with my wavy scarf...

bye for now
gg

Finishing my farmer's market bag

hello there

I have been working on the vogue flower bag and it's been sewed up and felted and finished and the results were a bit suprising. Let's just say that the bag didn't shrink nearly as much as I thought it would, so now it has been turned into almost a messenger bag, which is actually a good thing. I'm going to use it for when I go to the farmer's market. I still have one or two little things to finish on it and then I will be ready to show it off to the world.

This weekend I have taken a much neede break away from my home and went to visit my parents. Its always nice to visit with my folks. It gives me more perspective and a little space to breathe. My dad makes a delicious spaghetti sauce and one of two things always ends up on tv: The Godfather or Star Wars. Last night it was Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, which has always been a favorite.

Anyway now that the flower bag is almost finished, I may finally get the chance to finish the wavy scarf that i've been working on for what seems like forever.

Also Jennifer received my RAOK, I didn't realize what a hard time she was going through and in fact one of her friends suggested that I send her the felting kit. I'm glad that it went to someone who really needed cheering up.

happy knitting
GG