i heart yoga.

I've just finished up my 2-week unlimited pass at the yoga & pilates studio near my house, and I'm very sad. It was so nice to go to as many classes as I had time for! I wish I could have tried more, but two classes in one day is too much. Plus T-man would miss me. :) J. and I met up for a pilates class last week and went out for a drink afterward - now that's motivation! It was fun. Next time I'm buying.

After my first yoga class there, I was so blissed out. Aaaah. I found the class challenging, but not so hard that it was discouraging. In subsequent classes, I've had a hard time not falling asleep in savasana... I did fall asleep in one class, for just a second. So embarrassing! I'm developing a method to catch myself before before slipping into dreamland.

Speaking of falling asleep, it's time for bed...

cornucopia.


T-man and I went a little crazy yesterday... We went to MEC to get another bike lock (I'm going to start double-locking my bike at work. It seems like overkill but a bike was stolen from in front of the cafe and I'm paranoid) and we ended up buying a couple of shirts, a couple of hats, and a million different kinds of energy bars. I didn't used to eat these things, but they are handy to keep in my purse in case I need a quick snack. I've lost weight since starting the new job, and I don't want to lose any more!

There are so many different kinds of bars and of course we had to get some of each flavour. And there are Power Bars with extra protein (24g compared to 10g) so I had to get some of those too. Do I need more protein or carbs or fat? I don't even know!

After MEC we went to the drugstore, and while I was browsing in the expensive makeup section, T-man was filling the basket with retro candy: Mike and Ikes, Hot Tamales and Goodies. He pointed out, but did not purchase, the rainbow-striped Twizzlers - perfect for Pride weekend! (Don't worry, T-man also picked up a new fancy toothbrush and a new tube of toothpaste.) I felt so good about not buying the $44 primer that I treated myself to the summer knit.1 magazine. Because I need another knitting mag full of patterns that I don't have time to knit. hehe. (I will eventually end up buying the $44 primer, although I hope that it's cheaper at Sephora, or perhaps I can find it at Duty Free. But that's a separate post.)

whose day?

I am the worst daughter ever. I did not realize it was Father's Day until 9:30 pm, when my dad is already sleeping. No phone call! No visit! No card! No present! Ugh. Uuuuuuuuuuugggghhh.

Update: I called my dad on Monday and all is well. I'd better have a kick ass present for his birthday next week.

links added.

I've just added a list of bellydancing links to the right nav. Check 'em out! I quite enjoy browsing the Tribe.net communities and I've picked up some good practice tips. If only I practiced more instead of surfing the web...

no title.

Too tired to post anything interesting. I was up before 5 am today - yikes! And I rode to work. Yay me.

Since I've got nothing, go and check out Andrea's blog: http://www.greentea.tk/
I don't know what Kendo is, but it involves swords and Japanese warriors and that sounds cool. (I'm also too tired to read, apparently.)

Off to bed!

ribs and lace tank.


I made some progress on the tank over the weekend. Knitting + cottage = goodness. I still have a long way to go - it's not even halfway done!

shortbread sampling.


This is the set up for the sampling session I did last week. I was beside the meat/deli counter, which is not my favourite place to be, but it got a lot of traffic and we were successful - the store is going to continue to carry our products and we got excellent feedback.

Look at those delicious shortbreads! Now go and buy some. :)

busy weekend.

I had a whirlwind weekend... drove up to the cottage in terrible Friday afternoon traffic, fought off the mosquitoes (unsuccessfully), went out for dinner and found out that I went to the same high school as our server, stayed awake past 10 pm, did a whole lot of knitting (the ribs and lace tank is coming along), swam in the lake, watched T-man go wakeboarding (?!?!?!!?), did a little canoe trip around the lake, drank wine, read the intro to Hermann Hesse's Siddharta but none of the actual novel, raced back on Sunday afternoon for rehearsal. Now I must do laundry and get things ready for the week ahead.

Will post photos this week! I also have pics from Layali Arabesque from last Sunday.

R.I.P.

The beater bike that T-man so lovingly restored was stolen from in front of the house on Wednesday night. If you see anyone riding this bike around Toronto - the lime green brake cable will give it away - please steal it back and return it to me!

update!

I'm still a bad blogger... does it make a difference that I feel bad about it? I do really want to post more and share my thrilling and exciting life with y'all. I have yet to work out a good method to include computer time in my day. (Currently Facebook sucks up all my computer time. Evil, evil Facebook.)

I am looking at a very busy week ahead... today I am meeting J & A for brunch, then I have a rehearsal in the afternoon (for my dance recital!), and in the evening I'm going to Myth for Layali Arabesque.

Going out on a school night? Am I crazy??

Lucky me, I don't have to get up early on Monday because I am doing shortbread sampling at a retail location on Monday and Tuesday. The hours are 11 am-2 pm (lunch hour) and 5-9 pm. Even though the shifts are short, it will end up being a long day when I factor in set-up and clean-up time. I'm a little nervous about it... dealing with the public like this is not my favourite thing. It will be easy though - who doesn't want to try a free sample of a cute little delicious cookie? I just have to smile and look approachable.

Wednesday is a regular work day, and it's my one free day this week to run errands. I will probably just nap on the couch. Hopefully get some knitting done - my tank is SO not getting done this month.

On Thursday night, a couple of girls from dance class are coming over to practice for the recital. Not sure why I volunteered my house, since it's a disgusting mess - a little better now after vacuuming and sweeping. Maybe inviting them over was a way to force myself to do chores.

This coming weekend, the in-laws are in town and we're going up to bro-in-law's cottage. Hopefully I can finish work early on Friday and drive up in the afternoon, since I have to be back on Sunday afternoon for The Last Rehearsal Before The Recital. It's especially important that I attend since I'll be missing BOTH classes this week. Good thing the girls are coming over to practice!!!

Time to get this busy week started... I hope to post a knitting update today, but no promises! :)

japanese tap dance.

From Zatoichi, The Blind Swordsman. Tap dancing goodness! This looks like SO much fun.

bad blogger.

This once-a-week posting thing is not good. I apologize to my loyal fans... er, fan. I am going to re-post part of an email I sent W. earlier this week, because it sums up my life these days:

Things are going well at the cafe, but I'm still soooo tired in the evenings. I hope it will get better soon! A few days ago, I was thinking "PHM still does physical stuff, like go to the climbing gym, I'm sure I'll get used to this" but the next day we were talking, and she told me that she hasn't been to the gym in months and she has no energy for physical activity outside of work! uh oh. That doesn't bode well for me. T-man is getting out on his bike more often (and on my old bike that he fixed up) and is excited to go for longer rides... but I look forward to lounging around on my time off. We'll have to find some balance.

I DO like the new job, and I enjoy biking to work (4 days this week, woo hoo). I even rode in the rain on Wednesday! That was not especially enjoyable, but I saw lots of other cyclists on the road so the "poor me" didn't last too long.

I will be re-starting my food log, for two reasons:
1. it keeps me posting on a regular basis
2. I've been eating like crap this week, and my body is mad at me. If I don't bring good snacks and lunch to work, I wait too long between meals and after I eat, my stomach doesn't feel great. Then I don't want to eat or make good food because I feel nauseous. So I don't make dinner and the next day, I don't have good snacks or lunch to bring to work. And with all my physical output, I need to pay attention to my input. (my output isn't extraordinary by any means, but I'm exhausted all the time, so for me, it's a lot)

Did I mention that the ride to and from work is getting easier? (there's some positive news for you!)

riiiiiiiiip part deux.

Before:

I am having gauge issues with the ribs and lace tank. I almost got gauge with 5.5 mm needles, but once I started the sweater I realized the fabric was quite loose. So I swatched with 5.0 mm needles and the stitches look much better, but I have too few stitches per inch. Hmm. I did some calculations, and with the larger needles the waist would be 40.5 inches around...! Yowza! That's way too big. With the smaller needles, the waist is 34 inches. Much better, but it still seems rather large. I finally decided that I could accept the sweater turning out smaller than the pattern.

After:

Time to start over with the smaller needles. My goal is to finish the tank by the end of May, so I'd better get cracking! I am still working on the swatch for the rib portion, with 2.5 mm needles. It knits up nice and tight, which is good, but I'm not sure yet how it will compare to the pattern gauge. I refuse to measure it until the swatch is complete! Which would be tonight if I stopped blogging and started knitting...

geared up.

On Saturday, T-man and I went to Mountain Equipment Co-op to get some bike stuff. Now that I'm riding to work everyday, I need to get set up right! It's a 20-25 min. ride, a little longer on the way home since I take the waterfront trail. We took my old bike from my parents' house last year (I got it in high school, but hardly ever rode it) and finally got it set up to use as a beater bike - both of our bikes scream "steal me" so they're not good for running errands and leaving parked for any length of time. T-man took off the neon green curly handlebars and the neon green stickers, put on straight bars, a light and a bell. The bike is too big for me, and I don't like the crossbar, but it will do.

T-man also fixed up my baby - I have new riser bars, new grips, lifted seat, a new dinger and the light re-installed. He tried to take the stickers off but they're painted on. :(

Om bike
(the model is Omega, but I'm dropping the 'ega')

I got some new gloves and shorts at MEC...


Not especially exciting, but I still wanted to put them on as soon as I got home and dance around the house! Actually, I pretended to be riding around the living room, which is even more ridiculous!! (gotta love the padded crotch - not so stylish but so necessary)

riiiiiiiiip.

Before:


After:

The crochet mini-sweater is no more. I ran out of yarn and it wasn't something that I would really wear anyway... so why keep a half-finished project around to taunt me?

Now, what to do with the leftovers? The cream-coloured Lamb's Pride cotton is nice and soft, but the tan yarn (also cotton) is rather stiff and better suited to a dish cloth or purse than clothing. Any suggestions?

I'm back!!!

Sorry, started the new job, been exhausted, but now I'm back and will update more regularly, I promise! I haven't even been reading my favourite blogs - I feel so out of touch! (but I still check Facebook daily... some addictions are stronger than others!)

found!

I have located the 5 mm circular needles but the 3 mm circs are still on the lam. I am definitely going to need the smaller size for the tank.... must keep searching...

so tired.

I'm into Week 2 of my wake up early training plan, and it's not going so well... I'm so tired!!! Yesterday I got up at 6:30 AM, not 6 AM like my original plan, but I still was not feeling very well so I didn't want to push myself. I slept terribly that night, and was a zombie all day yesterday.

Today I was out of bed at 6:15 AM, and although I slept pretty well, it's been a slow start. More coffee!! Actually, I'm going to make a smoothie with Greens+, hopefully that will give me a boost of energy.

new project.

I picked up yarn yesterday for my next knitting project: the Ribs and Lace Tank from Interweave Knits Spring 2007. Originally I was shopping for yarn for the wrap sweater on the cover, but I didn't love the colour in person, and the yarn was very close to my price limit ($10/ball) so I didn't want to make a hasty decision. Now that I've had more time to think about it, the wrap sweater in black would be very wearable... perhaps I'll go back next weekend.


Back to the tank - Romni doesn't carry the yarn specified in the pattern, so the staff helped me pick out an alternative (yes, she was helpful! you can't always count on that at Romni). Actually, she showed me a couple of options, and I decided on a slightly thicker yarn since I knit so loosely. Lucky me, it was cheap!! $3.49/ball. I also picked up some 5.5 mm circs, although I think I may already have some that size... My 3.0 mm circs are hiding somewhere, and I wanted to make a gauge swatch for the rib part of the tank (I get gauge with 3.5 mm but I'd like a tighter knit). This morning I noticed that my 5.0 mm circs are also missing, so I think they ran off together! I recall using them both not too long ago... they are probably tucked into a bag of yarn somewhere...

socks done!

OK, so the socks have been finished for a few weeks, I was just really slow to block them. And there is still one end that needs to be woven in.

Here they are, pre-blocking...

Oxo wanted to be part of the photo. At least he didn't lay down right on top of the socks! And the lovely socks, post-blocking and basking in the sun...

I guess they do look better after being blocked... Sock #1 (left) still looks a bit lumpy and the stitches are a bit uneven. Alas, blocking cannot cure all my knitting ills! Once they're on my feet, no one will notice anyway, not even me.

I am also blocking the sweater I knit over the winter, which has been piled up in the corner waiting to be finished for about 2 months now. It was such a big deal to me to knit a sweater, but once it was finished... meh... who cares. I still need to get buttons, but it can be worn button-less till then.

It's all pinned up like a science experiment. Not sure how to flatten the underarms... hope they look OK once I have it on. Mango told me that when she washed and blocked her sweater, she laid it out on the bed and then put towels on top of it because of her cats. Good advice! I put a towel on top of this one and Oxo found it to be a lovely bed, if a little damp. Hurumph.