Happy Turkey Day!!!

Or... Happy Thanksgiving! :D I hope everyone has a wonderful day with plenty to eat, but no stomach aches!

And now for a video:



I love our president. Just sayin'.

We're having Thanksgiving tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to Busch Gardens because there will be almost no one there. Friday, I hit the stores for some awesome shopping. Yes, I am insane. *glee*

OMG, Shoes! ... And Shows...

I love shoes. Even if most of the time I like my feet bare, I still have an uncontrollable, irrational lust for cute, hot, trendy, hot shoes.

I bought some today. Seychelles. "Our Heroine."



That's the best photo I can get with my camera phone.

They're pretty much exactly like shoes that they are selling at Target, except these have brass hardware instead of pewter colored hardware, and these are real leather instead of evil PVC. \o/

In other news: Am currently watching Bones. I gave up on The Vampire Diaries after last week. It's set in a small town in rural Virginia, and yet NO ONE speaks with even a hint of a Southern accent... in fact, everyone speaks as if they're from Los Angeles. That's the tip of the iceberg of the things that are wrong with that show, but that was the thing that pushed me from "fun to mock how bad this is" to "now, they're just being excessively ridiculous."

Supernatural is on next!!! :D Hot shoes and Supernatural! I feel like it's my birthday or something...

A Sunday of randomness and gardening...

Gardening first... It was supposed to rain this afternoon, but it's 4pm and it still hasn't. Maybe tonight... But I've been out in the garden off and on since about 9 this morning getting as much done as I could. I moved bricks around to line the edges of the vegetable bed, and I planted the yellow summer squash seedlings in with the mustard greens that are going to seed right now. I also watered everything, thinned the parsnips, which seem to be just starting to really grow, and picked about 4 gallon-sized bags worth of mustard greens. We've got so much of that stuff, but it's yummy, so that's good. I also threw some annual seeds in the dirt of the flower beds in the front yard. With luck and water and sunshine, in a few weeks, there will be some marigolds, cosmos, zinnias and calendula coming up out there. I like those flowers because they do very well here and pretty much take care of themselves, freeing up more time for me to spend on the veggies out back.

On to the randomness:

• I got my first paycheck on Friday. \o/ Not a fabulous one, there was only one day's worth of work on it and the next one will be much better, but still, paycheck! *dances*


• I ordered myself a pair of handcarders today. Schacht brand. Made in the USA with some really nice features for longevity. I figured I'd use my Christmas money and a few dollars from my first paycheck on them before I forgot that I had Christmas money sitting in my account with a directive from my aunt to "buy something frivolous." Useful but unusual and expensive was about as frivolous as I could get. LOL!


• When the handcarders get here, I'll finally be able to start tackling the four pounds of raw llama fiber my friend Tareena sent me. YAY! \o/


• I'm annoyed with Lane Bryant. They sent my the clothes I ordered to Virginia, even though they had said they had fixed the address label and the order was certainly being sent to Florida before it left their facility. They obviously lied. Supposedly, it has now been forwarded through the US mail, but it still hasn't arrived and it's been more than a week. There were some really cute outfits in that order for work, and now they've sold out of my size, so if this is lost in the mail, refund or not, I'm S.O.L. Grrrrrr...


• I want to make strawberry jam. This sounds like the most wonderful idea to me.


• I haven't worked on Jensen's socks in days. However, I did make myself a steering wheel cover for my car. I finished it last night. Pictures will eventually be forthcoming.

Updates and New Years...

It's almost New Year's Eve, today being December 30th... Today is my sister Heather's birthday. She is 13. YAY! Happy birthday, Heckie!

I've been spinning my "wine" Ashland Bay merino. Another 98 yards of worsted. It's all yarn now, no more of that roving left. I think a beret/slouch hat for myself... But this seems to be my answer for every bit of yarn I get my hands on nowadays, so who knows what it will end up being. If I'm not careful I'll spin all my stash before NaSpinMoMo on Ravelry... That's a lie... I don't think it's possible with the leaps and bounds my stash has grown by in the last month, and will continue to do so for at least a week longer, most likely (keep reading)...

I brought three knitting projects with me on vacation - I can't remember if I mentioned this before - and when I sat down to start at least one of them last week, I found I have no needles with me for any of them, despite the fact that I've brought all my knitting needles with me. And despite the fact that there is an LYS somewhere near here, I've yet to get over to it when it's open to buy some needles of the correct type and size. Fail, Rachael, fail.

But that's okay because I've found other things to do with my time. Like trolling etsy and ebay for pretty things. I've ordered four rovings, and alchemied another one on etsy (because i just couldn't find what I wanted in the right color/fiber). *facepalm* What was that about not increasing my stash until I had knit it down? That's okay though (*shifty eyes*) because this stuff is for very specific projects. At least that's the intent. I want to make socks for the boys... Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, that is. In their favorite colors. Stripes. Some thick socks to wear on cold days in their trailers or in their house while playing Guitar Hero or whatever it is that they do... Why not. I'm going to aim for a dk or worsted weight and I don't expect that to be too very difficult. I'm also making them matching hats (hats that will match their respective socks, not hats that match each other's). Yes, more hats. Don't judge me. Of course, I have no idea when I'll finish these or when I'll give them to the boys because I don't expect to go to any more conventions any time soon. Susan wants me to come with her to the Vancouver one perhaps, and while Vancouver is beautiful, I have no money for a con that expensive in my hometown, let alone one that will require the addition of round-trip cross-continental, international airfare costs. So maybe I'll give them to Jared at EyeCon again. A day ticket there, I can swing that if I really want to... I just wish they'd up their security and have the damn thing at a time of year when Jensen would maybe want to come too... But I totally understand why he doesn't and if I were him, I don't think I would either. Not that I fault Jared for coming... I guess what I mean to say is, I can see why Jared wants to come to the EyeCon conventions and I can see why Jensen doesn't and I totally support their decisions and think it's perfectly right for them to do what they do... So, yeah... Superwash roving for socks, regular roving for hats. Ordered and on its way here...

Other than that, today I'm just waiting for my parents to get here. They're on their way back from the cabin to where we live in Florida and on their way through SC, they are stopping by the Burough. They should be here any minute...

And that's about it... So if I don't get a chance to say so before then: Happy New Year! May it be a year full or rewards, love, understanding and peace.

So... that was awkward...

I went to lunch with my friend Maria today. We went to the mall because it's near her work and it's fast and she only has an hour for lunch. After we ate (because it doesn't take a full hour when you get your food in 10 minutes or less), we walked down to Old Navy really quick. They have a coat that I want and I wanted her opinion on it as I don't trust their mirrors. Just as soon as I get some more money in my account, I'm going to snap it up. It's cute. I kinda love it. (Picture here.) I'd love it more if it were lined in cotton or bamboo or really any natural fiber instead of polyester, but until I have several hundred dollars to spend on a designer coat or I get good enough at sewing to make my own or the McFashion industry starts using things other than petroleum synthetics to line coats, I'm going to have to grit my teeth and bear it... Maybe at some point I'll be able to rip the lining out of it and replace it with something better... *hopes* Anyway, Maria approved of the coat.

On the way back to my car, as we were talking and having a nice walk through the mall, we were accosted by a nice but still kinda rude young woman... And this is where the awkward that I can't help but be amused by for some reason today happened... This girl was younger than us, going by her unfortunate overuse of eyeliner and mascara and her Abercrombie & Fitch attire. She wanted to tell us about Jesus and pray with us and get us to verbally say we accept him as our savior so that she would know we would go to Heaven when we die... You know... *cocks eyebrow*... Now, Maria is a Christian, but she finds proselytizing extremely and uncomfortably distasteful. And I, as we all know, am a heathen Jew. LOL! So she asked us how we knew we'd go to Heaven when we die. Maria didn't speak at that point, I think it was too awkward, so I did because it's automatic at a certain point and I can't stop myself... Like I said, awkward... Now, I could have gone off on a shpil of what I really think about such a question... about how we don't know and neither does she really because there might be a Heaven or there might not, none of us can prove or disprove it, and really why does it matter all that much when there's so much we have to be doing, indeed so much that we are obligated to be doing, while we're alive anyway... But I didn't, because we would have been there half the afternoon, so I just said the very simple, "Because God loves us," as if it were self-evident because I figured that was an answer she was probably looking for, and she certainly seemed to think it was a good answer and heartily agreed with me. I interrupted her at that point and told her, in hopes that she'd leave us to our business, since she interrupted our conversation by coming up to us as if she knew us in the first place, that we were leaving the mall because Maria had to get back to work right away, but she refused to take that hint and said she would walk with us. o.O Right... 'Cause that's not creepy at all... So she fell into step beside me, and prayed aloud that God would allow us to accept Jesus so she, personally, would get to see us in Heaven, as she so ardently hoped she would. Honestly, I had to check myself not to laugh out loud. As it was, I know my lips twitched of their own accord into a very amused smile. I couldn't look at Maria because I knew if I did, I would have started laughing. And then, in a tone as if she were talking condescendingly to children - a tone I've heard many times from people such as her and normally it makes me want to tell them where they can stick their Bible, but this time it did not, this time it was just too amusing - she asked us to repeat after her, "I am a sinner, but I love God and I accept Jesus Christ in my heart as my lord and personal savior." (Or something to that general effect and I'm sure she would have capitalized that sentence differently...) I very-- I'm not sure what my tone was... I guess I was too amused by her youthful, zealous naivety to be pissed like I usually am at proselytizers... Anyway, I said to her, "Oh, I can't say that. I'm Jewish." And shrugged at her. She looked so very, very genuinely disappointed... I can't quite convey it in words. Just really, so disappointed that that was my answer. I have to laugh remembering it. And then she looked to Maria. I said, because Maria had such a look on her face, like she didn't know what to say to this girl, "But she could say it, if you want her to." And Maria just kinda shrugged and said she already had said it because she's a Christian. I'm not sure what the girl said or did at that point, other than she finally left us alone, but I think she was reasonably pleased with that answer. As soon as she was out of earshot, I said, "Well, that was awkward." And Maria added, "We really need to learn not to talk to people." It's true, we so do need to learn that. Gets us in trouble every freaking time... I felt compelled to add that at least we know better and don't give money to people who beg for it on the street. So that's something... And that launched us off on some reminiscences of times people begged us for money and/or we saw pickpockets in Europe. *nods* That happened to both of us a number of times over there. Way more than in the US...

So that was my day so far... LOL!

Because I'm not tired yet...

(though I hope to be shortly) and I'm trying to distract myself from the fact that the roving I ordered did not work out for me to spin (I am allergic to Louet brand roving... who knew?), but I'm sure Ilana will enjoy it and have better luck... I'm going to ramble a bit about things not very important in the grand scheme, but currently relevant to myself... Jewelry, fashion, colors and the coalescence thereof...

So... I have an awesome blouse I bought a few months ago. I had a coupon for a free $30 at Lane Bryant, I needed several shirts for the High Holy Days, it fit well, the color wasn't vile, I bought it. It was about $11 after discounts were applied. I love shopping wins. Plus it's 100% cotton, no petroleum-based synthetics - FTTW! I didn't think much of it at the time, it was just something I could buy to fill an immediate need and hole in my wardrobe. I have since fallen in love with it. It's a midnight sky blue. It has... not Swiss dots (since those are embroidered in) but something very close to them woven into the fabric and ever so slightly puffed sleeves. It goes with my coral necklace that I asked my sister to make for me because such color combos are IN according to the people who decide these things, as portrayed in the film and novel "The Devil Wears Prada." (Also, they say that bold, "statement" jewelry is the thing. And will continue to be the thing for at least the next year.) I am in love. Honestly, it is my favorite outfit right now and I fully intend to wear it half to death before Spring when it might be out of style. *nods sagely*

The coral necklace came to me one day in July. I was gazing at some coral beads in a bead shop and I thought I usually hate wearing such a bold red, but omg, those would make a pretty necklace! But I wavered on it for a few weeks and didn't buy the beads until almost September because until then I didn't have a vision of what I might want the necklace to look like. But I did buy them and had them sent to my sister and told her I just had to have some fabulous 18" long necklace made with them (and maybe some silver spacers). And she, being the talented, totally genius lapidary artist she is, did just that, as you can see by following the hotlink above. (If anyone reading this feels they must have one just like it, please do contact her through that page and inquire. She is always happy to make additional copies of an item, and I'm fairly certain she still has some of the same beads left.)

And what happens... Bright red is one of the "top" "IT" colors of the Fall '08/Winter '09 fashion season according to Pantone, who are apparently those IT people ultimately responsible for the why fashion colors are significant/cerulean sweater scene in "The Devil Wears Prada." I didn't know that at all going in. I just thought, omg, I love those red coral beads! Must have! Because I don't really pay attention to things like that until clothes are in stores and people are wearing them. I buy what I like because I like it. Or I buy what I don't totally like but find acceptable at the time because I need something for a specific purpose. I don't usually plan ahead. Especially accessories, which are almost always an after thought, if they're thought of at all.

So because I called the red so well for something I just had to have for the Fall/Winter this year... not really caring, except that I sorta do, I'm trying to figure out what I just have to have made for the Spring/Summer in '09... This is what happens now that I fully intend to take advantage of the fact that my sister is a jewelry-making goddess... I found some lovely deep sky blue turquoise 6mm rounds at Michaels (on clearance, the silly people!) the other day. Snatched those up and am now plotting. I have no idea what I want done with them, but they are so very pretty... I may go back and buy more... Maybe a really long, loopy, drapey necklace...? I dunno...

I also want a hamsa necklace SO bad! I don't have one! I find that shocking and wrong! I don't know what color I'll have that put together with when I find a pendant... Maybe many colors? In a trade-bead sort of look, except not because I'm not terribly fond of trade-beads... Although, maybe evil-eye beads? I dunno yet... I still haven't been able to find a hamsa in stores, only online, and they tend to be kinda pricy... like as much as I usually pay for all the beads and/or finished necklace altogether... and I find that shocking and wrong too... Because apparently, "ethnic" inspired jewelry of the Middle Eastern/African/Asian/Indian variety is going to be the thing in fashion jewelry (in addition to the bold stuff) this next year... So where are the hamsas in stores? Because we wants it precious, yeas, we do...

To continue the list of jewelry-wants, I'm coveting my mom's pearl necklace that she got from Lara... If Lara has another 26 pearls left, I might just have to ask her to make yet another one for me... Mom let me wear it because it was required for an outfit I wore to synagogue several weeks ago, and it looked so good and I felt to very chic! So now, I want one myself... Although, I'm sure Mom will let me borrow it anytime because she's awesome like that...

Just to note, colors I'm really feeling good about right now (in no particular order): true red, aqua, robin's egg, Tiffany blue, London topaz, midnight sky blue (although apparently Pantone is calling it "Twilight Blue"), indigo, navy, autumn sky blue, turquoise, aubergine, amethyst, bottle green, slightly-on-the-blue-side grass green, forest green...

Meanwhile, I need to go back to the drawing board for some of my planned Holiday gifts, revise and start the search for appropriate roving again... Ah, well... I'm sure it will work out. I'm thinking now black, white and gray Shetland will serve for my immediate needs and I'll worry about colored rovings once those are squared away.

So genius!!!

The Coupon Wallet... I just hope at least one of the color options is made out of cotton or some natural fiber... Because this is exactly what I've been looking for! (And it's made in the US! Kudos!!)