What happens in Vegas...

.... get's posted right here on my blog!

My husband surprised me last weekend with a trip to Vegas! I was so surprised and beyond excited to get away from cold, dreary Chicago for a couple days. (I gotta say Chicago is not at it's prettiest as it tries to thaw out for spring)

So I landed in Vegas at night and my husband (who was patiently waiting for me) quickly got me settled in our room and then back out to go eat at Nove Italiano, an italian restaurant at Palms Casino Resort.

(Waiting for our table)

I nearly melted on to the floor when I took a bite of my steak - al forno style. OMGSH I don't know why I have never thought to put parmesan and steaks together before! But they are a match made for each other.

(The view from our table - each window had its own fireplace)

And their pizza was so paper thin and just the right level of crispy vs. chewy that it was almost like eating that rice paper that melts in your mouth. And you could clear out a whole pizza with out feeling even the beginning pangs of fullness.

After we waddled back to our hotel and passed out from jet lag and fullness we got up the next day to tour the strip and go to one of my all time favorite burger chains EVER. In N Out Burger!

After filling up on delicious burgers and fries we were on our way to the new Cosmopolitan hotel when we found this boat sculpture in front of the Vdara hotel!

We were surprised to find that Vdara is a non-gamebeling establishment... but it sure is beautiful inside as well as connected to all the MGM properties

When we finally made it to the Cosmopolitan I was overwhelmed with their stunning 3 story chandelier! This hotel must have stock in Swarovski!

That night we got to go to my very first Cirque Du Soleil show - KA! So much fun! The stage did things I have never seen a stage do before... And I'm pretty sure a vampire from Twilight was in there too but I regress.

The next day we went out to dinner with a good friend of my hubbs and then I got surprised with another show. Jabbawockeez!!!! They have a perm show at the Monte Carlo

Seriously if you haven't heard of their amazing skills you need to check them out. In fact check them out right here

Amazing right? and their show is incredible. It's funny, thought provoking and just pure entertainment.

Jabbawakeez was a great way to end a great weekend!

We headed back to Chicago the very next morning (Monday) after a nice sleep in...

...and on Tuesday ... it snowed.

Mid-East meets Midwest

My husband and I were walking down the street one our way to Trader Joe's to get some of our favorite goodies when we walked past a building we have walked passed many times before.

But this time something caught my eye. I tugged on my husband's arm to get him to slow down and pointed to the main entrance. "Look!"

"Yeah Bloomingdales. We don't need anything" He replied as he started walking again.

"No. Look at the writing around the entrance. That's arabic. Look at the detail. It's all Arabesque. It's beautiful."

We stood in awe for a few minutes before the freezing weather forced us to be on our way.

On our walk home we let our imaginations run wild with all the possibilities of how that building got there. Who built it? Why here in the heart of the city? How did it become a Bloomingdales of all things?

After all our pondering and speculation I was surprised to find out the real history of the building. It was built by the local Shriners group in 1912 and was an auditorium that the circus would preform in.

I find that I smile to my self as happen past this building again and again. It seems to bring me memories of the sun and palm trees of the Middle East every time I walk by.

My little piece of the Middle East right here in Chicago

Snowpocalypse

Well I got my wish.

I wanted to be away from the sand storms. I wanted to be away from the heat. I wanted to be away from the relentless sunny skies (for an Oregonian it's just not natural for it to only rain 2 weeks a year!).

So what did a get? My very first blizzard.

I don't know what is in my blood that I seem to end up living the extreme of possible weathers. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where people get all fidgety if it's dry for too long (like three days in a row). Spent three years in Dubai where 90 degrees is often a relief from the heat and now living in Chicago where apparently it's normal to get 50'' of snow a year.

I happened to be in Detroit when The Great Blizzard of 2011 (imagine a movie announcer saying that) hit. Detroit didn't get hit nearly as badly (only 10" instead of the 20" Chicago go) but boy it's was kinda freaky. Wind so strong the snow was flying from left to right and it was howling. It's really hard to sleep when the wind is howling... it's just too creepy.

This is the courtyard in the Hotel before the storm hit

And here is after. And this is after a day of me not leaving the room! If there's a blizzard and food can be delivered I see no reason to leave

You can see the snow coming up past the windows

This is our windshield. The wind blew so strongly that the car didn't get buried just frozen.

When we finally did make it back to Chicago this is what we found (These pics aren't very pretty because let's face it snow isn't very pretty after the first day...)

Glad that wasn't my car!

This is the INSIDE of our parking garage. Snow is like sand and it gets EVERYWHERE!

There are still piles of snow like this all over the place. And dump trucks filled with snow driving down the roads. I think they just keep moving it from one place to another.

The path through the park by our house still had snow up to the knees

Fortunately Chicago does a great job of clearing the roads and for the most part it wasn't a problem just 2 days after the blizzard.

And it still wasn't a problem when it started snowing again

Da Bears

Chicago is all a-buz with talk of the "big game" against the Green Bay Packers tomorrow...

The whole city is out showing it's support. There is blue and orange everywhere

Also I have been really careful not to sport my duck colors (sans duck) in case I might be mistaken for a :::gasp::: packer's fan! There's only room for one Green n Yellow team in my heart.

And seeing as Oregon has no NFL team to support I have decided to adopt Da Bears -

It opens up a whole new knitting world of blue and orange (not to be confused with black and orange - oh no) sqeee!

Go Bears!

2010 - where did it go?

What a year 2010 was. It brought me so many changes that sometimes I can't believe it all happened in the course of 12 months.

2010 brought me and my husband to the US and then to Chicago. Talk about a dramatic change from the deserts of UAE

The year over all was wonderful. We're healthy, we're happy and we're staying afloat - can't ask for much more.

I have made some new amazing friends who have instantly invited me into their knitting world as if I had always been there. When I think of how much has happened this last year I wouldn't change a thing (except for the nasty colds that seem to be following me around... but I digress) but the part that still brings me sadness and grief are all the wonderful amazing friends I left behind. Emails and online chatter just doesn't seem to convey how much I miss them. But I know one day we will be together again, knitting in a cafe for hours, showing off our newest yarn acquisitions and our latest WIPs and FOs.

The year has also brought me great changes in my knitting

I published my first pattern

And I also published my first "for sale" pattern

I managed to complete over 40 knitted FOs

But I didn't meet many of my other knitting goals for 2010

• I didn't knit with my own dyed yarn - but that's in the works for 2011 (more later)
• I definitely bought yarn before June - Hey I was back in the states and all my yarn was in transit... I'm strong but not THAT strong
• I didn't knit one stitch on that cabled purse. Not one
• I made NO sweaters for my self - but that's another thing in the works for 2011 (more later)

But I'm not too worried about my lack of accomplishments because, first, I have knit more than I ever have before and, second, I have let this craft take me in new directions that I hadn't foreseen

• I did colorwork! and I love it
• I started designing my own patterns - this amazes me mostly because I was always so intimidated to even modify a pattern I was working on but now that I have started I just can't stop!
• I knit for swaps! Loads of fun!

So here are my 2011 goals:

• Write up the patterns that are waiting patiently to be shared with the world (currently three!)
• Knit more socks. I love hand knit socks
• Knit more sweaters. I need more sweaters cause Chicago has loads of "sweater" weather (or deathly chill with a side of frostbite weather)
• NO YARN UNITL SOCK SUMMIT. Well, not counting next week. I'm going to the loopy ewe next week and I'm just not that strong. So after next week NO MORE YARN UNTIL SOCK SUMMIT!!!

But mostly I'm going to see where the year takes me. I hope it includes family, love and friends...

Oh and some red orange juice would be great if anyone knows how to get some.

Happy New Year Everyone! I hop this year is even better than the last...

The pictures are of some of my very favorite and most used FO's

Fall

I'm so happy to be back in America for fall... And I must say that Chicago in the fall is gorgeous.

I love the colors, the leaves turning, the crisp chill in the air. It makes me want to cook and knit and just enjoy as we head in to winter.

So while I have been making cupcakes as chicken soup I have also dug deep in my stash to find some orange Posh sock yarn.

I'm making a simple ribbed hat for the hubb. As it gets colder and colder, hats are a daily need these days and that means we need options. Orange is the perfect fall option

Library

I found the Chicago Public Library... and it's huge!

It also happens to be off the same stop as my favorite yarn shop

Now you know where to find me

randomness

1- i'm finally getting over being sick. this time it came in waves. first the sick feeling, then the sick sounding, then the hacking (the loveliest part). i prefer to take it all on at once

2- now that i don't feel so sick i have been knitting. a lot

3- and cooking

4- and spinning

5- i've been busy

6- oh and i got a "proper" (by proper i mean a real) jacket that can handle whatever the weather here in chicago can dish out at us. at least that's what the guy said.

7- and boots which i could probably use to hike through the tundra of canada and still have toasty feet

8- yet i still feel ill prepared for winter. sigh. i think i'll just have to get through the first one

9- the auto timer on the dishwasher is amazing. it means it cleans while you sleep. unless you stay up too late. then it scares the crap out of you. like now

10- i think that's my cue to go to bed. night.

Blackhawks

Boy do I have a lot to catch up on. Things have been pretty busy and then I got sick. Sick means I loose all ability to form complete sentences. So before I dive into another dose of cough medicine I thought I would update my blog with at least a few of my happenings

First up

I went to my first Chicago Blackhawks game on Friday

Three things happened at this game

1. (and not surprisingly) the Hawks won!

2. I made some new friends

3. I'm addicted to hockey now! And I will go to every game where I can get my hands on some of those hot little tickets!

All American Saturday

I'm not sure if there's a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than watching a baseball game

and enjoying a hotdog

It's been so long since I have been able to enjoy a baseball game. I forgot how much fun they were (except that it was flippin' cold! and I imagine you'll be hearing that a lot from me in the coming months).

Oh and the Cubs won! woot woot!

A new taxi in Chicago - Red Bull NASCAR

There's a new taxi driver is in town



That's Scott Speed (Is that not the most appropriate name ever!) from the NASCAR Red Bull Racing Team working as a taxi driver in downtown Chicago for a day!

The mystery....

... of the disappearing Willis Tower (a.k.a Sears Tower).

Now you see it

Now you don't

Seriously. Chicago has some crazy weather...

Randomness

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed in my knitting. There's so much I want to knit right now and I just don't have enough time to knit everything

It's flippin' cold. It hit the mid 50's and that is just unacceptable

I'm going to attempt a yarn diet again

Perhaps I'll start the diet after yarn con

There's a package waiting for me and I don't know what it is. I can't get retrieve it until Monday. That's its own kind of torture

If it gets much colder (which I hear it will) I'm going to have to make some chicken noodle soup. Yum

And I'll finally get to wear all those hats and scarfs I knit in Dubai - I knew there was a reason for that

I think I'll shall leave you with some Malabrigo Sock

Recipe for a famous sock - KISS in Chicago!

Here's what you need to make your sock (or in this case Amanda's sock) famous

2 good friends on an adventure - one has to be smart enough to think outside the knitting bag - in this case all credit goes to Amanda!

2 tickets to KISS & 2 surprise backstage passes

1 sock in progress

Add a dash of waiting in line and persistence in the backstage area and you get this:

KISS holding a SOCK in progress!

After picture enjoy the concert and let rest for a while in a cool dark room until mid-noon

Wake up, brush off Rock N Roll party dust and send photo to the Yarn Harlot

Watch Amanda's pink sock become famous!

Backstage at KISS and being on the Yarn Harlot's blog in less then a week... This is so exciting I might pass out.

My adventure...

Today I went on an adventure in search of a treasure...

I woke up at the crack of 9 am. I had to see if I had received the message. The message that would alert me to begin my trek through parts unknown all in search of a mysterious treasure. I have been checking for this alert daily for weeks and for weeks there has been nothing. But this morning as I reach for my iPod I had a feeling today would be the day... and it was.

The excitement got to me right away. I leaped out of bed and put together the necessary provisions in order to guarantee my success on my mission.

After tying my shoes and locking the door I made my down stairs to head through the city. I had a 30 block hike in front of me but it was something I was confident I could do.

I walked my way through the blocks using my tried and tested routs. I made it nearly to Michigan Ave when akkk! I reach a roadblock. Literally.

Police cars, roadblocks and people littered the sidewalks and streets. And the bridge was up! "But it's not a Sunday" I thought to my self as I made my way through the crowds.

I could see my treasure slipping away as I saw that Michigan Avenue had been shut down. It was littered with burned out cars and debris from falling buildings. There were helicopters hovering overhead... the thwaping of their blades making their presence known even when they were shielded by the towering buildings.

I rounded a corner hoping that I would spot an opening in the crowd and Transformers 3 paraphernalia. Alas! Ahead on Ontario I could spot the break I had been hoping for. The road opened up again.

As I strolled towards my destination I could feel the relief of getting through the crowds be replaced by the anxiety that perhaps I had received the message in error. I stepped out of the heat and into the building only to come face to face with Nick, the Apple Specialist. I gave him the secret code (my name) and he hurried into the back room with the urgency that said he must know where my treasure was. I waited by the printers trying to distract my self from the minutes that passed and just as I was about to worry he came back out with a smile on his face, holding the little box I have longed to see for weeks. After a few more minutes of deciding just what extra fun stuffs my new treasure would need I handed over my unique identification number (credit card) and was on my way with my highly anticipated treasure in my hand...

... Making my first phone call...

... on my new iPhone 4

1st US Swap!

When I was abroad I had always wanted to join one of the swaps on Ravelry but it was very unrealistic to expect someone to send something to the UAE when normal post was 50/50 at best. So as soon as I got back to the US I signed up for a swap. I was so excited that I finally get to join in all the fun!

Right after I signed up and sent the mod my address we moved. yup. We moved! I didn't know what to do. Should I message that mod and be all "umm we moved quickly and I'm not in Portland and I can keep you posted as soon as we have an address." or just have my mom forward the box to me and have to wait precious extra days to receive my goodies??? We my problem was solved for me. As I was mulling this over I received a message from my swapee. It isn't customary for the swapee to reveal themselves early but I so glad mine did cause.... She lives in Chicago!!! She saw by stalking me (don't worry goes with the swapping territory. How else are you suppose to figure out what to get for someone you haven't ever met?) She saw that I had just moved and wanted to take me out to see the LYS's and invite me to her knitting group! I KNOW! So sweet!!!!

So I was finally able to make it to her knitting group today and guess what? She brought my swap package with her (ironically I had sent mine out to my swapee on the way to the group meeting)! It was so much fun to be able to open it in front of her and let me tell you her cyber stalking totally paid off....

So the theme of the swap was "Flat Rate Box" meaning fill up a medium size flat rate USPS box with as much as it'll fit. The swap needed to include yarn and a hand knit

This is what I got in mine! I KNOW! The box was practically busting that the seams!

• There's some color work bobbins. Little did she know that I had my eye on these for a while.
• Three pouches so I can better organize my notions and other knitting necessities. The pink one is perfect for DPN's
• Some sock yarn left overs that I can use for a sock yarn blanket I want to start.
• A huge bag of lavender. I love the smell of lavender I find it so relaxing.
• And the green project bag! It's amazing! And even better her mom made it!!! LOVE (100000)

She also hand knit me this lovely red tam which will be perfect in a few months when fall and winter start to roll in. I love the design. Just my style.

And look at this yarn!!!! Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (in Clay)! A yarn I have always wanted to knit with! And the colors are AMAZING! Just like a desert sunset over the water.

Then, as if all of this wasn't enough, waiting in my in box was not one but two (TWO!) of the patterns I had on my wish list!!!! She sent me Arabella and Clothilde... both are by Kristen Hanley Cardozo. I can't wait to cast on one (or both) with some of my new lorna's laces.

WOW! Thank you spoiler! You really have out done your self and I am looking forward to our LYS tour in a couple weeks!