Bird's Nest Knits

Arrrgh! Shiver me timbers

Back from the city of Lost Wages for a week of training.    Vegas is seriously boring if you dont drink, gamble or go clubbing.  I was also staying once again at the New York New York so go back to this post if you are interested in what it was like.    I dont even have a finished object to show for it.  I suck.

What doesn't suck is a good Pirate party!   Heidi threw a party for Mr. Heidi - costumes required!  And just about everyone complied with the dress code.   

Ever the lovely hostess with the mostest - there was plenty of grub and grog for all - her mulled apple cider spiked with golden rum was awesome.  Glowing with the whole pregnant lady vibe - she was rockin' the gypsy thing too.

I should have tried my own costume on earlier than 30 minutes before I was supposed to leave.  I would have realized that there was about 4 yards of fabric I could have taken in.  Oh well - I'm used to looking goofy - whats one more night right?  No guts no glory or something like that. 

At least I wasnt alone in my costumey goodness.  Hilari, Wendy (who managed to avoid this photo shoot), Yoly (who needs a blog) and Crissy were all out in their Piratey Best.  Check out that flash of leg from Cristina!  I'm totally scandalized.

Oh... and I'm now hooked on Heroes and blame Hilari.  Save the cheerleader - save the world!

Suffering for beauty.

The company party was very swank.  The theme was Illusions and there were magicians and fire dancing and stuff.  But the true centerpiece of the affair?

That's right people.  Chocolate... in a fountain.  Not only was there chocolate - there were three kinds of chocolate.  The Milk chocolate and Dark were my favorites - I can pass on the white chocolate any day.  It was a dark and chilly night and luckily I had my trusty Charlotte's Web to keep me warm.  Least warm enough in between the trek from building to building.  Each one had a different theme.  There was a Jazzy one with french food and gaming tables, and another one with a live band and the desserts, and a third with magic shows and indian food. 

I didnt think to take a photo in good light or even before the night was over and I was looking all wilted.  Oh well.. the shoes still looked totally hot.

Thanks everyone who chimed in their votes.  I went with the black patents - even though secretly I still love the bejewelled gold ones better.  They were quite comfortable for 4" heels - and I lasted nearly 3.5 hours before my feet demanded a break.  If you are curious - they are JLo Sexie's that I got from Zappos

Help Bloggers! You're my only hope...

There is something about heels.  The way they elongate the leg, the way they make you feel sexy, the way they pinch your toes and hurt the balls of your feet...  women suffer for beauty.  A pair of really hot shoes can make you feel like a million bucks and a dip in the foot spa can repair all the suffering later.  This is coming from someone who wears heels about 3 times a year.  I don't know how you women who wear them every single day can handle it.

I have my company formal party this weekend it.  Consider it Prom for 10,000 geeks.  Yes - people watching galore.  They even take pictures of couples and everything.  So once a year - I can stun all of my mail coworkers with my femininity and remind them that yes - I do have a p.u.s.s.y.   Its not often that I can get all dolled up and flash some cleavage, so I like to take full advantage of the situation.

So here is my dilemma.  I have two pairs of shoes, one of them a rather classy black patent heel, the other a totally over the top Vegas stripper jeweled shoe that I love cause its sparkly.  The black patent heel is 4" high but the ankle strap seems to make it feel more secure and its easier for me to walk in them.  The stripper shoes are a little more precarious feeling even though they are almost an inch shorter.

Here is my dress: 

Pretty plain really - I'll jazz it up some with some cleavage and some jewelry, and it comes down to the bottom of my calf.  So which shoes to wear?  Please ignore the lack of pedicure.  I'll have some vampy red toes for the evening I swear.

The Slutty Gold Stripper shoes:

or the Black Patent 4" Heels?

Please take my poll in the side bar here.

Mr. Bird is firmly in the Black Patent's camp.

Summer wanes into Autumn...

The summer has faded away, and the weather gotten cooler.  My tomatoes have thanked the heavens for that - they were looking positively wilted during the heat wave we had in the middle of August.  In an attempt to hold onto the last bits of summer I picked up a basket of fresh figs from my local gourmet grocery store and made some Fig Scones.  They turned out awesome and were a fantastic last hurrah to summer.  Not crumbly like some scones, they were dense and crispy on the browned edges.  Delicious with coffee or tea.

Developed based on the Epicurious Biscuit Recipe

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 small ripe figs cut into half and then the halves quartered
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2  teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon clove
1 teaspoon cinnamon

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 425°F. and lightly grease a baking sheet.

Place cut up figs, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and sugar into a bowl and mix well - set aside till dough is prepared.

Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut 5 tablespoons butter into bits and with your fingertips or a pastry blender blend into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cream, stirring with a fork until just combined. Transfer mixture to a lightly floured surface and gently knead about 3 times until it just forms a dough. Mix in the fig mixure lightly - just until combined - doesnt need to be completely evenly mixed together.  Fig chunky bits are good.   Spoon big tablespoon fulls onto greased baking sheet leaving space in between each to expand.

Melt remaining tablespoon butter and lightly brush onto biscuits. Bake biscuits in middle of oven until pale golden and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

    Makes about 6 biscuits.

Knitters Run Amuck

So as some of you out there may know.  I am a bit of an instigator.  I like to gather a bunch of people together to do stuff.  This is rather novel for me because I have a not so latent hermit gene.  It takes quite a bit for me to gather up the motivation to go out and see people.  Since I met my knitterly crew though - they get me out and about - even if only for a beer and a couple of rows. 

This weekend however - was more than just a jaunt of an afternoon.  Two and a half days in Big Bear, California!

Friday evening we all gathered at my house for a quick bite to eat and to carpool up together.  Only two cars but man were those cars packed with stuff as you will see shortly. 

We had about a three hour drive ahead of us - which was a challenge in the dark going up the mountain.  I'm not the most confident of drivers and I'd taken Mr. Bird's car which is a stick.  With a white knuckled grip we managed to get to the cabin without me sending us over the edge of the road at 6500 feet or having Mary Kay barf on me.  Poor woman - she was just miserable with motion sickness, but she was a total trooper and made it all the way there!

By the time we all get settled in it was after 11pm so we just relaxed a bit and went to bed.  There were three bedrooms and several of us brought those spiffy Aero beds which came in handy.  The cabin was cozy but I dont think too cramped for the seven of us.   I would have liked to have more lounging out room though.

Saturday morning lazing about watching some movies and knitting.  It was super dry up there so we all were chugging down water like it was going out of style.  The skin goop I brought came in handy as we all started to turn ashy and dried out.  Friends dont let friends have flaky skin I say.

Have you ever wondered how much food 7 women need for 2.5 days?  Definately not this much...

The fridge was fully stocked and we ran out of room, this doesnt include all the snacks that were brought either.  The cabin came with a fully stocked kitchen so we split up the meals for the weekend and those who didnt make a meal brought snacks.  And MAN were there a lot of snacks.  Fruits, chips, nuts, cheeses, 5 loaves of bread - you name it - we probably brought it.  And there was lots of beer!

You can see from the view from our deck and the treeline by Bear Mountain Sky resort that it was incredibly beautiful.  The leaves were turning and the air was brisk and clean.  We had wood peckers, chipmunks and squirrels in residence around the cabin.  Quite the departure for us city girls and I loved it.

I sat on the deck with Heidi early Saturday morning with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the cool weather and it was wonderful.

After a nice breakfast we hung out at the cabin knitting for a while then headed into town to explore.  The area we ended up in was filled with tourists and kitchy shops.  Wandering about for a bit we made our way down to Big Bear Lake as the sky started to become over cast.  I really like this picture of Wendy looking out over the water - she seems so pensive.

A knitting retreat's Must haves:  Knitting, music, phone/technology, trashy magazines,  and yarn!

By Sunday we were all pretty worn out and the drive home during the afternoon was much less scary than the drive up.  On the way home we pulled over for some pictures of the lake and saw this ruin of a house up on the hill.  Didnt get to explore it though unfortunately, but I thought it looked really cool.

Finally our Ode to the Cabin in the Woods scary movie genre....

Blair Witch Pine Cones