And All That Jazz
Hold on to your hats, folks; we've got a lot to catch up on!
St. Patty's Day
Intrepid travelers that we are, Kevin and I hit the road early Thursday morning bound for Pasadena. I've driven the I-5 corridor quite a bit in the past few years, so five or six hours in the car no longer seems like such a big deal to me. Especially when Kevin drives and I get to knit! I started off with Plum Frost but when we hit Highway 152, the Pacheco Pass Highway that runs by Casa de Fruta (home of the Cup Flipper), the twists and turns of the road combined with the twists and turns of the cables threatened to overwhelm me. So I picked up my Kureyon and cast on the back to Butterfly.
I love driving I-5 in the springtime. With the exception of the Cowschwitz section, the scenery is beautiful, all the fields covered in green and purple lupines blooming everywhere. Ewes graze in the greenery while the little lambkinses frolick about and the whole world seems pastoral and serene. At the base of the Grapevine there was a field literally covered in purple haze, the lupine grew so thick. I was longing for my camera, but alas, there were no pictures.
We arrived in Pasadena, checked into our hotel and Kevin went off to the CMEA Conference, the purpose of our visit. I elected to stay in the room, watch Lost in Yonkers on HBO family and knit. I even drifted off for a nice little nap and then took a long, luxurious bath. I walked through Old Town Pasadena to meet Kevin and then we joined some of my LA friends for dinner and drinks.
It was St. Patrick's Day, so we were all dressed in various shades of green or at least in Guiness wear, but we ended up at a Pan-Asian restaurant called Nonya. They obviously weren't expecting a St. Patty's Day crowd so service was slow and they didn't even have a bartender. Our server kept having to dash behind the bar everytime we ordered another round. The food was good though. Andrew, Mike, Matt and Lisa ordered appetizers while Kevin and I, who hadn't eaten much all day opted to order dinner. Afterwards we made our way to Xiomara, a Cuban restaurant, where we ordered Mojitos and chocolate soufflé that was to die for. We may not have celebrated Irish style, but we had a lot of fun.
Friday
Friday I attended the conference with Kevin. As a music teacher, he's an active member of the California Music Educator's Association and they put on a wonderful conference. I attended sessions on music games for young children, scat singing and walked the exhibitor's floor before driving into LA to meet Amy Brotslaw Schweiger from one of the knitting lists I belong to. Amy and I knit and chatted while her daughter Miriam entertained us by dancing and modeling her mommy's lovely shawls.
That evening Kevin and I went to the California All-State Vocal Jazz Honor Choir concert and were just blown away. Kevin is a Jazz Honor Choir alum and spent a lot of his high school and college years singing vocal jazz. Unfortunately my school didn't offer a Vocal Jazz choir, so I am just learning more about the techniques and unique arrangements that it entails. The kids on stage were obviously having a blast and it just made me want to get up and sing. Feet were tapping and heads were bobbing. Everyone loved it, especially the number where one of the girls took over the upright bass and played and sang the lead while the rest of the choir backed her up. She was amazing! What a voice.
Knit 'N' Sip
Saturday morning I hopped on a plane from Burbank to make it to a Knit 'n' Sip at Lolly's. Her dear, sweet, wonderful husband Jonathon picked me up at the Oakland Airport and then served me mimosas while Lolly and I waited for the rest of the lot to arrive. Janine, Jewel, Nancy, Joy, Joanna and a couple of Lolly's students whom I'd not met before converged on Lolly's adorable house for good food (frittata, cookies, fruit tarts. Yum!) and lots of delicious beverages. Jewel has a full write-up with pictures on her blog. Next up with this crew: Maryland Sheep and Wool! Imagine me, Lolly and Joy all on the same plane, knitting and chatting up a storm. We can't wait!
Geez, I'm not even done with the weekend yet and my fingers are getting tired. But there's so much more to tell you!
Why Californians Need Gloves
Yesterday was Kaelyn's second horse show, hosted at her stable, Springdown Equestrian Center. When I woke up in the morning and looked outside I was encouraged, the sun was out and it looked to be a decent day. By the time I had Kaelyn in hand and ready to go, it had clouded over again and those clouds were ominous looking. We arrived at the stable well before the call time and discovered that they had reverted to the rain day schedule, meaning that all the competition would take place in the smaller indoor arena rather than the two outdoor arenas. That wasn't good news. Usually the jumping classes use the biggest arena while the flat classes (walking, trotting and cantering) use the smaller arena. Now all of the riders needed the indoor arena and the flat classes would go last. Kaelyn and I waited around in the rain for a while but after talking to her instructor we opted to go back home to wait and come back at 3. Several hours later we returned to find that they were still jumping. We tacked Ubu and commenced to wait some more. As I stood with her, holding Ubu's reins I cursed myself for not yet finding the time to make a pair of fingerless gloves. My poor hands felt like icicles. You can bet a pair of those are in my future soon.
Finally at 5:30 my cold, shivery girl and her impatient, shivery steed made their way into the arena. She was scheduled for five walk/trot classes. In the first class she got a provisional place, the second, no ribbon. The third class she came in second place. No place in the fourth and then another second place in the final class. She was clearly very pleased and I was so proud of her, not for placing, but for having the patience and perseverance to ride well despite the late hour and the freezing conditions. We left Ubu to the care of the groom and hustled on back to the car and drove to Fresh Choice to celebrate.
And Knitting
Now it's Monday again and it's back to the grind. I'm finishing up my last few days in the real estate office before I start full time at the store. I've got shade cards from Rowan and Jaeger, Dale of Norway and Bartlett Yarns and I'm having so much fun making buying decisions. I also made spectacular progress on Plum Frost and Butterfly in the new colorway over the weekend. Please pardon the crappy picture; I was in a hurry. I didn't even notice that I had Cashmerino strings flopped all over the Kureyon until I opened it in iPhoto to rotate it. Where is my head? I mostly just want these babies finished so I can wear them to MS&W.
It's Contagious
Kevin has started his own blog, Knitanon. He's such a patient knit-widower and does so much to enable my love for this art. Please go say hello.
And if you're in the mood for some jazz, check out my little brother Sam playing with the Hot Club of San Francisco next Monday at Yoshi's. Tickets are only $10. Kevin and I will be at the 10pm performance.
And how cool is it that Hye Kyong, the Korean student that I tutored in 8th grade emailed me this morning? She's coming to San Jose next week to visit her brother and wouldn't you know it, she just learned to knit. Can't wait to see you, Hye Kyong!
Hi! It was so wonderful to see you again and get groped by strange women in your presence. Kind of a running theme it seems...not that I have a problem with that. :-) Kevin is a great guy and I'm happy you're having these cool adventures. I hope I see you sooner rather than later. *hug*
Posted by: Andrew | March 22, 2005 at 12:02 PM
My husband like the idea of the "knitanon"
Have a nice day
Posted by: Cécile | March 22, 2005 at 08:55 AM
As usual, reading your life makes me exhausted. You sure can pack in the fun.
Maryland or bust!
Posted by: claudia | March 22, 2005 at 06:32 AM
Congrats to Kaelyn! So looking forward to the new store on my visits...
Posted by: Melissa | March 21, 2005 at 05:04 PM
Oh, all of you on a jet plane coming to see this Lolly! (well, and going to the festival!) Can't wait!
So many wonderful things to say about all of the great pics and news... congrats to your beautiful daughter on her show. That is great!
Take care, dear, and I hope you have a wonderful week!
Posted by: Other Lolly | March 21, 2005 at 04:47 PM
Holy cow! I don't know *where* you get the energy! Must be that natural youngster mojo goin' on. :-) Kaelyn is too adorable for words -- send her big "woo-hoo! congratulations" from us. I love Kevin's new blog and your WIP's, as usual, are just gorgeous. Oh, and I just want to mention one more time how cute I think Plum Frost would look, ahem, on me. Hope you're going to get to bed early tonight -- you must be exhausted! xxoo
Posted by: Lolly | March 21, 2005 at 04:25 PM