Not too much

Is going on right now. We had an earthquake today. I was on the phone with a customer in Kentucky and had to figure out how to ride out the rocking building and concentrate on what I was telling her at that moment without sounding like a complete nut.

I'm not afraid of earthquakes to be honest, this was the biggest one I've ever rode out and I wasnt' scared, just spent half the day trying to get my legs to stop wobbling.. It's like that boat to shore effect. Gotta get my sea legs!

Unfortunately no new projects at the moment. The weather continues to be hot enough to make knitting uncomfy. Was thinking about going to Abuelita's to check out some of their needlepoint. For the most part I've avoided it because, not to sound bad, but their stuff is really out of my price range. What they sell is completely worth what they charge, but for a small item, say something Christmas ornament worthy, they charge anywhere from $35 to $100. Something that measures only about 4 inches by 5 inches or so, costing $100 and that doesn't include the floss or other supplies.. I can't do that. Most of the stuff is hand painted onto the canvas and limited design and so on but I just can't pay that amount.

I have however been wanting to take a trip to Solvang, CA, this charming little Dutch tourist town just north of Santa Barbara. There I found my first California needlepoint shop (yes people in California do needlepoint!). I however bought a kit needlepoint design and I hate those kits. Personally I like the pearlized flosses because they're smoother and just generally look better than the kits with their cheap fuzzy wool... It's just me though I was raised on the fancy stuff by my mom :)

Oh and good news.. I've recently joined the Weight Watchers (doctors orders) and have lost 16 pounds in 5 weeks. Not all the way there yet but dang I'm losing so fast and it's so easy.. Oh I love love love it.

Going to Disneyland this weekend.. need more pins!

Oh someone please shoot me! :)

Oops

Has it really been that long since my last post? Yikes.

Well the heat continues but nowhere near as bad as a few weeks ago. Unfortunately though it has made it very difficult to knit, sew or do anything that requires draping extra fabric over my hands/arms/legs/feet. Holding onto a wool sweater in progress is no fun at all when the temp reaches 80 or more.

So I have substituted something else for my knitting addiction...

See, a while ago my friend and former roommate (the good one who actually paid rent, not like the bad one).. see, he got addicted to this dangerous substance... parents, keep your kids away from this, it could drain your wallet and they'll be begging for it night and day. It's almost impossible to stop once you've started and no doctor in the world has a treatment or cure for it... It's called Disney Pin Trading.

Basically when you go to Disneyland, Disney World, or any of their stores, theme parks, or online you can buy souvenir pins. They all have different themes and characters, and they're really really cute.

At first I thought Carlos (my friend) was a big nerd... I mean it, he's 6'5" and almost 40 and acts like a kid in a candy shop over these things. I'd never actually seen them before until this weekend when he brought over his collection. I thought they were just pins, with Mickey or Minnie or whatever on them. I never really looked to see how elaborate they could be. He has 4 books full of these things and the second I started to look at them... I started to get the fever...

Oh... my... God... I had to have them too!

Since we live about 20-30 minutes from the Happiest Place on Earth, I decided we had to go and Carlos showed me the tricks of the trade.

It's actually pretty neat. I guess since Disney started issuing pins people have bought and traded them. Only in the last 10 years did Disney really get in on the craze and now they have special kiosks and shops in the park just full of these things, they range from $2.50 to $129.00 (or more).

The cool thing is that some of their "cast members" (employees) got in on the craze and wear the pins while they're working and... you're allowed to trade pins with them. Actually if you ask them to trade with you, they have to give you whatever pin you want. The only rules are you can only pick 2 from any one employee and you can't trade for something they already have on their person.

So I spent all of Saturday night scouring the internet just looking at the pins. There are web sites dedicated to all these pins and they have history and everything. They come in a series depending on the theme. I'm soooo going for the Roger Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland themes.

Sunday we hit up Disneyland and I spent forever looking at them and spent way too much money on them too. I also ordered a book to keep them in and a few more online that are part of the Disney online store calendar series (no two parks, stores or wherever carry the exact same ones).

I'm in trouble... save me!

Oh and I had to change the page theme... just to be a big nerd.