Where have I been?

Do you still read blogs?

I have found that most of the blogs I used to check on daily, are no longer active- or at least they aren't being actively updated.

I've spent the last 3 weeks trying to remember how to log into my blog. This blog. Clearly I have now figured that one out.

But that's beside the point. Because I haven't been posting. And there's at least one person who still follows this crazy page. And even though that one person is well up to date with what's been going on, there maybe another one of you out there wondering just what happened, or where I went.

So, to solve that mystery... the update: I moved back to Texas. I moved just as I was getting the hang of California, and enjoying the company of my co-workers. I moved. That's the short answer. There's a long answer that doesn't belong in the public eye, so you won't find that answer here. But I moved at the end of January.

I moved in with my parents in a rural part of North East Texas, where I have taken over their house with my many moving boxes.

The last post I had mentioned that I had gotten into dyeing yarn. I took a whole online class about it, and it was fun, and I hadn't planned on doing it as anything more than for myself...but it's so much fun that I can't control myself and have dyed too much. So I created an etsy page to sell the skeins I don't horde for myself. www.etsy.com/shop/aluyarns and I even created an Instagram @aluyarns to share the madness. Both of these are fantastic for me, minus the fact that the rural part of Texas that I moved to has very little internet access- so it's hard to update (In fact, I'm doing this blog update from the comfort of the good internet at work...hehehe...don't tell!)

So along with taking over my parents house with moving boxes, I have also taken over a corner of my dad's wood shop, which he is kindly letting me use as a yarn dyeing area. Of course we have to take turns on who uses the shop and when (so he doesn't get wood shavings in my yarn and I don't get dye particles in the air for him to breathe in).

There's more to the update: Of course, life and it's ever changing sense of humor has also thrown my existence for a loop. While I had moved back to Texas, and was looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and family and co-workers (I went back to the place I had been working at before the move to CA)- while visiting a very dear friend days after the move, I managed to have a slight medical emergency that landed me in the ER. The slight medical emergency lead to a discovery that no one was expecting. Especially not me.

Hydrocephalus.

If you look it up (google), it basically says that I'm either a baby or an old person and either way I should be dead-because it's a brain problem. Mine, is a tumor. A brain tumor, that they don't want to operate on right now. Which I'm fine with. But one day they may, and the side effects of brain surgery don't sound that great.

My brain has actually been suffering from Hydrocephalus for so long that it learned to adapt to the extra fluid that's hanging out in the ventricles- which is both awesome and not so good. It makes the surgery more complicated; but also not an emergency.

To cope with that, my tumor has a Twitter now: @hydrotumor

Yes, I named my tumor the angriest name I could come up with.

It's not really trying to kill me, contrary to what the Twitter page indicates- well at least not that I'm aware of. Although I was unable to say the word "doctor" this morning, and it kept coming out as "droct", so there maybe something happening. I'll be seeing my neuro-surgeon in about 3 weeks to have a follow up- so we'll see.

I'll be moving again at the end of May, closer to work, closer to civilization (read that: internet)- so I should be able to update more often (when I remember). But then again, if no one is reading, why should I update? And, since this was created more for drawing than yarn-ing, why should I update? I promise I still draw, just not as much as I once did. I'll post. I'm just not sure what the few folks who still follow me are interested in reading. Follow instagram for yarn, etsy if your interested in purchasing yarn and twitter if you want to read some not so funny tweets about a brain tumor trying to kill the host. But the blog isn't completely dead yet.  

Ode to Los Angeles-why can't I like you?

I still can't say that I like living in Los Angeles, it's almost been 2 full years on the West Coast, and I can't say that I like it.
Sure there are things that I do like. For example: The Altered Stitch (yarn a plenty); Gindi Thai (Technically Burbank); Like's Thai and Chinese Food (Sunland- but still a Los Angeles zip code); The seafood (super fresh!); Fruits and Veggies (Also really fresh!); My Home State (run by people from Texas); Mountain views!; And of course this (even though I only get to see it rarely):

There's something really captivating about the ocean. Especially when dinning at a restaurant that is on stilts overlooking it. Moonshadows in Malibu (Malibu...not Los Angeles)...super awesome. Great way to forget about everything crazy, just sit down and stare at the waves crashing in.

But Los Angeles...it's still not my place. It's not home. It's a nice stop over for whatever comes next, but unless I get to see a whole lot more of the Ocean, I can leave it. Although I have yet to visit The Last BookStore (I highly suggest doing a google search to see images of what it looks like inside). It's definitely on my Los Angeles bucket list of things to do before I move on.

I keep waiting for there to be a day that I wake up and accidentally call this place home. Or wake up and not miss another place so much that I wish I was there instead of in the sun soaked land of palm trees, movie stars and ridiculously rude people. I'm not holding my breath for that. But I'm hopeful that one day, Los Angeles and me get along. (Truthfully, it will probably be the day I no longer live here)

Happy 10 year anniversary to this blog!

So the automatic post schedule doesn't exactly work...this should have gone out on the 18th, forgive the inaccurate post date.

10 years ago today blogs were a big deal. You could consider yourself a published writer if you had a blog. You could claim it was your own personal website, if you didn't have an actual website. I started mine with the thought that it would motivate me to draw more, to animate, to paint.

While I didn't do so much animation (sorry college degree, you've collected so much dust), I did produce a bunch of drawings, several paintings, and low and behold I kind of went crazy with the knitting and crochet.

10 years has seen the following:
- 1 relationship that's still going (Hi Gonzo!)
- quite a few job changes
- 2 layoffs
- 6 moves (one of those being across the country...hello CA)
- Approximately 147 pieces of art (Drawings, paintings, vinyl customs) (that I posted)
- Approximately 36 knitted/crocheted pieces (that I posted)
- Approximately 2 sewing projects (that I posted)
- Approximately 3 craft items (that I posted)
- Countless other crafts and art that I didn't post or keep track of
- Many other things...

I've learned a lot about myself in the last 10 years. I've done a lot in the last 10 years. There are some days that it feels like yesterday that I started this blog, and some days that it feels like forever ago.  There have been days that I feel like throwing in the towel and just letting my blog hang out in cyber space for eternity, leaving people who read what I write here, to wonder, "what happened to her?"
Whenever I think of getting an instagram account, I think, "Well, would I still post on my blog?" which I bet I wouldn't. I could hashtag it out, instead of leaving a whole bunch of non-sense here. But I'm a creature of habit. I like my blog. I like that I have low viewership/readership (although, Groot...that post...it's still crazy and I've seen it linked to news stories for crafty people-Say What?! Little 'ol me over here? So many page views- so many messages on my Ravelry account- THANK YOU!!! To everyone who looked at that post or made a comment or asked a question or reached out- THANK YOU!!! That was really unexpected and wonderful!)

The next 10 years? I'm looking into writing (some of you may know that), maybe I'll self-publish something soon (fiction, don't take what I write here as my writing style); I'm even designing some knitting patterns (maybe I'll post another free pattern soon) I'm looking into dying my own yarn and fiber for knitting; I've gotten back into spinning fiber into yarn, so maybe I can sell some hanks of hand spun fibers; I'm still drawing, and don't see my style (of semi-photo realistic portraits) changing any time soon- but who knows what the next 10 years will bring. I do follow Loish online and absolutely love her style, so maybe more digital art...we shall see, we shall see.

Thank you all for a wonderful 10 years. Thanks for reading!

Spinning

A few years ago, while I was in Dallas, I took a few spinning classes. No, not the kind at the gym on a stationary bike. I'm talking yarn-spinning, classes.
I loved it.
Spindle spinning, wheel spinning, the whole thing.
I had several large wheels, that were in various different stages of wear and tear (second hand wheels)- which brought my dad into the picture, since he's a work worker- he learned about the wheels so he could make the repairs. I've since sold/traded those wheels for others. My dad has since repaired wheels that are in museums. He's even made several spindles for spinning, which are fantastic!
Well, when Gonzo and I made the move to California, I thought it was going to be a brief stay, so I left my spinning wheel with my parents, only taking my spindles. Thinking that the move could possibly damage the wheel, and I just couldn't have that.
Here we are, nearly a year and a half later, still in CA, and I've been having spinning withdrawals. I miss my wheel.

So I made a rather large purchase, and bought my all time favorite wheel (well ascetically it's been my favorite, but I had never actually interacted with one) - Ashford Joy 2, it arrived this past week.
I would like to thank the lovely people at The Woolery for packing and shipping this puppy with expert precision.
They may have created a monster because I just made another purchase with them for more fiber and additional bobbins.

Last night, I got all the adjustments made to the wheel, so it was drawing in the fiber- I'm still re-teaching myself how to draft quickly, so there are a few more twists in my yarn that I typically like, but I did spend the majority of last night at the wheel.

Since I had two whole bobbins full, I decided to ply them together.

The skien on the left has 138 yards, the one on the right has 146 yards (roughly).
These were a lot of fun and worked up fast. I'm so glad I got a new spinning wheel.

That time I lived in a haunted house...

This would have probably been more appropriate on Halloween, and I considered posting it then, but I got distracted by a large bowl of candy.

I feel like I need to set this up for you, in order to fully appreciate the insanity of it all.

I was raised on a farm...in the country...fairly close to Indian burial grounds. I've seen weird, unexplainable things in my life. But I was raised in a way that made me question everything- to try to figure out what it, logically, could have been that I saw or heard. I'm sure, had I been raised any other way, I would have tall tales to tell that would be unbelievable to all believers. Honestly, I do have tales that I won't tell because I know the looks I would get, and the whispers of "she's crazy!", that I don't need to hear, I already feel crazy. So if you've ever actually heard one of my "stories", it's because I trust you enough, that I think you know me well enough, to know if I'm truly crazy or not.

In fact, I've only told a handful of people what I'm about to share here, because I know I would be called crazy...I'm only sharing it now, because I feel like I need to.

Gonzo and I, once rented a house in Dallas, TX (I won't say specifically where), that was a house we actually considered buying. We lived there for a good 3 years. We had a great landlord, who actually grew up in that house. It was well loved, and well taken care of. Our first day, we found a praying mantis hanging out on our mailbox- which we took as a sign of good luck.

I'm not unlike other people, in the sense that, once it gets dark outside, everything tends to take on a whole new sinister look. If I hear a pop, or creak- it instantly means the boogie man is going to murder me if I fall back asleep. Dark=scary. I think most people, never truly grow out of that. But on the day that I learned we weren't alone in our rented house, it was completely light outside. In fact, I think I had come home early from work, so it was like 4 in the afternoon.  Bright summer, Texas sun, streaming in all the windows.

I had been watching TV and saw something out of the corner of my eye, in the kitchen. Which, isn't uncommon for most people, to "think" that they saw something move, out of the corner of their eye. It happens. Generally, when you look directly at the spot that contained something that possibly moved, you don't see an older woman with white hair and a pink shirt smiling back at you- unless you are at grandma's house. Fortunately for me, both of my grandma's are gone, and I was in my own home. I saw her for a grand total of two full seconds and she was gone, like she evaporated into thin air.

Of course, I called my mom- the keeper of a calm head- when I could have possibly seen something that I shouldn't see. My heart was racing, but I had stayed, firmly planted in the chair I had been sitting in when I saw her (Gonzo would later call her "Mary", which I really don't think she liked). My mom ran thru all of the possibilities of "light reflecting off of a dish or glass on the counter"; "possible gas leak in the house"; "Carbon monoxide poisoning"; "burglar"; You name it, she suggested it. After saying "no" to all of the suggestions, she actually agreed that maybe, just maybe, I had seen a ghost. She also told me that she wasn't sure she would ever visit me again, for as long as we lived there.

I felt calm. Truly calm, other than having been startled by the grandmotherly figure who decided to let me know that the kitchen belonged to her. It wasn't like the movies, where people run screaming from the possessed house; or become possessed themselves. It was kind of like having a new roommate move in. A quiet, rarely seen, roommate who doesn't eat your food.

Shortly after that incident, I began to notice that one of the two doors that led out of the house, would be unlocked in the morning. I kept letting Gonzo know that he had forgot to lock the doors before bed and needed to be more careful, we weren't exactly in a nice neighborhood. It wasn't until one specific night, when Gonzo made me watch him lock the door, so we would both see and know that we weren't acting crazy, that we realized our ghost was being mischievous. I watched him lock the deadbolt and the lock on the door knob in the kitchen- we walked thru the living room and I watched him lock both the locks on the front door. We went to bed that night and on my way to work the next morning, when I reached the kitchen door- the locks were unlocked. I had laughed to myself for having been so hard on Gonzo about not remembering to lock the doors, here it was the kitchen ghost, the whole time.

Now would be a good time to let you know that hind-sight is truly 20-20.

We had discovered a pretty bad smell in the house after a hard rain. It really smelled like something had died. We had narrowed our search to the kitchen, but it smelled like it was coming from under the floor. The only way to get under the house was the crawl space, which had an entrance in one of the hallway closets- on the other side of the house from the kitchen.

We drug everything we were storing in that closet, out into the hallway, so Gonzo could open the trap door and get under the house. I was busy knitting or watching TV, I don't honestly remember, but that was a "man-duty" so I was letting Gonzo take care of it.

"Uh, baby, can you come here for a minute?" I heard from the hall closet.

Assuming he needed me to hold the flashlight I eagerly walked the few feet to where the door was, "Sure what's up?" I asked, looking down at Gonzo, who was waist deep in the crawl space.

"I need you to look at something and tell me what you think it is."

Immediately I rolled my eyes, assuming he was going to have me identify the dead animal carcass that was stinking up the house. "Ok."

"Don't freak out," he said as he shinned the light into the crawl space in the opposite direction of the kitchen, "lean down and look." The hesitation and calmness of his voice, made the hairs on my neck and arms stand up, and I took a step back.

I leaned down for a split second before jerking straight up, "What is that!?!?!" I freaked out and leaned back down again, my eyes following the beam of light, "Get out of there! Get out of the crawl space! Oh my God, what is that???" I tugged on Gonzo's arm begging him to get out of the crawl space.

There was a large, black, trash bag, in the crawl space. Full of...something.

Seeing it, immediately reminded me of when we had done the walk thru on the house before signing the lease.

"You have access to 100% of the house, except for the attic- I use that for storage; and the crawl space under the house. If you have to get under the house, call me- I don't want anyone to end up with a broken leg or any kind of injury from jumping down there. Also one section of the cabinets in the garage is off limits, I have maintenance things in there for the other properties I own." The landlord had told me as we walked from room to room making sure everything looked good for move in. Gonzo had been off looking at one of the restrooms, missing the warning.

"What is that?" Gonzo had asked, brushing the cobwebs from his pant legs as he closed the crawl space.

"Dead body; millions of dollars from a bank heist; a voodoo curse; dead llama; dead body." I rattled off.

"Dead llama?" He questioned with a smirk on his face.

"It's a thing in other countries, for fertility or good luck, or something. Someone brings a dead llama fetus and buries it under ground or something. It's a thing, look it up!" I was frantic.

"Ok, but it's not buried, it's just under the house."

"I don't freaking know! Didn't the landlord used to live here? He grew up here, right? He probably knows. Call him!"

"It's a trash bag, it's probably raked leaves or something."

"Who puts raked leaves in a bag, under the house? That's a freaking dead body. The landlord pulled a "Psycho" on his freaking mom, that's her body, that's the ghost in the kitchen. Shit." Shivers ran down my body as I remembered the walk thru with the landlord, "Shit! We weren't supposed to open that! He specifically said for us not to go in the crawl space!"

Gonzo, ever the skeptic replied, "He didn't kill his mom, that's not a dead body. I'll go look, it's probably just some of the landlord's crap he's been storing."

"NO! Are you crazy?!?! Have you never seen a horror movie? Don't. We weren't supposed to be down there anyway. We can call him, and ask if he can come figure out what the smell is...if he needs to get in the crawl space he can go and then we can "accidentally" see the large black bag under the house and ask him about it."

Of course, the landlord was never called. Between my dad and Gonzo's dad they were able to figure out that it was stagnant water in a pipe that was on the roof. We both pretended to ignore that there was anything under the house. Making sure to put all of our heavy belonging on top of the crawl space door on the off chance that something wanted to open it.

The whole incident was forgotten for a little while, at least for me. Until one night when Gonzo was working late.

Again, dark=scary, so I had all of the lights on in the house when I went to bed. I shut the light off in the bedroom and laid on my side so I could see the light streaming in under the door, until my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep.

I didn't even realize that I had heard something until I was sitting straight up in bed. Actually I'm not sure that's right. I woke up to me sitting straight up in bed, my heart pounding, my eyes staring at the door to the hallway. Gonzo wasn't home, but every sense in my body was telling me that I had just heard something in the hallway.

"HEY!" A deep voice screamed into my left ear, causing me to flinch and jerk the covers up as I scrambled to my feet beside the bed.

The thudding of my heart was deafening as I stood there, staring at Gonzo's side of the bed, wondering what-in-the-hell I had just heard. I lifted my hand to my throbbing ear, instantly feeling a sting as my finger pads caressed the soft curves of my ear. I ran to the restroom, turning the light on immediately.

Looking in the mirror, I saw a red line under my left eye that went across my cheek- back to my ear and across my ear. I shook my head, rapidly, trying to wake myself up. Looking back in the mirror, I realized I was awake. Upon closer inspection, the mark on my face and ear, looked like a burn mark. It certainly felt like a burn. I spent the rest of the night on the couch in the living room until Gonzo came home. By morning the puffiness of the line was gone, but it was still sore to the touch, hot, and red.

I could detail all of the other things that happened, but they get wildly unbelievable. From something grabbing my leg as I walked between the couch and the coffee table, to a ream of paper being thrown across the room. The long and the short of it, is I believe there were 2 spirits that haunted that house. The woman in the kitchen, who I only saw one other time, as if she was going to check on something in the oven; and the thing in the hallway which seemed to control the bedrooms, always keeping me on my toes.

The funny thing, Gonzo and I loved that house. We still talk about it, even joke about "Mary". What's even more strange, especially with the whole "hind-sight" thing...It took us moving out of the house, for Gonzo and I to admit to each other that the first night that we stayed in the house (in the room that would end up being the guest bedroom after that very first night), we both woke up frequently staring into the hallway, thinking we had heard something like foot steps, neither admitting it to the other until we no longer lived there.

When we moved into our new place in California, the house, not the dreaded apartment, we had a group of praying mantis that hung out near the light by the kitchen door. A sign of good luck.

The last few weeks, the kitchen door has been unlocked when I get home from work, but that's a coincidence, right?

Wisconsin meet California

A fun thing happened this past week, my friend Jess came to visit!!! Her first time in California; First time on the West Coast; and first time seeing the Pacific Ocean.

She brought alcohol...from Wisconsin...because there's no comparison in any other state. The alcohol from Wisconsin is amazing!

I believe there are a total of 8 wines from 3 different Wisconsin wineries; 2 bottles of brandy; one bottle of apple brandy; one bottle of absinthe and a bottle of horchatta (from 2 different distilleries in Wisconsin). It was like Christmas! A very inebriated Christmas!

Shockingly we only managed to open one of these bottles in the week that she was here...it was the absinthe, which proceeded to burn a hole in my esophagus...I guess 180 proof will do that (Don't worry, there was plenty of other alcohol consumed).

I won't recount in detail everything that we did, but some of the highlights included seeing a real life bum fight in the middle of an entrance ramp to the 101 on the first full day of her visit; TMZ Tour; Wax Museum; Temecula wine country; Pacific Ocean; Malibu; Exploding Kittens (the card game, nothing malicious); drinking and getting to hang out with one of the best friends this gal could ask for. It was a great time.

Some of the wax figures, at Madame Tussauds Hollywood, looked fairly believable while most did not. It was a little disappointing. I'm not sure it was worth the price of admission. But I think we were still in a fairly jolly mood from the TMZ Tour to make up for it. (Seriously, if you are in Hollywood and haven't gone on the TMZ Tour, just go...it's hilarious.)

We each downed a tropical drink while enjoying the Pacific Ocean view from Duke's in Malibu. Very little talking this day, I think we were both just too enamored with the ocean to communicate.

The very last day of her visit involved eating at a Shakey's Pizza for lunch (Wisconsin should not have let these leave the state...SO GOOD!)
It also included one of the best experiences I have had in California. One of my co-workers gave us tickets to the Zac Brown Band on Friday...At the Hollywood Bowl. Doesn't get much more touristy.

While I learned that the people of Los Angeles are all out of their minds (which I already suspected), I also learned that Zac Brown Band puts on a pretty spectacular concert. The fact that they played Bohemian Rhapsody might have been my favorite...that and Chicken Fried (of course).

The only thing that really topped the alcohol from Wisconsin might have been the size of the beers at the venue:
Exhibit A:

That's basically a 32 oz. beer...and no I wasn't drinking a Heinie...Dos Equis....but was it worth $16? I haven't decided.

Anyway, I had a blast, and I hope Jess had an equally good time (We can just forget about the Malibu wineries that sucked and remember the awesome time in Temecula).

(Photo Credit: Jess...the one on the left)

I can't wait for her to come back to visit...or for me to go back to Wisconsin...

Moral of this post...Wisconsin still has the best alcohol. Plan your trip accordingly...
Wollersheim Winery: http://www.wollersheim.com/
Fawn Creek Winery: http://www.fawncreekwinery.com/
Spurgeon Vineyard: http://spurgeonvineyards.com/
Wollersheim Distillery: http://www.wollersheim.com/wineryvisit/distillery
Minhas Distillery: http://minhasdistillery.com/ 

The Move

I've been a little busy the last few weeks. Gonzo and I finally moved out of the bad apartment situation and into a house rental a few miles to the north.

It was a painful process, to say the least. For those that don't know, or for the curious- I have degenerative disk disease, which basically means I have arthritis in my spine-which was diagnosed about 6 years ago and it has only gotten worse, pain wise, over time. Am I 75? No I'm 33, I've been having back problems since I was 26. So for me to physically move anything is next to impossible if it weighs more than 10lbs. Well, that's not entirely true. I can move things that weigh more than 10lbs, I just can't bend over to pick them up. So this move involved Gonzo lifting items to place in my hands while I remained in a standing position.

I gained several bruises, and yeah, my back is in some pain- but Gonzo and myself managed to move all our furniture and personal belongings to our new place, in 3 days. Sure, most of our belongings are stored in a garage for the moment, but by the end of this week most of them should be put up in the house.

The important part is we are out of the worst apartment I have ever lived in. Since 2001 I have moved 10 times. There was only one apartment that I lived in that I was in a hurry to move out of, and it was for no other reason than it was section 8 housing and I really wanted to move to a really cute place closer to where I worked. In all of the places I lived in Dallas, TX- I never experienced the kind of crap that went on at the place in Glendale, CA.

I could go into detail, but I already posted a Yelp review with a 1 star rating, because I couldn't leave a zero star review. Just be cautious if you ever want to live in Glendale, CA. Pay attention to all reviews you can find about places or landlords, don't ever think "Oh, it can't be as bad as they say", because, quite frankly, it can be-and it can be worse than what is stated.

The cactus photo at the top of this post is a plant that is at the house we are renting. It's so peaceful and awesome here! Maybe soon, I'll have some cactus drawings or paintings up here. 

The Price is Right

Spoiler Alert!!!
Let me start off by stating the obvious for those of you that know me: No, my name was not called to play a game or win prizes and money.


But I was in the audience with Gonzo's mom, Dolores, and sister Rena.

They visited us in February and Gonzo's mom wanted to go- honestly who wouldn't?  Well to be honest, leading up to it, I wasn't that interested in going.  It was more of a "I don't have a job and nothing better to do, why not?" kind of moment for me.
But I'm going to tell you why you should want to be on The Price is Right.

If you are in LA, it almost seems like a normal thing that people do.  If not attending an episode of The Price is Right, then it's attending one of the many other shows that shoots on a regular basis in town.  But The Price is Right was almost magical.  I'm so glad I went.  I'm so glad Gonzo's mom got the tickets and invited me to go. 

Yes, I'm sure you've all heard, or read about the cattle call lines that you have to wait in for hours on end, which yes, it's true.  But few people talk about the comradarie that takes place in line.  It's basically 3 1/2 hours of waiting in lines and you begin to pick out people you would like to see get their name called to run up and take a stab at the price of some random prize.

This guy was hilarious when it was interview time and even had a poem for Drew Carey.  I really hoped that he would be called, but he wasn't.  


I did not want my name to be called.  The entire time I was in line, I didn't want my name to be called.  It wasn't until we were in the studio that I then wanted my name to be called.

Here I am cheering in the hopes that maybe just maybe they'll see how eager I was, now that I was in the studio (behind the person with the blue sleeves).

And again, super excited that someone was getting their named called...still not mine. 

The studio is so bright!  If you've seen the show, you have some idea- but in person it's so much brighter.  The stage is much smaller than I thought it would be.  The crowd, much smaller than it looks on TV.  It's all much, much louder in person than on TV.  So loud in fact, you can't really hear the names being called, you have to rely on watching the cue card guy to hold up the card with the name that's being announced.  The cheering from the crowd is so loud that I missed the descriptions of several items that were on the episode so it was hard to know what we were cheering for.

Drew Carey is actually hilarious during commercial breaks.  It was like we were getting a free comedy show while we just happened to be audience members for a TV show.  It was fantastic! He interacts with the audience and genuinely seems like he wants to know everyone.  He's a class act, that Drew!
He actually suggested a restaurant that he frequents, to some people who were there from out of town and we ended up going afterwards and conversing with one of the waiters about Drew and how awesome he is.  He's actually really great at suggesting things to do around town for people who are new to the area, which was fantastic for us.

George Gray, the announcer also interacts with the audience and banters with Drew, both while filming the episode and during commercial breaks.  Just another added bonus.

The taping is so quick- basically done in an hour (just like the show) that you will be sad when it's time to leave.  But you will be excited for who ever won their showcase.

You might even attempt to congratulate their loved ones on the way out.

Side note about this particular episode: The two people in the showcase were named Amber and David.  Gonzo's real first name is David, so it was like some alternate version of ourselves were on the stage.  It was a good inside joke.  

David won his showcase on this Earth Day episode, but I was rooting for Amber.  Amber Stoner was her name and the jokes that were cut out of the broadcast were hilarious.  I was actually pretty disappointed in seeing the episode that aired as it wasn't nearly as comical as the taping had been (another good reason to go to a taping).  

The right Amber was selected for this show.  She was really enthusiastic and properly jumped on Drew Carey several times. 

 

I'm in this shot cheering like a crazy person for Amber Stoner when she guessed the right amount and got to go on stage.

Yes the whole process basically takes the entire day.  The likelihood that you will actually have your name called is slim.  Even if you win something the taxes are so ridiculous you will probably leave empty handed anyway, but to witness the whole thing is so much fun. 

I purchased a shirt while I was waiting in line, before the taping (the store is closed after the taping)- I've worn it several times since then, and each time, when in public, I have at least 2 people ask if I won anything.  That's the funny thing about this town.  They know that if you have a shirt, you must have gone to a taping, it's not just one of those random shirts you can buy at a Wal-Mart.  Now I can actually tell people that I did not win anything...what a relief!

Here's Dolores (dead center with the pink shirt and Navy blue sweater) waving slowly so the camera would get a shot of her when one of the contestants was called. 

Here's Rena, showing the appropriate amount of enthusiasm when nothing exciting was actually happening.  (Her dark hair blends into the guy's shirt behind her)

So, moral of this post- if you're in LA and you have a least a day to do nothing, go online to get tickets to The Price is Right and wait in some lines- meet some fun people you might not normally associate with, and enjoy the taping.  You won't be sorry!              

Angeles National Forest

A few weeks back Gonzo and I had managed to leave our noisy apartment for the solitude of nature. 
And by nature, I really mean "driving thru nature".  Quite frankly that's because of my crazy fear of wildlife in this state.  Mountain Lions and Bears, oh my!

Anyway, that's a totally unrelated topic.  I just wanted to share some of the gorgeous pictures that Gonzo took while we were driving thru the Angeles National Forest.

Can you believe this view is only a few short miles away from LA?  Ok, well this particular view is quite a few miles into the Angeles National Forest...but even as you are driving into the Forest itself there are some pretty spectacular views:

It truly feels as if you are no where close to any sort of city life.  The traffic is minimal, unless it's a Sunday morning and you are driving toward Newcomb's Ranch.  Then it might be a little congested with motorcycles or sports cars doing meet ups, but for the most part you'll probably only see a handful of vehicles.

Make sure you take a jacket as the further up the elevation you go the colder it gets.  I believe on this particular day I was in a skirt and t-shirt...and flip flops (I honestly didn't know where we were going and it was 80 something in LA).  We went all the way up to 7200 feet I believe, and I was pretty chilly as night started to fall.

The views are amazing and there's plenty of turn-outs so you can stop and take photos (but limited cell phone service, so make sure you check your vehicle to make sure it can survive the trip and not leave you stranded).

(no that's not a spaceship, just lens flares)

There's, I believe, 80 or so miles of road to drive down.  There's several ski slopes along the way that you can stop at if they are open.  I think we only went roughly 50 miles in, as we got a late start and the sun was setting before we even made it back to civilization.

But as you head out, particularly at dusk or dark, you can see the sprawling city of LA on your way out and breathe one last sigh of relief at the lack of people surrounding you, before you get back in your car and get caught up in the craziness of it all. 

If you are ever in the LA area and need a break from the traffic, or the people, journey to the Angeles National Forest for a bit, and forget about your worries...unless of course you encounter a mountain lion or a bear...then you should worry. 

Some Knits and some Comedy

Aside from some laziness on my part, I really have no other reason for not posting sooner, so I won't bore you with the details.

This post is going to be a mess of randomness, so be patient.

I've already begun using the yarn that was purchased and won at the L.A. Yarn Crawl.  Gonzo had asked for a hat out of the blue Rowan yarn- and since hats tend to be quick knits for me, I just dove right in.

There's a bit of a point at the top that I will probably go back and alter at some point, but Gonzo didn't seem to mind it, so it might stay.

I'm in the process of knitting a sweater for my niece.  This image is from the book "Baby Basics to knit for new moms" (no I'm not a new mom, but they have some cute items for babies, so I got it...I will also make note that there are mistakes in the pattern, so I'm taking my time on it to make sure I straighten it all out)

Using the splatter Hello Kitty yarn with stripes of the Irene colorway yarn from the basket I won.  As soon as I'm done, I'll post some pictures.

With that out of the way, I can tell you about my Monday night.  Gonzo managed to get us passes to the free Beta Test at Meltdown Comics/The Nerdist.  We got there kind of early, so we wandered Sunset Blvd.

Got some words of wisdom from some graffiti art; ate some Chipotle; walked some more; then stood in line for a good long while.  We made some line friends, one of whom gave me a Nerdist temporary tattoo for holding their spot in line.  The other entertained us with banter between her and the store employees.  While there is a good chunk of LA that is unfriendly, I've encountered a slew of very friendly people who aren't trying to recruit me for a cult. 

Anyway, a Beta Test at The Nerdist is where Chris Hardwick and special guests test out new standup material to find out if it's good enough to use. 

Apologies for the blurred picture, but I won't apologize for the fact that I am essentially making eye contact with Mr. Chris Hardwick here.  If you don't know who he is, there is a search engine called Google that you might want to type his name into to find answers.  I have no other photos from the set because a few moments after I snapped this picture Chris encouraged us to just be in the moment and put our cell phones down.  He didn't say we couldn't take pictures, but he was right...we've lost touch with just enjoying the moment.
The other surprise guests were Ron Funches, who I've seen on TV, but is also in the movie "Get Hard" with Will Farrell and Kevin Hart.  Doug Benson who was on a movie called "Super High Me".  Yes the theater smelled like pot (if you know or have seen either of the above mentioned then you know they get high...a lot).  Both were funny.  Chris Hardwick was, perhaps, more funny.  That's probably my opinion only- as I could relate more with his material than the other two.  But they were all entertaining and hilarious and definitely made my day. 

Not really anything else going on at the moment.  I've got some drawings I need to work on and will post those later.  Hope everyone had a great Easter!

2015 LA Yarn Crawl

Sometimes there are weekends where there are no plans and something exciting happens.  On Saturday I was fully prepared to blog today, about our drive thru the Angeles National Forest...that still had snow in some areas where as the rest of LA was baking.  But then something truly amazing happened on Sunday.

Let me start off by saying that Gonzo is truly the best guy a girl like me could ask for.  Sunday morning started off with me in a grumpy mood due to some unforeseen apartment problems.  Gonzo, being the guy that he is, wanted to put a smile on my face and do something that I wanted to do, even though it was a rare weekend off from work for him and he probably just wanted to sleep late and veg out in front of the TV.

I asked to go to 2 yarn stores.  I knew about the 2015 LA Yarn Crawl that was happening, but I hadn't pre-ordered a Yarn Crawl Tote Bag, or really read the rules.  I just wanted to visit a new store and go to the one I was already acquainted with (the yarn crawl is an event that 29 yarn stores in LA County were participating in, where you could get free patterns, enter in raffles, get free buttons from each store, and shop at a discount on certain items- all in 4 days). 

We drove all the way to Wildfiber Studio in Santa Monica.  Gonzo is a good sport in yarn stores, he always manages to find at least one skein of something and insists I make him something.  He found the last ball of Rowan Pure Wool Worsted in a beautiful blue color, which he has requested a hat from (I will have to come back here to purchase the Rowan yarn I need to make a sweater for my dad):

I was persuaded at the register to obtain a passport before I left the store so I could decide if I wanted to visit any other stores or just turn the passport in at Wildfiber Studio to be entered to win a gigantic basket full of yarn, books, knitting notions and all sort of goodies.  I opted to hold onto the passport for a bit.

Gonzo, again, being the guy he is, figured that since we were in the area that we were in, we should hit up some other stores instead of rushing off to Unwind.  So we made our way to Compatto Yarn Salon.  I looked around, received my Yarn Crawl Stamp on what I was now referring to as my bingo card; obtained the now coveted button (that should go on the Tote bag that I was so irresponsible to not pre-order).  I didn't see anything that I absolutely couldn't live without at that exact moment, so we got back in the car and headed to The Knitting Tree L.A. I may have gotten a little carried away at this store. 

Three skeins of Madelinetosh Hand Dyed Yarns that I am absolutely in love with.  The colors from left to right are: Citrus; Ophelia; Chicory.  I plan on making at least one pair of socks from this group using one of the colors (I can't say which because they will be a present for someone that I haven't already made socks for), the other two may be knitted into shawls for presents. 

At this point in the day I assumed that Gonzo was done with all of the Crawling that we had done and was willing to either stop at the final location of Unwind or get some food.  He had a different idea, since we were in the area he wanted to see what other yarn stores might be close so we headed to Needlepoints West. These women were so welcoming!  Extremely helpful!  Once in this store I was so very thankful that Gonzo had said we should go here, as this was one of the stores that had a yarn colorway that I had been absolutely in love with since I saw it online.

Delicious Yarns made this awesome colorway specifically for Needlepoints West.  It's called Two Sweets- Sport Weight Color: Yarn Crawl 2015.  It's a beautiful self striping yarn that is brown heavy with splashes of pink and purple.  It's absolutely gorgeous!  I also obtained the free Cowl pattern that came with the purchase of this yarn and was told to call them for "tech support" if I ran into any problems when knitting it.  I'm still not sure I want to make a cowl with this yarn, but I might!  I want to point out that had I just been driving by Needlepoints West, I probably wouldn't have stopped.  I thought this was a needlepoint only store- I didn't realize they had such an amazing selection of yarns.  So very glad we stopped here!

Since we moved to CA, I have been meaning to stop by the Yarn Over Truck.  It's a truck that has yarn and knitting notions and drives all over the place stopping at various locations to sell their wares.  I'm happy to report that we drove all the way to The Purl Side in Glendora to locate (and get 2 shops taken care of in one stop) the Yarn Over Truck.

I feel like I unbuckled my seat belt and jumped out of the car to run to this truck before Gonzo stopped the car.  I received my stamp and several buttons while on the truck and a couple of free patterns.  I knew I wanted to buy yarn, but the truck was getting crowded, so I headed into The Purl Side to check out what they had. I saw several things here that I might want to go back and take a second look at, but didn't purchase anything.  I received my stamp and button and a free knit pattern and headed back to the truck.  There was yarn I needed to purchase to go with the free pattern I picked up when I had boarded the truck a few minutes earlier.

I picked up a skein of Anzula Luxury Fibers Hand Dyed Yarn Cricket in Navy and Minty.  These will definitely be making two presents for people. 

After fighting thru some bad traffic to head to Burbank to get to Unwind we finally made it.  I'm on their mailing list and was well aware of their Hello Kitty yarn colorways that would be in the store during the Yarn Crawl...I just prayed I wasn't too late to get a skein.  One of the particular yarns was gone...which is what happens when you wait until the last day and nearly the last hour of the event to shop...

But I did purchase the above colorway.  This is by Ancient Arts Yarns called Unwind Hello 1 Speckled.  I have a very special niece who will be getting a sweater out of this.  Originally I had intended on dropping off my passport at Unwind to be entered to win the giant basket full of goodies, but the kind women at Needlepoints West had told me there was another yarn store not too far from Unwind that I might want to checkout.  So we opted to head to The Altered Stitch to see what they had and figured that if I didn't like their basket, we could just go back to Unwind so I could drop the passport off.

Well things changed once we arrived at The Altered Stitch.  I was in love with this store from the minute I walked in the door.  The staff was very friendly (truly all of the yarn stores we visited had friendly staff, don't get me wrong- there's just some places that you instantly click with people, this was one of those for me).  They showed me all of their Crawl yarn specials; stamped my passport; gave me the button; gave me a class schedule; didn't hassle me when I couldn't make up my mind and wandered the store so many times I looked like I was casing the place.  I had promised Gonzo that Unwind was the last store I was going to buy yarn in...but there was a skein I saw and fell in love with.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.

Republic of Wool Hand Dyed Yarn for The People in the color Wild At Heart.  Again, I have no idea what I'm going to make with it, but I'll be happy to stare at it on a shelf until I figure it out.

Good news was right around the corner at the checkout...I qualified to have 2 raffle tickets put in the bucket for the 5pm drawing for a basket of yarn goodies (not the large basket that the passport would enter me in for, but a smaller just as awesome basket).  I almost said no.  We had been out since 11am and it was nearly 5, surely Gonzo would want to eat some food (since we hadn't stopped at all), or go home and rest.  But they said "there's only 6 other tickets in the drawing"...so I said "yeah, do it!  Put me in!".  I hung out for the next 20 minutes or so, while Gonzo went across the street in search of food.  I could tell there were regulars in the store, and I made some small talk with a few of the people both employees and yarn crawlers and touched nearly every skein in the place.  Gonzo made it back in time for the drawing and lets just say, I'm sure there are some Altered Stitch store regulars who have now painted a target on my back.

Because I won it!!!! 
This post is already becoming a little long, so I'll just list out what was in it instead of posting individual pictures:
- 1 "Comforts of Home: Simple Knitted Accents" book
- 1 bottle of Eucalan wool wash (laundry soap)
- 1 bar of luffa soap (smells delicious)
- 1 bottle of hand lotion
- 1 bottle of bath salts
- 1 bottle of bubble bath
- 1 wicker bee purse
- 1 pair of US 10 sized ChiaoGoo knitting needles
- 4 skeins of an unidentified self striping pink/purple/yellow/red yarn
- 3 skeins of an unidentified self striping blue/green yarn
- 2 shawl pins (could be stitch holders)
- 1 set of red gem stitch markers (5 total)
- 1 set of green gem stitch markers (5 total)
- 1 Black Tie Affair yarn in Costume (pinkish)
- 1 Black Tie Affair yarn in Aria (blueish)
- 1 Art Yarns Regal Silk in color 502 (stripping yarn in blue, yellow, green, pink)
- 1 Anzula Luxury Fiber Vera in Irene (light purple)
- 1 Stitch Cafe skein in color 5011 (light salmon...so soft!!!)
- 1 Stitch Cafe skein in Coral
- 1 set of Double Pointed Needles in a fabric drawstring bag.  Size US 3

Oh and I dropped off my passport at The Altered Stitch, so fingers crossed!  Maybe I'll win the grand prize basket?

So Sunday, for me, was AMAZING!  8 of the 29 stores visited in 6 hours, too much yarn purchased and a basket full of stuff I don't know what to do with (at the moment).  I feel like it was Christmas.  I kept doing a happy dance in the car on the way home while singing "I won the basket! I won the basket!"  and I only sang that to myself because I haven't won anything in so long it feels like a different lifetime ago.  

Next year I'll be better prepared.  Maybe more organized, like a certain woman Unwind video'd showing her tabbed binder with maps and what free pattern was going to be at what stores.  Truly a work of art in itself.  I just wasn't prepared for the amazingness of The LA Yarn Crawl.  Hope you all had fantastic weekends too!

San Diego- Oh What a Time! Part 2! (also known as the BEST DAY EVER!)

To see part one, please look here.

San Diego is a magical place.  It really is.  The weather seems to be perfect.  All the time.  The people are friendly.  Walking is easy to do to get places.  It's just an all around great place.

I've mentioned it before about our amazing times in San Diego.  I feel like I'm becoming a spokesperson for their city.  But seriously, if the opportunity presents itself for you to go, please don't pass it up.

On our most recent trip to San Diego, while we did visit the Maritime Museum in the bay, that wasn't enough.  It was Gray Whale migration season and the previous time we were in town Gonzo and I had both said we wanted to go on a Whale watching tour.

So we did.

The Hornblower Whale and Dolphin Watching Adventure was just what we did.

Keep in mind, if your tour does not see a Whale during the outing they will offer you a "Whale Check" for you to come back at another time to try to go out and see one.

I highly encourage you to do this as opposed to going to Sea World.  #1, the Whale watching is cheaper.  #2, you actually get to see them in their natural habitat- which I think is a much happier way to go about seeing wild animals.  No, your kids probably won't be as impressed because they aren't trained to jump out of the water to put on a show, but it's a better alternative to witness a creature in it's natural habitat than crammed in a tank and forced to perform (In my opinion). 

Just keep in mind this tour does go out into open Pacific Ocean waters.  Which I was scared of.  Prior to being out there.  Now I can't wait to go back.  Gonzo has always wanted to go on a cruise- now I can't wait to join him!

Some things to remember.  Bring a jacket.  The Pacific Ocean is a lot more chilly than you think.  Bring Sunscreen.  I forgot.  My face is now paying for it.  Take your motion sickness meds if you need to- the boat will be-a-rockin' at times.  

I want to first start off by saying that I would have been perfectly fine if all we had seen were the sea lions in the bay and the dolphins in the ocean.

That is not all we saw.

I do apologize for the lack of photos I took.  Keep in mind, some of the whales are fast.  Running from the Starboard side to the Port side and back just for photos didn't always work out.  In fact I didn't even get photos of the first two whales that seemed to be playing with the boat within the first 40 minutes of the tour.

2 Minke whales, which according to the captain were rare sightings in the area, kept popping up for us to see, but they were quick!  I have no photos of them.

The second rare treat that even the Captain was amazed with, was the Humpback Whale that put on a fantastic show for us.  We figured out it's pattern of up for a few seconds to breathe; up for a second time to breathe; and then up for a third time to breath and do a tail flip before going back down for 5 minutes.

Let me enhance that for you (we never got close to the Humpback whale for various reasons.  In fact the other ships that were close didn't get as close as this.  We all kept our distance)

Sorry this one doesn't want to be blown up without getting pixelated.  So I've drawn a circle around the tail here:

I know we followed this Humpback for a while, until it started to head for the warmer Mexican waters (which we could not drift into for various legal reasons).

I lost all track of direction while in the Ocean so I have no idea if we were heading west or south or north, but after our meeting with the Humpback we started making our way in some direction and came upon a school of dolphins.  The dolphins were referred to as common dolphins by the Captain of the ship and some had been with us since we had transitioned from the bay into the open waters.  We could see them in the distance from the bow of the boat and I didn't think much of it

...until we got closer and the Captain said it was the largest school he had seen this year.  There was at least 500-1,000 dolphins. (in the second video- all of those black spots that keep popping up are dolphins- I promise)

  Apologies if the video's aren't working, I'm attempting to get that fixed. Also apologies for the shaky camera...wind was blowing; boat was rocking.  I also want to apologize for the fact that I video'd my finger in that first one...I didn't want to drop my camera and held on wrong.

At one point there was even a sea lion who kept poking his head out of the water as if to either say "don't forget about me!" or "Is there a dolphin show happening?"

On our way back to the bay the Captain was notified of the Gray Whales that were migrating in the area...you know, the ones we originally took the tour to see.  We did not get close enough for any good pictures or video, but there were two adults and a baby gray whale migrating north.  We tried to follow them for a bit, but they can hold their breath for so long our tour was running out of time (but believe me, the Captain followed them for quite a while before finally deciding to bring us back).  

But that's not all!

As we were reentering the bay we found out we had an Atlantic bottle nosed dolphin playing with the front of the boat.
Why an Atlantic Bottled Nosed Dolphin when we were in the Pacific?  Those are the dolphins that the Navy trains in San Diego.  I couldn't help but think that these dolphins must think they are on some sort of awesome vacation every day that they get to hang out in the Pacific ocean. 

It was really one of the most spectacular days I have ever had.  Gonzo and I both got to take "Seeing a whale in real life" off our bucket lists, and I got to take "getting over fear of open ocean water" off mine as well.

After all the excitement it was time to leave.  Leaving San Diego, for us, has become what leaving Austin was like when we lived in Dallas.  We don't want to leave, and we can't wait to come back.

But our brief stop in Temecula, CA made leaving San Diego completely worth it.  They have a Rosa's Cafe and Tortilla Factory.  For those that may not be aware, this place has Tex-Mex food.  Something we haven't had since leaving Texas.  They have liquid gold- otherwise known as queso.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, just freaking order it and try it- you won't be sorry- unless you are lactose intolerant. I've missed it so much we brought two large orders of queso back with us.

Now we are back in our obnoxiously loud apartment, just awaiting the next adventure we can have.