Birthdays aren't so bad...
First, the weather was Amazing with a capital A!! So warm and beautiful. As I walked to Penn Station in the afternoon I saw that it was 73 degrees in Central Park! Not bad for March 10th, that's for sure.
In the morning I got to go to a program at the research library that was quite cool. It was called "Books to Remember" and can be found online here. Some of the publishers and authors of the books selected were at the presentation. A short description of each book was given and some excerpts were read. Subjects ranged from feminism in the 1600s to the war in Iraq. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for some of these to add to my reading list in the near future.
After the presentation I had my lunch outside in the park (I told you it was nice!) I'd been waiting to do that since last fall and I just about ran out of my office. I was so excited I had to take a picture for proof:
And some of my lunch companions:
After eating I even managed to finish up Jaywalker number 1 and cast on for number 2. No SSS for me! The day only got better when I went out for a walk on my break later in the afternoon only to almost literally run into Mr. Softee! Being my birthday, I certainly couldn't resist the karma that put that ice cream truck in that place at that particular moment. :)
After work it was off to NJ for the weekend. That night HWJF and I had a nice dinner at a local hibatchi restaurant where I ate way too much and was entertained to boot. We tried to watch Wallace & Gromitt but I fell asleep (which seems to be the usual case lately).
Saturday HWJF had a few surprises up his sleeve. The first stop for the day, though not a surprise was something that I've been looking forward to for months. I finally got this. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this thing. I think I'll be so much more productive in general considering I don't get much done (besides knitting and sleeping) during my five hours a day of commuting. I almost don't need my laptop anymore with this thing. I'm still learning to use it, but I did manage to write part of this blog post with it. :) [We will ignore the fact that the process involved in me getting this phone and switching to a family plan with HWJF involved 2 hours at BestBuy, 1 hour at a Cingular store and another hour at Bestbuy, not to mention both of us having to get new phone numbers. I refuse to acknowledge that part of the day. However, if you'd like the full story, I'll be happy to tell you. E-mail me. It's definitely a "buyer beware" story.]
Next was a trip to the Elizabeth IKEA for yogurt, lunch and a walk around. We have both been to the New Haven one about a billion times but never this one. It was pretty much the same but did have a few things that were different stock wise and layout wise.
The third stop was the biggest surprise at all. Dinner reservations. At The Melting Pot! We were nearly in NY by the time we got there, but HWJF had set it all up. We had gone to the one in CT last fall and both ended up sick because we overdid it a bit, but this time we had a lovely meal with no ill effects later.
We ended the day with the latest Harry Potter movie and I managed to stay awake this time. I thought it was good, but they definitely took some serious poetic license compared to the book.
Sunday was yarn shopping day! HWJF and I set out with our trusty mapquest directions to check out Woolbearers. Unfortunately, mapquest didn't quite know where it was, but thanks to my trusty Treo 650 and the nice people at the shop, we finally made it. It was a small shop but had a much better range of yarns than some other places I've been to in NJ. And they also had some spinning materials and I found out more about their spinning classes (for future reference). Of course I couldn't leave empty handed so I came home with this:
That would be more sock yarn. Shocking, I know. I couldn't resist the color of the Cherry Tree Hill and the thought of cotton socks from the Cascade was intriguing. We'll see how they come out if I ever get them on the needles. These will both end up being pairs for me as HWJF made it known that he was not a fan of the red and I'm sure not giving up the colors in the other yarn!
The rest of Sunday was spent running some errands and getting some less expensive meals. We tried to watch Wallace and Grommit again by the fireplace this time. We both fell asleep! This is by no means a comment on the quality of the movie!! It was just a long but fun weekend for both of us.
That brings us to Monday, where I dragged myself to work but the fun kept coming because as soon as I was done, I got to meet Lolly! :) I'm still smiling about this. I really hope we can get together again when we have a little more time to chat. Here's the picture from my camera.
You can't really tell, but the clock at Grand Central is in the background. I returned to CT Monday night tired but very happy. This was definitely a birthday weekend I won't soon forget!!
Coming soon: A finished baby blanket, another pair of socks (?) and a contest. Stay tuned!
