Anphoe's spaces 2

First Mother's Day

2011-05-15T23:22:00.001-04:00

I was pretty sure that my hubby wouldn't remember that we might need to celebrate the Mother's Day this year since I am a mother now. But, He surprised me! WITH THESE...

It's funny because he sent the packages to our old address. He signed up an account and bought me a gift for my graduation, when we were still living in the previous address. So this time, when he bought the gifts, he changed the billing address and forgot the shipping address. So, it was automatic shipped to the address which was saved in the account. On Saturday, we went out to watch my friend, Matt's, concert in Danbury. On the way there, he got an email saying that the gift packages had been delivered. So he asked me to call my mom to go get them in front of the garage. But my mom said she couldn't find them. Then he asked me to ask my mom to check two more times, so I knew they could be something very special. Of course he found out the mailing address was wrong once we got home and he logged on to his account. Drove to the old house, and of course there was no one there, so he left a notice, and hoped that the house owners didn't return the packages to UPS. After worrying the whole night, the old house owner called and said the packages are their, and asked us to pick them up. And there they were, in my hands, and made my First Mother's Day!

During the winter, the liner of the pond cracked and leaked out most of the water. Therefore, our fish didn't survive :( After hubby fixed the pond, we couldn't wait and went to get more fish this year on Mother's Day. We took Little V with us this time. It was a beautiful day, warm weather, Little V could finally put on a short sleeves shirt and shorts and being outside!!! We bought some fish and had a great time!!!

Shhh, my baby is sleeping...

2011-05-02T23:37:00.003-04:00

That's why I have time to write up this post.

It has been a looooong time since my last post, almost 1.5 year. Too much to tell, and I am not sure where and how to start with.

The most exciting thing has happened was, I had a baby girl! Little V came 6 weeks early than we expected. She was born on Dec 2nd, 2010, 5 lb 2 oz, and 16.5 inch long. I was having a hard time giving up coffee while I was pregnant, plus lots of restrictions of chinese rules which made my pregnancy not easy. But Little V was all healthy after she was born, it made it all worth it!

Since Little V came very sudden, we didn't prepare well enough. I bought most of the baby things, like nursery items, clothes, and stuff at the hospital while I was in the labor process. All in all, it was a great experience. The day I was discharged from the hospital, since V was a preemie, she had to stay there while I was going home. It was the hardest thing to do. While Andrew was driving me home, my tears just couldn't stop running. V did come home after 12 days, right before Christmas! She was the nicest Christmas gift to me and Andrew.

And a couple of my best friends throw me a baby shower after V came home. It was perfect, because, first of all, it was a Hello Kitty theme party, they do know me well! Also, everyone got to meet V!!! Great time!!!My co-workers also throw me another shower at work, so after all, V got lots of gifts and love!

She is now 5 month old today, about 16 lbs :) We are pleased that she is one happy baby!

Work has been super busy. Since I was out for about 3.5 months, there is a lot I need to catch up. I did travel a little bit for work. Went to Boston (for the first time) for a day, and went to Vegas for 5 days. Leaving V at home was tough, but thanks to the invention of internet, I got to video-chat with her once a day when I was gone. And because I had my maternity leave for couple of months, I missed all the snow storms this year. I was happy that I didn't have to drive 45mins to work in that kind of weather. I guess V picked the right time to come :)

We bought a house in Bethany. We bought it because we love living in the woods, loved the layout of the house since we knew that my parents were going to move in with us. They did move in with us last August, which is great! My mom has been taking care of all of us, which I really appreciated! We did have water in the basement right after we bought the house. There was a rain storm, spring 2010, and Andrew was in Hong Kong/China for business. I was home alone fighting the water for several hours until 3am. I felt so helpless, but my in-laws came rescue me first thing in the morning. They are always there when I need help :)

As for knitting, I haven't given it up yet! Although I haven't been to SnB much (miss my bitches!), I do knit at home sometimes. I will post more pictures of my projects later.

Happy New 2010!!!

2010-01-01T09:55:00.005-05:00

I didn't realize how long I haven't been updating my blog. Since lots of things have happened since September, it's going to be long process to try to catch up...

I got a new job in Danbury as an design/process engineer. The company is pretty small compared to Schick, but everyone has been nice to me. And since the company is small, it's like a family. All the Marias like to bake (there are 4 of them), so one of them always bake birthday cakes for us. It is quite a commute, about 45mins each way, but I am getting used to it. So far, I like my job! That's everyone in the company in the picture below.

As I promised myself, once I got a real job, I would treat myself a Coach bag, and here it is! My very first Coach bag!!!

Right before I got the new job, I thought it may take me a while to be employed, so I decided to go back to school for my master. I went to take 2 classes at UNH, Monday and Tuesday night. Then I found out that the drive was a killer, home to work, work to school, then school to home, 90+ miles a day. Plus all the homework and study, I couldn't handle it. So, I dropped the Tuesday class. Still busy by work and school, but I got through the semester fine.

For my birthday, Andrew has sent me flowers to my office for the first time! Surprise! It arrived a day before my birthday, hahaha, the florist made a mistake. But that's ok, I love it. Thanks Honey!!

I took Costumechick's recommendation, and took Andrew to Star Wars in Concert as his birthday gift. I was trying to surprised him, but the whole surprising process was not a "comfortable" experience. Andrew was actually very stressed until we arrived the concert. So, now I know, no more surprises for him :D After all, we both enjoy the concert very much! (I was able to find the smallest cake I have ever seen in Stew Leonard's , to feed only two of us)

My high school friends have hold a 10 year reunion in Hong Kong. And a friend in Japan and I arranged to meet them online! Don't you just love the technologies nowadays?

One top of the busy schedule, somehow, Andrew and I had time to go to lots of open houses because we found out that the owner of the house that we have been sitting for has planned to sale his house in May 2010. We had planned a long that we were going to buy his house, but we just want to know if we pay the same price, what other opinions out there are. At the end of November, we found a house that suit better what we need at its open house. We put an offer on that house, and so the troubles begin... I should start another post for this house buying story, too long and it may include some cursing, so next post ;) Now we are hoping to move in the early of 2010! Good luck to us!!!

It has been a crazy busy Fall/Winter, hope we will have a good start of 2010, and slow down for a bit!!!

Happy New Year to all of my family and friends!!!

Hey, I am still alive!

2009-09-27T16:22:00.016-04:00

I don't know where the time go, I have been busy here and there. So, news, I got a new job! Yay! I will start tomorrow. Hopefully I will do well. Thanks to everyone, my family, co-workers, and knitting buddies who have 110% supported me and helped me making the decisions. I feel I am very lucky to have nice family and friends who love me so very much! They are always there to for me when I need them!!!

This summer, I have done couple of my "first thing". I went to my first Greek Festival and ate lots of greek food. I went to my first fair in Orange, had my first fried dough and funnel cake there, and saw a pig race (Of course I bought some yarn there too, hehe). And I went to my very first football game at Yale. They were fun! I really had a great time in this summer. Oh, Andrew went to Boundary Water to hike for a week, and that was the longest time I haven't talked to him ever since we met. So, beside that, it was great!

I also had lots of awesome food this summer. Lots of bake goodies, sushi, greek food, fair food, and seafood. As you all know, food has been a big part of my life ;)

As far as knitting, I have done some, but not as much as I love to. I made couple baby items for one of my friends. I am still working on a summer top(I know, maybe I can wear it next summer lol), and the pullover for the Sweater KAL. I will keep up with it!

Sweater KAL started!!! (sort of)

2009-08-07T22:45:00.007-04:00

After I came home from SnB (had a blast with the girls, btw), I got a package from Knitpicks. I got the size 13 needles for my Sweater KAL, yay!!! I am knitting the Lace Leaf Pullover from Loop-d-Loop with GREEN yarn! yup, Phoebe is using green yarn! So stay tune to see the progress and the FO.

While I was "looking" for the needles that I needed, I accidentally found something interesting... Not sure if you have the same problem that I have. I always have problem knowing the sizes of the knitpicks needles. So, this Options needle tip stand is just a perfect solution to my problem! And I am loving it!!!

I have been very frustrated lately. It's just because of the job hunting process is not going well. All the companies out there, they don't want to spend money to train newbies, so they are all looking for the 5yr+ experience workers. I often ask myself. If no one ever hired newbies anymore, then newbie would never get the 5 years experience, which means they would never get a job... It's frustrating, but nothing else I can do except keep sending out resume... :(

Family Visiting

2009-07-25T15:01:00.008-04:00

During the July 4th weekend, DH and I went to visit his parents. My SIL and her family has came back to visit from Texas. We had a great time, especially "hanging out" with my niece and nephew. They were soooo cute! I couldn't believe how fast they have grown.

After that my family has decided to come visit us in CT while on the way back from DC. They drove all the way down to DC to change my dad's Hong Kong passboard. They arrived on Wednesday night and left on Sunday morning. We went to have Taiwanese food, sushi, Rich's Farm ice cream, bbq at home, and go karting. It was such a short visit, but I was just glad to see my family.

As far as knitting, I have been doing it still... LOL.
I have finished a baby dress, and a baby blanket for Renee, and a pair of Blackrose socks for myself.

Now I am onto a top called Josephine.

I also has joined a sweater KAL from our SnB group. It starts on Aug 1st, and ends at Oct 31st. You can knit any sweater you want, and I think I am going to make Lace Leaf Pullover from Loop-d-Loop.

My creation

2009-06-14T18:18:00.002-04:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by anphoe

I found this from accountantgrrl 's blog. Pretty cool, so I did one myself. Try it, it's fun!

To do:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Phoebe
2. What is your favorite food? Pasta
3. What high school did you go to? Po Leung Kuk
4. What is your favorite color? red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Leonardo DiCapio
6. Favorite drink? Mocha
7. Dream vacation? Japan
8. Favorite dessert? Tiramisu
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Photographer
10. What do you love most in life? My family.
11. One word to describe you. Truthful
12. Your flickr name. anphoe

BLAH

2009-06-13T21:12:00.004-04:00

I feel really blah lately. No class, no home work... thought I would have more time to do stuff, more knitting or cooking. Well, it goes the other way, I have been very slacking... Who knows why? I don't.

Andrew took me to a drive in movie theater in Mansfield CT. It was my first time going to a drive in, very interesting experience. $9/person for 2 movies, not bad at all.

At work, DH and someone else has started "Orange Shirt Friday". Since there are some new co-0ps and interns, I told them about it, and they joined us! How cool is that?

Last week, DH bought me some covers for the Wiimote. Cute!!!

I got tiffanied!

2009-06-05T21:00:00.010-04:00

I finally have time to write a new post.

I graduated!!! I have not been very excited for some reason. I guess it's because I haven't found a job yet, still working at the same place, so it seems like I am still in school minus the homework and study.

I was not planning to go to the graduation commencement. Then my parents thought they were going to come over for it, so they convinced me to go. But, because my dad's health, they couldn't make it. Although it was disappointing, his health was more important. Once he gets better, they will come visit us again. Even my family didn't come, I still had a great time because my inlaws and 2 of my best SnBers were there to support me!!! (of course my DH also) Really appreciated they attending. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

I got some gifts from them too. My "bitches" gave me yarn! (They know me well!!!) And my DH tiffianied me for the very first time. When we were having lunch at StoneBridge in Milford. DH surprised me with a little blue box. He put the box next to me while I was having soup. But I didn't realize the box was there until I finished the soup. Duh... I love it. Thanks Honey!!!

I did finish the Garden Party Shawl on time for my graduation. I did make one mistake somewhere, but I am not going to tell you where it is because you won't notice. Well the truth is, I don't even know where it was because when I was picking up stitches to do the short row for the border, I was one stitch short somewhere somehow... I was trying to fix it, but when I found that out, I was already half way through the border. Since I didn't want to rip the border, I just ignored it. lol

The day after commencement, we went to visit my inlaws. They had a picnic for Memorial Day and my graduation. They were so sweet to do that for me. Grammy got me a cake too! I was surprised!!! :D

I had my school buddies came over for a BBQ/Rock Band party. We had a blast.

Nothing exciting is happening in my life right now, except I am back to SnB. Woohooo!!!

Exhausted

2009-05-03T20:19:00.006-04:00

I am so tired! From school and work, and some fun during the weekends, so busy!!!

Last Friday, My Energy Management class went for a Power Plant tour up at Mohegan Sun. I took Andrew with me. It was a awesome tour, they have an amazing plant that keep the casino running! After the tour, we went with couple of my classmates to Big Bubba's BBQ for dinner. Andrew and I ordered The The Big Bubbaque, which came with Beef, pulled pork, ribs, link & BBQ chicken, to share. It was very good, and we were both really full afterward. Then we gambled a little ;)

Oh, on the way to the casino, my car was hit by a stone, and my car's windshield...

Then the next day, I went out with my photography buddies to New Haven for some night shooting. we started shooting from 4:30pm, had dinner at Ivy Noodles, and ice cream at Ashley's, then shot more, and leaving New Haven around 11pm. My legs were sore after that, but it was so worth it, so much fun.

THEN on Sunday, Andrew and I got up early, took the train down to NYC, met my cousin Dennis and his fiancee in China Town for dim sum, and then went to Brooklyn Botanical Garden for some cherry blossom shooting! yes! more pictures!!!

Then this Friday, I went shopping for suits and dresses for my final presentation/interview(later, hopefully), and my graduation commencement. I got both suits and dress, so mission accomplished!

Got up early yesterday, went to the darkroom to print some pictures for "the show". Every semester, the photography class professor would pick 8-12 students' pictures and hang up on the wall in school. I am so excited! He picked one of my pictures, well, he said may be two if he could find another empty frame. So, I was there helping him to print my pictures.

Once I got home, I had to finish up some of the homework, then Andrew and I went out for dinner and watched a movie, a DATE!!! We watched Wolverine. We both like it, thought it was pretty good. And on the way home from movie(around mid-night), we saw 2 cows on the side of the road. We both freaked out at first, then we drove back to confirm that we did see COWS. So this time, we drove slowly, and then... you know me... took a picture of them lol.

Today, since I saw some work clothes on sale when I was dress/suits shopping on Friday, I printed out the coupons and went work clothes shopping today for 2 hours. Then Andrew and I have been cleaning the house like crazy. My parents and my inlaws are coming in couple weeks, so between busy at work and school finals week, we have to get ready for the guests now... Can't slack anymore!!!

I am still knitting the Garden Party Shawl, not much progress, so no new picture of it. I only hope I can finish it before May 23rd...

Happy Easter

2009-04-16T20:30:00.009-04:00

It has been a while that I haven't posted. I have been extremely busy lately.

Last weekend, hubby and I went back home to NY to spend Easter with his parents. My MIL never forgets my love for Hello Kitty, I had a surprise when I went into our bedroom.

She got me a HK Easter basket with a cute/short HK story book.

We did have a good weekend over at my in law's house. We visited a power plant in Athens, NY. It was an amazing tour. I heard the Phoebe bird calling my names for the very first time. I saw the "making-of" maple syrup also for the first time. I have been married into the Hitchcock family for more than 5 years, but I had never seen the boiling process until now, very interesting. I can tell you now that the fresh hot/warm maple syrup is the best! So yummmy! I had to fight with Andrew for the last spoon of it! (actually not true, because he let me have it.) If anyone wants to order some from my PIL, let me know ;)

The whole weekend was relaxing, mostly because I didn't have to cook, didn't have to clean, no homework; only knitted, tv and ate! Just like when I went back to Fargo, being someone's daugther is always easier and more comfortable than being someone's wife, LOL!

2009-03-28T15:59:00.001-04:00

Testing, posting with my cell

Spring Break woohooo!

2009-03-22T01:23:00.013-04:00

Yeah, I got a spring break, yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Yesterday, I took a day off from work because I had plans!!! I went was too excited about my plans, I couldn't sleep until 3am, and then I got up at 6:30am. Then I went pick up a cake that I ordered on Thusday for my friend J's birthday to surprise her around 1am. I asked one of her co-workers to setup a meeting with her at 1pm and then asked several people to come to the conference room 10 mins earlier to prepare. And since I am not at work, she won't be expecting that there was a parting waiting for her! When she walked into the room, she had an angry face, a "it's 1:05pm people, it's our meeting time, not yours, so please get out of here" face. Then she saw me, she had a confuse look. Then she saw the cake and realized what was going on! It was a totaly success surprise party! And it made my work-couple-hour-less day worth the price!!!

Then Andrew and I went to a work furnature sales and bought a giant cabinet and 2 desks, total $40. But transporting them home was a bit challenge, since we both drive a tiny car. We drove home with the cabinet first. It bearly fit in Andrew's car.

Then I went to Long Wharf to have dinner at Greek Olive and watched a play called Bad Dates with my SnB girls. Dinner was awesome, I had my Moussaka for the very first time, the play was very cute, and of course I had a great time seeing the girls. I miss hanging out with them. I can't wait to finish this semester, so I can go back to SnB on Thursdays.

And then the next day, Andrew and I went back to the warehouse again and picked up the desks. After dropping off the desks back to the house, Andrew and I had a short road trip today. We went to a place that Andrew wanted to go first. Then he took me to Wadsworth Waterfall in Middletown as a surprise. I knew that he was taking me to some place special, so I got my equipments ready for the trip. It was a very nice day, so we have taken some nice pictures ...

Then we had our dinner at a diner, didn't know where it was. Andrew just asked the GPS to take us to the closest one from the waterfall, since I love diner. Also, diner is a perfect place for Andrew and I to go to eat, because while I am ordering my fancy dish, he can still order his barbecue bacon & cheese burger.

Tomorrow, actually it's today since it's already passed midnight, I am going to start baking, getting ready for the once a semester bake sale. On the menu, of course my signature cheesecake, poundcake, and new item - pumpkin bread(muffins). If I have time, I may make something else, but I don't know what yet...

Spring Break! sort of...

2009-03-15T10:09:00.011-04:00

Next week is UNH's spring break, but not Gateway's... plus I have to go to UNH for my project's meeting, so basically, no break for me. :(

I am still knitting... slowly. I have the upper part of the Garden Party done. Hopefully, I will get it done by mid May. lol

I have also decided to continue knitting the Juno Regina Scarf. Someone may like it :D
I also need to start knitting some baby stuff. My friend Renee is having her baby girl in June. YAY!!! So I need to hurry up because it does take time for mailing to HK!

I have been having lots of fun in the photography class. Printing my own pictures in the darkroom, it's like seeing magic happens every time when I put a piece a white paper in to the chemical solution, and then the image came up in couple seconds, very cool! Although it is very time consuming to develop, wash, and then dry the pictures (it could take several hours to print 3-4 pictures if someone helped me), it's all worth it when I see the "magic happens". These pictures are from my Shadow assignment.

Last night, Andrew and I went to a small Japanese & Korean Restaurant in Cheshire/Hamden. It's owned my a family, we think. Food was great, we had scallion pancake with seafood, Korean ricecake for appetizers. They were both pretty good, although Andrew said the rice cake was too spicy for him. He had Bulgogi, his usual. Since he doesn't like mushroom, I ate all of his shitake mushroom in the dish. Oh man, the mushroom absorbed all the favor of the sauce, tasted amazing!!! I had my favorite Korean dish, Jahp Chae. Love it!!!

Should I give it up?

2009-02-24T23:47:00.014-05:00

This yarn, this scarf, I liked them very much when I first started. However, after I saw the colorway changed so suddenly, I have had a second thought. It looks so weird... just doesn't look right. So, I think I am giving it up, the scarf, the yarn...

More B&W pictures from my FM2, please click and enlarge them to see the cool effects...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-15T22:20:00.006-05:00

Andrew told me to one of my favorite restaurants in North Haven, Red Lobster! I really appreciated that he put in some effort to found another route to go there, made me think he was lost or something... Then we went to watch By Bloody Valentine. It was totally my kind of movie, very bloody, however, I was a bit disappointed that it was not so scary. Thanks for the great day honey!

I made Chicken Lasagna and Bake Onions tonight. I finally found a recipe that doesn't need ricotta cheese, and some other cheeses that Andrew doesn't eat. It's pretty good, I like it a lot (which pasta I don't like?)

I saw this pretty view while I was leaving work last Friday, so I took a picture to share with you...

Last picture was taken by Andrew. He took a picture of my taking pictures for the photography assignment :D

Camera Mittens

2009-02-10T22:42:00.009-05:00

They are finally done. I used Noro Kochoran for them and totally love how the yarn feels on my skin, very soft. I also love the color way of it. Also I have frogged so many time while knitting the thumbs, I still think they are too long... I worn the mittens to shoot some pictures tonight, and they worked really well!

Super Bowl sale... I know, it's a bit late to blog about it, but hey, who doesn't want to see more yarn, right? The 2 balls of fixation in the pictures were what I got from a yarn swap at Peaceful Knitter's superbowl party . It was an awesome day, and I laughed and ate alot!!!

After I got home, Andrew and I watched a bit of superbowl. We knew that there was some 3-D thingy right before the half time show, so we were ready...

I have been taking pictures with my dad's "old school" camera, trying to get to use it for the photography class. I am very very super excited that I will get to use the dark room late on, however, I need to overcome m y fear of total darkness... good luck to me!!!

Snow AGAIN?!

2009-01-28T23:57:00.009-05:00

I am so afraid to drive in snow. So, DH and I drove in to work together this morning. I don't think I can drive in this condition...

I am taking a photography class this semester at Gateway Community College. It's a black and white film class. I am going to spend half of my class time in the dark room to develop my own photographs, pretty cool huh? I am very excited! I knew I was going to take this class, so last time when I visited my parents, I took my dad's toys back with me to CT to use it in the class.

And now it's my toy! And I used this to take couple pictures and then took the films to Walgreens to develop, an hour later, I got the REAL paper kind pictures plus a CD with all the pictures in it...

As for knitting, I casted on a new project Camera Mittens. I was having problem casting on the thumb, that's why it's taking me so long to get to this point...

Hanami Fest

2009-01-25T21:54:00.011-05:00

I finished it !!! I can't believe I finished it before school start.

I also have been cooking A LOT lately.

Onions Baked with Rosemary and Cream. It's awesome, 5 out of 5 stars!!!

Pork Chops with Sour Cream and Mushroom Sauce. Andrew likes it, so 4 stars.

Grilled Vension Backstrap . I don't like venison much, so I give it 3 stars.

Cola wings . Instead of cooking in oven, I cooked it with the stove. I browned the wings first on a pan, then put the cola sauce in, and added more coke to cover all the wings, brought it to boil and turn the heat down, and simmered for an hour. Pretty good, 4 stars.

Baked Pork Chops . I used chicken stock instead of white wine . It's a must-cook. 5 stars!!!

Baked chicken wings. I marinated the wings overnight, dipped them into eggs and coated them with bread crumbs. Then put them in the oven at 375 degree for an hour. 4 stars.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins . I have made 16 muffins from this recipes. Pretty good. 4 stars!!!

I was very excited this Wednesday, because LOST is back!!! This was how Andrew and I welcome it back... Yes I know, very dorky... These are our Wednesday nights outfit now!

Being SUPER Lazy

2009-01-16T21:28:00.010-05:00

I have knitted quite a lot lately. I "almost" finish the Gathered Pullover. The seaming part was dragging the progress of the project. Now the shoulders are seamed, and the sleeves are attached to the body, next step is to knit the neck band. However, I am not sure if I am going to finished it. I tried it on, it fits a bit tiny, and it's itching me, very much! The alpaca yarn is very soft, but I didn't know it's itchy! If the sweater is fitting my body so well, that I it won't fit me if I wear something underneath. OH what should I do? Finish it and give it to someone else? But I do like the sweater... Knitters, any suggestions?

I have finished the Zokni socks. I am not sure what went wrong, maybe the color of the yarn, maybe the needle size that I used, they just don't look quite right for some reason.

Now I am onto a new project, Hanami! I have been wanting to knit this for a while. It was the knit-the-bead-cast on worried me, made me haven't started this project. But, once I started, it's not as difficult as I thought. It's my second day of Hanami Fest, I am already in the second repeat of the basket weave chart, very easy knit, and I am loving it!

Last week, I have cooked a bit. I have made Chicken Milano. It has a sun-dried tomato and basil sauce. Pretty good, Andrew surprisingly liked it. Then I tried this Stir-Fry Green Bean recipe, holy cow, it's a must-cook! (I didn't have sesame seeds, but I used sesame oil instead, yum!)

We have been having some snow/ice storms for the last couple of weeks. One night after it snowed for couple hours, Andrew went out and "shoveled" me a message. So sweet!

Enjoying my break

2009-01-10T10:59:00.017-05:00

I have been enjoying my break by doing pretty much nothing. There is no work pressure, no homework. I just go to work, come home, cook or not cook, and then watch TV. Very simple but enjoyable.

Last week, Some of my SnB friends came over for the SnB + Rock Band Party. We had potluck for dinner, everything was so delicious. Since Knelley and Jennsquared had their birthdays couple weeks ago, we surprised them by giving them gifts right after dessert. Then everyone rocked when playing the video games. I believed we had lots of fun that night.

During holidays season, I have been "jingled" at work 3 times this year. What is "jingle"? At work, the health services had created the event like secret santa. This secret santa got a "You have been Jingled" note from the health services, then he/she would leave the gift and the note on the person's desk that whose he/she wanted to jingled without that person knowing. This year I got chocolates in a mug from Liz (not in the picture), some fancy tea from Jules, and some hello kitty pens and a small notebook (still don't know whom they are from).

Jennsquared got me a Hello Kitty Calendar. The cutest thing and I LOVE IT! Guess who knows me well?

I also got some Japanese cookies from Yin who just came back from Japan for his ping pong training. This kid was a co-op at Schick. He was so sweet, he asked if I wanted anything from Japan the last day he was there. I said, there is one kind of cookies that I really really like from Japan, I showed him the link, he bought me the cookie before the left Japan. Couple days later, I found these cookies in my mail box.

The coolest thing I got this year is from my friend Sean. He gave me a gift certificate to The Yarn Barn. Why is it cool if it's only a gift certificate? Because he handmade it! He bought the code from the Yarn Barn, then used his industrial design talent plus couple paper cards to created this pretty gift certificate. I really appreciated his thoughtfulness.

Lastly, I just want to show you couple pictures...(especially thank to DH for winding the yarn and modeling)

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T13:33:00.012-05:00

Andrew and I came back from Fargo on the 26pm-27am. Our flight got a bit delay, but we were lucky that we got home ok. After we arrived home, about 3-4 inches of snow on the driveway was waiting for us. Thanks to Subaru, we didn't need to shovel it, we just drove up without any problem.

Fargo was COLD. There were couple days, I was having difficulty to breath when I was outdoor. Lots of snow, there was. Therefore, nothing much we could do there, except eat, sleep, and eat. The result? gain some weight! But it's so worth it because I missed my mom's cooking so much! We also get a chance to see the family. I am so proud of my little brother who just graduated, I hope he can find a job very soon.

These several days, no work, no school. All I did was being lazy. I did some laundry, watch lots of TV [LOST, (I can't believe how addictive it is, Andrew now is obsessed with it), and 24], eat, and KNIT.

Andrew took me to Red Lobster on the 30th. I love Red Lobster, and finally, they opened one up in North Haven, we don't have to drive all the way to Danbury anymore. I go there for their seafood, Andrew goes there for their biscuits...

Traditionally, Andrew and I celebrate New Year at home. I cook dinner at home. Last night, I have made Flank Steak , Green Bean Casserole , mashed potato and pumpkin pie. I did snow a lot yesterday, so Andrew had to shovel the deck for me to use the grill. Steak was pretty good, I was going to make fajitas with it, but I fo rgot to buy tortillas, oh well... I m ade p umpkin pie because I had all the ingredients at home already. After all the good food, we wen t back to 24, hahahaha....

I haven't updated my blog for long time. It's because before, I was too busy at school, I didn't have time to write. Now I am too busy to write because I use my time to knit like crazy. I have finished the body of the Gathered Pullover, now I am onto the sleeves. And I am also on the second foot of the Zokni socks.

Packing for Fargo

2008-12-19T00:05:00.007-05:00

So, a quick update...

Knitting:

Finished items:

1) Flared Lace Smoke Ring

2) Copy Cat Hat

3) Spring scarf

On needles:

1) Gathered Pullover

2) Zokni Socks (no picture yet)

And a new hair cut...

Black Friday Shopping

2008-11-30T17:39:00.006-05:00

I didn't go out, I went on Amazon.com... And Merry super-early Christmas to me!!! I got myself a Christmas gift ALREADY! Andrew mentioned to buy me a Kitchenaid mixer for Christmas.. I was like, oh, that's a great idea! Then I found it at amazon's the Black Friday sale. I was like GREAT! I ordered it at 1-ish pm on Friday. Then I got an email around 4:30pm on Saturday saying that it was delivered(I was still at New York)... I was shocked! I wasn't home yet, I didn't get home until 9:30pm at night. Then once I got home, I saw it right outside the garage...

I don't know why it had a lab saying the package contains alcohol which it doesn't. Also, it says "Adult signature required, Check ID..." No one has signed it when it was delivered... did Fedex do their job right and follow the delivery instructions? It was just funny! And how it's sitting beautifully on my kitchen counter :D What should I make next?

Did you change your gmail template? I did, it's so cuteeee!

I have been baking...

2008-11-29T22:26:00.006-05:00

In the last post, I said I have been working on a scarf. And here it is...

I have been busy baking since Andrew's birthday. I have made him WifeMomKnitter 's awesome Brownie drops. It was ok, not as good as WifeMomKnitter's... but they were still edible.

I made Tiramisu on last Sunday. I have been craving for it, s o I went bought all the ingredients and tada... It was very good, I love it... Since Andrew doesn't drink at all, so I u sed very very strong coffee instead of the coffee flavored liqueur.

I have baked 2 pumpkin cheesecake. One for work and one for my in-laws. They came out pretty good, and they tasted very yummy, I have heard. Because I don't like cheesecake, so I couldn't tell.

I also made Candied Pecan. I got this recipe from my hairs tylist. I took some to work, and lots to my in-laws. They are very addictive, I just kept eating them non-stop, a very dangerous item...

At last, I found these pretty cute coke bottles in Walmart when I was shopping for the Candied Pecan ingredients...

New Knitting project(s)

2008-11-19T22:47:00.008-05:00

Finally, it's cold enough for me to knit at home now. Or I tend to knit more when I am all stressed out.

Anyway, I got couple new projects. The first one(s) is(are) a gift (gifts). So, can't post it here. But this is another one. It's a neck-warmer called Flared L ace Smoke ring . I am using Rowan Kidsilk Night for this project, I think it's coming along pretty good. The silver grey color lace pattern will look great on top of my black hair...

I am also working on a scarf too, but I didn't take any picture of it yet, so I can't so you how beautiful it is. LOL. I also want to show you some silly things that I have been doing...

I went to a great sushi place with J last Friday. It is like a buffet type of restaurant. You pay one price, and then order whatever you want in the menu, and as many times and much as you want, as long as you don't waste their food... It was pretty worth it, since we did order lots of sashimi, raw salmon, yummmmm

Then Saturday, I went and got a hair cut. ( I guess that's not silly, but my picture is)

Remember when you were a kid, you always put a laundry bucket over your head and pretended you were a robot? No? me either. Someone told me it's fun, because he/she used to do that a lot. Then he/she asked me to try it...

Also I forgot to post a very significant picture of me.... I voted!!! November 4th, my first presidential vote!!!

Minimalist #2

2008-11-09T01:46:00.006-05:00

Finally, it's finished!!!

I had never knitted with black yarn before. I thought the black yarn wouldn't show the pattern at all. Since C requested the Minimalist in Black, so tried. And it turned out beautiful (at least I think it is) surprisingly. I am glad the pattern shows nicely. Now I only hope she will like it. I was funny that I didn't realize I was wearing mine while I seamed the black one...

I am very proud of my hubby!

2008-10-27T22:22:00.004-04:00

This is why I am so proud of my Hubby!!!

Yup, Andrew started learning how to knit! I didn't force him, he asked me to teach him. So no matter how busy I am right now, I need to blog about it.

And I got another awesome gift today from Becky, my favorite sister-in-law. A "30 Rocks!" mug and a recipe birthday card, how cool is that? Love them!!!!! Thanks Becky! Thanks for just to remember my birthday hehehe...

Happy "No Biggie" 30th Birthday for me!

2008-10-19T00:52:00.006-04:00

It was a very very special day for me. On the 15th, since my friend C wants to pick me up after work and then drop me off at home, so I carpooled with Andrew in the morning. Before we went to work, Andrew stopped by Starbucks and get my breakfast, he knows how much I love Starbucks. It wasn't a good day at work. I got pulled out from a project that I liked a lot, lots of challenges. So I was quite upset about it. Jennsquared stopped by my desk and gave me a present and a card and wished my happy birthday. How nice of her.

At 2:30, all of my co-works celebrated my birthday with a cake and a card. They sang me a happy birhday song, so touching.

Then around 6pm, my friend C came picked me up at work. She didn't tell me where we were going, only told me that she would just like to hang out with me for a while, then she would dropped my off at home, so that Andrew could celebrate with me. Then we went to get a Birthday Girl tiara, and stopped by TGIF for a drink. Then she took me to a restaurant called Kumo in Hamden, once she parked, she made me covered my eyes and walked across the parking lot. Once I got it, uncovered my eyes, I saw several of my friends. Jennsquared, Julee, Zack, Anne, and of course Andrew. It was a big surprise! We had Hibachi there, awesome food, awesome entertainment! They gave me a card and 2 gifts, which are still being shipped. I was soooo excited and glad that they could be there and celebrate with me, even thought there were couple of my friends couldn't make it to the dinner, I knew they were thinking of me, and I felt so loved!!!

Besides my friends, my family also took some actions. My parents sent me lucky money; Becky, my sister-in-law and Grammy called. Got a card from Gramma, got "The card of the year" from my parents-in-law. It's big, and it's Hello Kitty, can't top that!

I also got lots of birthday wishes on Facebook. It's a great place to connect with friends and family, close and far. I would like to thank every one who has participated part of my "no biggie 30th" birthday. It was warm, surprised and loved. More pictures here ...

You may have noticed how long I haven't updated my blog, it's because I haven't accomplished any knitting project lately. However, tonight, I have finished the Minimalist for C, I just need to sew the pieces together, and it will be done, and then I can move on to a new project.

Way early B-day gift

2008-09-27T18:47:00.012-04:00

I got my birthday gift already! Ok, the story started from last year when Andrew and I drove up to see my parents. We stopped by the World Larg est Truck Stop in Iowa. We saw a sticker which was only $2. Andrew thought it was hilarious if I put it on my car(because my car is so tiny), but I thought it's too big and would make my car ugly. So, I didn't allow him to buy it, even though it's $2. And then, guess what? I have regret we didn't buy it ever since we left the truck stop. We looked for it for the rest of the trip, still couldn't find it in all the big truck stops. I have been kept looking online even since we came back from the trip, but no luck. Until Monday, I came back home from work, I saw a package left next to the garage door. I looked, it's Andrews, from IOWA80truckstop.com, I smiled. Then I took it inside the garage and left it next to the basement door. Andrew came home, I didn't see him taking up the package, so I asked him. And here it is, my cheapest birthday gift ever! But I absolutely love it!!!

I made sushi on Monday, and look, aren't they pretty? The square ones are hot dogs, middle ones are tuna salad with asparagus , top ones are shrimp with cream cheese with chive and onion, the bottom ones are hot dog with asparagus and portabello mushroom.

Yesterday after work, I went shopping with my friend from work. We were looking for a small gift for my another friend, C., who just became a US citizen yesterday. We went to target and had our little fun trying on some crazy sunglasses. I almost bought the orange one, only $12. It was sooo much fun, and we looked ridiculous, hahahaha....

At night, Andrew and I have attended C.'s citizenship happy hour. I am so proud of her! Now we can both vote this year!!!

What did I do today? I got up pretty early, cleaned the house, and baked a pie! Ken, the house owner came visiting today, and he asked for a banana cream pie for dessert. So, I baked my very first banana cream pie! Taste? don't know yet. He is still watching TV with Andrew downstairs... may be it's time for dessert...

Weekend at a garden

2008-09-21T12:22:00.012-04:00

Andrew and I met up my cousin and his fiancee at Chinatown in NY for dim sum for lunch, and then we went to Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for some photo-taking.

Of course I was too excited at the dim sum restaurant, and I was too hungry, I forgot the to take pictures of our food. It was good. I missed dim sum.

Then we took subway to go to the Gardens. Got off the subway, had a not-so-short walk to the garden, I was thinking, this Gardens better worth for all the walking. we were there for 3 hours, and it's worth it. Although it's not the season for most of the flower to bloom, but the Gardens is still beautiful. More pictures, click here .

Then 4 of us went back to Chinatown for dinner. It's a restaurant called Singapore Cafe. Food was awesome and reasonable. highly recommended!

Indian pancake

oyster pancake

Everything was tasty!!!

Japanese Style green tea cheesecake.

Portuguese custard tart.

Then Andrew showed me this video this morning, funny!

and then I found this video afterward, funnier!!!

It's not real, but it's soooo cute

2008-09-05T16:42:00.006-04:00

Ok, don't judge me, I think this ring is so pretty! I want one!!! It's a product of Sanrio and Swarovski. Drooling.....

When I was driving home on Wednesday, it rained a little. And I saw a huge rainbow at West Haven.

Yesterday we, the SnBers, had a bachelorette party for Jennsquared at Ruby Tuesday. I was ready to be "happy" after the party, so I asked Andrew to come pick me up before the party started. However, since their bar closed earlier than I thought it would be, so I only had one drink which only made me a little "happy", oh well, BUT! I had a really good time!!!

My Lovely SnBers

2008-09-01T00:01:00.007-04:00

The Thursday before we left for Cancun, we surprised our friend, Wife "Mom" Knitter , with a birthday cake the night before her birthday. The cake was from Julia's, it was sooo yummy. Thanks for Jennsquared to ordered it and picked it up.

Last night, we had a meet up at my house. We ate, knited, and played Rock Band. I made chicken pasta, Costumechick brought very tasteful fruits salad, Jennsquared made awesome Guacamole and bought french bread,Yankee Lagniappe was in charge of Pina Coladas, and last but not least, Wife "Mom" Knitter brought Can't-Have-Enough-Of-It-Brownie s-Drops.

While we all were knitting, Jennsquared made me these lovely Hello Kitty stitch markers. They are sooooo cute. Thanks Jenn!

We then played Rock Band. We totally ROCKED!!! I got my career high "97% and 233 note streak, Longest Streak" on the song "Can't Stand Losing You". I do have more pictures and videos. If my SnBers don't mind, I would put them on youtube, or I can put them on google videos, let me know which one you want me to do.

It was such a fuuuuun night. Wish we can do that all the time!!!

Cont. of Cancun Trip

2008-08-31T22:48:00.005-04:00

Actually, something happened the night before we left for Cancun. While we were packing, we got a visitor. We found our cats all ran upstairs, and their fur and tails were all puffy. So, Andrew knew that there must be some animal outside the house which scared the cats.

And then we saw a dog at our deck. It has a tag attached to his collar. His name was Sammi, and the last name of the owner sounded like our neighbor, so we gave the neighbor a called, but no one home. Since it was thundering, Sammi was scared and shaking, so we took him to the our garage to wait and see his owner would come look for him. After a while, we didn't see anyone, so, Andrew took Sammi to our neighbor, but the neighbor wasn't home. Andrew saw Sammi's bed and food was outside the house, so he tired to leave Sammi there and come home, but Sammi followed Andrew. They came back, Sammi wanted to go in to house whenever he had a chance, but we didn't let him. Finally, the owner called, we dropped Sammi off back to its house. Then we came home and started packing. But Sammi was so cute and nice, we liked it a lot! We will remember you, Sammi!!!

I promised I would post more pictures, but I do have a lots of them. So, here are the links to see them all.

Cancun Trip (Nikon)

Cancun Trip (Canon)

Back from vacation :(

2008-08-25T23:00:00.006-04:00

Needed to come back to the real world, no matter how much I don't want to. We really had a great time in Cancun. We went to couple ruins, a water park (sort of), and relax at the beach and pools.

I did bring 2 knitting projects with me to work on. I thought I could knit at the airport between flights, knit on the planes, knit in the hotel room, knit at the beach, but really, I didn't do much of it. I did knit half of the heels flaps of the socks at Cancun, but the other p roject? Never touched it. It was way too hot to knit with mohair, a big mistake project to bring with. I did pretend to knit at the beach though, hehehe...

More pictures later...

Hi from Cancun

2008-08-20T23:21:00.003-04:00

Internet is not free here, sucks! But, HI!!!

2008-08-14T13:00:00.003-04:00

Nothing special has been going on lately, that's why I haven't blogged for a while.

The Saturday before last Saturday, Andrew and I went go carting. I had lots of fun, but I crashed the cart really bad! So, after that, all these days, my chest still hurts!

I went to one of my friends' house on last Saturday for a cookout. So much fun. I even had my first "real" Pina Colada, it was realllllly good, here is a prove!

The end of the summer break

2008-08-06T20:31:00.006-04:00

It's very depressing that the summer is almost ended, and school will start soon. But before school starts, DH and I are going to have a nice vacation, because it's our 5th anniversary (on the 23rd). YAY!

What I have been knitting? Still the Minimalist Cardigan. I am on the front panels now...We have a pet in our back yard. It's always there!!! Last Sunday, I attended my friend Jennsquared's bridal shower. It was my very first. I was so much fun. As a good of knitters, of course we have brought our projects and worked on them while whenever our mouths were not doing anything, I mean eating or laughing. I really had a good time!!!

And some of my new pictures... Please click to enlarge the pictures

New Me

2008-07-28T21:47:00.004-04:00

Haven't blogged for loooong time. I have been busy, with what? I don't know, but definitely not knitting.

I got a haircut 2 Saturdays ago. Then I surprised Andrew when I picked him up at the airport when he came back from AZ. I IMed him right before he got on the plane that day "I haven't seen you for so long(a week), would you still recognize me?" he IMed me back "Of course I would!" And then I saw his eyes got really big when he first saw me at the airport. Hehehe...

July 4th weekend

2008-07-13T10:07:00.009-04:00

I know, July 4th was long time ago, but I have been busy(lazy) that haven't had time to write.

So, hubby and I spent the July 4th weekend at my in-law's house. There was a almost-60-people picnic that hubby and I helped out grilling burgers and hot dogs, of course that's my favorite part, because it would keep me busy and didn't have to talk to anybody. hehehe...

After the picnic, there were some cupcakes left. Andrew asked me to take one for air gun shooting, we didn't waste food, it's just that the cupcakes were covered by flies after the picnic... The pictures below was my first shot at the cupcake. The video below was me shooting the cupcake. It was so much fun!!!

Couple of days ago, we found a weird looking melon thingy in a grocery. It's called Santa Claus Melon . It looks like a football shape watermelon, but it's greenish inside, tastes like cantaloupe plus honeydew, very interesting.

As for knitting, I am still working on the Minimalist Cardigan for my friend, I am knitting the fronts now. And the Spring Forward Socks. I haven't been knitting since it's very hot in the house, really don't want to touch any yarn at all...

Ice Cream Swap

2008-07-04T03:16:00.005-04:00

Yay, I got an awesome package from my ice cream swap pal. This is how it works. I just this swap, and I told my pal what my favorite ice cream is, then she prepared this package with my favorite favor as the theme. My favorite ice cream is red bean, so I got some red, pink yarns. I love the wrapping paper and the fingerless mittens that my pal knitted for me. The most awesome thing in the package is the red bean candy, I just kept eating it after I opened the package. It tastes just like the red bean ice cream, yummmmm.

Last week, I didn't knit much, but I have cooked and baked. I have made pound cake, and used the strawberry leftover to make strawberry shortcake. It's ok...

I have knitted my first color work project. The Herring socks. Well, it wasn't a successful project, it's way too tight. Maybe it's because the way I carried and switched the yarns is not corrected. So, I frogged it...

Next project, Spring Forward socks. This is the first them I knit 2 socks at the same time. It seems fun...

Happy July 4th!!!

Strawberry picking

2008-06-23T00:47:00.009-04:00

Last Saturday, we went strawberry picking at Jone's Family Farm in Shelton. It was a perfect day because it wasn't hot at all. Andrew and I picked 9+ lbs of berries together. There are some interesting looking ones. Of course, Andrew got yelled at when I saw him picking the smallest strawberries that I have ever seen(see the following pictures). But after all, it was an fun experience. What do I do with 9 lbs of berries? I have made Strawberry Bread. It tasted good to most of the people at work. Andrew likes it. So I am going to make another batch of it. If I have more strawberries left, I may make another batch for the ladies. We'll see...

Swallowtail

2008-06-18T23:14:00.004-04:00

Yay, it's done and blocked. I love it. I used the Schaefer Anne for this shawl and size 6 needles. I kept changing back and forth using size 5 and size 6 needles at the very begining. After all, it was a easy pattern, however, it was such a pain in the neck to purl the nupps.

Can it BE any hotter?

2008-06-11T22:04:00.012-04:00

If you have been my house, you know it's like a giant green house... therefore, for the last couple days, Andrew and I have been baking whenever we were in the house. My cats didn't even want to move at all.

The heat in the house does cause a problem, I haven't knitted much. Yeah, like yesterday, I didn't touch any yarn at all, no knitting, yeah, can you believe it? As Jennsquared said, "THAT'S BAD!", I know!

So just to show you my current project, here is the picture of the swallowtail shawl that I have been knitting...
Since I haven't knitted, I cooked a lot. I have made Golumpki (cabbage rolls), it is a recipe that I copied from my mother-in-law's cookbook. It was really good. Now, I am no Polish, but I loved it, but Andrew said it was ok.

Tonight, I have baked Quiche. There were ham, bacon, spinach, mushroom, Monterey cheese, Cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese, sour cream, and stuff, of course eggs. Again, I loved it, and Andrew said it was ok. See the pattern there?

I took Cookie to the vet and get her fixed today. She came home with a cone, and we can't take it off her for 14 days. Poor Cookie...

Lonely...

2008-06-02T23:05:00.005-04:00

Andrew has gone for a training conference at Long Beach, CA. He left on Sunday afternoon, and will be back on Thursday night, so guess what? I may not make it to SnB this week. I know, I know, but I miss my DH(yes already!), need to spend some time with him once he got back, so, no booing, ok?

Before Andrew left, we were trying to have a nice dinner on Saturday. So we have decided to grill homemade burgers and some chicken wings(chinese like to grill chicken wings). It was still bright around 7:30pm. We started grilling around 8pm, still bright.

Then around 8:15pm, when the burgers and wings were still half-raw, it started raining like crazily heavy. What did I do? THIS....

Looks like fun huh?

Orange Socks Friday

2008-05-27T21:51:00.012-04:00

Yay! Finally, I have finished Andrew's Orange Socks for Orange-Shirt-Friday. As Costumechick said, it was like knitting 2 sleeves... But they are done, and Andrew likes them.

I also finished the Mystic Water Shawl. I did the small version. I like the pattern, keep me awake the whole time. Love the zephyr lace yarn too. My cousin Blanche told me that Yi Ma, her mom, my aunt after reading my blog, she saw my MS3 and really liked it. I seldom talk to Yi Ma honestly, but she is one of the most important people in my family. She flew all the way from Hong Kong to attend my wedding which I was really appreciated it. When I went back to Hong Kong to visit, she offered her house for us to stay. We said "no", then she offered her son's extra apartment to stay for 2 weeks... She is always there when my family need help, ALWAYS. Since I am not going to knit another MS3 anytime soon, this MWS will be hers.

Last weekend, Andrew and I went to my in-laws' house. They had a huge picnic on Sunday. Andrew and I were standing behind the grills and cooked burgers and hot dogs. We enjoyed doing it since we didn't have to "socialized". hehehe... After eating, of course there was a tracker trailer ride and baseball game. And while my job was done, I was enjoying the nice weather outdoor by knitting Andrew's socks.

Before we left home, we went to see the bridge that my father-in-law built for his neighbor. It was quite a big accomplishment, such a BIG project!!!

DONE!!!

2008-05-19T16:53:00.003-04:00

I can't tell you how happy I am right now. This semester is done! I had my last final today.

As for knitting, I am almost done with the Mystic Water Shawl, only need to finish the border. I have casted on the "Orange Friday Socks" for DH last night while I was supposed to be studying. hehehe... I used the pattern called Globe Trotter Socks, very simple and plain. I am on the foot part of the first sock, actually, I have been knitting the foot part for loooong time. My DH's feet are so big, I have to keep asking him to trying on the sock to see if I can start the toe, but it seems FOREVER. And now I am afraid I am going to run out of yarn...

I am using DH's new toy, Nokia N810, to type this post, so no pictures and links today, sorry. Now that I am done with this semester, I will have more to time to blog!!!

Almost done...

2008-05-16T10:45:00.003-04:00

One more final exam, this semester will be finished. I can't wait!!!

movie quiz

2008-05-07T21:05:00.014-04:00

I saw this game from WifeMomKnitter 's blog.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie (or get them out of your capacious memory).
3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
4. Bold it when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. Looking them up is cheating, please don’t.

Ready?

1) You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin' and worryin', I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand? The Green Mile

2) Richard. Riiiiiiiiiiiiichaaaarrrrd. Somewhere In Time. Good job WifeMomKnitter!!!

3) My father was fond of saying you need three things in life - a good doctor, a forgiving priest, and a clever accountant. The first two, I've never had much use for. Schindler's List, guessed by Costumechick.

4) That boy is alive. We are gonna send somebody to find him. And we are gonna get him the Hell... outta there. Saving Private Ryan, guessed by Erin.

5) Oh, no, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children and definitely not for me. It would be too... humiliating. Sound of Music, guessed by BeccaH.

6) No. If we don't have the key, we can't open whatever we don't have that it unlocks. So what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don't have, without first having found the key what unlocks it? Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, guessed right by Bijal.

7) You don't understand that this isn't a story to me, it's my life! I want to live! Stranger Than Fiction, guessed right by Octopus Knits.

8) I'm someone else. I'm white... white... WHITE! Imitation of LIfe

9) Person A: I became...
Person B: What?
Person A: Bulimic.
Person C: You can read minds? Zoolander, guessed right by Cinderola.

10) I can't believe you people. I come for you, and you want to stay, I let you stay and you want to go. Meet Joe Black

Bonus 11) I can't. I'm involved now. You let go, and I'm, I'm 'onna have to jump in there after you. Titanic, guessed also by Bijal and Erin.

I really have a strange collection, so, they could be very easy, or hard. Good luck...

I am exhausted!!!

2008-05-03T18:11:00.011-04:00

Ok, I am taking a break from doing studying, all these reports and ppt presentations... I am very very tired and sick of them... especially when someone fell asleep on the couch because playing Rock Band too hard while I was studying... so jealous!!! (ok, the truth is, he was waiting for the xbox360 downloading a song for Rock Band, and he said he was too bored, so he fell asleep.)

Since the last post, I have done quite a lots of things...

I have baked some pound cakes. It was delicious and all sold out for the bake sale last time, so I didn't get a chance to eat much of it. This week, I didn't care how busy I was on Tuesday, I baked 2 more, one plain, one with chocolate chips. I brought one to work(1/2 of each kind), some slides to school, some for C. I was going to give Sean some too, already put pieces in a container. Too bad he and Andrew had an all day off site meeting, so didn't get a chance to give the cake to him and Deborah. And guess what? I ended up eating them. Otherwise, I didn't get to eat any...

I also have cooked a bit... stuffed clams and curry beef.

I haven't gone to SnB for at least 3 weeks. I missed it, I missed my "bitches". Because I want to think of them everyday, I knit everyday, at least for 1/2. Is that too much?(good excuse, huh?) As for knitting, I have finished the Oversized Lace Top. It took me a year to finish it. I can't wait for the warm weather to come, so that I can wear it!!!

We went to watch Iron Man last night. It was awesome!!!

Last thing I want to mention is, there are always a group of 5 turkeys wandering at our yard, 1 male and 4 female. One morning, the male one was blocking the driveway that I couldn't get out. Stupid birds, didn't even move when I drove really close...

Should go back to those stupid reports...

Spring Spring Spring...

2008-04-27T21:48:00.007-04:00

This picture is for Ken...

After a busy baking week, I finally have some time to do something I really enjoy, not that I don't enjoy baking, I do, but I want to do something else fun too. While selling the baking goodies, I casted on another Minimalist Cardigan for my friend. on Friday, I picked up Mystic Waters Shawl again, only knitted couple rows. And I finally finished Oversize Lace Top , blocked, but need to weave in the ends. Sorry, no pictures yet...

Last night, my friend C, and her husband and son came over to play Rock Band with us. It was so much fun.

Tonight, we had our first "Grilled" this year.

3 more weeks of school, then I will be free!!! (still not graduating, but couple months of break time, I can't wait!!!)

what time is it?

2008-04-25T05:12:00.009-04:00

It's 5am. Yeah, I am up...

We had a bake sale for the ME honor society at school yesterday. I have baked 2 cheesecake, boring brownies(wish I could make Val's awesome brownies), Lemon pound cake, and Grandmother's pound cake. We did pretty good, made quite a lot of money.

Cheesecakes

Brownies

Lemon pound cake

Grandmother's pound cake

Dave and I were selling, guess what I was doing while waiting for customers?(hint is on the table)

Since I have been busy baking, I didn't get much sleep for the last couple of days. Last night I got home and had a quick dinner. I told myself I was going to take a nap around 9:30pm, but once I got up, it was 4am this morning. Then I couldn't go back to sleep again. Oh well, so I got up and planning to go to work... Hopefully it will be a good day.

My name...

2008-04-18T18:26:00.004-04:00

Saw this from Becky's

Mine:

HowManyOfMe.com

There is
1
person with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Andrew's

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
45
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Can you guess the most popular first and last name? (Andrew and I guessed it right in 5 tries)

Small Rusted Root

2008-04-13T22:17:00.010-04:00

I finished the Rusted Root. I used up all the yarn that I almost couldn't finished it. So close. Anyway, I think it's too small for me which I am pretty upset. I love the pattern and the yarn... I think I will give it to my cousin,(even I don't really want to give it away) but I know she is not a big fan of RED...

Another sad thing is, I finished the leave scarf which match my Foliage hat last night. I finally weaved in all the ends. I forgot to put it away and left in on top of my desk last night. So, Cookies, I am assuming, ate part of the scarf. I was so mad this morning when I found out, mad at myself that I didn't put away, mad at Cookie that she always eat my yarn...

Because I was pretty upset this morning, Andrew made me pancakes...

Then later in the afternoon, we went for a little drive to Oxford. According to the lab supervisor, there is a place called Rich Farm in Oxford which sells awesome homemade ice cream. So, we went there today. I had a coconut and a mocha almond fudge ice cream and Andrew had a chocolate shake. They were actually pretty good. I love the coconut the most.

Sweet or Gross?

2008-04-10T00:42:00.009-04:00

Monday, I had a very bad day. Something happened in the morning, made me pretty upset. Around lunch time, Andrew told me that the external hard drive couldn't be recovered (we sent it out to a recovery company, and they told us it couldn't be fixed), which meant I have lost all the pictures!!! If you know me well, you know I like to take pictures, and they are very very important to me. In the afternoon, we found out that we can't rent the house out yet because there is a little problem... All these bad news came in one day, it's way too much for me when I also had to study for 2 tests on Tuesday.

What happened to those two tests on Tuesday? of course I didn't do so well.

For knitting, I have finished couple projects...

1) Hannah hat

2) Smock-a-Ruche scarf, I used the leftover yarn from the Cable-down sweater. I think it's a bit too short for me, but I love the pattern.

And I have been knitting the Rusted Root...

At last, I want to show you something gross but sweet. Lose hair in the bath tub, gross? Tonight when I walked in to the shower, I saw this...

It's one of my hair that got stuck on the shower wall. Kind of gross, but it put a big smile on my face. I always get mad at Andrew that he is very slow in the morning, always takes long showers... but... I think I would be still mad if he keep doing it... hahaha

SunShine Top

2008-03-30T09:30:00.007-04:00

Finally, I had the energy to weave in all the ends and block it. So, here are the pictures...

After that, I have casted on the Smock-a-Ruche Scarf yesterday. I am using the leftover yarn from the Cable-Down Cardigan . The scarf is a pretty easy pattern. I like it because it has a "cute" shape. :D

I still haven't weaved in the ends for the Hannah hat, wanted a break after weaving all the ends of the Sunshine. Keep waiting ladies, it will come someday...

Thanks to all my girlfriends, I feel much much better after venting to them. May be we should have a Muffin Making Meeting sometimes? MMM? LOL

Why didn't I go to SnB tonight?

2008-03-27T22:11:00.003-04:00

Okay Ladies, I am going to explain this...

2 days ago, Andrew found that my external hard drive was making some loud noises, not a good sign. So, we tried to back up our stuff in that hard drive, but it's was too late, it went dead before we could back it up. Yesterday, Andrew tried to save its' life for long time, at the end, still dead. Last night, I was REALLY really really upset that I have lost all my pictures, knitting patterns(the ones that I bought and those secret group ones), and some important school stuff. I couldn't sleep last night, 3 am in the morning, my eyes were still wide open. Then, I am having a crazy working schedule that I need to get up at 6am. Basically, I got less then 3 hours of sleep last night. I got home from school around 5pm, did some household work and surfed internet, blah blah blah... next thing happened was the phone ringing next to me on the sofa. YUP, Jennsquared calling at around 7:30pm and asked where I was. "I am at home, I felt asleep." Story ended.

I think it's a pretty good excuse not to attend SnB tonight.

News: my heart is still broken by losing all the data from the hard drive and I DO have something to vent to my girl friends... May be I should write up an email tomorrow or this weekend to you guys while I am sending some muffins to someone else...

Sorry, no pictures yet, I am too upset to upload picture since I usually store my pictures in my external hard drive.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T10:21:00.005-04:00

Last night we had another SnB at my house. We knitted, made dumplings for dinner, and played Wii. Costumechick did extremely well, she did 30 out of 42 songs already at her very first time.

Jennsquared and Costumechick played the boxing game...

Looks like fun? I think so.

I have finished the Sunshine Top yesterday. And then I casted on the Hannah hat, very easy pattern. And I blinded it off already yay!! but no pictures yet, may be next post?

Spring Break Babie!!!

2008-03-17T19:55:00.007-04:00

Finally, I can get a break! I should have more time to blog.

Friday night, I tried very hard to finish my parts of the lab report so that I could send them to my partner who could finish the whole report. Then the next day, I went to my friend's son's 2 year old birthday party. He had a Shrek theme party, so I got some tatoos on my hands, I loved it until couple mins before I had a meeting with my boss. Of course he made fun of me...

Sunday? I did laundry... as my friends said, I was climbing up the Mount Washmore... Usually my lovely DH could do that for me if I am busy... well the week before spring break, I was crazily busy, but since he has hurt his ankle, he couldn't help me at all. So, Mt Washmore was developed.

What else is exciting? Of coure I get a chance to knit all day long. I have been knitting a top called Sunshine Top. The pattern so far is qutie simple, hopefully I can finish it this weekend. This morning I drove Andrew to the physical therapist. While I was waiting for him, of course I took out my Sunshine to knit. I have just started the sleeve. After an hour of knitting, I found that I made a mistake at the very begining of the sleeve. MANNNNN. So I wasted an hour of work, blah!

L

2008-03-16T16:36:00.003-04:00

Here is what you do. Use the 1st letter of your middle name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names,things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you took this from had the same 1st initial.
You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. Middle name letter: L
2. Famous artist/band/musician: LL Cool J
3. 4-letter word: Lame
4. U.S state: Louisiana
5. Boy name: Leon
6. Girl name: Lily
7. Animal: Llama
8. Something in the kitchen: Ladle
9. Reason for being late? Lack of sleep the night before, so couldn't get up on time
10. Body Part? Lung
11. Drink? Long Island Ice Tea
12. Something you shout: Let's go!
13. Something you eat? Lasagna
14. A movie you've seen? Life is beautiful

I tag Erin, Becky, and Octopusknits. Have fun, and then tag three more!

Couple Questions

2008-03-07T18:34:00.007-05:00

Sometimes during lunch time at work, people come up with some interesting questions. They make me think....

1) If you and your significant half got captured by a crazy person. The crazy person want to cut off a pinky from either you or your significant half. So whose pinky would you give it up?
Andrew said he would give up his instead of mine. And I felt really bad that I would also give up his instead of mine. Most people are selfish...

2) Or would you give up your thumb or your outer ear?
My outer ear. I think I can still hear without the outer part of it...

3) Would you prefer to know you would die in a certain time or not knowing at all?
I haven't thought of a answer for this one yet, very tricky question. If you knew when you are going to die, you could plan ahead what you wanted to do before you are gone. But it would be less painful if you didn't know...

What are your answers?

I stayed up very late, or should I say very early this morning to study for the Thermodynamics exam today, but I still did horrible. Sad and frustrated, I am now.

Oh, after watching one episode of The Office, which Jim told Andy to speak Pig Latin to Pam. I thought it was hilarious and would like to learn it. Is anyone expert in it? (Becky, Andrew already told me you are very good at it, so, may be we practice through our emails and messages :D)

Snowing in March

2008-03-02T12:30:00.005-05:00

Yup! Heavy snow on Saturday. Picture to prove:

I haven't updated my blog for looong time. Well, school has been busy, work has been fine. Andrew has sprang his angle on Monday night while playing basketball. He is the person that refuse to go to see a doctor or go to the hospital unless he thinks something really bad is happening to him. When I asked him if he wanted to go to the ER that night, because I could tell he was in lots of pain and his foot was swollen so bad, he said yes, which meant he also thought he has broken his angle. We left the house around 11pm, to yale, came home around 4:00. What a long night. Then I had a test on Tuesday morning, of course I did horrible, the worst test that I have ever done in the US. Want to blame Andrew... LOL Besides that, school has been crazy, lots of homework and lab reports!!!

As for knitting, I have finished a couple of projects. First, the Minimalist Cardigan:

I actually has finished it more than a weeks ago, but because I can't wear red for a while, I didn't want to waste time on weaving in all the ends. Why can't I wear red? Oh, I forgot to mention. My Grandmother (Dad's mom) has passed away last Thursday (a week ago). And for Chinese tradition, my family are not supposed to wear red(or any bright color), which is a lucky or happy color, for a while, at least couple weeks to a month. If you know me well, you know it's very difficult for me to not wear any red, since that is actually the main color of my wardrobe.

After that I have casted on a lace scarf which it is the second time I have knitted that pattern. I gave the first one to my friend's wife. Since I like the pattern so much, I want to knit one for myself. Here it is:

Ok, item I want to frog....

Please don't ask me why I want to frog it, I don't even know, I haven't frogged it, I just really really want to.

And after the lace scarf, I have casted on the Sunshine Top . I am doing the finger weight version of it. OMG, it's taking forever! So far, I have been liking the yarn. It's Buckingham by Bristol Yarn Gallery which I bought it in Yarn Garden Superbowl sale.

After 24, another TV series that I am addicted to is The Office. We are at the end of Season 3... just can't stop watching it...

Another thing is, my desktop is dead! It can't be turned on! Man, this is like my third computer that happens like this... Weird!

Alright, it's time to get back to the lab report.

DH cooking

2008-02-17T02:10:00.006-05:00

Yes he did. I asked him to cook a fancy dinner for Valentine's Day at 11pm on Feb 13th. And he complained that he didn't have enough time since I asked too late. Well, he was given some advice from his friend and bought some frozen homemade food home to cook. (the place is in Milford, but I forgot the name already). He bought lobster ravioli(uncooked) , some while sauce, Challah bread (one of my favorite), and chocolate mousse for dessert. The lobster ravioli was really really good! Lots of lobster meet in the ravioli! Thanks to Sean who gave this idea to Andrew! And thanks honey for semi-making the dinner! I also want to thank him for the card, it did make me cry after I read it, very thoughtful and touching. Best card I ever got from him!

What did I gave Andrew for V.Day? I made his favorite chocolate, well, I made fudge. My very very first time. There will be no picture of it to show you, because it looked quite ugly, and since I don't eat sweet chocolate, I don't even know if it tastes good or not... But Andrew seemed appreciated.

School has been busy, but I still manage to have some time to knit. Minimalist Cardigan is coming along well. The back is done. I am knitting the front left and right at the same time, it's at the armhole shaping. Besides that, nothing else is going on... OH, I went to Yarn Knit All on Friday after work for their anniversary sale. What did I buy? Before I show you, get a napkin for wiping your drool! I got 3 skeins of Noro Kochoran in lime and violet, some Sublime Fine Merino in green, and 2 skeins of Shubui sock yarn in light blue, of course I didn't forget to get something for me knitting pal!

Quick updates

2008-02-13T23:56:00.006-05:00

OK, it's kind of late, and I still have some homework that need to be finished by tonight. But I do want to show you what I have done since last post quickly... here I go....

Sunday, Andrew and I went to a concert at Mohegan Sun. I was very excited because it was a Hong Kong singer that I kind of like. I have never thought that I could have Chinese/Hong Kong-nese concert experience when I am here in the U.S. So I was too excited to tell you how I felt about it. I can tell you that the one big special thing to watch HK concerts is to see the costumes that the singer wears, here is couple examples...

I have finished the Juliet. I love it, I was worried that it would be too wide and too short for me, but I have asked people who have seen it around me, and they all like it, so no worries anymore. I do like those buttons a lot. I got them from Walmart. Love the yarn, Frog Tree Merino Melange in color 901, very unique color. I have used all 10 balls of it, knitted 2 strands together, so total 1000 yd. Also can see the picture in Jennsquared 's blog.

When Superbowl Sale at Yarn Garden, I bought a hank of 100% silk yarn, which only has 110 yards. So I made a short scarf for myself with this pattern .

Then I have casted on the Falling Leaves socks . I told myself that I am going to try toe-up socks, and these will be my first pair. This pattern seems simple enough but not too boring. However, since I didn't do a swatch(as always), I used size 1 knitpicks options, and it is way too big, so I have to frog it. Right away, I orderd some size 0 needles, hopefully that will help. And this is where I got before I frogged it.

The weather was pretty bad this morning. Our driveway was a mess. It was so foggy outside, it was dangerous to drive. So DH and I have decided to stay home, yeah, I know some people would not believe and would not understand our thinking, but we jus t wanted to be safe. So, how could I not knit if I am home in this crappy weather? So, while I am waiting for the needles for the socks, I have casted on the Minimalist Cardigan today. And this is what I got so far.

Well, I guess it's not really a quick post. Now back to homework.

Valentine's Day Swap

2008-02-08T19:54:00.000-05:00

I have joined the Holiday Swap from Ravelry. The first swap is for Valentine's Day. I have received my pal's package yesterday. The package contained some amazing items, like some yarn, dark chocolate(my favorite!), a letter,and a handmade gift. In the letter, my pal explained this little purse that she has made, is a perfect side for carrying things that side like a pack of sugar. :D

So, I brought the little purse to show my SnBers on Thursday night. Then Costumechick gave me her package of "sugar", which has always been in her knitting bag, to put into my new purse, and I have made sure that it wasn't used HAHAHA. How sweet! Thank you, Costumechick!

I have finished the Juliet. It's being blocked. Today, I have almost frogged the whole thing, because I thought it was too big. At the end, I did frogged about 5 rows since I didn't have enough yarn for the last repeat, so I ripped it and binded off. Will show more pictures next post.

Happy Surprise Valentine's Day

2008-02-05T23:13:00.000-05:00

Today, I was talking to Carolina about how we are going to celebrate Valentine's Day next week. I told her that usually, Andrew doesn't plan anything, just asks me what I wanted to do. So this year, maybe we will go out to have dinner, 90% Japanese food.

Andrew went to his friend's house to work out. Before he drove home, he gave me a call and asked if it's ok to have McDonalds for dinner, he would bring it back on the way home. I agreed. When he was back, it was already 9pm, I was super hungry. So I ran to the kitchen to find that brown bag. I didn't see any brown bag, instead, I saw a big container of sushi. He said, "Happy Valentine's Day!", I said, "It's next week..." "That's why it's a surprise"... SWEET! So, I had my Sushi and Sashimi for two for dinner, and my husband knows me well!

As for knitting, I promise to show pictures of the Hemlock Ring Blankets, here they are... I am planning to give it out as a gift. I was having problem blocking it because it was hard to make it flat, it could be just me, because Jennsquared said she didn't have that problem. It's about 50" diameter about it was blocked.

I also have casted on the Juliet last night. I am knitting 2 strands of yarn at the same time, hopefully it will come out well.

Forgot it again!

2008-02-02T11:00:00.001-05:00

I was wearing my pretty-purple-cable sweater on Thursday. And it got approved by my SnB friends. Happy!

Once I sat down, heard the mailman story, got my food, ate it, then I took out my Hemlock Ring Blanket and tried to work on it. And then I was like "oh crap! I forgot to bring my pattern." Of course, there were like 10 people around me yelled "AGAIN?" in harmony. YES, again, it's the third time I have done it. Since the next couple rows of the blanket are knit rows(there are 10000 stitches in one row), I had something to do for the most of the time I was there. Then I was trying to work on something else, but of course, I forgot to print out the pattern. Oh well. I had fun though on Thursday night.

Speaking of Thursday night, I supposed to have a Dynamics class(a 300 level class). The story started on the first day I went to UNH. I took Dynamics at Gateway already, but somehow, the people in UNH used that credits to waive a stupid Introduction to Engineering class(a 100 level class). So, I had to take Dynamics again at the first semester in UNH. I went to the class, heard the syllabus, and told Professor S. that I have known all the material he was going to teach since I learned that from Gateway. He asked me to take the homework and exams from the Gateway class to show him. I did, and he said I did pretty well, asked me to drop the dynamics class and take Vibration instead. Also said, next time when he teaches the dynamics class again, I would only have to sign up, I didn't need to sit in the class nor take any exams, but I would still get an A. Sounds like a good deal to me. Until the end of last semester, I found out that Prof. S. was going to teach that class again, so I signed up right away. Since I am very close to graduating, I don't have many classes let to take, so this semester I only have 13 credits. But a week before the semester started, I found that Prof. S has changed his mind, and not teaching that class anymore. I totally freaked out because I need that class to stay full time. Since I do need Dynamics to fill my academic worksheet, so I had no choice but to go to the Thursday night Dynamics class. I went, and the class got canceled, because I was the only one who signed up that class. I am screwed!! I have called the financial aid, they said if I switched from full time student to part time, I would lose 2 scholarships and and lower my federal student loan! I can't afford to do that. Now I have figure something else to stay as a full time. Good luck to me!!

Since I want to knit as much as I can before I got really busy in school(which could be next week), I have been knitting as much as I can. I finished my sweater last Friday(the 25th), I casted on the Hemlock Ring Blanket on Saturday(the 26th), and it has been blocking since last night(Feb 2nd). I like the pattern a lot, it's pretty easy, but the blind off took FOREVER!!!! Let me give you a preview of the blanket. I will show more pictures once I finish blocking it.

I love top down pullover

2008-01-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

Yup, the Cable-Down Raglan is DONE!!! I love the sweater, because there was no seaming, (well a little bit to sew the underarm) made me finish even faster.

The yarn that I used was Misti International Pima Cotton/Silk. I have used about 6.5 skeins of it. I like the color of it. It's soft, but it seems to have lots of lints even I haven't washed it yet. All in all, I am proud of myself that I can finish it before the semester starts. I will wear it next week no matter what, even it's going to be 60s degrees...

Last night Andrew and I went to watch Cloverfield with my friend and her husband last night. The movie supposed to start at 10pm. Previews last about 15-20 mins. And we left around 11-ish. I think I was interested into the content of the movie, but the camera just moved so much and so fast that it made me really sick. I think I have watched about 20 mins of the movie, and listened to it for the rest of time. But still, my friend and I were both so sick that we have decided to go. So people who can't knit during car rides, please don't watch this movie.

SnB @ my house

2008-01-22T19:59:00.000-05:00

Yup, I was the host of the bitches. We did the potluck thing. We had soup, salad, cheese dip, pasta, dessert, and drinks. We ate, we knitted, and we laughed... really hard for 7.5 hours.

my friend laughed really hard, I couldn't help but to take a picture of her!

For knitting, I am still working on my Cable-Down Raglan. I am almost finishing the first sleeve (if I stop blogging, I may have a chance to finish the first sleeve tonight).

May be because I have been using those pair of Knitpick Options to knit the raglan for so long, the tips have changed its' color.

I finished knitting the Beaufort Hat. I use a ball of Rowan RYC Soft Lux. I think it's perfect for the pattern. I am very satisfied, although it's a bit too long for me.

And I got the last package from my secret knitting pal. I got a Melody PEZ, a Hello Kitty washcloth pattern, and 7 balls of Plymouth Royal Bamboo in red. I am in love!!! They are so soft! I also got a card from her. She was very thoughtful that she hopes my dad get better soon. Thank you very much pal! I am touched.

Snowy day

2008-01-14T15:09:00.000-05:00

We got lots of snow this morning. Don't believe it? Here is a prove. (Look at that layer of snow on the picnic table...)

This weekend, I didn't do much. Andrew and I went grocery shopping, watched a couple of movies at home, do some laundry, and I have knitted for a good amount of time. I have casted on the Falling Water Scarf. I knitted this for Andrew's Grandma's birthday. I actually knitted a couple of repeats, and thought I didn't like it. So I frogged it. After talked to Costumechick, she said the pattern would turn out pretty after it has been blocked, and I trust her and casted it on again. She was right, after I blocked it, I love it!!! I hope Grammy is going to like it too.

Then I have made some progress on my Cable-Down Raglan. Now I am on the part that it has less cabling in the pattern which I can still handle it. There will be more cabling coming on the bottom of the sweater, it will be fun I am sure.

My wrists, MY WRISTS!!!

2008-01-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

My wrists hurt! Yes, it's because of knitting too much. The last weekend was nice, Andrew and I watched a movie, did a bit grocery shopping and the rest of the time, he fixed the computer, watched tv. And I did some laundry and knitted!!! I spent more time with yarn than my husband... I have been knitting several things. First, since I still have 1.3 hanks of Malabrigo Silky Merino, I have decided to knit a scarf to go with it. At first, I wanted to knit the Liesel scraf again (the last one I made was so pretty that I gave it to my best friend), but the pattern didn't really come out nicely with the hand-painted yarn, so I ripped it.

Then I modified the Foliage hat pattern to become a scarf. But after I have written the whole pattern in half an hour, I went to Raverly and found the exact pattern!!! Oh well, I did have fun making up the pattern though.

Last week, the co-work, who just had a baby couple months ago and I knitted him a pair of baby booties, told me that mittens would be great to have now... So, I knitted a pair of mittens with the leftover yarn from the booties. However, I ran out of yarn when I started to decrease the second mitten, so close. So I went to buy one more skein. Of course I finished the mitten, I still have 0.95 skein of yarn left. So, I knitted a hat also. However(again) the hat is way too small for the baby!!! Doh. If you know anyone just have a baby boy, please let me know, I have a give for him.

What else? Oh, I picked up the Cable-Down Raglan again. Since I have put it again for a while, I forgot where I left off and how to read that pattern. First of all, it has 2 errors in the pattern, which I had to read and read and read so many times to understand it(I guess I am dumb). Then After I knitted one row, it just didn't make sense to me how it looked. So, I frogged it and knitted it again from the very beginning. Honestly, I love the pattern and the look of the cables, but I am getting tired of cabling. I also love the yarn, it's Misti International Pima Cotton/Silk, yum...

Oh, I want to thank Rebecca for giving me some Zephyr lace yarn and Knelleyfor giving me some Fun Fur last week at SnB.

Also, I want to show you a picture of me at work on Monday. Don't ask what I was doing, sorry, can't tell... :D

At last, I saw people are having so much fun in their blogs for doing this, and here is mine...

Anphoe --

[adjective]:

Similar to butter in texture and appearance

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Knitting Resolutions

2008-01-06T22:17:00.000-05:00

I have been tagged by Yankee Lagniappe to do a knitting resolution. so, I will start with a few things I accomplished in 2007 (not necessarily in order):
1. I have learned to use magic loop. It is a very useful technique. Now I know how to use it, I use it for socks, hats or sleeves.
2. I have started to some REAL yarn stores like WEBs , Yarn Garden, Yarn Barn, Farmhouse Yarn...
3. I knitted my first sweater(Kyoto).
4. I went to all 4 SnB meetings in one week.
5. I joined my first mystery group(MS3).
6. I knitted my first lace weight project(MS3).
7. I finished my first crochet project (Rice cooker cover).
8. I knitted my first pairs of socks.
9. I have joined Ravelry.

On to 2008, and some KNITTING RESOLUTIONS for the new year:
1. I am going to try to keep less projects on needles.
1.5. I am going to try to do some color work knitting projects.
2. I will knit my husband something.
3. I will/should be on yarn diet, specially sock yarn.
4. I will try very hard to go to the NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck this year.
5. (not knitting related) I will learn how to sew.

Mine is done, so I am tagging Becky and Octopus Knits.

Back to work...

2008-01-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

I almost called in sick yesterday. No, I wasn't sick, I just didn't want to end the vacation. and go back to work.

Since last post, I has finished 2 more projects.

A Calorimetry. I made it with RYC Soft Lux. The FO is way too big. It almost covers my whole head. But it can cover both of my ears, so it works for me.

And I have finished the Foliage at SnB tonight. Thanks for Jenn to let me borrow her needles to finish it. I love the yarn, Malabrigo Silky Merino in Stonechat.

Happy 2008!!

2008-01-01T17:19:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone!

I had a REALLY NICE New Year's Eve. My SIL came visit us. We picked her up at Lee Outlet and then headed to WEBs around 1pm. We were there for almost 2 hours, and of course we bought "a little bit" yarn (let's say, we both got 25% off discount). I know you won't believe me, here is a picture to prove...
I do need to show the Malabrigo Silky Merino in a closer shot, because it is just too beautiful and yummy. I got the Stonechat color.

Traditionally, I would make a fancy dinner for New Year's Eve, but I knew that we were going to Webs, and who knew how long we were going to be there. So I prepared the dinner the day before. I was going to make salmon with wasabi butter sauce, but I couldn't find fresh salmon. Then I tried to make chicken instead. After marinated the chicke n, I screwed up the sauce. I was frustrated, and give up the dinner. We went to Bangkok Garden in New Haven for dinner. Yum!! However, I did make my own dessert... my favorite... Creme Brulee...

We watched the ball dropped last night/this morning on TV, and then went to bed. This morning, we dropped off my SIL back to New York. I felt so sad. I did have a great time with her, knitting, yarn shopping... I wish she could live closer to me. Or may be I could join her Moms' club someday.

As for knitting, during the holidays break, I finished 2 project, the Carolina socks and Fuchsia Lace scarf. Now I am going to cast on something else....

Happy Holidays!!

2007-12-30T00:05:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I am back, from a nice vacation.

My SIL and her family has flown from Arizona to my in-laws where is in upstate NY for Christmas. DH and I have had a really good time there for a week. I got lots of cool presents, and some yarn money, hahaha...(why am I laughing? you'll see) I was so glad to see my SIL who is also a knitter. Although we didn't bitch much, we did knitted a lot. I got a pair of socks done(it's a gift, so I will post the picture later once the gift has been given), finished 2/3 of a scarf. And also we took a trip to Woodstock Wool Company and I bought 2 hanks of Bare Alpaca Tweed. So pretty...

So, What else did I get? From, my MIL, I got a Hello Kitty contact lenses traveling case, a Hello Kitty Pez, some Hello Kitty mini ornaments (so cute). My MIL also got me something very special. She found me a Cabbage Patch Kid who is an Asian girl named Phoebe, how cool is that? Oh, she also got me some knitting magazines from 1970s-1980s.

What did DH get me? hehehe... a set of Harmony, a yarn meter, 2 knitting books and Guitar Hero III for Wii. So beside knitting, we also played some guitar in the vacation.

We took Cookie(the 4 months old kitty) with us and left Choppy and Sticky at home. We put lots of food and water out. With the help of Cat Genie, we didn't have to worried about scooping the litter box. Once we got home yesterday, the litter box was fine, but food was all gone, and water was almost gone too. Thank goodness we didn't go longer.

OK, I think that is enough of bragging for right now. :D

Happy New Year to everyone!!!

It's over

2007-12-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

Yay! All the exams and lab reports were finished on Monday. What a relief. I couple final grades already, and I did pretty good. (Thanks for asking last night, Costumechick)

We had a cookies swap last night at SnB. So much fun.

And this is what I got...

Jennsquare also give me one of her Christmas balls. I love it, it's purple with a bit of silver.

Since I was so busy last week, I didn't have time to post here. But something weird happened last week. On Wednesday, I went to school. When I parked, a guy parked next to me pretty much at the same time. So, when he got out, he beeped me, wait, he beeped the car loudly when I was standing next to his car. So, I took out my keys, and beeped my car too. I knew I locked it, but I just want to beeped him back. After I took the exam, I came out and tried to leave. I found there was a pair of ear muffs in my car, like grabbing my headrest. It was creepy, because I was so sure that I locked my car. (with the help of that jerk, I remembered) I also didn't recognized that pair of ear muffs. I was pretty sure They aren't mine or Andrew's. so I got home, I asked Andrew right away. "These are not yours, right? I found them in my car, please tell me they are yours or you make a joke or something..." "NO". Then I was scared. Then whose are they?

Another weird thing happened on Sunday. When I tried to re-do my lab reports, I found that my thumb drive has disappeared. I flipped out right away, because my final class grade depended on the reports. And I had to hand them in by Monday. Andrew and I flipped the house but couldn't find it. I was pretty sure that it was in the house because I have used it on Thursday and I didn't leave the house since then. I assumed the youngest kitten has taken it and played with it, or I accidentally throw it away, so we looked through the cat beds, cat tree, litter box, and 2 bags of big garbages, and still couldn't find it. And just now this morning, Andrew said, he has lost his work thumb drive at home too... Very Very Creepy!!!!

Almost over...

2007-12-14T00:42:00.000-05:00

This semester I mean. Couple more days, I will be free. Last couple days were rough. I only got 4-5 hours of sleep on each night working my take home finals. There is only one exam and 6 lab reports left...

It snowed pretty hard today, I almost didn't to go to work today, I didn't have to, but I did anyway because today was our door decoration contest judgment day. I thought we could have won, but we didn't. The decor requirement was to use at least 50% of the material we use in the working area. So my friend made a wreaths with lubricant strips, I built the roof with soap, so as the snow man, and there are more of other materials... however, we lost. Oh well, at least I had fun making the it.

Since it snowed pretty heavy today, I left work after lunch. And since I have a very steep driveway which covered by several inches of snow today, my car couldn't make it up to the house. So I parked the car on the bottom of the hill and Andrew came home and took care of the rest. That's what husband is for, right? Now my car is in the garage resting. Since we are not in Bethany, we got more snow than the south area. And it started snow much earlier than the south too. Now I missed my subaru...

So, since I have worked really hard for the last couple of days and I got out of work early today, I let myself knit for the whole afternoon and night. And I have made 5 balls in 4 different colors, and they will be gifts for our families.

Balls Effect

2007-12-10T23:15:00.001-05:00

After seeing Jennsquare's and KnelleyBelley's ornaments, or they called it "balls", I couldn't wait to make one tonight. I called it "Ball Effect".

This morning, when I was leaving the house to school, I saw all the trees were white, but they were not covered by snow. When I looked closer...

It's so pretty, so I took a picture of it.

Lastly, I just want to show you my tree in dark... it's pretty in dark, ugly in bright.

The tree is up

2007-12-09T22:21:00.001-05:00

This year, we have taken the risk to put our tree up. Why a risk? Because our cats love to playing or chewing with it. Plus, all the balls(ornaments of course) hanging down makes the cats very excited. We will see if the tree is still up tomorrow morning. I also have put up some stockings this year.

This pre-lighted ugly tree was only $20

These stocking are also cheap, got them from target last year after Christmas, 90% off of $14.

Last Friday, if you remember there was some heavy snow situation, DH and I and couple people from work went to watch Beowulf at IMAX at Hartford. It took us a bit more than 2 hours to drive up there, but it's totally worth it. It was my first 3-D movie experience. I want to say, "It's AWESOME!!". And of course, I couldn't help but to take some pictures of us with IMAX glasses, whole bunch of dorks...

I think I look kind of pretty in this picture for some reason... may be because my face was covered by that pair of huge glasses.

Still no knitting pictures, be patient my friends, the finals are almost done, and then I can knit again. One more week!!!

Crazy about HK

2007-12-02T22:31:00.000-05:00

It snowed this morning. And this is my driveway.

Last week was a busy week. But the next couple weeks, I will be like dying busy. Finals starts on the 13th, so before that, I got to finish all the papers and homework and get ready for the exams... I am not sure if I can handle all that... good luck to me.

Since I have been super busy, I didn't have much time to knit. I did go to SnB last Thursday to see my friends for an hour. I didn't skip class. The professor let us go way early, so I could make it to SnB around 8pm.

Saturday, I got to go out shopping with some friends. Andrew was nice, he let me go have fun and he took care some household stuff. I went to Clinton Crossing with Deborah and Chien. We met there around 11:30am, and we were done around 5:30. Yup, lots of walking. I believe we had only sat down for a couple of coffee for only 20 minutes. I got some winter clothes which I really needed and a pair of khaki pants for Andrew. And of course, I got some Christmas shopping done too. I am very closed to finish. Ha, and the most exciting thing was, I have found what I have been looking for for the last couple years.

Yup, a super cute HK stocking. And for some reasons, I am so crazy about Hello Kitty. Well, I am usually crazy about HK, but lately, the situation has been turned into extreme!! I guess it has happened since I got back from NYC after visiting the Sanrio store there. And I am trying to turn my craft/study room into a Hello Kitty room. So, I have ordered a clock last week, and it came this week. And finally Andrew has put it up on the wall in that room.

OK, enough show and tell. Time to get back to do some math.

New meme

2007-12-02T00:32:00.001-05:00

I have been tagged by Wife, "Mom", Knitter. And here I go...

1. What are your favorite things to knit?
Socks, hats, and lace projects I would say.

2. What yarn/fiber do you like most?
I would vote for Debbie Bliss Alpaca silk like the others too. I love alpaca, silk and cashmere. (Who doesn't?) I do like zephyr lace and Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn.

3. What needles do you tend to use (i.e. type/material)?
Circulars. I love my Knitpicks Options. I also love bamboo needles too.

4. Do you tend to knit more in one specific part of the year than others?
I guess knit more during the school holidays and breaks. But I knit all year round too.

5. What style of knitting do you use?
English. But I hold the right needles between my thumb and index finger, so when I throw the yarn, the right needle sits on top my hand.

6. Do you consider yourself a “fast” knitter?
I don't think so.

7. Who is your favorite knitting author(s)?
I don't recognize any author yet. But I there are lots of patterns that I like are from the same authors. I guess I am not good at names.

8. What is your favorite by said author(s)?
Not sure.

9. How long ago did you learn to knit?
17 years ago, I learned how to knit and purl. However, I learned how to read pattern when I joined SnB last September.

10. How do you knit small in-the-round objects? (i.e. double points, 2 circulars, or the magic loop)
Mostly magic loop, sometimes dpns.

11. What is the most useful technique you’ve learned so far?
Magic loop. I use it for socks, hats and sweaters. LOVE it.

12. Do you prefer to knit fine gauge items, mid-range gauge items, or large gauge items, or do you like it all?
I started to like fine gauge items after knitting MS3 and some socks. I also like mid-range too.

13. How do you like to knit your sweaters?
Like Wife, "Mom", Knitter, I also only knitted one sweater. Oh I also knitted a vest. And I have casted on a second sweater. I guess I like to knit it in round or top down, because I hate the seaming part of it.

14.) Who do wish to tag? I am guessing most of the Thursday night SnBers have been tagged, so I am tagging BeckyLinn, Octopus Knits, and Wednesday and Sunday meetings' SnBers!!!

Thanksgiving week

2007-11-25T10:04:00.001-05:00

Tuesday was Andrew's birthday. Monday night after midnight, I gave him a card and a gift with a video game and a Spurs NBA Championship 2002-2003 dvd(since he always liked David Robinson) in a gift bag. He didn't show any excitement at all which he explained later it was because it was late, and he was tired and sleepy. Anyway, in the morning, while he was still sleeping, I put another gift in the same gift bag and tissue paper. It was the VCR tape of Spurs won the 1998-99 NBA Champion. That tape was ruin during the flood in our basement in July. He was very upset that he has lost it since he never opened it and has kept it for so long. So, I thought it would be a good gift. But he was still in bed when I left home for work. He never mentioned it at work at all, so I assumed he didn't know there was another gift for him.

I left work a bit early, around 4:30pm, and went pick up a fruits bouquet from Edible Arrangement. Then I rushed home to made a special dinner, since he said he didn't want to go out. Once I got home, I had the oven getting preheated right away. Then I checked my emails and stuff. I got a message from one of my friends that our friend had some problems and needed some "friends" time that night. I really really wanted to go and give her some support, but it was my husband's birthday. I gave her a call right away and apologized I couldn't make it that night, and hoped she would understand that even though I wasn't there physically, I was mentally there for her. I felt really bad I couldn't go, but I had to continue making the dinner. I know Andrew doesn't like steak much, I cook chicken too often, and he doesn't eat seafood... Which restaurant or what dish does he like the most? Then I have decided to make "Texas Roadhouse". I have made baby back ribs, mashed potato, and chili. I popped the ribs in the oven for 2.5 hours(yes, that long, that was why I had to leave work a bit early). I cheated, I made the mashed potato from Betty Crocker Homestyle Creamy Butter mashed potatoes in a box, and the chili is also from a can.

Andrew went to his friend's house to work out, so I had as much time I needed to make the meal. Once he got home, it's already 8pm. I had the table all setup and had a bottle of drink for him, so that he doesn't need to open the fridge and see the fruits bouquet. As I was serving the food, he walked over the fridge and opened it, and said, "What the hell..." I was shocked, I didn't expect him to see that. I was like, "YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO OPEN THE FRIDGE!!!" He said he wanted water instead the drink on the table. So he saw the bouquet. Ruin the surprise, well, he said it was still a surprise. I guess...

When Andrew saw the ribs, potato and stuff, he said "This is Texas Roadhouse!!" Right, that's what I wanted to hear! After we had meal(all tasted good, thank goodness), he couldn't wait to see the fruits bouquet out of the fridge. It was indeed very cool, although it was way too much fruits for 2 of us. Then I told him that he had another gift in the gift bag. Of course he loved the tape. It was a nice night, and I hoped he enjoyed it(he better!!)

yes, we were using the Hello Kitty placemats.

Wednesday we went to work, left quite early, got home and went out to look for a Amazon gift card for his friend, who had just swore in(I did too couple years ago, but I didn't become a lawyer, I became a citizen), in some drugs store. And we had no luck and called it the night.

Thursday morning, we packed and went to my PIL's and spent a lovely Thanksgiving there. On the way there, the traffic was really bad, so we asked the GPS to take us another way. And we saw this huge haunted house which I would like to share.
Once we have arrived there, we went to see my FIL's lately project...

Andrew and his father under the bridge

It is an amazing bridge. Very impressive!!

For Thanksgiving, My MIL made a very very delicious meal for us(sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the meal, I was too excited when I saw all the food, too busy drooling). Homemade dinner rolls, very garlic-y real-mashed potato, awesome green bean casserole, tasty stuffing, and of course TURKEY. They said the turkey was a bit dry, but I said it was very very good. I loved it. I even rudely asked my MIL if I could take some turkey home... My favorite was the green bean casserole! After eating that much food, of course all of my blood went from the brain to the stomach = a good night sleep = I went to bed pretty early and got up really late the next morning. We left on Friday night.

Saturday morning, we went to NYC for Andrew's friend's birthday and passing the Bar party. We took the train since we really don't like driving in NYC. Plus, I got to knit during the train ride. We really had a great time there.

Then I called up Jennsquare to see if there are some yarn store near by Time Square, so that I could go visit. She found me one. But once we got there, it was closed. We went to Lush too, but I didn't find anything I like. Every time we go to NYC, Andrew would make sure that we go to the Sanrio store, and so we did this time too. Of course I bought some stuff from there.

A Hello Kitty sweater and a pin

a HK long ruler, HK chopsticks, a pair of sissors, a cellphone charm and a hat!!!

While we were walking around in NYC, we found a fair thingy at Bryant Park(I know that part because of Project Runway). There were some interesting stores in tents and a looooooong line for ice skating.

Then we passed by Chipotle. Have you ever had Moe's? One time I was chatting with Jennsquare, she said she likes Chipotle better than Moe's, and I love Moe's. So once I saw Chipotle in the city, of course I had to try it. It was really good. we had some to-go too. Andrew and I both like it very much, but too bad they are not close to us. So, Moe's is still better for right now.

Then we took the train back home. Got home around 11pm. Took a shower, then I passed out.

I know it is a very very long post, may be because I haven't posted for long time. But Congratulations! you have survived after reading this long boring post!!

Wii Party again

2007-11-18T23:16:00.001-05:00

On Friday, I had some friends from school over to play Wii and cards. We had lots of fun... Again, I always feel 10 years younger when I hang out with them. And final exams... here we come....

Me, Bijal, and Carolina

Me, Miguel, Jhy, and Andrew

From Left, Ken, Dave, Andrew, Bijal, Carolina, me, Jhy, and Akshay. (Miguel left already)