Tulip Meets Daffodil

Valentine Tulips and Snowshoe WV

Happy end of February! Where on earth did this month go...

I've been staying busy - and actually doing a lot of crocheting which has been wonderful. (Helps my stress-level!) I've made a lot of progress on my seafoam afghan. It's still a beast, and growing, and I keep plugging away at it. I started it originally to give away as a gift, but I am wondering now whether it's actually too large to give away - it's well beyond a simple lap throw at this point. We'll see. I also might just be too attached to the thing at this point to give it away!

I had a very sweet Valentine's Day. My hubby, even though he is "anti-Valentine's", brought me two boxes of chocolate (heart-shaped, of course!) and some lovely pink tulips (how did he know? :) They lasted a long time, and I'm hoping I can transplant the bulbs this spring.

We also went away for the weekend last week to Snowshoe, West Virginia with some friends. I made two scarves with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn - officially, my new favorite yarn ever. (Well, for this week at least.) I am dying to make a whole afghan with this yarn - it is so warm and snuggly - but I really have to make progress on/finish some of my other aghan projects first.

Here are some pics of where we stayed, Soaring Eagle Lodge. Our condo was on the top floor and the views were wonderful.

Sunset from our room (no photo filter and no editing)!

More February pics to come soon. I have some crochet projects I want to show off.

♥

Our Merry Christmas

Last Christmas, the hubby and I decided to spend the night in DC. With Patrick of course. (Pet-friendly hotels rock!)

This Christmas we decided to continue the tradition. We had a lovely stay at the Hotel Monaco, in the Penn Quarter of DC.

It was a wonderful hotel, (the building is actually the original General Post Office and Tariff Building, constructed in 1839). The room was comfortable, the service impeccable, and all three of us (Patrick included) had a great time at the wine hour on Christmas Eve. (We met a very nice dog named Fred and his family.)

The hotel:

The lobby:

We had a nice dinner Christmas Eve dinner at McCormick & Schmick's, and then walked to the White House.

On Christmas Day we grabbed some Starbuck's, then walked around the Capitol and Botanical Gardens.

Here is the Capitol... you can see they are already setting up for the inauguration.

Then - home for presents! This is Patrick with his hoard of gifts:

It was a wonderfully exhausting couple of days!

My Vacation... Guinness, Flowers and Amazing Views

I wanted to bore you show you some of my vacation pics, (before my procrastination makes posting these pics, well - kind of odd. We've been home two weeks already!)

We (the hubby and I) spent a wonderful week in Ireland with my father.

We drank a lot of Guinness in fabulous Dublin city.

(Guinness pints waiting to be topped off. Then consumed. By us. :)

We were overwhelmed by ALL of the flowers and greenery - everywhere, on every lamp post, street corner, and building.

Some pubs in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. See? Flowers, flowers everywhere.

We also went to the west coast... County Sligo and County Mayo, where my grandparents are from.

These cows have the best view. Ever.

And yes of course, I did buy some Irish yarn while I was there. (Which has been added to the stash for that certain, special project... still TBD.)

♥

My Atlantic City Weekend...

I had a wonderful, special weekend with an old friend (friends since we were eight!). We met in Galloway, New Jersey - right outside of Atlantic City - at a very nice (and old!) hotel named the Seaview Resort. (Remember "The Shining"? Yep - that pretty much describes the experience... the beds were comfy and the staff was very nice though!)

 

We got in late Friday, had dinner at a local Italian place, then on Saturday headed into Atlantic City.

(Doesn't it look cold? It was.)

I had not been there since I was a kid... so it was neat to see now. It was a very, very windy day. We (quickly) walked along the boardwalk, trying to see all we could while we could still tolerate all of the sand blowing around - directly into our faces. We played some slots at the Borgata (I lost $30! Then stepped away... reluctantly.) And did some shopping too.

I definitely wanted to see Caesars... and my friend was very, very patient while we trekked around the city in the cold, biting wind while trying to find the entrance, (everything seemed larger than life and the whole place somehow felt like a labrynth).

(Why yes, I do have an affinity for anything even remotely related to ancient Rome.)

Saturday night we wanted to lay low... so we just headed downstairs for a couple of cocktails in the hotel bar.

Sadly, it all went very fast and today we're both back to the grind! Definitely a special weekend, though, and one that I'll remember forever.

My New Martha Stewart Yarn Stash (and a few vacation pics)...

I'm giddy I tell you, just giddy.

Last week I took a little vacay to go visit my auntie abi (she is a very accomplished crocheter and the kind soul who taught me to crochet several years ago - I will always be indebted to her for that!)

So we had a lovely time shopping, chatting and eating. On Monday we ended up at AC Moore and - to my absolute shock and delight - found a huge, huge bin of Martha Stewart yarns on clearance, (plus an extra discount on top of that!) I have used both the Extra Soft Wool Blend and the Alpaca Blend yarns and LOVED them both, but they were really a bit pricey for big projects. Each time I found myself in Michaels I would eye them longingly but knew that buying anymore would be a splurge I couldn't justify.

So imagine my delight when I saw a whole bin of the stuff. I ended up buying about 20 skeins of the Extra Soft Wool Blend, and six (yes, I did use *some* self-control!) of the Alpaca Blend. They are both such wonderful yarns I can't wait to use them.

 Exciting, yes?

My auntie lives in a very nice community in Fort Myers with a nature preserve and wonderful little butterfly garden. I took a couple of long walks while I was there, and spent some time in the garden, thinking, relaxing, and watching for butterflies.

 

 

 View of the Butterfly Garden.

 

 

And of course... palm trees!

Our Non-Traditional Christmas...

The hubby and I had a lovely Christmas... stayed at the Hotel Palomar in DC, just a couple of blocks from Dupont Circle. We love Kimpton Hotels as we can bring our pup Patrick... there are even treats for him right inside the door.

We had dinner at the wonderful Urbana Restaurant downstairs. The food was very good - but what I will remember is their Sweet Revenge cocktail... quite possibly one of the best cocktails I've ever had. They infused vodka with serrano peppers, and added passion fruit puree and lime juice. I would LOVE to try making this myself at home, but seriously doubt I'll be as successful. It was just the right amount of hot - the serrano peppers did not "finish" hot as you drank it... so you weren't dying and reaching for water and bread. It was just - well, simply perfect.

Christmas Day we went down to Georgetown... walked around a bit and had coffee and scones by the waterfront.

A great time was had by all!