Eat.Knit.Sleep

So, I was going to flash more stash today, but I was too tired to take pictures. I hope all of you who went to Maryland had a WONDERFUL time, I wish I had went, but I had a great weekend none the less.

Friday was low key  . . . I was going to do some knitting, but Carlos made me a citrus margarita that knocked me on my ass, and I was useless for doing anything other than law and order reruns on USA. I did do some knitting on his felted clogs though, and all I can say is the construction is, well, surprising. I'm curious to see how they turn out.

Saturday, we woke up early and went to Wegmans (our local grocery store with a nice food courty type thing) for breakfast. C thought it be a good idea for me to ride my new bike, I don't know, once before I rode it for 42 miles. Smart guy, C is. So I got winded on the one mile ride, and I started to worry a bit. Secretly. I was going to hold the group back. I tried not to think about it.

We went back home, got ready to go into New York, I started a new pair of socks, because it seemed liked a good idea at the time.  (Jaywalkers in LL Shephard Sock in Grey's Corner, if you care). We got everything all packed up and left to drop Oscar at my in laws.

About an hour into the drive, C goes "Oh shit." This is never a good sign. My mind starts racing with what could be wrong. He forgot the bikes. No, I clearly saw them on top of the car. Then I realized that he is the anal one and I am the forgetful one so odds are I forgot something. I was knitting, so I knew it wasn't my socks ;-P. "We forgot Oscar's crate." Now, this may be unusual but Oscar loves his crate. It is truly his den, he growls when anyone but me sticks there hand/head in. I worried for Oscar, but felt relieved when I remembered stating QUITE clearly while I was in the shower. "C, can you pack up all of Oscar's things while I finish up?" Woohoo, off the hook.

We decided that Oscar could live one night without the crate, and C's parents said it was fine. So we drop Oscar off and head into the city.  We had a little trouble finding the hotel. It was in the financial district where the streets are no longer on grid. It's the ORIGINAL New York city. We "lucked out"* and found "free"** parking on the street around the corner from the hotel.

We went up to the hotel (which was small, but lovely), got changed, and went for a drink. There was some sort of street festival that had ended, and all the local restaurants had put tables and chairs outside.  We saw one with big benches set up like picnic tables, and treated ourselves to a vodka and some oysters. (Note to self, vodka was a mistake).  We met with C's coworker and his wife, and had a beer before going to dinner. (Note to self, beer was a mistake).

We ate at Les Halles and it was fabulous. We had mussels to start, and then I had two other appetizers for dinner, escargot dripping in garlic and butter, and a spinach, apple, and walnut salad. Beautiful wine, and port and espresso after. (None of this was mistake). We go back to the hotel, and I realize I'm kinda drunk. I slept not a wink, tossing and turning, getting up for water. Not a fun night. AND because the bed was a full and not a queen, C got no sleep either.

We woke up at 5:30 (!), and started getting ready to go. I felt like crap, and could not believe I was about to bike 42 miles. We went to the car and there was no ticket, so we felt "safe"*** that our parking was legal. We got the bikes, and went to the start. I won't give a play by play of the Bike NY, but it was a lot of fun, a beautiful day, and I rode fine.

We get  back to the car, and there were not one, but TWO tickets. For $115 each! Given 2 hours apart! They said we were in a no standing anytime area, but the only sign on the block said No Parking M-F 7am to 7pm, and we parked around 3:30 on Saturday to about 3 on Sunday, so we should have had no issues. So now I have the fun thing of figuring out how to dispute a NYC parking ticket from Pennsylvania. Fun. Still, the weekend was great and not complaining.

On another, unrelated note, I received both my Sockapaloooza socks (which fit great!) and my Project Specturm postcard (which was incredible) and I will post soon. Also, look out for http://www.jennysbelly.com coming soon. Not quite yet though. Stay tuned.

*You might imagine some forboding tones here.

** More tones.

*** See above tones.