Secret Pal 5
As many of you know, Secret Pal 5 has wrapped up. For me, it was another fantastic experience. I was Secret Pal to Josephine, who was an awesome pal to have. She gave me some great ideas and we have very similar tastes, so it was easy to figure out what to send her. Josephine was a secret pal to another Twin Cities knitter, so packages were going back and forth between here and Canada pretty regularly!
My Secret Pal was Wendy. Frequent readers of this blog already know she's a whiz at sculpy clay - take a look at her latest creations - so cute!!! Wendy well and truly spoiled me and I loved the fun and pretty gifts she sent. The last package arrived after quite a long delay - I'm not sure what happened to it, but it did look rather beat up.
There are some beautiful red beads, which I think I'm going to mix with some wooden beads - I think that'll look awesome. A very large pallette of chalks for my card making and other paper crafts. A super cute sheepy rubber stamp. And some tasty treats - tootsie rolls and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. She also indulged my lust for red yarn. Red is so hard to photograph, but trust me when I tell you these are gorgeous deep beautiful reds.
A fun novelty yarn with a nice metallic sparkle too.
Some of one of my favorite yarns - Berroco Glace. Love this stuff and this is a gorgeous red!
I had never seen this yarn before, but I fell in love with it. It's so very soft! I'll definitely be making a lacy scarf with this one.
Wendy, thanks again for everything and also for your awesome comments on my blog - it's been so fun talking with you and getting to know you. I feel so lucky!
Friday night Jessica and I saw these guys again:
Before the concert, we went to Fuji-Ya in St. Paul. When Fuji-Ya took over Katsu Sushi, they did a complete remodel, and it looks much better. It's very modern and sleek, with lots of stainless steel and interesting light fixtures. It seems like the menu is different, but I think it's the same food, just printed up differently. The sushi was as excellent as the Minneapolis location. I decided to get a bowl of Soba Noodles with vegetables and sauted ribeye. It was ok. It's a huge bowl, so I doubt anyone would be able to finish it. I'm not a huge fan of ribeye steak, but I wanted more than just veggies. Next time I'll probably just stick with the sushi only , as usual.
The concert was good. The music was excellent - especially "When September Ends". The band was a little more upbeat and manic this time, so there wasn't the mournful quality to songs like "Good Riddance". I appreciated Billie Joe's singing on songs like "Stand By Me" and "We Are the Champions". After watching Rockstar: INXS this summer, I understand better how hard it is to sing that song. Billie Joe can rock but he's also a very good vocalist. On the negative side, this show had way too much audience interaction. He did a ton of stuff like leading the wave, or having one side clap or sing and then the other side, going back and forth. A little of that is fine, but there was just too much. He also said "Minneapolis", "st. Paul", or "Minnesota" during almost every single song. And the crowd cheered every single time. So lame and pandering. I enjoyed their usual deal where they bring up 3 guys from the audience and let them play. The guitarist they picked was only 10 years old, so he was pretty darn cute, although not such a great guitarist. The bassist they picked smashed the guitar at the end. He was immediately hauled offstage by security - a true rock n roller! As always, Billie Joe looked super sexy!
My Secret Pal was Wendy. Frequent readers of this blog already know she's a whiz at sculpy clay - take a look at her latest creations - so cute!!! Wendy well and truly spoiled me and I loved the fun and pretty gifts she sent. The last package arrived after quite a long delay - I'm not sure what happened to it, but it did look rather beat up.
There are some beautiful red beads, which I think I'm going to mix with some wooden beads - I think that'll look awesome. A very large pallette of chalks for my card making and other paper crafts. A super cute sheepy rubber stamp. And some tasty treats - tootsie rolls and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. She also indulged my lust for red yarn. Red is so hard to photograph, but trust me when I tell you these are gorgeous deep beautiful reds.
A fun novelty yarn with a nice metallic sparkle too.
Some of one of my favorite yarns - Berroco Glace. Love this stuff and this is a gorgeous red!
I had never seen this yarn before, but I fell in love with it. It's so very soft! I'll definitely be making a lacy scarf with this one.
Wendy, thanks again for everything and also for your awesome comments on my blog - it's been so fun talking with you and getting to know you. I feel so lucky!
Friday night Jessica and I saw these guys again:
Before the concert, we went to Fuji-Ya in St. Paul. When Fuji-Ya took over Katsu Sushi, they did a complete remodel, and it looks much better. It's very modern and sleek, with lots of stainless steel and interesting light fixtures. It seems like the menu is different, but I think it's the same food, just printed up differently. The sushi was as excellent as the Minneapolis location. I decided to get a bowl of Soba Noodles with vegetables and sauted ribeye. It was ok. It's a huge bowl, so I doubt anyone would be able to finish it. I'm not a huge fan of ribeye steak, but I wanted more than just veggies. Next time I'll probably just stick with the sushi only , as usual.
The concert was good. The music was excellent - especially "When September Ends". The band was a little more upbeat and manic this time, so there wasn't the mournful quality to songs like "Good Riddance". I appreciated Billie Joe's singing on songs like "Stand By Me" and "We Are the Champions". After watching Rockstar: INXS this summer, I understand better how hard it is to sing that song. Billie Joe can rock but he's also a very good vocalist. On the negative side, this show had way too much audience interaction. He did a ton of stuff like leading the wave, or having one side clap or sing and then the other side, going back and forth. A little of that is fine, but there was just too much. He also said "Minneapolis", "st. Paul", or "Minnesota" during almost every single song. And the crowd cheered every single time. So lame and pandering. I enjoyed their usual deal where they bring up 3 guys from the audience and let them play. The guitarist they picked was only 10 years old, so he was pretty darn cute, although not such a great guitarist. The bassist they picked smashed the guitar at the end. He was immediately hauled offstage by security - a true rock n roller! As always, Billie Joe looked super sexy!
rdladd@arnan.com
