back in the (knitting) saddle

My trip to DC was a quick one and it totally re-started my knitting. I was on a bit of a hiatus, I guess, from knitting in general (basically, I suck at knitting socks and it totally broke my knitting stride). What was nice about this trip was that the knitting made it go by really fast and calmed my nerves for the meeting that we were about to attend.

I grabbed this great olive/gold yarn from my stash. It was a chunky adrienne vittadini skein that I got from WEBS when we visited Sage and Brian over the summer. I got two hanks (there is something cooler about the word hank than skein) for two bucks each -- quite the deal! I adapted a pattern for a luxe neck warmer from Knit-2-Together, and I think it came out pretty nice. 54 stitches on size 10 needles -- the pattern was an alternation of feather and fan which looks so pretty and is relatively easy for even the most basic of knitters. The entire thing was done on the ride down from Newark Airport to Silver Spring, Maryland! The pic doesn't do it justice, especially the color; I will have to get a pic of me wearing it. It will serve as a proto-type for my christmas presents this year. I already started on one in Noro Silk Garden this morning when I sat next to a fellow knitter on the train -- gotta love a stitch-n-bitch commute.

On the plane with 25 minutes to spare.

Look at how nice the plane looks before people mess it up with their
stuff. Since when do every row get a pillow?

I was worried that I would be late. I left the office at 5 and took
the N to Penn and then NJ Transit to EWR. Though it took 35 minutes
from Penn to the airport, I breezed thru security -- thank you
Continental Elite Status. Total cost a whooping $7.50 ($2 for NYC
Subway, $5.50 for Airtran, I used my monthly pass to get there).

Now I'm just hoping that they come back and wisk me up to first class
I am wayyy in the back. I also wish I grabbed some eats before I got on.

vacation time

i'm off for a well-needed vacation to the 1st Annual Anusara Gathering, which is part of the yoga journal confernce -- i am so excited to be going to this (i really need a vacation that is outside of a cell service range). it should be a real treat. Each day you get to join in with group meditation, then a master class with the man, the myth, the legend.... john friend and then a daily workshop with a senior teacher. i decided to take this opportunity to take classes with teachers i haven't studied with before. i typically go for the noah maze, sianna sherman, niame jezzeny, ross rayburn set, so this time around i picked some names i haven't practiced with. Here are my picks for the conference:

• Darren Rhodes- Adhikara: Experiences of Expansion as a Student (All levels) Fuel the fire of your Adhikara (studentship) in this intimate class. Learn as Darren shares his key experiences with John Friend that continues to inspire and sustain him on the path of yoga. Includes forward folds, twists, and hip openers.

• Desiree Rumbaugh- Hearts of Courage (All levels) Explore the practice and principles of backbending in order to enter the cave of the heart and dwell inside to experience further expansion. Learn to engage the heart's courage to move deeper into the fullness of your backbends.
  

• Amy Ippoliti- Power in Numbers: The Kula That Plays Together Stays Together Celebrate the power of community (kula) and the potency of raising consciousness through individual and group intention. Through heart openers, hand balances and other poses, explore harmonious vibration, communication, and sensitivity as they pertain to health in community relationships.
  

Note: i took the pic in the corner while hiking up in western mass with brian, sage and jared.

luckily i get to share a room with some great fellow yogis. this should be a blast. i'm sure i can live-blog from my phone, cause i'm a yoga nerd like that.

mountain girls reunited! (me and atg) @ marseilles in manhattan

in other news, alpha 'n is in town. i got a chance to catch up with my favorite cocoa puff and her new man, mr. scandanavia himself, martin. i think he's a keeper. it was sooooo good to have alpha around again. atg, if you are reading this, i think you should follow jared's lead and move on back to jerz!

also, i broke down and joined facebook since my friend, neal, told me that it's myspace for adults. if you're reading this and are on the 'book, friend me.

commuter karma

it seems that i have really bad commuter karma, which is a bad thing for someone that travels as much as i do. over the past few months i have been back and forth to sf for work. i have sat for hours in airports, on the plane, in the train station or even on a train -- waiting, just waiting like i always do.

i hate hate hate it so much i just want to give up. i mean every once in a while is ok but when it happens like every time you have to go somewhere??!?!? -- i get pretty pissed. my last trip from newark to chicago was delayed over five hours! then the trip back from sf to newark was delayed four hours!! because of that i had three hours of sleep before my double header yoga classes that i teach every saturday.

so when you hear that someone gets to travel for work, just remember that it's not as glamorous as it sounds.

to top of my streak of bad commuter karma, i have been having a little run in with the nj transit just about every time i step on a train. this week, the train had its usual delays on monday and then last night, when i just wanted to get home and sort through my 3 suitcases and 2 piles of previous suitcases, i got the nj transit screw again. this time i didn't get home until almost 8pm. i left the office at 5:30! grrr.

i did spot my favorite greasy train conductor, aka brock. he's totally jersey and probably drives an iroc. he's been spotted flirting with the ladies and lingering just a little too long. my train buddies and i like to talk smack and make up stores about him -- like he's some sort of train celebrity. i am sure his name isn't brock, but he just looks like he needs a name like that and, well, we were really bored one day waitng again for the train so we made it up. he used to work our beat everyday...the 7:47 train from walnut to penn. then he disappeared. he resurfaces now and again. at least it made my elongated trip home a little more bearable. there's a pic of the elusive nj transit playboy to the right! you can always spot him by his signature pony tail and exposed arms. ;)

Dig it...

I got done with the worst yoga class I've ever taken and then wandered
around SF near market and 4th looking for some eats after 10pm. I
ended up at this Thai dive bar eating noodles, drinking tanq & tonic
and watching the olympics. There's nothing more American than that.

To top of off each time the door opens there's a cool breeze and the
smell of cloves wafting in. Seriously who actually smokes cloves outside of that one time you were trying to be edgy in HS?