One more time.

I picked up my roll of film from the photo shop today with my party shots.
Thank you everyone that came to help me celebrate and for all the great photos.
I took most of my shots before everyone arrived, Anabela was kind to let me borrow her tripod.
When the guests arrived I was too busy having fun to take many more!

That cake.

The tiara I wore all night.

The spread, yum!

The prettiest Mr. Pinata.
Don't let anyone tell you they're too old for pinatas.

Anabela getting ready.

Balloons, Banners!

Glitter, Confetti, Cake and Great Company

, originally uploaded by fieldguided.

Let me tell you about a party.
The BEST party.

There was glitter, confetti, balloons, and a banner with my name.
And cake, oh was there CAKE!

And maybe, just maybe, a little too much sparkling wine, but who's counting anyways?

But most importantly, there were friends.
Two lovely people, the best a girl could find,
Anabela and Geoff who offered to host my birthday party at their gorgeous apartment,
and friends old and new that make this city the best best best place to be.

Well, hello 23.

It's good to finally meet you.

EDIT:

More posts and pictures at Fieldguided, Bonjour! and from Karyn. Thank you everyone for posting such lovely photos and most of all making my birthday the best!

Rag & Bone F/W 2010

Rag & Bone's F/W 2010 collection is keeping the excitement for my Olympic sweater alive. Looks like I'll be ready for next fall.
Progress update from Day 3 here.
The body is done and I'm almost done one sleeve!

The Knitting Olympics

The Knitting Olympics, originally uploaded by erica_knits.

I'm so glad it's Friday. I wrote three essays this week, and I'm tired. However, that won't stop me from kicking off the knitting Olympics this evening.

Anabela gave me this book of vintage Lopi patterns for Christmas. I will be tackling that pattern on the cover (as a cardigan) for my entry in the knitting Olympics on Ravelry. I will be casting on at 9pmEST when the opening ceremonies start. I have two weeks to knit my dream Lopi sweater. Wish me luck!

Nikole's Buttons

The problem with film is that by the time I get my photos developed, the cookies are long gone.
The Monday after Nikole posted her shortbread cookie recipe, I spent the day in the kitchen whipping them up. Let me tell you, they are totally worth a day in the kitchen. The vanilla bean lends a perfect flavor and they are so deliciously buttery.

I had to pick up a kitchen scale before I could make these, but Nikole directed me to a little kitchen store north of Bloor on Yonge where I could find one that was good in quality and price.

I did learn a few things when baking these that I thought I would share:
1. You do not need too much food coloring, I went a little overboard. Start with a little, then add more.
2. Step 4, when you're kneading the dough together, be careful! I kneaded too much, they got a little bubbly. (No less delicious, though!).
3. I tended to roll the dough out too thin. They hold their shape better when they're between 1/4"-1/2" thick.
4. They are best shared, and people cannot help but coo over how cute they are. :) Including myself.

Japanese Inspired Cardigan

This post is a little late, seeing as I uploaded the same photos to flickr and Ravelry on Monday. My excuse? I'm deep in the pit of essay writing. You may remember when, last September, I vowed to knit a cosy grey cardigan. Well, I didn't find the perfect pattern until November, a cabled number from Filati Handknitting Issue 38 (Model 27). After that, it took three whole months to finish.

It's inspired by the lovely Japanese knitting patterns that are often knit in one color to highlight the texture of the stitches. This cardigan helped me to get over my fear of knitting a sweater in pieces. I found that seaming is totally easy once you just sit down and get it over with. That being said, I did have to un-do half a sleeve and try again.

It was fun to knit and it helped me to conquer some of my knitting fears. Maybe this will encourage someone to conquer their knitting fears, as well!

I've also worn it for five days straight.

Bad quality cellphone pic.

Links:

In an attempt to spread my love for the non-Romantic side of Valentine's Day:

Paper Hearts

Brownie hearts

What a difference a couple of days makes.

Tea time with Ali. , originally uploaded by erica_knits.

Thank you for your comments on my post about the winter blues. Today is the first of February, a favorite month of mine (my birthday month!) and Valentine's Day, I do love holidays. I've always been a huge fan of celebrating all kinds of love on Valentine's Day, not just romantic love. I like to make goodie bags for my pals and give out cards. I think my Mother inspired that take on the holiday, she always included my sister and I. Once, she surprised me with a gigantic heart cookie and a balloon at daycare (it's a really old memory!). Also, I love any holiday that is commercially supported by chocolate and flowers. :)

In the meantime here are a few things lifting my spirit, maybe they will help you, too:

Nikole's post "on icing cakes and meeting boys" words I needed to read this morning. Nikole also began selling those famous cloud marshmallows in her shop last night, I bought a few. She assures there's plenty more to go around.

Kate's Bits of my Weekend. Her photos always inspire me to make the most of my free time, and mostly, I really want her cat. Or a cat... any cat!

Julie's Modification Mondays are full of knitting inspiration. I met up with Julie last week and had the best time, story here. I took photos, but they're on my film camera so it might be awhile. :)

Anabela's Emergency List. She's such an inspiration, I don't even have enough words to describe how grateful I am to this girl and her man(Geoff!). Sometimes we get together for #2 on her list, those are my arms in the picture! Coincidentally, I also love her cat.

50 Steps to Simple Happiness from NyMag. It's pretty NYC centric, but #1 really works. (via Victoria)

Finally, the photo blog HEARBLACK makes me want to pick up and move to Hawaii to escape this whole winter business all together.

Not to mention calling friends and family at home, and getting in a good run (á la Erica's suggestion).