Happy Birthday to me!!

I am the luckiest girl in the world! I had a wonderful birthday weekend. It started with awesome yarn prezzies from my best friends!




Jenn gave me the book "Knitting out of Africa" - I heart this book, it has beautiful patterns and very interesting construction methods. There is a wonderful instructional passage on Entrelac and another on working with two colors, I have attempted neither technique, but they are my "learn to do this" list! There was also a beautiful skein of Vesper yarn. Uh-huh - the ultra-impossible-to-get Vesper yarn. And it is very pretty - with lots of bright summertime colors! I also heart the sheep button - how cute is that?? And it all came in a beautiful box that I can use to store some of my knitterly goodies!

Margie gave me a pair of scissors to DIE for!! They are lovely - the handles have this totally cool ladybug design, and they feel like velvet! The tips are super super sharp, perfect for hardanger! And she needlpointed that cute scissor keeper for them - perfect!! There were also two skeins of Sweet Georgia superwash merino in a gorgeous chocolate/turquoise/pink colorway (which inspired my outfit today - chocolate colored slacks with a turquoise twin set that I never thought to wear together). I especially liked the card - inside, it says "Well, HOOCHIE-COOCHIE for you!" Margie said that the photo reminded her of me. The funny thing is that I had lots of outfits like that when I was a toddler, and often struck funny poses.

Thank you girls!! I have the bestest friends!!!

On Friday, TRHM took me to Atlantic City for the weekend! We had so much fun!! On Friday, we went to dinner, then went back to the hotel and relaxed in the jacuzzi bathtub in our room.


Saturday was retail therapy. There is a new high-end shopping complex opening right across the boardwalk from Caesar's Casino. The stores are all very chic, and very expensive. And not a single plus-sized store among them!! I guess it is for the trophy wives of the high-rollers. At the end of the second level, there is a deck area where you can enjoy the ocean breeze. There will be a huge fountain with light shows opening soon. That is also at the ocean end of the pier. The area is huge, and open to all four floors of the complex. There is a wall of glass overlooking the Atlantic, and escalators criss-cross in front of the glass. The ceiling of the hallway on the second floor is a navy blue fabric with teeny little lights - it looks like the night sky filled with twinkling stars. Very very pretty!

We played some slots at Caesar's (I lost, as usual, TRHM won, but I don't think he kept pace with my losses ...), then went back to the hotel to sit in the hot-tub, before getting dressed for dinner and a show! TRHM had planned to take me to the Virginia City buffet, where they make steaks to order. But by the time we got there, the wait for a table was too long. So we headed over to Harrah's and ate at one of the bistros, then saw Rita Rudner perform! She is so very very funny!! She rarely travels these days, as she and her husband have adopted a baby, so she stays home in Las Vegas, performing nightly. The show was great!


Sunday, we slept in, and had Belgian waffles at the hotel, then sat in the hot-tub for a bit. It was a little warm in the sun in the hot water, so we moved into the shade, and I beat TRHM at cribbage - not once, but TWICE!! Of course, he says he let me win, but I know better! Then it was back to the walk for some more retail therapy. My girfriend, Adrienne is a Grandma!! For the second time!! Her daughter had a baby girl this weekend, so I went to Carter's to get a baby gift. Then we went over to The Quarter at Tropicana. I absolutely love The Quarter. The shops are very nice, but I love the decor! The fountain in the middle, and the sky painted on the dome really give it the feel that you are outdoors. There is a little shop there that specializes in imported goodies ... yum! We attempted lunch at PF Changs, but it didn't work out so well. We waited ... and waited ... and waited ... and finally gave up. The waitress managed to get us some drinks, but didn't offer refills on my iced tea. When our appetizers came, it was apparent that they had been sitting for a bit - not even the spring rolls were hot. They weren't cold, but if they had just come out of the fryer, they would have been h-o-t!! We were there for 1 hour. There were 8 other tables seated. No call for that length of time!!



So we went upstairs to the IMAX theater and saw Superman 3-D!!! It was awesome.