The one where I update my recent knitting projects and reveal the preliminary bi-coastal birthday cele-cation plans.

So after the holiday season, I like to try to fit in a few 'me' projects. The first of which was the shalom cardigan [ravelry link]. I modified the pattern by adding buttons all the way down. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for the top button only. It looks ADORABLE, but not so much with the flattering of the figure. Finding 8 suitable buttons was an adventure I don't care to recount, but suffice it to say, I ended up doing 4 of each of two different types, with sexy results. I christened it on the train ride back to NYC from a few days spent in RI finishing the thing over my April break, and then promptly wore it to work and made a co-worker take photos of me on the swing in my office (ALWAYS an embarrassing question to ask).

I then promptly started up on owls [ravelry link], having suddenly become quite ill for the better part of a week, canceling private clients, calling in to work sick, and, most terribly, not that excited to eat ANYTHING. So towards the end of my extended vacation on the couch, i took the bad boy off the needles and gave it the old belly-warmer tango. I had many concerns on this one:
1. Why did I choose a mostly acrylic cheapo yarn? Will this ever do?
2. Its kinda heathered. Am I OK with that?
3. Does it fit?
Enter hilarious alone in the apartment belly-warmer dancing with subsequent gchat updates, and you have this:

The saucy look was just for a friend whom I had enlisted for realtime online color/yarn consultation. So. As it turns out, the color and yarn will do. The size is too big. I need to go down to XS, which means big-ass delay now that I am feeling better and back to my 5 clients on top of my full time job (not to mention studying for the GRE's, which I take on 4/3). I think I will also take the increases and decreases (not visible here, but Kate designed them to go in back), and put them along fakey side seams, like the design of the shalom. I prefer that look i think.

So, now that I'm feeling better (I made, ate, and enjoyed a long-overdue soup yesterday- really big whoop), we commence with the GRE prep. I have put the belly warmer in my yarn pile, waiting to be unraveled and re-done on various subway excursions and long meetings.

In the back of my head, however, as I look at algebraic equations and analogies, I will be planning the celebration of the 30 days of my 30th april, which may include such tasks as: doing 30 things I've never done, eating 30 pieces of candy, taking 30 different shots (don't worry, we have all month), obtaining 30 phone numbers, walking 30 miles, eating 30 things outside, stealing 30 little things (beer coasters, pens, hearts, you know...), listening to 30 new songs... let me know if you have any other good adventures. April will involve many checklists indeed! I'm also going to SF for 5 days in mid-April, and taking some friends along for the ride to celebrate with my former roommate Julie, who turns 30 the week before me. We're catching at least 1 Sox game at Oakland, and I will hit at least one yarn store.

So far its looking to be pretty fun. Let me know if you have any other ideas! I'm going to spend the rest of the day reviewing mathematics, and eating the delicious soup I made yesterday.