Listening to Sarah Vowell read her audiobook Assassination Vacation and perusing my latest Dean & Deluca catalogue, I had a little homesickness. Not for a home I've ever actually had, of course, but for SoHo.
In New York terms, I am a SoHo girl through and through, right down to the Kate Spade purse-converted-to-knitting-bag. SoHo almost always the place I immediately bolt for as soon as I drop my bags at whichever hotel was cleanest + cheapest + closest to the subway station. If I lived in New York, I'd be happily stationed in a SoHo studio apartment shared with my two dogs, two cats, Travis, and four starving naked art school students (We could only swing maybe $9,000 a month on rent - hence the crowded living conditions).
Every Saturday afternoon would be spent very specifically: first, lunch at Spring Street; then of course to Purl for a chat and a few skeins of something fabulous; on to Kate's Paperie to look and touch lovely and costly writing goods; across the street to Dean & Deluca to purchase food that costs far more than food should (and is worth every penny) and twirl around in the fresh cut flowers; then home to carefully slice truffles. I'd serve Manchego with a nice port for dessert. (Only for me and Travis, of course - let the damned art students fend for themselves, I'm not running a soup kitchen here.) Did I mention that I'm fabulously wealthy in my fake SoHo life?
Real life? I'm recovering. (Go, little white blood cells, go!!) I've been resting comfortably most of the weekend, although I've been nursing a nasty headache since last night due to lack of activity. We heard last night that the Citrus Tower in Clermont would be hosting its 50th Anniversary celebration. (The Citrus Tower is a tall structure that looks every bit like a scion of the 1950s - it's basically a concrete-wrapped elevator with a lookout tower at the top, a 300-foot Sunshine State Building that's almost amusing in its earnestness.) Apparently this was a big event, and they planned a spectacular fireworks show. I enjoy fireworks (from afar) and rather than driving the mile up the road to the Tower and sneezing on the hundreds or thousands of people expected to attend, we walked the four blocks to the pier on Lake Minneola, where we had a perfect view and our only company was a large family doing some late-night fishing. I wish I'd taken the camera so I could share pictures of Travis and me, huddled on the pier's railing, each of us with a small shivering dog stuffed under our shirts (neither dog was perfectly thrilled with standing around for 30 minutes on a chilly pier while small children shouted "PUPPIES!!!" at them.) We finally gave up, 30 minutes past the scheduled start time, and headed home. Of course you know how that ends....we close the front door and "Boom! Boom boom boom!! BOOM boomboomboomboomBOOM!!!!" Sigh. We dash back out the door, back across the street, peering through the trees..........silence. Back inside we go....."BOOOM!!" We finally determined that in order for the rest of Clermont to enjoy the festivities, we needed to be inside and out of view of the fireworks. I hope Clermont appreciates my sacrifice - I was really looking forward to the show.
Ooooh - I discovered podcasts this weekend! (I knew they existed, but I am still rather firmly planted in 2002. I love my Uggs, and I still listen to plain old public radio instead of podcasts and XM. I don't even use my iPod outside of the home - it's just plugged into its little iStereo deck 24/7.) Hell, I didn't know podcasts were FREE. Someone shoulda told me!
Being sick isn't all bad - besides the constant pampering I've gotten from Travis (I can't BELIVE he hasn't voiced being sick to death of my bullshit yet), I've been getting a lot of love:
I am such a sucker for all this attention. (I know...plaid....so the pants are totally hideous, but don't you always want to fish around in the back of your closet for your boyfriend/husband/ex's big roomy flannel ugly stuff when you're sick? That's why we keep that stuff around!)
Gratuitous cuteness:
I haven't spun all weekend - I've had a predilection to dizziness and I didn't think it would help much - but I am anxious to finish up my other bobbin of Sweet Georgia's "Firefly" singles and get plying, because I think this is going to turn out fantastically:
You know, I joined a knitalong a WHILE ago. And I still haven't actually committed to a project. I know it'll be a baby knit...I'm just slacking. Badly.
Oh, but I also started a sock Saturday afternoon. And....well....
It's Domesticat's Zephyr sock pattern, in the silk/wool sock yarn my Secret Pal sent a few weeks ago. Great pattern! And....umm...it's for me. (What?! I'm SICK, okay???)
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