Adventures in Coffee

 

My mama got me a French Press!

I went a little bit insane and ordered some coffee from Community Coffee, a New Orleans based roaster. They have a special menu with trial size coffee things and like a dozen flavors so I got a bunch of the dessert coffees (Vanilla Almond, French Vanilla, etc) Vin picked out a House Blend so I made that for him this evening.

I can't believe I actually had to solve for x to figure out how much coffee grounds to add to my water. I think that's the first time I've used algebra outside of school since Bush was president.

 It was a medium-dark roast which I wouldn't have picked myself, plus Vin finished off the French Vanilla coffee mate so it wasn't as sweet as I'd like. I am ashamed by the amount of heavy whipping cream and sugar and chocolate sauce I had to add to make this palpable. 

 

I did get to use my new knitted coffee cup from Caribou Coffee. (RIP awesome coffee chain)

Did I mention it's mid-April and 43 degrees today?

It was SO nice last weekend though, we had the house open and the doggies outside and the umbrella up. 

Ah perfect day with wind and sunlight, Lu lounging in the shade, glass of pink lemonade and my fat pants on, watching a documentary on The History of Computers, putting the last few inches on the mohair wrap.

 

Later that evening I finally finished it! I've been knitting this fiddly thing since October 2012.

 It took me about an hour and a half to kitchener stitch (black ops knitting) the ends together.

 The weather has been so shitty since I finished it that I haven't had a nice bright sunny afternoon available to take finished photos of it so those will have to be forthcoming.

 

I got a new desk at work.

ERMAHGERD, DRERWERS!

I accidentally a blog post

...And I didn't know Enter key would skip right ahead and publish the blog entry so I will start over.

Well, like I said it was my birthday. It was a Wednesday. 

 My desk got decorated and I didn't know how to cope with all the glitter.

 

I went to Carabba's with Andrew and got the Mezzaluna and Tiramisu, like usual.

Andrew finally got the chance to make the orange cupcakes for me!

We frosted them down while watching Harlem Shake videos and then later we had a Mario Kart / Super Smash Bros marathon with Vin.

You know Mario Kart hates you when you fall into the icy river then the derpy cloud guy puts you back on the road right in front of a bobomb. 

 

I'd like to point out I'm in first place.

"Whoever saves Lightning for the big jump in Wario Stadium has no soul!"

Andrew has found a new friend at the Randall Caribou.

 

Homemade bruschetta on a snow day.

My Mohair bias loop is coming along nicely though not as quickly as I wished. The yarn is so thin that my joints can't handle more than four or five rows before they start aching. I will finish it one day I swear. It's just so fiddly.

My bro and I had a Skyfall extravaganza feat. two venti-or-whatever-their-gypsy-version-of-large Java Chip Frappuccinos.

Lumi, the ever present vanguard.

Vin and I had an Archer marathon which was really fun!

In other news holy crap Assassin's Creed 4 will be coming out later this year. My love for Assassin's Creed 3's Connor knows no bounds and it's tough to see a new assassin but eh.

At least no more Desmond hahaha.

Appropriate gif is appropriate.

Alas I leave you with pictures of snow because it's still a novelty for me.

Xetzu will disown me if I don't update my blog

Well it was my birthday.

(After Jackie puts 20 sugars in her tiny cup of coffee)
(Deb) You should just smoke crack, it's better for you.



In today's news, I had the flu, then I got better, then I got a cold. Currently getting better.

I also saw The Hobbit.  

So many beards.




Stayed up real late the other day, went into rage-mode knitting and finally finished Esther's hat!

First it was a Big Bang Theory Marathon.

Then it was the dulcet sound of Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark.

Then finally I had to bring out the big guns and watch my second favorite documentary: Chemistry: A Volatile History. (Second to Kasparov and the Machine, a documentary on a chess-playing computer. Third favorite, Moon Machines, a documentary on the Apollo program. Like you didn't already know I was a nerd.)



I have to say the hat came out gorgeous, she did a good job picking out the thread and pattern.

Pattern: Hinagiku Hat by Violetta
Mods: I don't remember how many extra stitches I casted on, but I increased it to 24" brim

It decreased extremely quickly towards the crown; in each decrease row 2 out of every 3 stitches was removed, which creates that bunching on the top. Normally I'm a fan of smooth decreases (no bunching) but I like it on this project.

Fabulous Esther is fabulous!

On Christmas, Vin and I stopped over at Andrew's to have coffee and eat some bruschetta with epic cheese. 

Vin's friend Jeremy came over one day and we had Portillo's and then I had to fight for my honor on Super Smash Brothers. 

 Andrew came over for New Years Noms where he claimed not be phased by Lumi's cuteness.

 How can you not?!

It snowed for a little bit the other day, and then at night there was a freezing rain. The ground was still wet the next morning when I went to work. 

On Fridays, we have to park away from the main entrance because the clients need the parking spots, so I parked off the road in a field.

Twenty cars lined up in the damn field and I'm the only one that gets stuck in the mud. My training room comrades were nice enough to go outside in the cold and push my car.

WELCOME TO ILLINOIS ENJOY YOUR FRIGGIN' STAY. 
 

At least the views are really nice! The trees are in my backyard and the sunrise was taken on my drive to work.


Gonna start up on the Mohair Bias Loop shawl next

Post-Apocalyptic Post

Optimus-Prime-Approved™ baby hat.

D'awwww~

Now if only I could finish Esther's $%&#ing hat.

 

 It's again that time when I get totally cracked out on a video game. I give to you Assassin's Creed 3's protagonist: Connor Kenway. 

This dude's Mohawk name is Ratonhnhaké:ton, and screw that. It took me like twelve days to remember how to pronounce it.

Though when Vin and I first played we were pronouncing his name like this:

 Haha I make myself laugh.

 

I recently found out my boss Rich plays Assassin's Creed. He walks into my pseudo office and goes all serious... "Gina. I need help. I just talked to the Mohawk lady and now I can't figure out how to get to the Fort."

 Sass-ter Chief

After playing Assassin's Creed 3, next up was Halo 4. 

Awesome game!

 

Master Chief remains the most badass badass in the book of badassery.

This was my Halo 4 knitting project but I didn't get far :-(

Vin and Andrew vs Mom and I playing hangman at Chili's.

Office Party at Two Brothers' Roundhouse

There was about 80 people there, from our branches all over Illinois.

Berger is gonna disown me if he doesn't make my blog.

On the way home from the party it started snowing.

And the next day it was all over the damn place.

Obligatory Lu-dog

And I'm done with this post.