WOW! Thank you SO MUCH for all the good wishes for my birthday! I am completely overwhelmed! I’ve never been very popular in my life – loved yes – but not really popular. And I gotta tell you – it feels good! If I don’t get a chance to send you an email – please know how much I appreciate your thinking of me! THANK YOU!

It was a very nice birthday overall. I kind of like to keep these things low key, you know. The calendar day tends to overhwhelm and hype the actual birthday and there’s nothing that makes me happier than doing what I would normally do on any other day of the year. And yes, that means I didn’t shower. 😉 I’m often jealous of people who have “normal” birthdays. The ones where you go about your day and little things sneak up on you to remind you that it’s your birthday – a phone call here or there. A co-worker coming by your cube with an offer for lunch. Then maybe a nice birthday dinner with the family. That doesn’t ever happen when your birthday is 1/1. First off, no one works. At least no one I know. And TV sucks. I mean, I can only watch the Mummer’s Parade for like five seconds before all my happy childhood memories are wiped out in a flash. It’s bad people. And college football sucks. Anyway – you get what I mean. It’s not a regular day. I want a regular day. Just once. I know it will never happen and if it did I’d probably be like give me my special birthday back but still and all it’s nice to dream. You people out there with March 26 or October 11 or July 17 or August 7 – YOU DON’T KNOW HOW LUCKY YOU ARE!

So the birthday rocked in all aspects. We changed up our plans this year a bit. Usually G takes me out for my birthday dinner a few days before New Year’s Eve and we have lamb chops. This year we decided that G would actually make me my lamb chops on NYE. YUM!

LOOK AT ALL THOSE CHOPS! Everything was perfect. We made our new favorite pear salad and had green beans and french fries as sides and right after dinner the Cherry Pie went into the oven and it was all perfect. Everyone checked in right after midnight. G gave me one of his special gifts (technically the wheel is from him as well, but I handled all of that) that night and the rest waited for morning.

See that teddy bear in the back? Can you make out the bracelet? It says Georgie! Awwww. And look how cute my guy is finding me some cafe press accoutrements! T-shirt, mouse pad, magnet! The sheep is knitting socks! How cute is my Georgie? And last but not least, he gave me that jar in the back with all those pink little pieces of paper in it. 365 days of love. Each piece of paper has a quote or saying having to do with love. Could you just die!?! I’ve decided to put them on the blog each day – you can find it over on the sidebar – The Daily Sap. When I asked G if I could put them up – he was like yeah. Why wouldn’t you? Dude. He’s so with the blog!

There was knitty goodness from friends as well!

Some purple handspun from Claudia which I alternately hang on my wheel or hide depending on whether or not I’m feeling inspired or frustrated. This has no bearing at all on the beyond beautiness that is the yarn. Thank you Claudia! I swear it inspires way more than it frustrates! 😉 Claudia also sent some more caramels which may or may not be the same ones my better pal sent me (Super Sleuth Ann! I smell a mystery!) and some lovely chocolate soap! Some beautiful Schaefer Elaine and a great scarf/stole pattern from Elspeth along with a very odd article about Sprinsteen entitled, “The Lawyer as Poet Advocate: Bruce Springsteen & the American Lawyer,” which was published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. I can safely say, Elspeth, that with this article in my Springsteen collection, I have reached fanatic status. My first better pal, Kris sent me some gorgeous red silke- tweed from Norway and a ton and a half of Joggers. Maybe our absolute favorite candy ever. Think of swedish (or norwegian, sorry!) fish on the top and circus peanuts (you know those orange marshmallow things) on the bottom. You don’t think they’ll taste so good when you look at them, but then you put them in your mouth and oh my god! GENIUS! And Lauren of Jaywalking fame sent me a lovely gift bag of Gummy Bears, hand cream, a sheepy tape measure (which came just in time because I left my tape measure at my sister’s AGAIN!) and Foer’s latest book, Extrememly Loud and Incredibly Close.

Those kick-ass girls over at JenLa gave me a superduper present too! Check out #10! WhoohOO. Most Accomplished! Talk about Nerdy Good! Yay baby! I work HARD on this here blog! Thank you Jen and La!

Perhaps my favorite gift of the birthday, though, is my TIARA! Some of you might remember the contest I had asking what I should get for my birthday. I wanted something I didn’t even know I wanted, and Wendy came up with a Tiara! Excellent idea Wendy! (By the way, her birthday was yesterday. If you haven’t already, go on over and wish her a good one!) My good friends Tina and Kaci over at Blue Moon wonderfully fulfilled my wish!

It’s beyond gorgeous! I wore it all weekend! To toast in the new year. While I was spinning. To blow out my birthday candles. At any given moment my tiara was on my pretty little head. Do you see the details?

Litte seashells adorn the edges and then there are bigger ones with diamonds (yes! REAL diamonds! 😉 ) in the center and hot pink zebra striped feathers come out of the top and isn’t it TO DIE FOR? Thank you g
irls! (And do you see what it sits upon? That’s some Tina special hand-dyed roving in Sweet Pea. That stuff goes in the special bag until I can actually make yarn. Maybe next birthday, eh?)

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I LOVE ALL OF IT!

So that is about all, I think – not that I’m complaining! What a great birthday! Oh wait. Am I forgetting something? There was something else wasn’t there? Hmmm.

Okay. I opened the box. Sigh. Why would people think Margene would send me ROCKS? I don’t get that at all. Personally, I liked Rock Chick’s guess best, even though I had nightmares about that movie for weeks afterward. (Yeah. Go back and look.) Although wouldn’t it be funny if JenJen’s friends made her a video and it was Brad’s head in the box? Hahahahaha. That’s just mean. I know.

So I opened the box and low and behold:

I love the box Margene! Did you make it yourself? There’s a bit of knitting glued on there with cute little baby knitting needles and it’s just so sweet – I’m going to use it as a notions box I think. And some beautiful antiquey looking stitch markers and some lip balm and cuticle cream and Chanukah gelt and the fun tissues and altoids have already made their way into the abyss that is my handbag, so no pictures of those. THANK YOU MARGENE!

Wait. What weighed so much you ask? Could it have been

SIX FREAKING POUNDS OF GUMMY BEARS?!?!?!?!?!

Margene, my love, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME? G and I laughed and laughed and laughed! You are too funny! I think I’m going to take your suggestion and get some pretty glass containers and fill them up and put them all over the house so whenever the mood strikes me I’ll have a gb and then wherever I turn I’ll be reminded of you and your wonderful friendship. Thank you so much, M. I loved every minute of the gift! (And I think everyone else did too. Super Sleuth Ann called me at like 7AM Jan 1 to find out what was in the box. DON’T SAY YOU DIDN’T!)

Who won? I’ll tell you who won!

Go on over and congratulate her! YAY EMMY!

It wasn’t all birthday and gifts and stuff this weekend:

That’s right. I started another Jaywalker. STR Petroglyphs. Want to make something of it? I’m on the gusset decreases as we speak. When Jen was over the other day she asked me which pair of socks was my favorite and right now these are. I love the thin stripey goodness. But actually, the real answer is either the pair I’m working on or the pair I’m going to be working on next. You know what I mean? I wound up some STR last night in anticipation of this socks completion. It’s my goal to have an STR Jaywalker on the needles at all times. I’ve got a lot of STR yarn DUH and most of it is in the OLD yardage and I know I can get a pair of jaywalkers out of that. And no, your eyes do not deceive you. There is another sock – a NON-JAYWALKER – that’s Claudia’s picot edge in STR Cotton Candy. I like the edging a lot and will most likely use it for my next jaywalker, ala Anna, but I’m not so sure about the plain stockinette. You can see every single solitary flaw! There’s something to be said for variegation and zigzags.

Oh yeah and there’s some spinning.

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s Celebration and thank you all again for making this a GREAT BIRTHDAY! MWAH!!!!

It ain’t no kind of birthday without a Carvel Ice Cream cake! Woo HOO!

My grandparents, thirty-six years ago, at the hospital the morning I was born.

Me. Not the baby below. At least that’s what Ann said. It was a frustrating afternoon, spinning-wise and surprise surprise: I don’t like NOT being good at things. Ann will tell you there was stomping. I say pouting, but whatever. I’m not in such a great mood. But the company was FANTASTIC. Jen was kind of enough to let Xavier model with the birthday package.

Super cute picture, right? But I forgot the newspaper. So we took another one. I dare say X is laughing at me!

Jaywalker updates will be late tomorrow. Get them in now if you can. Thanks.