Recovering

And we're back! Or, I'm back. Whatever. First off, my apologies for the lack of updates last week. I was just soooo excited about the Dallas trip and getting everything completed for it. Monday no post was due to me driving back and being back with the hubby and the puppies and such. So, there it is.

This weekend was awesome!! We had a grand time with the meeting and greeting. The drive wasn't so bad on the way there at all. I got a nice early start so it was cool and traffic was light. I found some decent tunes to listen to and just enjoyed driving. I lurv me a good road trip. Here's one of the road signs at a little more than halfway there. Only 88 miles to go! (Click to enlarge)

And then I came around a corner and look! Downtown Dallas! Woohoo! You may need to enlarge it to see it, but it's there. Yes, I was driving. Yes, I was driving in Dallas traffic. Yes, I was driving in Dallas traffic taking pictures of downtown. I never claimed any sort of intelligence. Not once. Not me.

Then it was on into Dallas and trying to get to Addison. Y'all, Skitter gives good directions. Hotels.com does not. They lie! They told me to go right when it should have been left and they said east when it should have been west. Blah! Grr! Also there was the whole you only stay on this road for 0.2 miles when in reality it was 7 or 8 miles. Lies, I tell you.

Anyway, I make it to Skitter's safe and sound and call her to inform her there's some weird stalker chick in her front yard. Let me tell ya folks, she has a lovely home with plenty of stalking shrubs to hide in (I will forever and ever keep away from the word "bushes" now. If you must know, email me. I am so not blogging it.) and she says her mailbox is wonky, but it's just really laid back. There were meeting hugs and happy smiles and in we go and there's NanC! Woohoo!! Then just like *whoosh* we're off and going. Y'all, I was so out of it they could have driven me to Kansas and I would have just gone along.

We didn't end up in Kansas. No, where we ended up was like a wet dream. It's a yarn shop called The Woolie Ewe and it's the most yarn I have ever seen in one spot. Over whelming is an understatement really. Yes, a purchase was made. Yes, I spent too much money this weekend on yarn. No, I don't care. The shop was cool and the people working there were amazingly nice. I feel really small town considering how excited I got to see my first Lorna's Laces, my first roving, my first lots of things really. I have no idea how long we spent there. I just know things jumped into my basket and I paid for them. Then Skitter and NanC whisked me off to our next destination, Gloria's. "Who is Gloria?" I asked. "It's a restaurant." They replied. I shut up and day-dreamed about my new yarn.

So we get to Gloria's and y'all, I am so plain when it comes to food. I was thinking Tex Mex. This place is so not Tex Mex. It Salvadoran or Equadoran or Cubadoran or something. All I know is the food was good, Skitter doesn't like pork in her pupusa (but she does like her pupusa cheesy) and it's where I got to meet the P-La, one half of the Purling Ps! Woohoo! Here's the 3 of them after we did much gnoshing and laughing (there might have been flirting, I'm not telling).


In the foreground is my purse with the Sweet Pea Shawl sticking out of it. We'll get to that in a bit. After gnoshing, possible flirting (you'll just have to guess), margaritas and me drinking the restaurant out of tea, we went off to the next yarn shop. We ended up at the Shabby Sheep and it's a cute yarn store. It really is. There was a purchase made there too. There was also knitting and crocheting happening for a while. The atmosphere was very relaxing and lends itself to losing time very easily. There were also some very funny moments that, again, I so am not going to blog but I will say that in Dallas, if you need something blocked, Cox Dry Cleaners is the place to go. Someone there just ranted about how much they love Cox. There was much juvenile snickering going on at the table and I thought I was gonna have to go outside at one point.

Before I knew it, our day was up and I had to get to the hotel to get ready for dinner with a family member. It was a lovely evening and I still had Sunday to go.

Sunday was an informal gathering at Skitter's for nibbles (food, y'all. just stop that) and yarn play. What did I work on? Not much. Just fringed my shawl. That's right people it is done!!!! No pictures yet. I am so dragging this out. Hee!! But even better, I got to meet Jen the Purse Ho, and both Purling Ps together. Another awesome day of knitting, crocheting, pressure from the "When are you making a sock" lobbyists (I think Christina called them all to lean on me) and I even got to see Skitter spin. It was awesome! My one regret from the trip is not getting to meet Amanda. Not to worry, my dear. I do believe I will be back up that way in the not too distant future.

Y'all, if you ever want to visit Dallas, this is the group to call. Staying in a hotel room, it still felt like I was just going to Skitter's house so we could ride together. It didn't feel like I was visiting from out of town. I was instantly comfortable and instantly liked all of them. Need a good restaurant? Skitter knows the good ones. She knows them by ethnicity. She knows they have no good Chinese food, but she is still searching. Need to go somewhere? Let NanC drive. She's comfortable with that damned freeway system up there and she is funnnny when she drives. The entertainment value alone is worth going there. Need someone to just lift your spirits and make you smile? P-la is your girl. She'll subtly flirt with you until you're really confused and damn, is she funny. I didn't come away from Dallas thinking "Wow, I met some really cool people." I came away knowing I would be missing my friends and that meeting them in person just confirmed that my stalkees are good people. I really do miss them already.

Friday there will be yarn porn so you'll see my haul from Dallas. Also, there WILL be photos of the completed Sweet Pea Shawl. (Psst, Chris, can I get copies of the ones you took to add to mine?) Until then, who's gonna be in Austin on July 29th for the Harlot? I'm so in.