birthday fun

My birthday this year was full of time spent with Eric and the rest of my family, and that really made for a happy Kristine!

I started out the week really excited about one of my favorite knitting authors was coming to town, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot).  Eric was sweet enough to drive me there, early even so I could get a good seat, and hung out the whole time I was there.  It was sponsored by Blue Moon Fiber Arts, who I had just finished two projects with their yarns, so it was fun to be able to wear that sweater and socks.  It was so cool because even though I didn't find friends who had come from my knitting group, I sat with a group of people who were so welcoming and we chatted about knitting and stuff, which made the wait until the talk started great fun.  I worked on knitting a new pair of socks while I was there, and there were lots of other socks-in-process around me.  The talk was fabulous, I am SO glad I made it to see her this time.  It really was a wonderful experience and started off my birthday week with a bang!

On my actual birthday, E and I took the day off, and we went on our now annual Birthday Adventure, which we've done the last 3 birthdays.  This involves some driving, some music, some shopping, some walking, and good food.  We went to Bridgeport Village, my favorite outdoor mall, and ate at Macaroni Grill including some fun birthday drawing on the table.  We found some of the kitchen things I was looking for at Sur La Table, and The Container Store.  Browsed books at the giant Borders, which is always fun.  From there, we went down to Woodburn's Outlet store, where we went through a bunch of stores and found E some little saucepans.  Finally, Fry's was an important stop because E needed a new monitor - and he was happy with my old one, so I got a new one :)  They had a special deal with a free photo printer after rebate, which was great because that's what I was missing by having a laser printer.  And we got a few other small things we'd had on our list.

Sunday after my birthday, we got together with my family and had a party.  I got my choice of food (my dad's rigatoni with cranberries and spinach) and brought my own yummy cake.  The whole family was there which always makes celebrating funner.  Here's a few pictures:

I got some nice gifts, including a sewing box, crafty stuff, several gift cards, a CD, a knitting book that I was really excited about, paintings, and a necklace.  And it was especially nice to see so many nice notes in my comments and facebook wishing me a happy day, that was really a treat - so thanks to you all!