Artisinal Cheese and Kitchen Accessories

Afternoon Pit Fans!

I am feeling MUCH better than I was 2 days ago and have lots of news and fun topics for today.

First and foremost though, while I was eating my lunch today I browsed the Williams-Sonoma Catalog we got in the mail last night and I can't tell you how much that catalog motivates me! I am the farthest thing from a cook you could imagine (grilled cheese is my specialty, and my only specialty if you catch my drift) but nevertheless, reading this catalog makes me want to do great things in the kitchen! No, not like that! For goodness sake, get your mind out of the gutter! I mean it makes me want to cook, and by cook, I mean buy all the fun things in their catalog, and THEN cook thier yummy recipes! Even thier china patterns with roosters on them call out to me even though our house is currently without a rooster and I am not sure we need to add any...I still want to order the whole set, 12 please!

Second, the catalog has an entire section of specialty cheeses from the US and abroad, and I swear it is taking all of my strength not to spend $800 for approximately 8 lbs of cheese from all over the world. Everyone knows I am a cheese-aholic and the words 'goat cheese' might as well be the best aphrodisiac ever :) Mr. Pit knows this well and lets me regularly have my way with the cheese selection at Whole Foods (smart man) :)

Anyways, enough with the food talk, even right after lunch I am getting hunger pangs. Plus, it doesn't help that I work 2 blocks from
Tria which has the best wine and cheese menu in all of Philly. YUM.

Third...and this is exciting. I got a sewing machine last night. Got it all set up and didn't sew myself to any fabric yet, so its all good so far! I got tons of scrap fabric to mess around with, and $129 later I had a machine, tons of fun ribbon, webbing, fabric and thread. SO FUN! I did all of my practicing while listening to the debate in the backround, and let me tell you, I was so focused on not breaking the poor machine I hardly listened but knew enough that the headlines who said who 'won' today didn't suprise me.

AND, speaking of winning...YAY PHILLIES!!! World Series here we come!!! I have to admit that I am a known mush (a mush is someone who no matter what, when attending a game or event in person, the team that person wants to win, will lose) so I will not be attending any games though my little brother is flying back from San Diego for a long weekend and is trying to get tickets to whatever home game he can. All I have to say is GO PHILS! I promise I won't even be in the vicinity of Citizens Bank Park, and if you want, I won't even watch it on TV :)

So, thats what I have for today. M is coming over tonight to play with the sewing machine (which means I have to do a super-fast clean when I get home today) but it will be nice to have company :) Plus, Lil' Pup LOVES his Aunt M so he'll be as thrilled to see her as anyone.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Oh wait, I almost forgot...Congratuatlions to Leanne for winning Project Runway last night! Thank goodness it wasn't the whiny Kenley, woo hoo! And I LOVE that Tim Gunn was the guest judge, I love that man :)

Wavy Wedding Dresses and one BIG decision gone awry

Afternoon Pit Fans,

so, first off, lets do our weekly run down of Project: Runway and see how we fared last night.

And let me say this, I can't TELL you how excited I was that their projects were wedding dresses. I am OBSESSED with wedding dresses. Choosing mine that I wore two years ago was some of the most fun I have ever had (and it was all done in a day as I found my dream dress after trying only 9 others on!) so I love any excuse to talk/think/dream about wedding dresses and what would have been if I hadn't bought mine. (See right, mine was SO plain and simple and impossibly me...I still want to wear it all the time and am thinking of getting it dyed Navy Blue so I can wear it to a ball or something in the future. What do you think?)

I have to say that I LOVED Kenley's dress with all the feathers. And, though I have seen pictures of the Alexander McQueen version, (See above) I don't think that Kenley is stupid enough to rip off his design so blantantly in front of such high-end fashion talent. Or if she is that dumb she deserves a smack...but I digress.

I also loved Leanne's wavy dress, though I wouldn't wear it myself, I think it is the peak of couture wedding dresses and I knew it would be an instant judge pleaser.

Heidi was as nice as could be to everyone, and when Tim Gunn cried I almost shed a tear msyelf.

Anyways, onto more important things...the big decision I was going to make was to make a purchase of an embroidery machine, namely the Singer Futura CE-250. Then, I had lunch with my friend E, whose mother sews A LOT who recommended nothing but a Bernina. Now, I for one had only ever heard of a Bernina but didn't know anything about it. What I did find out is that they are considered the Bentley of sewing machines, and if you can afford to take the 2nd mortgage on your house, you should buy one hands down. So, if the train is on time tonight (which come on, is it ever?) I plan on heading to the only store near us that sells these amazing machines and getting a demonstration of why I should spend half my monthly salary on one.

Wish me luck!

A new adventure

Afternoon Pit Fans! This fall weather certainly has me running at peak strength as it's too chilly to be lazy and too gorgeous to be sitting at home while you could be outside enjoying the changing leaves, crisp air and my favorite 4 legged friend :)

The past two days have been filled with "if...then" statements pertaining to the new developments on the "Project: New Company" front, and I promise to let you know when we are up and running.

So far though, it looks like I am going to buy only 1 of the 2 components I think I will need for this venture due to costs...but I am ok with it, as I know I need to start slow and don't want to spend a lot of money on things I am not sure I need right now.

Onto other more interesting news:
1) The boots FINALLY arrived. They are gorgeous. They fit perfectly. But...I am not sure I love them as much as I do on the model in the catalog that served as inspiration. That model was 5'10", way skinnier than me and in a way cuter outfit. When I tried them on last night with the outfit I had always planned on wearing with them, they just looked 'off'. The skirt was too long and since they have little to no heel, it made me look squat instead of lithe. I kept the outfit on and put on boots with a 3" heel and I instantly 'lost' 10 lbs an felt like I should have. So now I wonder, what on earth do I wear the no-heeled boots with?

Is it true that wearing your boots on the outside of your jeans trend has gone by the way side? What is the point of a knee high boot if you can't even see them under pants? Someone PLEASE tell me what to wear with them? They are SO tough and awesome looking, but they do me NO good if I can't wear them with anything!!

2) I am no longer selling ANYTHING on eBay. Ever. I sold one item and sold it specifically since I was duped myself on the size. It said "size 10" which is my size, only to rip the tags off, put it on and realize that I don't normally buy 1/2 sleeved-belly shirts. I had bought a kids size 10. So, I sold it on eBay as such and got a nasty email (well, 3 nasty emails) from the person that bought it that said she couldn't see how a 10 year old would ever wear it. Listen lady, NOT my problem. If you don't know what size or style your kid likes, that is NOT my problem. There were 2 pictures up there of the item, and if you has asked any questions of it I would have been happy to answer any and all. Idiot.
I apologize if I come off a bit harsh, but come on, you paid $10 for this shirt, what do you want, Gucci?

3) I am done ranting, just in case you wanted to know.

4) My boss is gone for the next two weeks starting on Friday. Holla! Not that I won't have a ton of work to do while he is gone, because I am actually certain that my work load will increase, however, he won't be here to bug me every 2 minutes, so I might actually be able to get things done. Sweet. (I also plan on using some of this time to work on "Project:New Company" but only on the sly. )

5) yeah, I don't have a 5, I just wanted to round out the list to make it look like I have lots of things to say. I plan on leaving in 5 minutes to catch the early train anyway and spend the evening with Mr Pit and Lil' Pup discussing oil prices and all that fun house stuff.

Have a great afternoon!!

It's not supposed to be elegant Heidi!

Ooh, well...that doesn't say much for Kenley's outfit now does it? That line above is from Project Runway last night (obvi) and it was laugh out loud good until the judges (bowing to producers I'm sure) allowed all 4 finalists to show their collection prior to Bryant Park.

WTF? What ever happened to letting people lose? Even people like Kenley who make for good tv?

You'll notice this happens now in the age of "self-esteem" and all that BS. When I was little I was picked last, dropped from soccer teams, didn't make the lead in the play and all that good stuff. You have to learn how to fail and fail gracefully when you're young, or else the real world is gonna really show you who's boss. I didn't have my parents go roaring into the coaches office to see why I didn't make the team or got pulled out of the game after half time, never to touch the field again. I just plain dealt with it and practiced harder the next time so I was better and didn't have to get taken off the field.

Anyways, I thought the ending to last nights show was lame that they let everyone through, especially after Kenley's purple-zilla monstrosity. Bones however was awesome albeit super gross (it involved an elevator shaft, yuck!)and I am almost half way done with my needle pointing project (a cuff bracelet that I am making for myself) so I am a happy camper this lovely Thursday afternoon.

In other good news, I bit the bullet and ordered the boots below. No, not the Coach ones, the Steve Madden wannabe boots. I figure if they fit well enough, they are totally worth it given the price. One small bummer is that they are not in stock, but hopefully they will be ready to go for next weekend.



Speaking of next weekend, Mr. Pit is playing in a golf tournament with my Dad all weekend, so Lil' Pup and I have a whole weekend for Mommy/Puppy bonding time. Thinking at trip to Valley Forge Park might be nice, plus, after a nice 5 mile long trail walk Lil' Pup should be napping away all afternoon.

TV addictions and my plans for tonight

WOO HOO! Its back on in T-7 hours and I couldn't be more excited. Among the many things I am absolutely obsessed with is my television viewing schedule which includes the fabulously addictive Grey's Anatomy. I can't get enough of the Mer-Der drama and I always look forward to whatever is upsetting Izzie in any given week. Plus, take the two Mc-Yummy doctors and you've got yourself one hell of a show.

Among my other favs are (in no particular order):



Gossip Girl, even though I know it's aimed at a demographic 10 years younger than I, I still can't get enough of all the snarka-rific comments that can only come from a private school. I thought my school was bad back in the 90's, but oh no, Serena and Blair have this place ALL figured out, and if they don't rule the school, no one will. I especially liked in this past week's episode the slow Reservoir Dog-esque montage of Serena and her followers coming into the court yard...HOLLA! That was so bad ass! (And I really did scream out loud at the television afterwards, scaring the sleeping little pup up from his nap and prompting Mr. Pit to ask if something was wrong from downstairs. "Nothing wrong, just loving Gossip Girl this week!")



Project Runway, though I am the farthest thing from fashion forward, I adore this show and I can actually get Mr. Pit to watch it with me because of the lovely Heidi Klum. Last nights episode was a weird one (really, its season 5 and that's all they could come up with?) but I liked some of the outfits. Jarell's "pop" outfit for Kenley was fierce (I miss you Christian!) but her outfit for Leann was a travesty. To quote my very own lovely mother "Did she fall off a turnip truck"? How on earth did Kenley think that outfit was in any way shape or form "hip hop"? Even LL Cool J thought it was pathetic...and no Kenley, crying won't get you anywhere. High waisted pants for hip-hop? Come on!! Even this preppy follower knows you can't get away with a Lilly Dress if you're trying to look legitimate while listening to Lil' Kim!


The Office: How can you not adore this show? It makes me laugh out loud at every episode (my favorite being the one where Jim comes to work dressed like Dwight and says all these Dwight-isms and makes Dwight go crazy, too funny)


And last but not least: BONES. I totally think that some of the body parts stuff is gratuitous and I am a total squeamish baby when it comes to that, but I adore the banter between Bones and Booth (I especially like the name Seely...what do you think for a potential "little Pit" name Mr. Pit? hee hee, just kidding, but I do really like it!)

I don't want to say anymore because I don't want people to think that all I do is watch TV, I swear I get out of the house on a regular basis! But, I love my shows and I can't wait for the premiers tonight!!