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!

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.