Cold but clear

The thermometer (and the photographs) give only half the picture - the biting wind appears in neither. But, wrapped up warm in coats, scarves and gloves and armed with hot chocolate to go, a walk around Boston Common was a great way to start the day.

Yes, there was shopping. Mary and Jordi will be relieved to know that Chicos performed well and that the ribbons were tied in the correct manner (Any Chicos purchase has to have ribbons tied, after all - something that the hopeless Burlington VT branch neglected) Not only that, but I was given a free T shirt...oh dear, perhaps acknowledgement of how much I spent there...)

 

One thing we enjoy in Boston is the small, independent store, like Commonwealth Books. Mark headed there whilst I looked around Windsor Button, bringing out a copy of Cat Bordhi's new sock book with me - a challenge if ever there was one!

 

But of course, there's more to life than shopping (or so I'm told) and last night we headed for a different Symphony Hall to hear the most magnificent performance of the Bartered Bride and Ma Vlast by the BSO.

 

I only dozed off once.

 

 

Finally, to prove that memories pop up in the most surprising places, here's a statue of Koskiusco. Who he and why is he here? Well, with a knowledge of history like mine (i.e. totally hopeless) I have no idea. But I do know there's a mountain named for him in Australia thanks to a student teacher who honed his teaching skills on my 3rd form class years ago. I don't remember much about him or the facts he taught us, but I remember how eager we were to learn about Mount Koskiusko from him because he had a pronounced lisp - and being cruel thirteen-year-olds, we savoured every moment of his embarrassment.

(of course, all those years of ignorance about such a hero can be put to rest in just thirty seconds now I have Google at my fingertips. Read about the chap in Boston Public Garden here and the mountain here)

In Boston

We're in Boston for the weekend, seizing upon the only commitment-free weekend to take advantage of a flight sale. Not only was the flight a little early into Logan airport, but the fact that we treat ourselves to an upgrade meant that we were first off through a totally empty immigration hall, first in the taxi line and, less than an hour after landing, we were in our hotel room feeling ready to roll!

It's cold here, but the fresh air felt good after a day travelling and we enjoyed a quick walk along Boylston St before our favourite dinner at Legal Seafoods. We kept going as late as we could by heading for Barnes and Noble after dinner, browsing magazines and staving off the jet lag. I was surprised at the number of "special editions" of familiar magazines and grabbed an armful to browse through. The preponderance of the same-old stuff in many of them meant that I didn't buy - far too many "mixed media" variations on the old pointy hat photos, the faux-naif and the product-driven project.

But of course, I couldn't come away totally empty handed, could I? I was delighted to find a copy of the Quilting Arts Holiday edition, containing friend Helen's Towers of Snowflakes. I also bought the Interweave Knits Holiday Gift issue, for the one pattern which turned out not to be in there at all! Duh!

Up early this morning, Saturday, and opened the curtains to a clear, bright blue sky. It's going to be chilly out there but the kind of weather which makes it great to be outdoors. After breakfast and a brisk walk, we plan to hit a few shops, including Windsor Button and Paper Source...

More later.

Interesting day with *knitting content*!!

We decided to spend this, the last full day of our trip catching up on one or two places we've not reached so far and intended to set out from our hip, happening hotel (where most of the guests are as hip and happening as ourselves, i.e. not really!) and meet Mary somewhere midtown.

Sadly, the parking valets had other ideas. They'd lost our car.

OK, it's a hire car, there were none of our possessions in it (except for a treasured and personalised Thomas Guide to Los Angeles with markings on for all our favourite places), so we could afford to be relaxed.

But we were not. How could these people be so hopeless at their job as to give our car to someone else? How could someone else be so foolish as to drive away a car which wasn't theirs?

We harrumphed and made it clear that we were not amused, in our very British way (!) and made alternative arrangements for Mary to come over to Santa Monica and collect us. Bless her. In the meantime, we explained that they should find our car. Preferably before tomorrow, when it needs to be returned to LAX when we fly home.

We made our way to Wildfiber which, over the years we've been coming here, has transformed itself from a surface design emporium to a knitting store. It's an exciting place to explore and the stock is extremely interesting. We had a fun hour or so there and of course, made a purchase or two.

Together with a restock of some needles, I decided I needed to try some Toefutsies Chitin yarn. To quote from the label: "Chitin is fiber from shrimp and crab shells! It's naturally antibacterial!" How appropriate to bring this one home from the beach.

I think that my good friend Sue of the Magic Armchair has used this yarn, probably bought from Get Knitted? But hey, I get to carry mine a few thousand miles

Incidentally, when we got back to the hotel tonight, there was a voicemail to say they'd "found" our car. No further details. We have been out to dinner with friends and haven't checked yet, though!

The good life

Enjoying our breakfast in Santa Monica this morning, we were amused by the bottles of wine on sale - though we preferred to stick to cafe latte and camomile tea ourselves.

Highlight of the day was a visit to Paper Source in Beverly Hills, in search of the small bone fasteners for a couple of books I have in mind. As we enjoyed mooching along Rodeo Drive (as you do) we spotted a bit of a hoo-hah outside Cartier and soon realised that this was a "celebrity moment".

 

Who was inside? Several people asked us, but we had to admit that we had no idea. Still, it didn't stop us doing the rubber necking bit ourselves and we hung around a while to see.
 
Eventually the curiosity got the better of me and I crossed the road and asked one of the paparazzi who explained it was Eva Longoria - adding "of Desperate Housewives" when he saw my blank face.
 
We moved on.

(See here for the results of the paparazzi ambush on Cartier)

Sorry, no yarn today, Jordi. We stopped by Wildfiber but they're closed on a Monday. The Margaritas nearby are good though.

Good to be back

We've been coming to Los Angeles for some years now and one thing is guaranteed - the buzz we get when we return to Santa Monica, in particular the first walk down Third Street Promenade when it feels as though we'd never been away.

We are Gehry fans and love the Disney Concert Hall downtown. We found it fascinating to learn that Santa Monica Place is another Gehry building -designed before he entered his wavy metal period!

We spent this morning browsing South Pasadena, where Zinnia called. Interesting and friendly store with an eclectic stock - the kind of thing that needs restraint before buying. Some interesting classes on offer too.

Came back via the San Raphael Bead Company and Mary's apartment where I spent a while captivated by the Food Network! Dinner tonight was with friends Kevin and David at Genghis Cohen...great name, isn't it?