Well, I bought the Rogue pattern. Jeez, it looks hard! The fact that it’s going to be such a challenge makes me feel less like I’m jumping on a bandwagon. Now I just have to figure out what size to make. I just measured my bust and got 39″. The pattern suggests an ease of 2-4″. My options are the finished bust size of 39″ or 43.5″. I’m almost thinking I should go the 39″. The 43.5″ would be a little baggy on me right now as it is, and I figure my bust is only going to shrink as I lose these last couple of kilos. I could easily lose another inch or two off that measurement. Besides, every sweater I’ve knit for myself has come out enormous. It’s time that I actually knit something fitted. Thoughts?

After work tonight the Snook and I headed over to DJ’s to pick up my birthday present. The way I figure, this thing will pay for itself after ten massages (given what I pay the Chinese lady). We’ve got it strapped to the chair just to the right of CouchCam. We’re taking it in fifteen minute turns and it’s fantastic. I’m never leaving the house again!

Yay! TelevisionWithoutPity have finally added an official Scrubs forum. I love Scrubs. The thread of favorite quotes is especially good, and it includes Rodd’s and my all-time favorite: “Hey, champ! What has two thumbs and doesn’t give a crap? [holds up thumbs, pointing in at self] Bob Kelso. How ya doin’.”

I guess the news should be trickling down through the non-Internet savvy members of my family by now, so it should be safe to let the cat out of the bag: My sister’s having a baby! She’s one of the first of our generation so it’s a pretty big deal. Everybody’s freaking out. 🙂

Google in 20 Years. That made me guffaw. (Link courtesy of John.)

Birthday Dinner
The Snook kept our dinner destination a secret to the very end, helped enormously by my ignorance of Sydney geography. I knew we were going to Randwick… to Belmore Road… and then suddenly we pulled up to Restaurant Balzac. “Oh!” I said. “I know this place!” It was an inspired choice. After our last fancy dinner, I was looking for real food cooked exceptionally well, and that happens to be Matthew Kemp’s forte. We seriously considered the degustation, but frankly there were too many good things on the a la carte menu that just weren’t included. (Our menu was slightly different from the one posted.) I was also feeling adventurous. (This is probably fodder for a whole ‘nother post, but I’ve been reading Jeffrey Steingarten and I’ve decided to GET OVER my food phobias because they’re silly.) So in the end I had the “Wagyu Minute Steak with Café De Paris Butter, Gnocchi, Sweetbreads and Snails,” followed by the “Risotto with Fresh Truffle.” The Snook had the “Raviolo of Braised Quail and Chestnuts with Roasted Breast, Bacon and Sage” followed by pork neck (not listed) with “Boudin Noir, Pumpkin, and Brussel Sprouts.” Everything was fantastic. I’m serious; this was one of the best meals I’ve had in Sydney. My starter – including the snails and sweetbreads, of which I’m pretty sure I had both pancreas and thymus – was incredibly moreish, all caramelized meats and yummy carnivorousness. (I ate offal and I enjoyed it! Mr. Steingarten should be proud.) My truffle risotto… Well, to be honest when I read that truffle risotto was available, I envisioned the most delicious idealized truffle risotto ever, and quickly realized that it was not likely to live up to my expectations. I was wrong. I don’t even have the words to describe how good it was. There’s probably a German word of seventeen syllables that means “something that unexpectedly lives up to expectations you didn’t even think possibly could be realized.” It was that good, and it was a generous portion. (Goodbye, BMI!) The Snook and I were, of course, trading tastes of each other’s dishes, and his were just as good. Before our official dessert – bread and butter pudding for me, chocolate fondant for the Snook – they brought us a taster of Rhubarb Eton Mess that actually BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES. Is there anything better than crumbled meringue and real, heavy whipped cream? No, there is not. The service all night was excellent, not least because they brought my dessert with a birthday candle in it. We polished off a bottle of Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz (courtesy of Toast – thank you sir!) along with dessert wine and a gin & tonic each… which explains the clumsy and disjointed nature of this review. Suffice it to say that while Tetsuya’s was the height of modern art, Restaurant Balzac (courtesy of Matthew Kemp) was a damn fine meal. I can’t wait to go back.

Birthday Cupcakes!
So much for the healthy BMI rating. I picked these up this morning at Cupcakes on Pitt and brought them into work for the staff. There was much rejoicing. I had the one with the Oreo on top. *grin* Sooooo good. Much lighter than I expected, both the cake and the icing. I recommend them!

I am such a sheep. I can have zero inclination to knit a particular garment, but as soon as I hear it mentioned in a podcast I just have to make it. (See Clapotis.) The latest one to catch my attention is the Rogue Hoodie, which everybody in the world made ages ago. I was like, “Eh, that’s nice,” and I admired the one Crumpet knit, but I didn’t feel any particular compulsion to make it. Recently I’ve been catching up with the back-episodes of Cast-On though, and in episode five Brenda talks about making Rogue and how much she loves the pattern. And suddenly I found myself tossing up between 10plys to knit it in. *sigh* How predictable. Anyway, I’m seriously thinking about this gorgeous new New Zealand merino we just got in the shop. Am I insane? I know it’ll probably be too warm to wear for ten months of the year… and maybe I’m just being too much of a sheep… but I just can’t stop looking at those cables. My dalliance with fairisle has been forgotten with the re-emergence of my cable addiction. Does anybody want to try to talk me into/out of this?

Crocheted scarves that look like food. Those are absolutely brilliant! My favorite is the Bomb Pop; I may have to attempt a recreation in knitting. I wonder what it is about crochet that inspires so many of its practitioners to create food-related items… (Link via Pop Culture Junk Mail.)

Ewww. For the record, me and my hair would never kiss Darth Vader.