Woo Hoo!! I’m going on vacation …. next year. The parents of my friend Tracy invited us to go with them on an Alaskan cruise in July 2012. After talking it over, we decided to go for it. So, here’s where you’ll be able to find me next summer.

We’ll be going on Royal Caribbean‘s seven night Alaska Sawyer Glacier cruise on their Rhapsody of the Seas ship. This will be my third cruise, but my first on Royal Caribbean. We’ll be sailing out of Seattle up the Alaska Inside Passage with ports of call at Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord, Victoria BC (Canada), and then back to Seattle.

We’ve been talking about this trip for a little while now. It’s starting to finally feel more real now though as we booked our stateroom and paid our deposit yesterday. The countdown has now begun … only 457 days and counting.

In addition to just being a really awesome cruise, one of the reasons I’m so excited about this trip is because it will let me mark state number 48 off my list of visiting all 50 U.S. states. After the Alaska trip, the only two states I’ll have remaining will be North and South Dakota. I definitely want to try and hit those in the next three years so I can say I visited all 50 states by the time I’m 50 years old.

Until next time …

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Woo Hoo!! I’m going on vacation …. next year. The parents of my friend Tracy invited us to go with them on an Alaskan cruise in July 2012. After talking it over, we decided to go for it. So, here’s where you’ll be able to find me next summer.

We’ll be going on Royal Caribbean‘s seven night Alaska Sawyer Glacier cruise on their Rhapsody of the Seas ship. This will be my third cruise, but my first on Royal Caribbean. We’ll be sailing out of Seattle up the Alaska Inside Passage with ports of call at Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord, Victoria BC (Canada), and then back to Seattle.

We’ve been talking about this trip for a little while now. It’s starting to finally feel more real now though as we booked our stateroom and paid our deposit yesterday. The countdown has now begun … only 457 days and counting.

In addition to just being a really awesome cruise, one of the reasons I’m so excited about this trip is because it will let me mark state number 48 off my list of visiting all 50 U.S. states. After the Alaska trip, the only two states I’ll have remaining will be North and South Dakota. I definitely want to try and hit those in the next three years so I can say I visited all 50 states by the time I’m 50 years old.

Until next time …

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Yep, yesterday was a good stitchy day. The morning started off on a very good note and the trend continued throughout most of the day. As I was getting ready to head out for the morning, I stopped by and picked up my mail and found a package from Corinna. She’s my partner in the Fair & Square Christmas round. Even though there is no finishing requirement for the Fair & Square exchanges, Corinna and I agreed privately to do the finishing on our exchange with one another. This way we can each enjoy them this year. Here is what she sent me:

Her finishing on this little stocking is simply exquisite! The design is “Winter Song” by Blackbird Designs. It is from the 2008 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue.

I’ve decided to take it to work and use it as my cubicle stocking this year. I figure since I spend more time at work than at home, I can enjoy it more that way. I’ll bring home to put on my little tree here when I get off on Christmas Eve. Thank you so much, Corinna!! I hope to have the finishing done on yours in the next few days and get it into the mail this week.

After that, I headed over to my LNS for the monthly all day stitch. OMG, we had sooooo much fun! Of course, the amount of fun we have is directly proportionate to a lack of actual stitching. Soooo, that means I didn’t come even remotely close to my goal of finishing my LHN ornament.

As you might expect, I sit at the troublemakers end of the table (nearest end of the table in the above photo). Of course, I’m in very good company there with Darla and Terri (right side of the table), and our non-blogging friends Karen and Dana (left side of the table). I sit in the empty chair in the middle between Dana and Terri.

The only other regular cohort we were missing today was our other non-blogging friend Lindsay. She was off on a quilting adventure instead. When you get us all together, it can definitely spell trouble with a capital T. I’m not sure some of the people at the other end of the room quite know what to think of us and some of our conversations.

Terri actually surprised me (and Darla, too!) with the chart Book of Spells from The Goode Huswife. It’s been on my wish list since I first saw it. In fact, I added it on as soon as I saw the first teaser pic before it was even officially released at market earlier this year. Not only did she give me the chart, but she also included the fabric and fibers, too! Thank you so much, Terri!!!

I didn’t actually do much shopping today. I figure with all the stash I’ve purchased recently, I didn’t really need anything. Of course, once I got to the shop, Diana (the shop owner) was having a big sale with 20% off all cross stitch charts, counted canvas needlepoint charts, and painted needlepoint canvases. I did look around a bit, but ultimately decided not to pick up any other charts.

She also has a Victoria Sampler trunk show going on right now. In honor of the trunk show, she is giving 20% off the VS thread/accessory packs, too! Given that I purchased the Christmas Village chart during my recent stash haul, I did take advantage of the sale to pick up the thread packs for it.

While we were there, Diana gave us all the info for the 2010 stitching cruise as well. Instead of heading down to Mexico again like we did earlier this year, the 2010 cruise will be heading northbound. It will be a 4-day Pacific Coast cruise on the Coral Princess leaving Los Angeles on Thursday, May 6. There will be two full days at sea before the first port of call on Sunday in Victoria, British Columbia. The stop in Victoria also includes Afternoon Tea at the beautiful Fairmont Empress Hotel. After leaving Victoria, there is an overnight sail to Vancouver, BC which is the final debarkation for the cruise. From there, we would fly back home to Los Angeles. I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to make it or not yet, but it sure sounds fun.

So, all in all, it was a very good stitchy day. Until next time …

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