akabini

In our last episode, our fearless Sisterhood had taken Victoria by storm!

(By storm, not with storm, fortunately. We were quite lucky with the weather, considering it was late October!)

After landing off the Victoria Clipper and fortifying ourselves with an Irish Pub lunch, we scattered to the four winds for some shopping expeditions before reconnoitering in the luxurious corner suite of D&E to celebrate E's birthday a few days early.

[No snaps of the chocolate cake, as it was already being devourered by the time I got my camera out and ready. Chocolate waits for no woman! But reports came in that they had gotten E's name right - a point of contention and humor in previous years. Phew!]

The next day's highlight was - what else? Tea at the Empress.
The girls get dolled up for the occasion:

The Empress herself got dolled up for us, too! See the red ivy against the brick? Stunning.
High tea hit the four major food groups, too: Caffeine, Chocolate, Sugar, and Cream.

Watch your fingers and toes! We was hungry!

Some of us had worked up an appetite by getting in our roadwork of a morning... a gaggle of us went out for a 4-mile walk or run first thing. Virtue has its own rewards, in the form of lovely views:

And some man-made wonders, too:

Of course, there was yarn shopping - when would there not be yarn shopping? The Beehive took great care of us, as we swarmed in and swooned over all the Handmaiden and Fleece Artist in one place (yet another way it pays to be Canadian, eh?). E and C and Tropical Girl fell in love with some colorwork mittens, and the staff were kind enough to unpack a box of them that had just come off the truck. Tropical Girl even got some with her favorite shade of teal in it! Can't wait to see how those all come out.

I fell down just a wee bit... No skinned knees in the mohair department this time.

Left: 2 skeins Berocco "Sundae", a bulky, burly-yet-soft concoction at 2 sts/1" that will become something holiday-ish for Boy. (No spoilers!)

Right: 2 skeins Fleece Artist "WoolieSilk 3ply," in lovely browny-greeny shades. Destined for some sort of linen-stitch cowl, plus a beaded beanie from the new Churchmouse Classics pattern!

All that yarn fondling makes a girl kinda pooped. Time for a pick-me-up:

And then, in true akabini form, I found a great breakfast place on our last day.
Complete with knitted tea cozies!

And all too soon, it was time to head back home....
With the added bi† of drama of some weather out to sea. There were rumors that the boat might be cancelled, but our valiant steed forged on despite the wind and rain, and we made it home safe and sound late Friday night.

Thanks to the Clipper for our safe passage!

We are home a little lighter in the wallet, but also a little lighter in our hearts for all the great times and giggles. Anything worth doing is even more worthwhile with good friends – and I'd go to the ends of the earth bo†h for and with these ladies.

Knit on, Sisters!

A good adventure:

a) Starts at ungodly hours of the morning, with a view...

... and a new project.

b) Add a passel of great friends:

(Look at how they're sitting there, so well behaved.)
(Yeah, right.)

c) Whisk all of the above off to foreign climes:

(That's the boat we rode in on. Actual view from our hotel room balcony.)

d) Marinate.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Needles is taking Victoria by storm!
Lock up your yarn, books, shoes, and handbags!

[We're here for the rest of the week. Expect more hilarity.]

Who brought the gin?

[This is the fella who walked a half-marathon and then some to track me as I squirrelled my way around greater Chicago. Send him a shout out! I'm a lucky gal.]

Oh, and in one of those surreal, "The Universe Has A Sense of Humor That Rivals David Byrne" sort of moments, first-husband Stephen's baby boy George has a birthday today, too!
Shouts out to Georgie, who got this friendly birthday greeting on his momma's Facebook account today:

Dear Mister Big Man.
Clearly, you are not in receipt of our memo.
Further growing is not authorized, at least until you gain clearance
pending a house visit by the Unofficial Aunt & Uncle Squad.
Future violations will be penalized by withdrawal of car keys.
This is your first warning.

I mean, really. Two years old already? Sheesh.

Dear akabini,

Congratulations from Bank of America for finishing the 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! Your recorded finish time was 05:14:16 and you placed 27,481st out of 33,608 finishers.

This year's top finishers were:

Top 5 Male Finishers
1. Sammy Wanjiru, KEN, 2:05:41
2. Abderrahim Goumri, MAR, 2:06:04
3. Vincent Kipruto, KEN, 2:06:08
4. Charles Munyeki, KEN, 2:07:06
5. Richard Limo, KEN, 2:08:43

Top 5 Female Finishers
1. Liliya Shobukhova, RUS, 2:25:56
2. Irina Mikitenko, GER, 2:26:31
3. Lidiya Grigoryeva, RUS, 2:26:47
4. Teyba Erkesso, ETH, 2:26:56
5. Berhane Adere, ETH, 2:28:38

Top Male Wheelchair Finisher
1. Kurt Fearnley, AUS, 1:29:09

Top Female Wheelchair Finisher
1. Tatyana McFadden, USA, 1:50:47

Thank you for participating in the 32nd running of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. We hope you will continue to be a part of this world-class event.

I always say: It's nice to participate in a sport where the Olympic-level athletes are only TWICE as good as you are.

Photos to come when I get home on the big computer,
but here's a quick post to say that the Chicago Marathon went well and was a blast.

That city sure knows how to throw a party!

Number of runners: 45,000

Number of spectators: 1,500,000 (!)

Number of runners in the 5:15 pacer bunny group: 20 or so

It was such a different race from last year's Seattle Marathon.
Okay, first off, it was flat flat flat, so I never really 'hit the wall'
like I did at mile 20 (where the hills began!) in Seattle.
I basically tucked in to the back right of the pack behind our pacer bunny
(Pacer Paul, wherever you are, I LOVE YOU) and just hit cruise.

A very nice feeling.

Steady and even the whole way, I finished strong with Ellie from Talahassee, Florida - 3 months pregnant and doing great. We even got a bit ahead of the pacers, to finish in 5:14:25.

So thanks to all of you for putting up with all the running-related posts.
Not that this will be the last of them. After a week or so of resting up,
I'm sure I'll be plotting where to run my next marathon!