Friday, November 7, 2014

7 Quick Takes {Take 60} Henry's birthday celebrations, knitting, music & book club updates, and 2015 patron saint! edition


-1- A Manhattan, a glass of Chardonnay, and a Shirley Temple...

Last night Mike and I took Henry out for his birthday dinner, and he chose a local steak house. This particular restaurant is a fan favorite of ours, since Mike and I went on one of our early dates there. It has a charming sort of ambiance going on, with lots of wood paneling everywhere. And for whatever reason, this restaurant employs separate cocktail servers to fulfill drink orders apart from your assigned waiter or waitress. I've never been to another restaurant quite like it. And so when the cocktail server came for our drink order, ours is listed above, and I'm certain you can identify who chose what. :) It was a special night, and everyone ordered their favorite special drink. A good time was had by all.

-2- A very exciting patron saint reveal!

Every year I use Jennifer Fulwiler's Saint's Name Generator to randomly select a patron for this blog. I get very excited by this, since it's always a surprise. :) I love how the application leaves time for you to pray as it works it's magic behind the scenes. Since it's November, I thought it would be good to get the saint squared away so that I'd be ready to put the photo and information up soon. So, here we go!

*drum roll*

*generating saint name...*

And we have:

St. Basil the Great!


Father of Eastern monasticism, he was a devoted scholar and writer. He's the patron of monks and reformers. This guy is for me! His feast day is January 2nd, and that just seems fitting since my wedding anniversary is in early January, and this year Mike and I are celebrating 10 years. Perfect! You'll soon see him gracing the right sidebar as the Catholic Librarian blog patron for 2015. :)

-3- Knitting needles have been flying...

I've been very busy with holiday crafting, and I can't post pictures of everything since many of the items are secrets for certain people who read this blog. (shhhhhhh... :) But I did finish something last night that I've been working on for quite awhile, and it's for myself, so it's safe to show you all. Ta da!

This is a shawl pattern, called Leftie, which aims to help you use up leftover fingering weight sock yarn. I chose a chocolate brown colorway called "Kindling" as my main color, and used leftover green, orange, red and yellow to make the leaves, for a fall foliage theme. :) I really love how it turned out.

-4- Frantically listening to my ridiculously large collection of Middle Eastern music...

After a week off for Halloween last Friday, I'm back to rehearsing with my dance troupe tonight. I've missed them so much. *heart* We have a troupe performance on the 15th of this month, and our studio-wide hafla is the 22nd. This includes Middle Eastern dance, Bollywood, Flamenco, Tango and Ballroom. Super fun. I'll obviously be dancing with my troupe, but have I picked solo music yet, you ask? No, of course not.

:0

At this point, I've pretty much boxed myself into improvising, which is fine. I like improvising. But for the love of all that is holy, I have to pick a song! I keep listening to my various sub-Middle Eastern playlists (because who can have just one when you're a hyper-organized and neurotic librarian?) and hoping for inspiration. There are a few that are contenders, but eh. I don't know. I still haven't finalized this, and I really need to get this settled.

-5- Currently on my Kindle...

I've been very busy reading fiction these days, and I'm currently reading The Cana Mystery, by David Beckett:

This is a very fast-paced style thriller, and I'm moving through it quickly. It is also our November Catholic Book Club selection, and only $4.99 for Kindle if you'd like to join in! I'll post my review on November 26th.

-6- Catholic Book Club selections have been updated!

I also recently updated the Catholic Book Club notice on the right sidebar for the next couple of months, so we're all set with a reading plan. *happily adjusts bun* In December, we'll be reading Advent of a Mystery, by Marilyn Leach. This seemed appropriate for the season. :) My in-laws bought me a copy as a gift for Christmas last year, and I haven't gotten to read it yet. It is not available new any longer via Amazon, but you can procure a copy for a penny (!) via their Marketplace sellers. In January, I am extremely excited to be reading Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, which I've been eyeing up for some time. I have developed a serious devotion to Blessed Mother Teresa over the course of this fall, and I am dying to read this book and learn more about her. Terrific fodder for discussion! That review is scheduled for January 28th.

-7- Hosting duties this weekend, hence: wine

And finally, my weekend plans. We're having a small family party for Henry on Saturday. I told Henry that this is a perk of getting older - your birthday is not merely a single day, it's an entire *weekend extravaganza.* :0 So we're hosting some relatives, ordering pizza and wings, and making assorted appetizers. Hosting people in my house, even family, tends to bring out the neuroses in your Catholic Librarian quite a bit: is the house clean?! is there enough food?! is the food GOOD?! does everyone have something to drink?! is everyone having a good time?! And so I flit about anxiously making everybody nervous. :0 I do try very hard to relax, and thus a box of white wine will find it's way into my refrigerator before tomorrow afternoon.

Party at Tiffany's house! Doesn't it sound like a good time?! ;-)

All right everyone, that's it for today. I hope that you all have a great weekend, and I'll talk to you on Monday! Don't forget to head to Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes. :)

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