Eating alone.

I’m writing this from a restaurant, where I’m doing something that I’ve never done before. Eating alone. (You know, it’s not so bad…)

This is the trip that I try to learn new things, this is the trip that I don’t spend all my time in the hotel room, looking out the windows because I’m a big chicken. This trip (in the 3 hours of free time I have in each city) I’m seeing stuff. I’m shaking off the fear of getting lost far from home and I’m going out there.

Saturday I arrived in San Diego. (By the way, I stopped in Phoenix for an hour and a half – Phoenix has mountains. Well, not really mountains, more like enormous, huge rocks sticking up out of the ground. Crazy looking. I was shocked. I thought it was a desert. It turns out that it is both. A desert with mountains. Very, very beautiful, and hot, but in a totally bearable, dry way. No humidity at all, which is stunning to this Torontonian, who has never known heat without humidity. I would have liked to stay there.)

San Diego is a very beautiful city, and not what I was expecting at all. It smells of the ocean, which is a fine, fine quality in a city, and the sock admired the view from the hotel room window.

Sd-Bay

This window is the very same reason why everyone who sees me from now on will see me in my Birkenstocks. For reasons that I can’t explain to you right now (although I swear it made perfect sense at the time.) I accidentally dropped my right dress sandal out this window, down 27 floors on to the roof of the entrance of the hotel. I toyed with asking the hotel staff to retrieve it, but then decided that the humiliation factor was too great. I had been in the hotel room for a mere 4 minutes. This sort of move is classic Stephanie, I go buy shoes because I’m going to try and do better, be a more put together person, you know? I’m going to get shoes that aren’t Birks, maybe a lipstick…and then every time I try, something like this happens. I’m taking the hint. Screw it. This is me, and the roof can have the damn sandal. I do wish the planet could find a way to teach me these lessons without costing me yarn money though.

After the sandal incident I got a hold of myself and went for a walk. I found the Gaslamp quarter:

Gaslamp

And I found the Horton Plaza. (You totally need to click on the pictures in that link.) This is a crazy mall. 7 levels over 6 1/2 city blocks in every colour, sound and size imaginable. It’s like an ordinary mall on acid. Crazy. You go in, but you can’t get out.

Maze

It’s a mousetrap maze thing. You can smell the bakery and see the bakery, but you can’t get there. You go up and down and across bridges and through walkways and onto terraces and you still aren’t at the bakery. There’s a restaurant every 10 feet, which is good, since if you go into the plaza, you are definitely going to be there long enough to need a meal, no matter what you were planning. In a certain sense, it’s a brilliant marketing ploy, since you are forced by the layout of the place to see every single shop, and to stay for hours at a time. Also, the whole thing is outside. No roof. I was walking around (In the two hours that I couldn’t find a way out) and kept thinking “These people are going to be screwed when the snow comes.”

It was a while before I remembered. The palm tree should have been a hint.

Sunday, over to The Grove, a very lovely, lovely shop. I think multi purpose shops are very cool, and The Grove sells yarn, and books and jewelry and furnishings and clothes. Pretty slick.

This is what the sock saw.

San-Diegoc

The sock also saw the right side of the room, which is apparently more than my camera can say. My apologies to everyone sitting over there. I don’t know where the picture went.

It was a blast and I’m very grateful to everyone who made San Diego such a treat. I met the nicest knitters, some knitting bloggers, I signed books, I got wasabi crackers (my all time fave) from Kris (who was seriously wearing the sweater of the day. Made me feel like a hack.) and my lovely hostess Susan gave me a set of DPNs to make up for the one that Homeland security misplaced. (I swear that I put 4 dpns in my suitcase, last thing before I left. Now, I may be the sort of woman who drops a shoe out the window, I may even be the sort of woman who gets lost in a plaza or surprised by mountains, but I assure you that I am not the sort of woman who would only pack THREE dpns. When I got to San Diego, I had that charming note from Homeland Security in my suitcase advising me that my belongings had been “inspected” and I was suddenly short a dpn. Susan hooked me back up.) Then I may have bought a little sock yarn to take the edge off of my unreasonable longing for the big basket of Kid Crack Silk Haze she had sitting right in front of me. I’m starting to think that sock yarn is like methadone for knitters, you get it just to tide you over. I don’t even count it as a purchase. It’s not really “using”. It’s sock yarn. Doesn’t even count.

After the signing, it was off to the airport, up into the air, and down again in LA. Today I’ll be at the Knit Cafe from 5:30 – 8:30,

for now, I’m finished my lunch and I’m off to explore. (Alone!)

120 thoughts on “Eating alone.

  1. You can totally get lost in Horton Plaza. I’ve never been brave enough to venture out alone and have always gone with locals. Locals who get lost themselves but boy does that place have great shopping! Can’t wait to see you in Seattle!

  2. Whoo-hoo! Yay for you Stephanie! Glad you were able to break out of your comfort zone and and eat a restaurant alone and go see some of the sights. First of all, eating alone is a great thing. A lot of people freak out about that, but I was single for many years and love to eat out, so obviously a book was my companion and I would eat out and try different foods.
    Take care and enjoy the rest of your jaunts!

  3. I hate to disillusion you…they are not mountains just because they are ‘called’ mountains.
    Glad that sock is having fun again;-)

  4. Homeland Security has got to have an evil gremlin . I flew to Boston this weekend, and I KNOW I packed 2 skeins of sock yarn to tide me over. I got there, Poof….Gone, and they aren’t in my house now either! Good luck with the West Coast tour!

  5. I’d tell my husband about sock yarn/methadone so that he doesn’t keep giving me the eye when I buy it but then I’d have to admit to the stash that he doesn’t know about. Denial & deception are key. Trip sounds incredible – wish I could write a book so I could see the world this way.

  6. Welcome to The west coast! I wish i could be there at Berkely but unforts I have to work and my own trip to get ready for. Goodluck and I’m sorry to hear about your sandal!

  7. Baby steps.
    Glad you had fun.
    Well I have never actually owned any sock yarn yet. The pair of socks I made was out of a baby yarn. But I will have some someday. I have to make a pair of socks that weren’t made for basketball players lol.
    🙂

  8. I’m so proud! Especially as a person who canNOT eat alone in a restaurant, sightsee solo, go to the movies alone… yeah the list is endless.
    Once again you are my inspiration! 🙂

  9. Here I was just thinking, “I think I could entertain the Harlot for at least a lunch hour, but I’m pretty sure the kids at the Knit Cafe are taking care of her.” Then I find out you’re eating alone. Funny. Ah well. See you this evening at the signing. 🙂

  10. When we lived in San Diego Horton Plaza was such a fun place to spend the afternoon. I loved it so because my then 3 yo dd could go up and down the little stairs and she would be all tuckered out when we got home. You definelty *got it* when describing it. I am so sad that I won’t be able to see you! I read part of the bookbookbook and am getting my own copy soon, I realized you were in Ohio 2 days after you left….*sniff sniff* Hopefully you will be back through another time. I enjoy reading your blog!

  11. I eat alone sans book – it’s great fun too. And now that you are safely out of that hotel – give ’em a call and say, listen, a toddler pitched my shoe out the window when I was packing and I just didn’t have time to retrieve it – would you mind mailing it to me. Go for it… you will make their day.

  12. *groans* i live in LA, i’ve been dying to see you out here at Knit cafe… and i have to pick up 3 of my closest friends from the airport tonight, while you are there. I will be knitting while waiting, though- on a sock, of course!

  13. The pleasure of dining alone. Yum.
    In all your free time, dip into M.F.K. Fisher’s essay about it in “An Alphabet for Gourmets.” You can get it in the omnibus edition “The Art of Eating.” Gorgeous stuff.
    The advantage of buying the omnibus is that you immediately will want to read more of her stuff, and there it will be, waiting.

  14. “spot on” about the sock yarn. i tell you this since you are the gal who inspired my summer of socks. it’s just the right amount of Shopping Toll for one trip to my lys. i try to keep it under 20 bucks each trip and sock yarn is just the ticket!
    now if only i could stop shopping on line.
    no fair, by the way you MUST tell how the shoe lost herself. was she trying to base jump?
    marie in florida
    where it’s wasabi peas and plenty of humidity

  15. “spot on” about the sock yarn. i tell you this since you are the gal who inspired my summer of socks. it’s just the right amount of Shopping Toll for one trip to my lys. i try to keep it under 20 bucks each trip and sock yarn is just the ticket!
    now if only i could stop shopping on line.
    no fair, by the way you MUST tell how the shoe lost herself. was she trying to base jump?
    marie in florida
    where it’s wasabi peas and plenty of humidity

  16. My sister, who lives in Phoenix, refers to the mountains as “dinosaur dumps.”
    That sounds just about right.

  17. I think my shawl and your sock stayed in the same hotel. I hope you got to swim in the fabulous pool. When the SP5 thing is over, I’m going to have a good story about that hotel.
    I am RIGHT THERE on the methadone-sock yarn parallel. Totally true. I need to convince my partner that sock yarn is not really a purchase, though. And hmm, you think we can convince Amex? But on a knitterly, wool-gathering kind of level, yes, I am right there with you.
    Have a great trip. And good for you for dining alone. Great for knitting.

  18. Horton Plaza is the best place to visit! All kinds of interesting things tucked into corners, all while you stroll outside in beautiful weather. My grandparents live out in San Diego, and that was one of our favorite places to walk around.
    Speaking of walking around…if you have even a few extra minutes, you should check out Venice Beach. All kinds of shops, food, the ocean, and the most interesting and at times bizzare mix of people you will ever see in one place. Kind of sums up California neatly 😉
    See you tonight at Knit Happens!

  19. Of course sock yarn doesn’t count!
    Sock, in general, don’t count at all. I can focus on nothing but a complicated sweater, and get it done in X number of weeks. I can focus on same complicated sweater, as well as having a pair of socks on the side, and it will still take just as long to knit the sweater. It’s amazing!
    (Okay, I haven’t yet done a truly scientific test of this. But I totally make the same amount of progress per week on a sweater, whether or not I’ve worked on socks that week.)

  20. Yeah for you! I worked in NY for 6 months, while living in Chicago. Got up Monday morning, flew to NY, worked, flew back to Chicago Thursday night. And it really made me brave! I ate by myself, drove around by myself, shopped by myself, you get the idea. And I think it was “good for me” in a way. Sometimes you just have to force yourself out of your comfort zone!

  21. Thanks for the great time at The Grove yesterday! You have inspired my non-knitting friend that was in attendance to take a beginners class…our numbers are ever increasing.
    Horton Plaza is a great place but the parking garage is a nightmare…I’m frequently walking around that mall saying “Lemon 7” or “Pineapple 4” so I won’t forget where I’ve parked!

  22. My friends all think I’m odd because I love doing things by myself. I’ll take myself to dinner and a movie, go sight-seeing, whatever. Sometimes it’s nice just to be alone. My only problem is now my husband is around all the time and I don’t get that alone time as often, but that’s okay too.

  23. no one has asked the most important question – how did your hair behave in high heat/no humidity?
    seriously, i know that sock yarn is a priority (and i’m in the middle of knitting a dress out of crack silk haze) but that was the first question on my mind…

  24. I love eating alone. You know, it builds character (or makes you more of a character…yeah, that must be it, at least in my case), really.
    Enjoy the west coast leg of your journey, wish I could join you. I haven’t been to California in nineteen (!!!) years, and I was born there.
    The sock seems to be having a wonderful time.

  25. I was so bummed! I was in San Diego all last week for a conference, but I couldn’t afford to stay the weekend on my own dime. And you stopped in Phoenix!!!?? Well, I suppose you didn’t have time to get out of the airport really. But you were here… so close… I’ll have to tell the other Phoenix stalkers, er, fans that you set foot on our rocky soil – so to speak. They’ll be agog. 🙂
    You’ll have to come back so you can see our schizophrenic state. You can go from low desert (below 1000 ft) to lush pine forest (over 6000 ft) in about 3 hours – it’s great! And yes, much drier than anywhere else…

  26. Might I make a suggestion about the Homeland Security gremlin? Perhaps it would help to put your dpns in a zip-lock baggie, and write on it with a marker ‘four knitting needles’. That way, in the future, they don’t have a reason to go about messing with your needles as they are contained in a clear pouch that clearly states what they are.
    I’ve never had a run-in with Homeland Security as I don’t often have a reason to fly, but that was just a thought.

  27. Way to go you non-chicken, you.
    Although not asking for the shoe back was a wee bit chicken-y, but I gather you didn’t like it anyway.

  28. I got extra tix to see the Rodin exhibit if you have nothing to do while in Vancouver. If not, that’s cool, I know you have real life friends out here who probably need you more.
    Do make sure your friends take you to the bottom floor of Dressew, though. Every crafter needs to visit the Zipper Wall and the Button Wall. They are to Ungodly Heathen Crafters as the Wailing Wall is to the Jews. They are sacred and beautiful!

  29. Oh, Stephanie, I’m sure the hotel staff has heard stranger stories than you dropping a sandal out of a window! Brace yourself and ask them to fetch the sandal. Believe me, they’ll politely smile and fetch–no questions asked!

  30. Eating alone!! Oh man! (says the woman with 4 kids!) Well if you are in LA then you must find a restraunt with a terrace and eat outside, or bop over to Long Beach and eat there.. some really nice places there! That’s the only place I have been on the west coast! Got to get out there again!
    Enjoy!And I agree.. definitely call the hotel and have them retrieve that sandal.. ehheh just for the fun of it!

  31. Welcome to California! If you’d like a tour guide in San Francisco, I’d happily take the day off (don’t tell my department head I said that). Just drop an email… Either way, I’ll see you in Berkeley!

  32. I rechecked the tour page and something tragic hit me- You’ll be in Berkeley (where I’d planned to be at 5pm) except I’ll be in summer school since it is the start of a new summer session. Can’t miss the first day of class. Major bummer. It is now 1:58pm and I’m thinking that if I head for the airport now, I can be in LA by 5…
    *waves sock at screen* Wish I could be there to support you and to give Peet’s Coffee. Just in case you’re near one – http://tinyurl.com/78k7o here’s a map with a few locales. Berkeley is also home to Scharffen Berger Chocolate – http://www.scharffenberger.com/tour_main.php Can you say Factory Tour?!
    Pace yourself for Weaving Works in Seattle. I visited recently and told the shop lady that it was Yarn Harlot Heaven.

  33. Stephanie, was wondering if you lost that dressy sandal trying to get a picture of it enjoying the view. Can’t say I blame you though for not having them fetch it. Birk loving feet hate all other shoes, especially the dressy ones.

  34. I’ll send you something fluffy in the mail if we get the full story of how the shoe ended up out the window!
    Good on you for eating alone. Scary at first, but really, really nice once in a while. I treated myself to a solo expensive dinner a couple of years back while on an overnight “Mommy-break”, and it was too dark in the restaurant to read the book I’d brought with me for cover. Turned out to be a great experience – took my time over the meal, chatted with the waiter, got excellent recommendations on food and wine pairings, sites in the area. Lovely time!

  35. You haven’t lived the true Trapped in Horton nightmare until the Christmas frenzy. Ugh. It’s like MC Escher with a grudge.
    Then, just across the street (Front St) there’s the Paladian. Cool, enclosed, subtly lit and filled with the kind of shops that make you stand there stunned, muttering, “That is a year’s grocery money…without coupons…and Haagen-Das and microbrew in the cart at every checkout…”
    A lot of KrackSilk Haze anyway, what the kids ’round here might term: “a buttload.”

  36. That’s my girl! Moving about on your own! Eating on your own! That’s my girl! (oh, I already said that.) You’re lucky you didn’t put somebody’s eye out, or worse, with that projectile sandal action. What IS that all about???? Homeland Security might have had a few other things to say to you if you’d done that. These crazy Canadians, coming down here and throwing sandals all over the place. That’s not RIGHT!

  37. Horton Plaza – the only mall parking lot I’ve noticed with a sign giving you a number to call in case you’ve “misplaced” your car. Apparently someone will come drive you around the maze of a parking lot and help you look for it. Having parked there many times, I can see the need…
    The signing at the Grove was great – enjoy the rest of your yarn crawl (tour….)

  38. Go Harlot! I moved from Florida to Seattle all by my lonesome- it was a 5 day drive- I really got into people-watching while eating alone! Now I can only dream about eating peacefully with no little person pawing at me to be held… enjoy!

  39. I’m really sad that I can’t see you when you’re in Seattle. In your free time there, I advise you to visit downtown Seattle, especially Pike Place Market! It’s a real treat! The sock may be afraid of the flying fish, though. 🙂

  40. OMG! The Harlot was in Phoenix and I missed her! I would easily have braved airport parking to spend a few minutes (and get my book signed and admire the sock). Ah well, maybe next time.
    “Dry” is relative, though. We are currently in “monsoon season” with our usual spike in humidity. Granted it’s still small potatoes to other areas of the country, but it’s the only time we see our palm tree glasses sweat….
    And I’m pleased you found a restaurant in downtown San Diego, but exactly which one was it? (Next time, you might find Seaport Village – another pleasant way to spend some time in SD)

  41. Hmmm, everyone is giving such sensible solutions to the sandle thing. My first thought was to throw the second one out so the pair stayed together.
    Apparantly you shouldn’t listen to me…
    Too bad the west coast tour is so whirlwind. It is pretty fun out here. I grew up in Phoenix and I tell you, the dry heat gets old and it sucks the moisture OUT of you. The big hair will go down however.
    So looking forward to Wednesday when you are in Portland! Portlanders, what is the nearest ale house to Powells that we can drag her to?

  42. There are mountains (real ones) in L.A. But you might not see them because of the smog. Years ago, I moved to L.A. and started working downtown in August. One day in November, I went out at lunch and discovered these really tall mountains beyond Symphony Hall. I was shocked. No mountains in Berkeley. See you tomorrow at Stash. Taking the afternoon off.

  43. First off, big props to you for eating alone and venturing out into unfamiliar terrain by yourself. I remember when I first had to do it when i travelled for business and i really grew to like dining and travelling by myself.
    Now on the the matter of the shoes: i am a shoe junkie. Like most women, I love shoes and own far too many. However, a bunch of years ago I gave up on the notion of stylish, dressy shoes that hurt. They’re just stupid. Birkenstocks now come in so many fabulous styles and colors, there’s no reason to ever buy shoes that hurt. And if you must go for a shoe with a heel, dansko, murtosa, clarks, munro and ecco all make really good-looking shoes that won’t give you bunions and won’t smush your toes into some unrecognizable shape. sorry for going on so, but the torture we women sometimes put ourselves through in the name of fashion are just absurd. go treat yourself to a pair of birkenstock madrid sandals in some fabulous color and enjoy the rest of your west coast swing.

  44. was also at a conference in san diego all week and missed your visit as it ended on the friday! but will defenitely be there for the hollywood signing tonight – just look for the canadians in the crowd :>

  45. I loved eating alone in DC when visiting libraries there, but it can be a bit daunting sometimes. On the positive side, when you are not preoccupied making conversation, you can really concentrate on the food and wine!

  46. AARRRGGHHH! You had a layover in Phoenix, a mere 2 hours from here (Tucson). I would’ve brought you a hot cup o’ Peets, Emma’s book to admire, and some yarn to adopt.
    Maybe next time.

  47. HARLOT! HARLOT! HARLOT! Oh, sorry. I’m getting ready for your gig in Seattle at the Weaving Works. Sock yarn as methadone…well, my DH grew up around addicts, so maybe if I explain it to him that way…he won’t get so flustered when I buy more. I just tell him it’s like his stereo equipment. It needs frequent upgrades. Ahem.
    -N*

  48. Ooh, I must apologize for homeland security. It’s a dippy little department, at least in all my experiences with it. Glad you got your needles functional again so fast.

  49. YOU were HERE?! Where have I been? I’m a total a moron. Next time, my dear. When the bookbookbook#2 tour comes to San Diego – I’m so there. :).

  50. Steph, I did the same thing with a bra and panties once in the high-rise that I lived in.
    I decided I didn’t need the underwear that badly and left it.
    Then I found it on my way out the next day, scooped into my bag and pretended it was meant to be.
    If you love something, set it free… 😉
    PS I always buy birks too.

  51. Way to go Steph! What a brave woman you are-even if you did not dare to ask someone to fetch your shoe.
    I wonder how long it will be until it appears on e-bay: “Yarn Harlot’s ‘lost’ shoe, dropped out of San Diego hotel room window. Good shape, barely worn by the Harlot herself-purchased for bookbookbook tour. Bidding starts at 50.00 USD.”
    Stranger things have happened.

  52. So true about the sock yarn–I am packing for a short trip to Montreal and in sorting out knitting to take along I had thoughts in the same vein–oh this sock project can get me through…no need to take the sweater or the felted bag project. ‘Course I know I’ll be craving the sweater (extra fine merino) and jonesing about the bag (new pattern I’m working on for a class to teach in the fall), but I will take the portable, do-able socks and be happy they take the edge off!
    Enjoy that dry for me–Ann Arbor in practically underwater at this time of year.

  53. Welcome to California Stephanie! I wish those of us in the SF Bay area could see you.
    I hope you love my state and I hope you come back again to visit. There may be some Kid Silk Haze in it for you…

  54. If you liked Phoenix, you should come to Tucson. Prettier mountains, better desert, cooler, and nicer people!! We’d love for you to come here!!!

  55. My dear Harlot, three days until Seattle! Can’t wait! I love eating alone! I find a restaurant where the waitperson will keep my glass filled, take a tasty book to go with my tasty meal and dive in! I have the best Thai, Teriyaki and Indian restraunts in the area all scoped out! I eat lunch out alone often, and sometimes my husband joins me. Ya know, once in a while, if I’m at an especially good place in my book, I wish he would stay at work! If you’re going to be staying in downtown Seattle, you have to visit Pike Place Market see the guys throwing fish and then wander around the corner to get the tiny donuts at the Daily Dozen Donuts (my kids new favorite). Gee, can I blame the Harlot for my new obsession with knitting socks? Hmmm, maybe….. But hey, it’s an addiction I can deal with. How many addictions can keep your feet warm?

  56. ***LAPD APB:***
    Wanted: “Socksy” Needles, knitted sock-in-progress, suspected of pushing dress sandal out a window in a fit of jealous rage.
    Description: Multicolor wool, probably that canadian Koigu-stuff. Travels in the company of a “Yarn Harlot.” Considered armed and dangerous with mismatched dpns.

  57. Assuming that we’re talking about the same pair of dress sandals you had here…. its amazing they lasted as long as they did without being dropped out a window. Good riddance.

  58. I was quite surprised by those hills or mountains or rock protrusions or whatever they are in Phoenix too. (I was just there on Thursday for work, in fact.) I, however, found 110 degrees to be excessive…

  59. I love going out places alone. I mean, I like going with people, but there is something about choosing things that you want and eating where you want and coming to an intersection and walking the direction that you want, and not having someone that you know is marking time as you shop where you want that is lovely. I quite enjoy it, I hope you get used to it. But not too used so that you don’t ever want to be with people again. That would be bad.
    BTW-shoulda bought the crack.

  60. Eating alone. I love to eat alone. I also love to eat with my husband and children, but there is something totally indulgent about eating in a restaurant by yourself with a book. Only second to going to a movie alone. Love it love it love it.

  61. ACK – you’re only an hour away from me in either direction – first today, then tomorrow – and I just can’t get away! Have an awsome time in LA!! *sniff*

  62. Ahhh… eating alone. One of the best and most amazing experiences of early-ish motherhood was when I took an ecclesiastical embroidery workshop at an Episcopal convent in New Jersey when my daughter was about 8. I dropped her off at her godparents’ house to stay and play with their 2 kids, about her age. I was at the convent for a week. It was bliss. They provided the meals – so no cooking or washing up. And they kept the Great Silence from the end of the last service of the evening, about 9pm, to after breakfast. Now imagine eating breakfast kind of alone, but in COMPLETE SILENCE. No kid(s) to tap you on the shoulder and ask for yet something else. The ability to *think your own thoughts* uninterrupted. For a whole week. Nothing to do but your craft. And eat breakfast in blessed silence. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
    Well, my daughter is 20 now, in college, pretty much on her own. And once my husband has gone to work, there is silence, but of another variety…

  63. Congrats on beating the eating alone demon. The world is a wide and wonderful place, and being alone doesn’t change that. (Spoken as a single person for life….)
    Can’t wait to see you on Wednesday in Portland, I’m knitting on my first lace shawl like mad so you can see what you made me do! Hope you get time to visit some of the many, many yarn shops in town, since the reading is at a bookstore.

  64. I’ve not been to Horton Plaza in about 20 years, doesn’t sound like it’s changed much. I’m sure that birks are fine foot attire in Southern California, if not Horton Plaza has more than one shoe shop…if you can get to them!! Do tell how the shoe jumped from the window!?
    Eating alone, I think I will try that when my youngest goes off to school…in a year and a half.
    Mountains, I live up against the Rockies and now compare all mountains to them!!

  65. Welcome to California, Stephanie! Hope you enjoy your stay here with the knitting folks and weather. Wish I could meet you tomorrow at Hollywood Knit Cafe…of all the times for me to be on business travel.

  66. Oh you should have totally let us know that you were going to be in Phoenix – even if it was just the airport…. we would have come and kept you company!!!

  67. Hooray for you! I remember the first time I ever had to eat alone on a business trip, many years ago now, and how freaky it felt. Now I LOOK for excuses to go to a restaurant by myself. Somehow it never seems to happen anymore. When you’re ready, you should absolutely try the solo afternoon matinee….seriously…it’s even more decadently luxurious than an afternoon nap. Just you, your favorite art-house cinema, and two hours to see absolutely whatever crazy foreign chick-flick-with-subtitles you want. Oh, and no interruptions. Woohoo…

  68. I bought your book today 🙂 A birthday gift for the woman who taught me to knit. Thought it very fitting. Enjoy Vancouver when you come, can’t make it there (unless I want to bring the three kids in the city with me… NOT!)

  69. Yeah, when I moved to California, I went to this park with a perfect, round topped hill, right in the middle of it. Cool, I said (out loud), that’ll be a great sledding hill!

  70. I do hope that you get a chance to see SF before you go onto Portland. It’s too bad you’re missing out on the Central Coast altogether (Monterey/Carmel); it simply beautiful, and I’m not just saying that cause that’s where I went to high school. 😉 SF is a great city… Golden Gate park is wonderful. Norcal is different enough from Socal to make it worthwhile to get out and appreciate it.

  71. Yay for the Harlot!! Thank you so much for visiting us. Now that I am moving to the Central Coast my mission will be to get you up there too. It’s as lovely as San Diego without the nutty mall. BTW, Horton Plaza is the analogy for San Diego. Our motto is “You can’t get there from here. You can SEE it but you have to drive around something else to get there”.

  72. Hi, Steph! Welcome to the West Coast! Just a few more days until you visit Seattle! I can hardly wait. I see you’re scheduled at two shops Thursday, & not sure which one I’ll make it to. . . Hope you have a great time in California (I love San Diego, too, & next trip will have to find the places you mentioned) & see you Thursday!

  73. I hope the rest of your California explorations are just as great! I really enjoyed seeing/hearing/meeting you in San Diego.

  74. You know… there are a lot of knitters in Phoenix (yes – even with the heat, we knit!) that would LOVE to meet you and your sock. If you come through again, be sure to stay for a while!
    🙂

  75. I’m with Mary and the others… especially now that you are some miles away from the roof that grabbed your sandal… phone (disguising your voice, if that makes it easier) or write a note asking that they mail you your sandal. I got my daughter’s stuffed plush pig back that way… though I don’t think it’d flown to a roof….
    I hope Los Angeles is good to you. Say hello to the scene of my original knitting instruction if/when you get to Pasadena.

  76. The mountains in Phoenix and Tucson remind me of “Silly Sand” Does anyone else remember that sandy stuff you squirted out of a bottle into water? What a cool toy that was. And by the way, desert isn’t just a big sand pile (unless you’re in Saudi Arabia!)Surprise! American western desert areas are loaded with all manner of beautiful mountains, spectacular mesas and gorgeous canyons!

  77. The mountains in Phoenix and Tucson remind me of “Silly Sand” Does anyone else remember that sandy stuff you squirted out of a bottle into water? What a cool toy that was. And by the way, desert isn’t just a big sand pile (unless you’re in Saudi Arabia!)Surprise! American western desert areas are loaded with all manner of beautiful mountains, spectacular mesas and gorgeous canyons!

  78. “you go in but you can’t find the way out” that sounds like every shopping centre I’ve ever had the misfortune to go in. Aren’t they designed to be like that.
    Great pictures. Great writing. Thanks lady.

  79. I’m so hoping I can make it up to Berkeley tomorrow to see you…for one, I have a lovely pair of sparkly Birks that have to be seen to be believed. AND, I feel compelled to show you my most recent FO, a pair of Feather & Fan socks (yep, from SocksSocksSocks), made of Lorna’s. I hate to say it, but I’ve got pooling all over. Lucky for me, I don’t mind so much, and anyway they’re wonderful pools of purple, which is my favorite color. I think of the pools of purple as presents to me. 😉

  80. enjoyed your knitting tales… hard getting me out of my birks, too, reminds me of when I landed in Seattle in tennis shoes and peds and the bus driver took a quick look and said ‘your’re not from around here, are you”, (only experienced 1 day of rain there in a weeks’ stay). I adore traveling solo!

  81. Re Birkenstocks : I wear nothing else in summer regardless of the occasion ( I’ve just bought some groovy gold Gizeh ones for parties ). The problem comes when I have to put boots on in the winter – my feet don’t like it!

  82. San Diego is my favorite city!! My grandmother lives there, and I’ve spent many days wandering the gaslamp when I visit.
    And if you wanna see desert with REAL mountains, come to Utah!! Seriously! COME TO UTAH!!! If you come to Salt Lake City, I’m sure we can compensate you with chocolate. 😀

  83. Good post!
    Hope you enjoy LA – I loved it while I was there – can’t recommend the LA County Museum of Art (and you can see the tar pits!), but only if you have $40 for the cab ride there and back.
    Glad to see the Harlot on the road again…

  84. I don’t suppose I can blame Homeland Security for the DPN I lost in New York… ah well. At least I still had enough, since it was a set of five and I was only using four.

  85. Yes! This is exactly what I’ve suspected about sock yarn all along. It’s cheap enough that you can almost always afford some, and it gets you through when you just have to buy some yarn. Hardly a purchase at all. Of course, at this point, even if I stopped buying cold turkey,(unlikely since Stitches Midwest is in town next week)and could consistently turn out a pair a month, I’m good for damn near the next five years.

  86. You sound like you are having an amazing trip! Thanks for all the beautiful pictures… I love Arizona too… I’m from Colorado and miss that dry heat… Boston doesn’t see too much of that!
    Cheers to more exploration 🙂

  87. The hell with the lipstick. Comes off in five minutes, usually in places on your face where lipstick is not supposed to go. And if you get the kind that doesn’t come off in five minutes, you begin to look like you hired a plasterer to fill in the rough spots. Besides, these days, one lipstick can cost you, say, the price of a ball of…
    Kidsilk Haze.
    I’ll go back to my den of iniquity now.

  88. If you’re still in LA, you totally need to have a meal at Hugo’s on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood. Great vegetarian entrees– or try Hamburger Mary’s, a little further down the street and very fun.

  89. Stephanie, I was so happy to learn that sock yarn is a medical expense. If I can reclassify all of that as medication, then what remains in the category “yarn” might be seen, as some, as a rational amount. What a relief!
    So what wonderful meal did you have to eat all by yourself?

  90. One piece of advice about fdining solo. Don’t be a stingy tipper. Waitfolks often don’t like waiting on solo female diners because they have the reputation of being bad tippers. I make a point of tipping a full 20% to the waitperson who keeps my glass full and brings my meal the way I want it (sometimes I can be particular). My philosophy….they take care of me and I will take care of them!

  91. I really want to hear the story of how you were able to OPEN a window on the 27th floor! My heart palpitates knowing that you are somewhere within a 1 hour radius from me here in San Francisco. Enjoy the balmy weather and your visit to the Bay Area. What was the nice publicist lady thinking?!? Five cities in five day?!?

  92. Stephanie: Kris’s sister Michele and I had the great pleasure of meeting you when your book tour hit Acton, Mass. (outside of Boston) back in the spring. Glad to hear your tour is still going strong! But more important, three cheers to you for breaking out of your shell and eating alone. I had the similar feelings the first time I went solo to the movies. It’s amazing how much easier it is the second time–you just need to do what you did and take the plunge!

  93. Every once in awhile eating alone is kind of nice. You get to enjoy your food and surroundings without the distraction of another person (or conversation). Yeah, I’m kind of anti-social on occassion. Sounds like you had a great time and the sock was shown the sites. Interesting observation on the sock yarn – you may very well be on to something with that. Have a great day in LA and I’m sure your talk tonight will be fabulous. I just wish I could be there.

  94. Stephanie, I listened to your interview on Knit Cast, and now when I read your blog, I can “hear” you talking.
    I frequently eat out alone, and I love it. I can eat where I want, when I want and what I want. It’s good for people to do stuff like that. Another fave is going to the movies alone.
    Loved the blanky for Sam. I have to crank out a blanky myself and can’t wait to get started.
    Knit on…

  95. Dining alone doesn’t mean you are being antisocial. It means you like yourself well enough to be alone with yourself. Quite an accomplishment IMO. Lots of people don’t like themselves at all! I don’t like being lonely, but being alone is kind of fun sometimes. Besides, I have my knitting to keep me company!

  96. Stephanie, I’m going to have lunch somewhere before your 3pm Seattle “Third Place Books” lecture if you want to meet up! If you want to keep eating alone, we could sit at differnet tables and ignore each other. Just so you could keep in practice, I’d do that for you.

  97. I’m so glad you had a nice turnout at the Grove!
    I was planning to go, but well–2 month old babies tend to ruin fun knitting-related plans!

  98. Oh now come one…we do have humidity…sure it’s not Oregon or Colorado or Seattle my original home, but hey what sunsets, what gorgeous unique saguaro, Phoenix is amazing, and please stop and see those of us that knit here some time. We create and recreate the beauty of this area in our work. My boyfriend and son and I sat on our little rental patio last night and watched the rain pour down on our dogs and the lightening strike, and sure we wished we were in Boulder but hey the sunset through the rain was pretty inspiring. Right on to those who say being alone is way ok. I’ve got the t shirt for that and I treasure it.Everything has its own beauty.

  99. Stephanie — I’m thrilled to hear you’ve conquered your fear of eating and sightseeing alone. See, nothing exploded, shrieked, or otherwise disturbed the peace during your solo expeditions. Okay, had your fans found you, there would have been some shrieking and disturbing the peace, but it would have all been fun.
    And I agree with Alyson — spending time alone isn’t anti-social. It’s a chance to be with someone you (ideally) love!

  100. It’s a dry heat in Arizona. That’s true. But after a few days of enjoying it your sinus cavities dry out. I had a nose bleed every day for my visit. But still a nice change from humidity and frizzy hair!
    You could smell the bakery but not find it? That’s my idea of hell…even if it IS a shopping mall. Gimme my cupcakes!
    Enjoy your travels. Once you get used to it, eating along can be very calming. And you can tell US all about everything you’re seeing while you’re “alone”.

  101. You go gurrrrl! Eating out alone is not bad at all, especially when accompanied by a cool laptop. You can actually call it work time, sort-of.
    One other thought: I bet you would have made the service staff’s day if you requested they retrieve your shoe from the balcony… their jobs probably get a little boring. You deprived them something to talk about at break time!!!
    Enjoy the west coast :+)

  102. You should huck the other sandal so it can be with its mate. That way the person who finally retrieves them can have a matched pair!

  103. Ah, but Phoenix is NOTHING compared to Tucson. Phoenix is out-of-control growth, while Tucson is growth with some vague historic bits left. You should take Joe and the kids to evaluate this statement in, say, January. The sock approves. The next sock (and the next sock and the next sock, ad nauseum) approve.
    As a Minnesotan, I am so with you on “it’s paradise if there’s no humidity – stop whining about the heat” bit. The shock I had in Colorado and New Mexico and the Black Hills and Arizona when… shhhh… my sweat EVAPORATED… and this was cooling! Woah. Chicita, that was, like, woah. I thought sweat’s purpose was to make a sticky layer of slime on my body. 🙂

  104. Dining alone with a book, one of lifes truly great pleasures! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
    I love the Southwest for the fact that there is no humidity! It’s wonderful, I’m liberated, I don’t look like I’ve climbed out of the pool, drenched, hot and dripping! Try summer surrounded by cornfields, every breath is the last gasp.
    My daughter is North of San Diego, I don’t think I’ll tell her about Horton Plaza. She has enough trouble holding onto her money.
    Enjoy the tour, take a good book and try every food you’ve wanted to taste, but your family threw a fit about, “I’m not eating anything from there!”.

  105. Welcome to the West Coast of the US of A! Speaking as a person who migrated from NE Ohio a couple of years ago, let me tell you :
    Here you will see some MOUNTAINS! Look east from Portland! Look SE from Seattle!! Look down whilst flying over!!!
    Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at Powells Books.

  106. I’m sorry I missed you at the Grove. Love your book and welcome to the west coast. The Knit Cafe is also a nice yarn shop. You’ll love it.

  107. You have such a way of seeing the truth of things. I love it.
    I just counted up ALL (yikes!) of my knitting projects the other day. There was a (big) bag left over, and my husband said, “Oh, you missed this.”
    I informed him it was sock yarn, and as such, doesn’t COUNT in the reckoning. I mean, really. Please.

  108. Dear Sock,
    Do you get all weary and worn out in that hot weather? I bet you get occasional felted spots here and there… (I mean the sweaty hands!) I had that problem a while ago (we had some hot weather) but not anymore, it is nice and cool now again. I wish you were able to see my surroundings – not that I would not appreciate all the fabulous places you get to see … I live here in the north, little bit north of the Finnish Arctic Circle and this place is perfect for woollen socks. They are great here all the year round. To be 100 % honest, there are 3 – 4 weeks when I get overlooked but all the other times I’m so wellcomed.
    Would you believe me if I told you, we even had a dance in our little village couple of years ago one Friday night which was called the “Woolen Sock Dance” and you were supposed to wear woollen socks only… (Between us I can confess to you that thay wanted to keep the nice and new school floor scratchless).
    Wishing you all the best,
    The Arctic Sock

  109. AARRRGGHH! I live almost exactly halfway between your Sunday and Monday appearances. I’d been a good girl and took care of all those pesky family issues like feeding children and cleaning the house. I was ready to make the trip to San Diego. So why don’t I have a wonderful memory (and pictures) of the Yarn Harlot? 101 degree fever Saturday night, that’s why!
    I’m so glad you enjoyed San Diego. I’m often down there for a variety of reasons, both business and pleasure–your description of Horton Plaza? Spot on.
    I know you haven’t posted about L.A. yet, but it is a land of adventure, so I’m sure you’ll have plenty to tell us. I’m waiting with baited breath.
    Come back to So. Cal. soon!

  110. Hi Steph! I’m glad you’re having a good time, and that you’ll be here in delightful Seattle tomorrow! I can’t wait to see you!

  111. I’m so mad at myself right now. I have a sinus infection and you’re going to be in my town tomorrow…if you see a girl with a surgeon’s mask on tomorrow, cussing at her knitting, just ignore me. 😀
    Libby

  112. Slow to catch up on my blogs, but had to comment on that San Diego mall! I felt the same way–so many layers seemingly going off in every direction. Like an Escher image. Also, regarding the “Knitting Factory” so sad that you were mis-led! We have the original KF in NYC.

  113. Man…I wanted to go to San Diego…I live in Tijuana, Mexico, and my sister in law said she’d take me then backed out…I was so bummed…and then she had the nerve to spend the entire day at my house when I should have been in San Diego buying a book and seeing the Harlot!
    I thought the knitting factory was a yarn store the first time I saw it too…talk about disappoinment!
    I hope you enjoyed California!!!
    ~Jen

  114. I avoid Horton Plaza like the plague! Whenever I go there now, I make a mental note of the fruit level I’m parked in and the stores at the entrance I walk through. I even turn around and look at the entrance area as if I am walking towards it so I know what to look for when I’m ready to leave.
    Unfortunately, that mall is a mess. I’m sure I haven’t even been in half of the stores. I hate it!! Seriously though, 6.5 blocks? I didn’t realize that. I’ll have to check it out again sometime when I feel like a glutton for punishment. 🙂

  115. Alright already, I admit I am geographically challenged. I can only identify about 5 states, still! But this much I know. Chicago is a lot closer to Toronto than the West Coast. Soooo who does your bookings?
    I’m originally from New York and never thought much about that space in the middle. But now that I live in the middle it totally sucks being ignored.
    Maybe you’re coming to Stitches Midwest this week!

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