Coffee and Boxing... Day

Ah, holiday visits to my hometown: family, celebration, food... and more food. I've been very well-fed, and I'm going to have to do a bit of work to get back in the health saddle when I get back to reality, but I'm enjoying myself regardless.

Boxing Day was last Monday. For those that don't know, Boxing Day is a Commonwealth statutory holiday with relatively hazy origins. According to Wikipedia, it is the day when boxes of presents and goods were given to those in service positions (in boxes, presumably). It has also been said that it was the day that employers changed places with their employees (I can't see that happening anytime soon). Nowadays, it's the day when people get up at ungodly hours to go out and get a fantastic deal at the shops. The only boxes involved would be those with new shoes inside, or TVs, or some other such item. From I heard on the news, it's starting to be a bit mad like Black Friday in the United States, with people getting into fisticuffs in parking lots. Perhaps Boxing Day is becoming a better name for this day...

But not for me. There's nothing I want THAT badly, and I'm just way too lazy to get out of bed to spend the day in a hot mall with grumpy shoppers all trying to get stuff that I don't really want.

Instead, I made a date with Linette, my Winnipeg knit-buddy that I met up with last year. We were to meet up for coffee, and perhaps a bit o' yarn shopping. Coffee, knitting, yarn? That's a way better proposition to me.

So, I took the bus downtown and met at ye olde coffee shoppe with Linette, who happened to be sitting in exactly the same spot we sat in last year, in the comfy chairs by the fireplace. "Wow, I can't believe we got the same spot," I said.

"They obviously knew we needed it for our yearly tradition," she said. "Now that we've met twice for this, we can call it a tradition now."

This is a tradition I'm happy that we created, because it's always so nice to sit down with another yarnie and talk about yarnie-things... stitch counters, knitting socks, lace, bobbles (and "sad bobbles"), buttons, sewing... and other crafty things... and cooking... and bathrooms... and Kitchen Aid Mixers.

After a while, Linette produced the following item, over which I positively squealed. Seriously. I squeaked like a mouse and sighed like kettle over it:

Is that not the coolest thing you ever did see? Apparently, these have been circulating on Ravelry, but I was totally ignorant of the fact that such a thing could be made. And it's perfect. And I'm so chuffed to have one of my own. Thanks, Linette!

Unfortunately, we discovered the LYS in Winnipeg were closed on Boxing Day. Maybe that's a good thing. Could you imagine the crowd of anxious shoppers outside those doors? Instead, we wandered down to The Bay and wandered around a while. I picked up a few bits and bobs that I liked, and on the way out, we spied this:

What is hilarious is that we both were way more attracted to the box than we were about the makeup (though, it will come in handy since I am slowly replacing all my makeup for fresher stuff). The trays in the lower half can be removed, and if I use a craft knife, I could carve the spaces in the foam above were the pencils are to be a bit longer, then I can put some drawing pencils, sketchbooks and art supplies in it for easy transport. Nice huh?

And I didn't even have to get in line to buy it.

So, that was my Boxing Day: relaxed and chill, with knitchat, coffee, good company AND a box!

Ha! Now THAT'S why they call it Boxing Day!