Knitting Sandwich

sandwich meetup, the winter olympics edition

What a wonderfully fabulous time we had together!

Such a marvelous weekend of : knitting, watching Olympics, catching up, watching Olympics, rubbing Lindsey's beautiful belly

...knitting, watching the Olympics, eating the most incredible pumpkin risotto EVER (thanks to Lindsey who actually brought a pumpkin all the way from Houston!)...

Did I mention watching the Olympics?  Needless to say, we didn't get out much.  Thus there aren't really many pictures to show for our wonderful weekend (who needs 'em?!  we were too busy having fun!).  

We did manage to tear ourselves away from the Olympics on Monday for a little while.  We went to the Guggenheim, walked over to the reservoir in Central Park

and then took a little break on the steps of the Met

before heading inside for a little look.

Melissa and Lindsey, I had such an unbelievable weekend with you-- a million thank yous for coming! It is such a joy and a privilege to have such wonderful friends as the two of you.

I love you both more than I can possibly say.

It was so hard to see you go!

lama and I are missing you already- come back soon!

-cmv

olympic fever- top five version

The Sandwich has a major case of Olympic fever.  Not only are we all big Olympic fans but we're actually going to BE TOGETHER for the Olympics this year!  Woo hoo sandwich meetup!

In the haze of anticipatory excitement, we decided to devote our top five this month to our favorite things about the winter Olympics.

melissa's list:

1. 1988 - the battle of the brians oh my, the battle of the brians…. even just mentioning it now makes me swoon - the buildup, the anticipation, the perfect boitano performance…. orser bobbled a landing… boitano takes the gold!!! i was 12 during the ‘88 calgary games and this is the first time i can remember being swept up in a specific olympic competition, i loved all the media hype and hoopla surrounding the two brians and was glued to the television during their skating!

2. olympic curling during the 2006 turino games i was home with baby lily and watched almost every olympic curling match! i was completely obsessed!! talk about drama, i totally fell in love with curling and am proud to now reside in minnesota home of the majority of the team usa olympic curlers! (i’ve even eaten at dave’s pizza in bemidji which is owned by 2006 team usa skip and bronze medalist pete fenson!)

3. 1998 nagano games in the blaisdell 3rd floor lounge claire and i both lived on 3rd floor blaisdell our senior year of college and so it became olympic watching headquarters. we spent countless hours glued to the television reveling in the olympic games. remember our disappointment and complete outrage when michelle qwan was defeated by tara “horse-face” lipinski? oh the memories….

4. 1998 team canada’s awesome roots outfits oh! remember when team canada marched into the opening ceremonies wearing those amazingly awesome outfits? the hip berets, the awesome letterman-esque jackets? everyone wanted to be that cool! (i’d like to add the the u.s. has spent every olympics since trying to chase that “canadian cool” and we just never seem to pull it off - we copy them and they just come up with something better! “oh canada…”)

5. parade of nations - opening ceremonies i love the opening ceremonies, but more than the spectacle itself i love the parade of nations. i love watching each country march in - what will they be wearing? who will cary their flag? seeing all the athletes, from all around our globe standing together sets the absolute perfect tone to start the games. i love it!

Lindsey's list:

                          

1. Eddie the Eagle Edwards - I love an underdog!  I lived in England during the 1988 Calgary Games and he was an absolute rock star!  He was everywhere, every paper, every tv show, they even made a pop song about him.  How can you no love a celebrated last place contestant?

2. Jamaican Bobsled team - Did I mention that I love underdogs?

3. Biathlon - The apparent randomness of this pairing is just great.  Skiing and shooting?  Why not sledding and knitting?  (We may have to do this!).  

4. Rivalries - the one I'm watching this year is between Lindsey Vonn and Maria Riesch.  They are best friends, they are closest competitors - oh the drama!

5. Alpine Skiing- They just go SO FAST!  I want to be able to ski like that but I doubt I'll ever get off the easy blue runs.

cmv's list:

1. The Olympics simply wouldn't be the Olympics without the commentators.  I mean, how can you resist a spectacle of athletes when each and every one of them seems to have the story to end all stories.  Maiming, orphaning, cast out of homelands, death of every family member, bludgeoning, coming back from the dead.... you name it, they've got it!  And people like Scott Hamilton are just people to dish out every last detail of the Olympic soap opera!

2. Oh downhill skiing and the cast of characters that accompanies it-- yes, he's quite possibly the most pompous man to have ever lived. But you can't help but love Alberto Tomba and all his downhilling, slaloming compatriots!

3. Moguls!  Just watching them makes my knees ache but man are they fun to watch!

4. I don't think my childhood would have been complete without the year of Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt.  I believe that was the year I truly fell in love with the Olympics.  And then after the Olympics they skated together in this ultra-cheesy tv special.  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

5. Olympic fashions!  Where else or when else is it socially acceptable and encouraged to wear things like gold lamé, fake skin, poofy sleeves, feathers and sequins all at the same time (well, other than in the village, perhaps)?  It's so worth watching just to see the fashions that these Olympians come up with!  Remember the year that the Swiss men's downhill ski team wore bright yellow cheese uniforms?  Please say you do because Google has not a trace of them and I'm beginning to think I dreamt it!  And, in the end, thank goodness for Michelle Kwan who was always a beacon of style amidst the sparkle and bird headdresses of her ice skating peers.

So there we go-- excited and ready for Olympics and Olympic Sandwich meetup!

What about you?  Are you excited too?  Do you have five favorite parts?

--cmv & the sandwich