To be honest, 2009 had more than its fair share of rough spots. Lets just say that it presented an exciting array of character building experiences.  However, I can now say with certainty that 2009 is gone and I am still here.

That means I won.

To celebrate this victory and to start the new year on a better note, we took a wee jaunt to see one of our favorite bands, the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.  (If you know them only from that late 90’s swing resurgence you’re missing a treat.  Go hear the rest of their stuff right now.  I’ll wait.)  They were playing in Hershey, PA, which is about a 6 hour drive from home.  It should come as no surprise that I took a sock along with me.  I can’t offer too many details about the sock just yet (hence the small, rather dark, and slightly blurred out photos), but I can tell you that it came to the show with us.

The next day, since we were in Hershey already, it seemed a crime not to investigate the chocolate empire.  We went to the Hershey Museum.  As the sock was color coordinated we decided to take it along too.  See?  Note the Hershey kiss shaped street light in the background.  This town is rather, erm, dedicated to the whole chocolate thing.  It might be just a tiny bit disturbing, even to fans of chocolate.

We also happened (totally accidental I assure you, no planning at all) to stumble into Yarn Love, a delightful store in Hummelstown.  I exercised great self restraint and bought only one skein of yarn (Dream in Color Smooshy) and one set of needles (size 2 Kollage DPNs).  Toss in visits to two delightful breweries for delicious dinners and you have a lovely way to ring in the new year.

Now we’re back home and just waiting for a break in the snowstorm so we can go outside and get some official pictures of two pairs of finished socks.