fullspeed ahead.

...into fall, and I know the holidays (with the birthday bonanza - all four of us Rogovins have birthdays within three months from late October to late January) are nearly upon us.

I need to make a separate post for knitting updates - lilith is finished, but I haven't been able to photo yet. And I cast on a gray bulky-weight (for the Grey's Anatomy premier last night) and have made good progress. Look for an update on Sunday (or Monday!).

In non-knitting news (yes, I still have non-knitting news!):

Tuesday - Much knitting and finished what I started of the Grey's season 3. Decided I have no interest in Private Practice - good thing since it conflicts with Sara's new show Gossip Girl.

Wednesday - I really did enjoy the Georgia Tech Math Department focus group. The Math Department is designing a new home page for their website (good thing, huh?!) and about 10 alumni were invited to share our thoughts about the two prototypes. I always leap at any opportunity to visit the campus ... but one that includes dinner with Katie is a real winner. I picked her up about 8:00 and we headed to Baraonda where we enjoyed a nice meal of appetizers and salads and some wonderful catching up on the new apartment. Of course we had our picture taken.
(more knitting stuff when I got home...late night)

Thursday - Dead tired after the late Wednesday night. But hosted an inspiring "so long, fiscal year 2007" pizza lunch for my team [Hewitt's fiscal year ends September 30 and my team has nailed nearly every objective for the year - yes, very cool!]. Everyone had to share an accomplishment for 2007, a personal goal for 2008 and a team business goal for 2008. It's an understatement to say my team impressed me. They bowled me over. And inspired me to be a better leader and a better manager. Can't ask for more than that from something I get paid to do! Then I had the best intentions of staying up for the entire Grey's season 4 premier episode (so I could fully participate in my new KAL - of course that's knitting, so no more details now), but realized at 9:40 that I'd snoozed through the last 10 minutes and gave up for bed. bummer.

Friday - Kick ASS day at work - finished everything that was urgent, got a good start on many things that were important, and really appreciated this view - a job I'm very glad I do not have:
(funny, don't remember taking this picture on such an angle! ...this is the reflected view from one side of my office while the window washers were washing the other side - I'm sure I completely freaked them out when I pulled out my camera!)

Then got home in time for a pedicure with Sara. And found this in the mail:
(yes, four orchestra level seats for the Johnny Mathis concert!)

Now looking forward to the 2-day walk with Karen - starting early tomorrow and finishing Sunday afternoon. 30 miles. Plenty of time for catching up. ♥

by the numbers.

...a quantifiable look at what I've been up to since I last posted:
+9 episodes of Grey's Anatomy (7 from Season 2, starting from the beginning, and 2 from Season 3, starting from episode #17, thinking I'd have a fair chance of finishing that season before Thursday, but oops, forgot I have plans on Wednesday!)
+97 rows of progress on lilith (or 104 rows knitted if you count the 7 I ripped back)
+63 minutes of watching Sara win her ALTA match 8-3
+10 miles running in the park
+60 minutes watching Sara at her tennis lesson (made much more pleasant because of this view to my right - CCR #18)
+7.5+8.0+6.5=22.0 hours of sleep
+9 new knitting blogs added to my favorites, including this one, this one and this one (which makes me think I want to knit one of these too)
+5 loads of laundry
+18 photos uploaded to flickr
+3 magazines cut-up and pasted onto 3 journal pages
+zero calls from Katie (we did trade a few text messages today)
+20 pages of Abundance read (it's really taking a back seat to the Grey's and knitting)

The most wonderful time of the year!

Has it seriously already been six weeks of this? Ay, time flies when you’re reading loads upon loads of BOOKS! Agh, Honors Lit is whipping me into shape. First The Bell Jar (multiple attempted suicides but a real let down in the end because she LIVES! At least give us a book with a payoff, English Department!), then Life of Pi (first book that I’ve actually enjoyed reading, pretty much all the way through, since To Kill a Mockingbird. But of course nothing is ever that simple. Let’s go ahead and find themes and symbols and conflicts), and now Lord of the Flies (only just started, but not too bad so far. I use phrases like “so far” quite often, you may notice).

Okay, but all in all, so far there’s been no 1984s, Pudd’n’head Wilsons or Jane Eyres in the bunch. But that may change, because I think they put one of those Bronte sisters on the list of books that we absolutely have to read. But that doesn’t matter, because no more Jane Eyre! Seriously, one of the worst books I’ve ever read. So completely dragged out. What happened in 500+ pages could have happened in the following:

My name is Jane Eyre. My parents died. My aunt is mean to me. I went to a boarding school for orphans. I became a governess. I fell in love with my employer (OMG! SCANDAL!). He had a secret wife. I left him and then coincidentally found my cousins. My cousin asked him to marry me (OMG! SCANDAL!), but I said no. I went back to my employer. Who went blind. We lived happily ever after!

THE END (finally!)

Anyway, television season is upon us. Hooray for new ways to occupy my downtime.

First up: America’s Next Top Model. Not too different than any other reality competition, except for this one is fierce! Tyra Banks is a cartoon, but she’s fierce, too!

Next: Gossip Girl. My true anticipation for this fall. In case you didn’t know, it’s one of Josh Schwartz’s (creator of The OC) two shows this fall (I’ll get to the other one later). It premiered Wednesday night. It’s basically my favorite type of TV show: young people living scandalous lives that I wish I somehow had a part in. It’s shooting on location in New York City, which I love. And I love the fashion. And everybody on that show is pretty. So you’d think that I’d absolutely love it, because it’s “Welcome to the Upper East Side, (expletive that I’m not sure my mom would want on this blank, but use your imagination)!” but it’s really not even close to The OC, except for potential love triangles and young people that do drugs and drink and you wonder how people don’t notice when they do it in public, like Central Park, for example (except I read that that’s not actually that uncommon – who knew?). But I found myself comparing it to The OC. It’s not as funny, the adult characters are clichés of rich, overbearing parents, and it doesn’t really have the heart that made me love The OC. But then again, am I looking for The OC 2.0? Sorry, rhetorical question. Is this the show’s aim? To be The OC 2.0? No. I can deal with a fictional dose of scandal every seven days. In fact, we all can. Even though it makes our lives much more boring, it also makes up appreciate our dull lives. You know, in that “Thank God that’ll never happen to me” way?

Next: Chuck. Josh Schwartz’s critical darling this year. About a geek (think Geek Squad) who accidentally downloads a whole bunch of government secrets into his brain. Interesting concept. I only wish the geek were Adam Brody. Sigh.

For my mom: Grey’s Anatomy. The most outrageous show on television returns this fall after a trainwreck season finale. Burning questions:
-What will happen to Cristina now that Burke has left her?
-What will become of Meredith's and McDreamy’s relationship?
-Who will fill the ginormous void left my Addison, deemed as one of the few likeable characters on this show?
-How will the departure (okay, firing) of Isaiah Washington (Burke) affect the show?
How will Meredith’s half-sister, a new intern at the Seattle Grace, factor into the new season?
-Will Dr. Roberts (OC, people) ever make a cameo? Please?
-What will George do after failing his intern exam?
-George! Izzie! Gizzie! Gizzie? GIZZIE!?!?!
-But, more importantly, why do more than twenty million people in America care?

And so, in keeping with this whole Grey’s thing, as well as the quiz that my mom took last night (scroll down), I decided to take a quiz of my own: Which Grey’s Anatomy character are you most like? (In other words, just how crazy are you?)

36 questions later:

You are Callie! Smart, sexy and misunderstood, you aren't afraid to say what you think, but you tend to be very insecure. You like to keep your personal life secret because you feel people will judge you. You don't like labels and break the mold. You are very passionate and when you care about someone you deeply care and tend to be overprotective. All in all people enjoy your fun personality and amazing sense of humor but think you "come on too strong" at times.
Thank goodness. However, I apparently scored 33% as Meredith Grey. Okay, so I’m only one-third completely psycho? Good to know?

And, finally, since I feel like it’s been just too long:

iPod shuffle. Until I feel like stopping.

1. Arrivals (Are Never Enough) – The Ghost Is Dancing. Immediately pulls you in with the chant-like drums. Then sounds like a band that I can’t quite put my finger on. Surprisingly, that doesn’t bother me. (Although, maybe I’m getting a Rogue Wave vibe.)
2. Lover I Don’t Have to Love – Bright Eyes. You know, my mom really finds this song creepy, and probably not just because of Conor Oberst’s rather sneaky voice in this song. Because he sort of always has that hoarse thing going on. I don’t think she likes the lyrics. I love them. I won’t go so far to say that this song is haunting, but, then again, maybe it is. For those of you looking for a more “friendly” version of this song, if such a thing is possible, check out Bettie Serveert’s cover. I think she does it better. And not as creepy.
3. All Kinds of Time – Fountains of Wayne. Yes, of “Stacy’s Mom” fame. Although, that should be illegal. Any song that annoying, that overplayed, and that popular should never garner a band fame. But I think this song is totally the opposite. This song actually plays on The OC early in the series. You wouldn’t guess it from the lyrics, which talk about a quarterback that has “all kinds of time.” You also might not guess that a few years ago this song was featured in a commercial for the NFL Network. Although that seems like a more obvious choice, doesn’t it?
4. Song for Sunshine – Belle & Sebastian. Not the best Belle & Sebastian song. Not the best song from “The Avengers,” the ridiculously amazing fourth season premiere episode of The OC. But that really isn’t saying much, because every song in that episode rocked hard.
5. Remedy (I Won’t Worry) – Jason Mraz. Does this count as kind of embarrassing. Kind of? You be the judge. Actually, I take that back. Don’t judge. Who knows what songs will show up later. It’s a too catchy song from the guy that combines pop and rap to make radio-friendly tunes. We should all be so talented.
6. I Turn My Camera On – Spoon. What of the greatest mysteries of Spoon (okay, the only mystery that I can find) is how lead singer Britt Daniel (what a total rock-star name, by the way) can get his voice so high and have it sound good, while he keep his voice rather low in all of his other songs. Again, we should all be so talented and have as cool of a name as Britt Daniel.
7. The New e Blues – Western States Motel. This song only has 6 plays. No wonder, because it’s rather boring and monotone.
8. One More With Feeling – Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. I’ve expressed my extreme dislike for another GCWCF song, “I Spy,” which sounds like it should come straight out of One Tree Hill or off of a 12-year-old’s Myspace page, but this song is actually pretty wonderful, even though I can still detect that distinct sound from the lead singer’s voice in this song that makes “I Spy” so cringe-inducing.
9. I’m A Player – The K.G.B. This is why I told you not to judge.
10. Here It Goes Again (UK Surf) – OK Go. For all the crap that I say about Grey’s Anatomy, I have to say that it consistently features good music. However, I should also point out that that is not a product of the psychotic characters but rather of the wonderful music supervisor, Alex Patsavas, whom I love and envy and who was the music supervisor on The OC, and does the music for Gossip Girl, too. In this case, AP took a seriously overplayed song, however catchy and awesome the music video for it was, and found the more mellow version.
11. Hummingbird – Wilco. For a while I seriously loved this song, but I hadn’t heard it in a while up until a few days ago, and realized why I loved it in the first place: because it’s just so great. I love how it gradually builds up to the chorus. Right before the one-minute mark, this song seriously reminds me of one song that’s in You’ve Got Mail. Can’t tell you which one, and that, again, doesn’t really bother me.
12. Hang Me Up to Dry – Cold War Kids. This song was on the pilot of Gossip Girl, and over on the TWoP boards, where I am a frequent poster, some viewers were so ecstatic at CWK, an indie band from New York City, getting some recognition. Meanwhile, I keep thinking to myself: the music video for this song was practically on repeat a few months ago over on MTV. If that’s not recognition, then I’m really not sure what is.
13. Run-Away – Super Furry Animals. This song starts out kind of strange, but then it picks up, and sounds like a song from the 80’s. And for me, that’s a good thing.
14. Saturday Morning – Eels. This is a nice upbeat song about getting up early on Saturday mornings. I think it’s my mom’s weekend anthem.
15. Gone For Good – The Shins. I’m going to see this incredible band next month and couldn’t be more excited. Because The Shins make great music, as evidenced by this song.
16. Everything Will Be Alright – The Killers. Okay, that’s it, I’m stopping while I’m still ahead.

Well, that was good. Happy fall, everyone (tomorrow is the first day of fall, in case you didn’t know)! Here’s hoping that the Bulldogs lose to Alabama tonight. That would really kick off the new season in smashing fashion.

killing time.

...waiting for Sara to get home (seems like years since I did this for Katie!) browsing blogs...found this quiz:
Which Lion King Character Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Sarabi,You are Sarabi! Regardless of your gender, you have a warm spot in your heart for all things small and fuzzy. You tend to work well with kids, and they seem happy to oblige. You place a strong emphasis on family relations and chances are one of your closest bonds is with a familial figure of some sort. You're willing to give everyone a chance to prove themselves, even if they falter a few times. However, you do NOT tolerate agression well, and it's a big turn off for you in terms of finding a mate. And while you believe everyone deserves a second chance if they mess up, if their attitude is poor, you're less willing to accept them. Overall, though, you're very upbeat and personable - the perfect best friend!

...hummmm...I'm actually a 61% tie between Pumbaa and Sarabi and had to answer a tie-breaker question. (and ugh, I don't even remember enough about The Lion King to know if I should be happy, sad or embarrassed about these results. I need to find a Finding Nemo quiz....)

exploding box fun.

...mary, lydia and karen. beautiful papers. wine, cheese, vegetables and dip. and these directions (many thanks to glitter adventure!). equals one very terrific project and lots of fun! the directions were easy to follow. start to finish not nearly as much time as we planned (so more time for food, wine and laughing!) The hardest part was picking the papers and the inks to color the edges. There was also a tense minute when we had to decide about rounding the corners or leaving them square. Then I measured, cut and scored, while Lydia cut out corners and sponged edges and Karen was a whiz with the corner rounder. Group projects are usually more fun and this was no exception - especially when the results are so beautiful!

p.s. thank you Jill for taking our picture and p.p.s. to p&r - note the update to the "upcoming" sidebar - johnny, we're there!

more knitting.

...yes, I'm sure some people who read my blog (there are only a few of you, I know) will find it hard to believe that I could sign up for more knitting. But I did. This one goes with TV. Grey's Anatomy specifically. see the new button on the sidebar for the Grey's KAL. Why? Because:

*I need a new tv show; since the Soprano's and The O.C. are finished and Entourage is on break, there is nothing (except a few Food Network shows, and they don't count) that I watch - of course the time that's freed up in the evenings for things like knitting (but if I'm honest, mostly knitting blogs) makes getting a new show a real tradeoff. But Katie, and my frieds Sue and Francie love the show, so I'm thinking that's a good start
*I really enjoy knitting (especially the beginning part, where I am now, picking a pattern and yarn...and of course the ending part where I finish something, but I trust that will come)
*I'd like to meet some more knitters...who blog...

So this was kind of a no-brainer, right?

I found this KAL from links from links (and probably more links) from Lime&Violet's Daily Chum. Picking my project has been the tough part so far (I've decided not to really worry about catching up on the first 3 seasons of the show I've missed - the last episode of season 3 is on tonight and I figure that will set me up ok even if I can't watch anything else!). I was initially very intrigued by mention of a greys anatomy colorway from white oak studio. And I checked it out - no more greys on the site, but the wonderful shop owner said she'd make some for me (love that special attention!) and what weight did I want, fingering or sport? ...so then I realized I really didn't know what the colorway was, and what patterns might work. I googled it this morning and discovered it's grey/red/black. And I don't need socks like that and don't have anything in mind for those colors in a sport weight either. So I stressed... and visited her blog and found out about the polar express colorway. Which I absolutely loved. I found this shawl pattern (in sport weight, like the red one in the picture). And I've inquired about availability of the colorway. And I'm excited about the project.

...and about my first episode of Grey's...

southern hospitality.

...ok, I've stressed about the title for this post for nearly 24 hours. Because the main content I have to share is about our visit last night with the Yarn Harlot. And I didn't want to copy anyone else - probably was a mistake to read the comments on her Seattle,, LA and Kansas posts anyway...without that knowledge, I wouldn't have known I was copying and then it wouldn't really be copying, right? (am I an obsessive worrier?!)...

anyway - I decided that "southern hospitality" summed up nicely what I'm proud we showed her, and the warm welcome I felt myself meeting so many knitters (sadly, I didn't ask for names or blognames but I feel certain I'll run into some of these fine ladies again). in short, it was a truly wonderful, memorable evening and I was so glad I got to spend it with Lydia, too (wished we lived a bit closer to each other so we could make "knit nights" a reality :-).

I showed the pictures to Sara this morning - all still on my camera - her comment (and boy, I hope she's not a soon-to-be CHOKE operative) "wow, look at all the knitters"...

We enjoyed the pre-talk knit-along and just a bit of the picnic that Lydia and I planned so carefully. We talked with very talented knitters who were knitting shawls, socks, boyfriend sweaters, scarves and bags - and many of them were wearing what they'd made - lots of ooohs and aaaahs. I had fun talking with two women who'd traveled from Montgomery and Birmingham - both new knitters and probably in their later 20's/early 30's - and I shared that I had been knitting for about 30 years, but more like on again, off again and most recently "on" when I realized I could knit and talk to my girls at the same time (or knit and watch football) and feel good "in the moment" and not like I should be doing something else.
yes we had good food and wine and were the envy of everyone around us!

Lydia and I were sitting on the back left side - just in front of the stairs - great seats!
Stephanie's talk was hilarious and thought-provoking ... and most of all made me glad to be a knitter. Except that I'm a US knitter and can't begin to explain (shoot, I don't even understand myself) how we number our knitting needles - can't wait til everyone does it the same way!

Then a 2 hour break - they had the book signings in two parts - first part for the folks who traveled far (Alabama, South Carolina, other parts of Georgia and North Carolina for sure) and second part for those of us lucky enough to be local. Lydia and I enjoyed a bit more of our picnic, talked to a few more knitters, knitted, ... and then headed back to Knitch to snag a place in line. Good timing for us - we were the last two to get a seat just outside the door. We grabbed coffee and chatted with a nice girl named Mary (who was wearing a beautiful green sweater she designed herself) who took our picture.

It was after 10 before we started the 2nd signing - but it was so worth the wait! We had a few minutes to talk with Stephanie and show off our washcloths. Wow!

that's my washcloth she's holding!

Turns out the coffee wasn't decaf, so we had plenty of energy for a browse through Knitch before heading home. Both of us tempted to purchase yarn for an absolutely yummy shrug - a store pattern that was knitted up in lime green, something totally soft, on size 13 needles which makes it almost a weekend project. But responsibility did prevail - I headed home and was in bed by midnight (ugh, alarm going off at 4 am is not fun!)

(I did skip out of the office at 12:30 today to get home for a quick nap between 2 and 3 - I just can't function on 4 hours sleep anymore!)

fo's.

...fka "finished objects" or "things I've actually finished"...and in the past few years, there haven't been many (other than scarves knitted on very big needles). So it might come as a huge surprise to know that I actually blocked the fingerless gloves, and the hat, and completed a cute peach colored georgia cloth for the Yarn Harlot - and I did all that just last night!

Proof:
there really are two gloves (with the cables reversed just like the pattern says) but I couldn't figure out how to photo both at one time while they were both on my hands! and note the improvement since this photo in the picot bindoff (along the top) with the blocking :-)

from this pattern that Lydia found for me (and it's copywritten, so if I've messed up posting the link - or the picture - my apologies!)

No picture of the hat - Sara was already working out by the time I got home and I didn't want to put the new hat on the sweaty head.

(time to buy more yarn? there are only 8,571 people ahead of me now at ravelry...I'll need a good stash once I get my invitation!)

the good news first.

...the weather was absolutely beautiful, we got to see Katie two days in a row, we cooked, we laughed. Almost makes the bad news (did you see the GT vs BC game?) seem not so bad.

Saturday, Sara and I met Katie for lunch at The Globe. Food and service were good as always (one waiter recognized me and Katie from our last visit!). We took over a quiet corner table and pored over ads (love the new Martha Stewart line at Macy's), catalogs, magazines, made lists and generally got better organized for Katie's big move-in day next month.

Then the girls ditched me for a nap and a few hours of the America's Next Top Model marathon (guess who did what?!). I enjoyed my knitting and a coffee.

and the beautiful day.

This was the best part of the game. Before the players actually started playing. The band looked good and how about those GT flags.

Sunday, Sara took a tennis lesson, and again, I enjoyed my knitting and the beautiful day.

We made garbanzo bean soup and savory biscotti for lunch. Love the recipe (it's from a Salud! class that Sara and I took earlier this year) and it's one of the (few) things I appreciate about the end of summer.

Katie came by to drop off her bedding purchases and stayed through dinner. We tried two new recipes from Ellie Krieger's show that Sara watched Saturday morning - a cherry sauce for the pork tenderloin that Marc grilled and a black-eyed pea, spinach salad. Both were delicious and definitely make-agains.

Then early to bed (for me anyway) to get a well-rested start for the working week!

triple s.

...my secret of the stole swatch is finally done. and whew! but I love the results and the colors of both the yarn and the beads - and the yarn with the beads:


a close up of the beads


I started a photo album on the yahoo group site, too.

Notes to self:
*check out other needles - I tried the addi turbos, but I only have a 16 inch one, and that was just too short - but I loved the way the points made it easier to not pickup the wrong parts of the stitches
*only one glass of wine per 2 hours of knitting allowed
*count stitches after EVERY row!

cooking without marc.

...when he's out of town, Sara and I take advantage to cook...especially things Marc doesn't like (fish, vegetarian, pasta, etc.) So this morning, knowing we had three sweet potatoes left over from the weekend, we decided to get creative. I set Sara loose on our "magazine cookbook" (a binder full of recipes from all the years we've subscribed to Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Southern Living, Martha Stewart) With the vague direction that we could substitute sweet pototoes for squash or regular potatoes in many recipes. She decided on this one (actually not a recipe I'd flagged in the cookbook; this one simply shared the page with baked penne with broccoli and three cheeses - a recipe I've never made :-)

So we made a list to buy onion, zucchini, diced tomatoes, garbanzo beans and olives (appears I haven't done a very good job of keeping a well-stocked pantry) and I shopped at Harry's on the way home.

The vegetable stew went according to plan. We did substitute one teaspoon of oregano for the orange peel and ours did cook much longer than the recipe indicated, but the results were fine (eventually).

The potato pancakes were a different story. We usually have some sort of binder in our pancakes, like an egg? This recipe is potatoes, onion and flour. In the interest of keeping healthy, we didn't modify that part. But when Sara started to cook them, not so good. The potatoes didn't hold together and after 10 minutes we had something resembling hash. Which seemed ok. So we added the rest of the potatoes and made hash.

And served it with the stew.

And it was very good. We'll definitely make the stew again. But maybe we'll just serve it over mashed sweet potatoes!

catching up.

...hard to believe it's been nearly two months since we spent a week together at the beach. But it has. And it was wonderful to catch up today. Urban...we were the only ones there for a while and enjoyed the full attention of the wait staff! We ooh'd and ah'd over the 5 years worth of photos I compiled this summer. I am loving having my albums caught up, especially the beach one and the "regular" one that already has pictures from the weekend (thanks to a well-timed visit to Wolf yesterday...of course adding eight pictures is only a five minute task - and so much easier to manage than catching up years!) Such a blessing to share daughters and growing up, family, and a few fabulous memories of just our own.

We also talked about Thanksgiving and how to "share" our parents' visit (pretty amazing how much of a routine - tradition?! - we've established these past few years), and the upcoming two-day walk (I was pleasantly surprised to find out it's a 30 mile walk over two days, not two 30-mile days... so I'm now very much looking forward to a girls night Saturday night!), and even our plans for Beaufort next March (for example, going as late as possible so it's as warm as possible...but I still think the best thing is to expect "chilly"). And just a few moments to touch on the upcoming box surprise...

ready to swatch.

...yes, finally! I have my yarn, and beads, and even a new very very tiny crochet hook. And totally enjoyed the LYS experience today (especially meeting up with Lydia and Jean...but not so much Lydia's yarn winding :-). Sorry internet, nothing can take the place of seeing and touching the yarn...and talking to a very friendly, helpful, LYS owner. I'm kind of kicking myself for spending so much time on-line about the selection, but maybe it made the ultimate choice easier?

And in other news, the hibiscus evidently missed the memo about fall!

dinner club.

...these very good friends of mine (originally all from work) started a dinner club back in August 2005 to make sure I had something to do when Katie went to college. It was a welcome diversion and I enjoyed it - getting to know everyone better...and sharing a lot of laughter, good talk, wonderful food and wine. In the past two years, three of the group have moved to other jobs (two in other cities), there's been a new baby and a newly single - like I've said about my bookclub, we've seen life happen. We haven't met as regularly since Kris moved away, but she was in town this weekend and got us back together. Wonderful evening. I played with my camera - still hating the flash and the red-eye and washed out faces - but in nearly night time light, there's no other way to get a picture!

tidbits of the conversation I picked up: crazy travel plans for work - beautiful travel plans to the southwest for vacation::if I give you money will you shop for me?::CAbi!!::so I have a 10 month old and I'm five months pregnant::love wine with screw tops::shopping routine - Costco, Target, Kroger::hairdresser loyalty::they ordered a bottle::why'd he drive my car like that?::Kris is planning a Christmas get together - with a gift exchange (because we'll get good ones) - at Lisa's or Mary's or Janel's?::so sorry we missed Laura, Marcia and Melanie...maybe next time?!

game day.

...Sara and Mary - two seats on the west side, 50-yard line, 10th row. Georgia Tech vs. Samford. Beautiful September blue-skies-hot Saturday afternoon. Have you ever seen so much gold, blue, black and white in one place? This is what I think college football is all about here in the South. Final score Tech 69 - Samford 14. A great home opener. And a wonderful opportunity to see Katie!
Lunch before-hand at Baraonda...a new tradition.

changing colors.

...this tree in our backyard was the first one to bloom in the spring - and it's now the first to start turning in the fall. at least the color is pretty. because I really hate to see the summer ending...

and on my way back inside after taking that picture, I noticed Chance - and love how we're both "inside the mirror" in this shot.

In other news, I've spent way too much time on-line this week finding yarn for my two new KAL's (click the buttons on the sidebar to see details). I especially love this (in java) and this (in blackberry). But there are lots of other options...to the point I can't make a decision about the yarn. But I have decided I need to see and feel real yarn. So trips to a few yarn stores are in my weekend plans.

Oh, and I think I'm making good progress on lilith:

birthdays.

...my neice, Paula, and good friend, Tricia, both have birthdays this month. So tonight I made cards.
Happy birthday Paula! (finally got around to cutting up - and using! - the stampin up's fresh flower set...only to learn it was discontinued in 2007)

Happy birthday Tricia! (we used this stamp set for a card at last month's stamp club - the beach reminded me of Tricia, who moved to Florida last year and reminds me every so often how nice it is to live at the beach)

layouts!

...finally - I was beginning to think that creative energy to make another scrapbook page had deserted me. I made one layout in June and this one in August.
journaling reads "a favorite photo - May 22, 2007 - debut of the O.C. Season 4 on dvd - and when I saw this quote on a magnet at Harry's, the layout just clicked!"

So for the past 3-4 weeks, I've had a block about this next one. I had the 5x7 two-of-us photo from Sara's first night back after camp. Lots of stars in the background. I found a great star/smile/love quote. And then this patterned "starburst" paper when we visited Mt Dora back in July. And I matched up yellows and purples from my cardstock and punched stars. But I couldn't ever get it much past that.

So this afternoon I sat down with some of the new papers and ribbons from Friday's trip to Bonnie's, and it came together. I even punched holes in my photo to get the ribbon detail (I think that's the first time I've ever "altered" a real photo!). And used my new sharpie gold pen - love how it shows up on the dark paper. And chipboard stars with gold PearlEx powder, then Crystal Effects.
"If I had a star for every time you made me smile, I would be holding the night sky in my hand."

inspired.artist workshop

... (see here) I think I want to go. Checked out the blogs of the teachers and every single one of them looks awesome.inspiring.fun. anyone game to go with?

hello fall.

(photo courtesy of Pottery Barn - we saw this wreath on Saturday and loved it!)
...just saw a segment on Today saying that fall is now the new "new year" - it's definitely a season of beginnings - new tv, new school, new football. And finally the weather here has cooled off a bit. Our August was one of the hottest ever, so the cooler temps are welcome (like highs only in the 80's and it seems cool enough right now to run with a t-shirt - wow!) Day three of the 3-day weekend and I don't have much planned, other than Sky (car needs a wash badly after the rainy trip to Aiken), lunch with Sara, something crafty and laundry.

The first two days were good. Saturday - very successful shopping trip. Sara got cute new tops from Gap and Urban Outfitters (Sara's is slightly different style/color, but still a "baby-doll cardigan" and very cute). I even bought a top at Urban Outfitters (not quite this one - mine is purple and black - but it's this style - Sara says it's way cute with jeans and I agree)! And nice pants from Banana Republic. And shoes from Nordstroms (in brown). Lunch at Garrisons.

But the best part of the day was definitely the game. Sara changed into her GT attire in record time and we all cheered...multiple times...Go Jackets - 33-3!! also enjoyed a quick call from my dad after the game - just checking in to be sure we had as much fun watching as he did (of course we did!)

I got a solid start on the lilith stole. Decided to swatch which was a good idea because my yarn with the recommended needle size (a 9) was way too dense. Seems just right on the 10-1/2 (bottom swatch).

And a close up.

Yesterday was mostly getting ready for dinner. Marc sauteed scallops and I made Ina's roasted vegetable orzo and mango salsa (from the parties cookbook - both totally yummy) plus the tomato/mozzarella salad and crudites to start. Vicki brought this lovely cake for dessert and we ate while watching Entourage. Last episode of the season. A surprising ending. And we can't wait for season 5!

Marc was awesome - he even hand-washed all my stangl :-)