good times, good food.

...sums up friday and saturday perfectly! a day off work is always a great start to the weekend. sara and I enjoyed one of our favorite play days. and I finally figured out last week's create 08 prompt. my play isn't really anything like those dolphins, is it?
a sunny day also showed off our house and the huge trees. and I got the photo for this week's create 08.loved, too, that sara helped me with the words on both photos. the fonts, the colors, and even the placement. it really was a wonderful day!

then yesterday we met up with lydia and jean. belated birthday lunch for jean at pastis. followed by a little bit of yarn shopping at cast on cottage.
and I was inspired by my small purchase (six balls of debbie bliss pure cotton for an easy beach knit) to get my stash organized. yeah, finally!

here is everything in process.
and the finished product.
and I was actually surprised that it all fit into 3 small boxes and two larger ones. of course it does represent years of knitting ahead of me, but I like it all and had fun paging through a few magazines and jotting down notes for a few future projects.

gardener-extraordinaire.

...my mom! thank you so much for tracking down the "mystery flowers" - they're phlox. not just any phlox, but Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavender'. And my mom, in addition to being gardener-extraordinaire (seriously, she can grow just about anything, in any climate, and can give advice about what grows well where...sadly, my sister seems to have inherited all of my mom's gardening genes...or at least that's how I explain me knowing nothing, and struggling to learn anything!) is also internet wonder-woman! I can only imagine the searching techniques she employed to find the exact match for the photo of my mystery flowers. thank you!

25 years.

...june 20, 1983 - the day I started working at hazlehurst & associates (subsequently acquired by northern trust, in 1994, and then hewitt, in 2003), and I celebrated those 25 years with a few of my very good friends last night. they told some funny-now stories, mostly about how younger-me was so intense and intimidating. I made roxanna cry on her first day (whew - thankfully she was persistent - she'll celebrate 20 years next year!). or how I'm full of energy - especially early in the morning, even when I'm interviewing college students at 8:00 a.m. (gee, maybe that was really just another story about me being intense and intimidating :-)

I've lost track of all the roles I've had, and many of the people I've worked with. For most of those 25 years, I was also a wife and a mother and I spent just enough time at the office to get my work done. That makes me especially thankful for the wonderful people who stood by me, supported me, offered coaching and feedback and basically just put up with me day in and day out.

I really don't remember much about that 20-year old who started working 25 years ago. On her first day, she wore a blue suit with a white ruffled blouse (yes, 1983 business attire was pretty hideous), had graduated from college just a week before, rode the bus downtown because she couldn't afford parking and had only worked in an office for two summer jobs. She didn't know anyone there, but she made friends. She was a quick learner. She liked to solve problems. She liked to have fun. These last three traits are still what keep me going and really, they've made me a career.

wednesday.

...and for sure this will not be a week without a blog posting!

first up - the mystery flowers are blooming again.
unfortunately, it's the only thing in our yard that is blooming. hoping the lack of crepe myrtle blooms is very temporary. {and if you clicked the link, how much fun to revisit that post from last summer when I was home all alone for the first time...ever!}

then a (very) quick funny-now story from the katie/rob dinner on sunday. here's the hint:(y'all do know by now to click photos for details, right?)

yes, chance caused quite a disturbance in our kitchen when he pooped on the rug and then katie stepped into it and I lost it and of course so did katie and marc cleaned up and sara kept trying to calm everyone down. definitely took some tension out of our first meeting with rob. funny-now thing is that I was really in tears about it on sunday, but now, just three short days later, it's hilarious. maybe my age is showing. sara tells me this is the kind of story that ina garten would put into a cookbook and use as an example of overcoming obstacles to create a fabulous party. not sure this was fabulous, but I am sure it was memorable! {sara just reminded me the food was fabulous - and she's right!}

of course all that excitement totally distracted me from getting other photos. so I still have NOthing with marc and the girls (katie/sara - you owe me...big!)

mostly knitting.

...not so much that I spent time on knitting, but that three of the five photos are about knitting. yesterday was the best kind of rainy saturday. the sun actually came out just long enough for me to get a quick run in at the park, but the rest of the morning and the afternoon...cloudy, partly drizzly.

a perfect excuse to bring home a bouquet of gerbera daisies to brighten the counter.
and it was nice to feel ok about staying inside and rewatching something's gotta give. sara thinks we've seen it a million times. but I still get a kick out of diane keaton's lovely beach house in the hamptons (and oh my - definitely check out the link - who knew that architectural digest did an article on the set design - great photos, too!), the wonderful sound track (always on my ipod) and the happy ending.

marc taught sara how to make mussels. he has a great recipe that uses white wine, some fresh herbs and usually tomatoes.
while I worked a little on my 2nd zombie sock.
and thought about what we might make with our 2nd punk rock installment. maybe this or this or this?
oh, and just this morning remembered to take a photo of the finished (even blocked!) leaflings.

recap.

...every time I do it, I vow it will be the last. and yet here I am again... a whole week between blog posts. I had very good intentions, but they never materialized. so, the recap. (you can click the photos for more details)

father's day. different for marc this year with both girls home. and sara's yummy cheesecake for dessert.
bookclub at terri's. a smaller group than last year. but another beautiful summer evening.
play day with sara on thursday. lots of driving for her (400, 285, numerous surface streets and even the dark) and she's doing great with all of it!


today we're getting ready for dinner tomorrow. (katie and rob are coming over. another cheesecake. "steak food" and drinks.) and enjoying the rain.

water.

...this week's prompt inspired by elise's vacation in hawaii. and of course it meant "ocean" and "beach" to me.

this photo wasn't a favorite from last summer's beach trip, so I never printed or shared it - but cropped and autocorrected in photoshop, it shows everything I love about the ocean. the water. the colors. the waves. cresting or "ruffling" as my friend lisa says. and I continued the ruffle theme on the back with a bit of ribbon.

herb garden.

...sara requested we plant some herbs - just basic ones, so she could use fresh in her cooking instead of dried. we visited harry's and found a great selection. now planted in two pots on our deck. we added the cilantro, parsley and mint just yesterday, so she hasn't used them yet. but I love how she created a sandwich from my favorite salad with the basil. and the vinaigrettes for our daily salads are yummy with fresh oregano and thyme.

caprese sandwich - click photo for more details

shoes and socks.

...corny title, I know. but it seemed like such a fun idea driving home from knit night thursday night. I got compliments on my new shoes all day. And they really were pretty comfortable - saying a lot since I wore them for 15 georgia-summer hours! And the knit night ladies ooh'd and ahh'd over my socks. Grand plans to finish the leaflings this weekend. And get the 2nd zombie cast on at least before the next installment arrives...probably by next weekend.
not sure about all we'll do today. definitely a run in the park. a grocery run for father's day cooking supplies (cheesecake, burgers, coleslaw, maybe sweet potato fries). hopefully some time to finish this week's create08. I spent some time last night going through all the photos from last summer's beach trip. and found some great ocean water to inspire me. it's also world wide knit in public day today. And I'm really hoping I can get to cast on cottage just to say I did it! (even though they're not listed as having a "kip" event, I know there will be knitting on the lawn and definitely a lot of fun!)

(and if you were waiting for an update on game night - we played another round of sequence - and I won. sara says she doesn't like cribbage much.)

tied.

...as in I won sequence (actually I won twice), so game night must continue tonight! We realized there aren't many games that are really good for two. Hopefully sara's memory is good (and it is certainly better than mine!) and we really do have a cribbage board.

In other news, I am really enjoying this blog/website. It so makes me want to learn to take better photographs. I think the camera is part of it, too (marc says no, but I think that might be just marc). And I'm seriously considering the investment in time for next spring's trips.

I was telling sara about our plans for paris (another really good thing about game night is that it provides a wonderful opportunity for just talking) and we got to talking about where we might go for next year's spring break. Assuming of course that sara is still game to be my travel buddy and doesn't head off to florida like most other high schoolers. Topping our list right now - a return to chicago or new york, followed by portland (oregon).

game night.

...one of my favorite things about summer is no school, which means no homework and evenings free to enjoy. last night, sara and I played scrabble. she won. with words like quilt and jib and kina (which we looked up - some kind of greek money, I think), which were simply no match for even exit or meze.

before & after.

create 08 week 23 (wow, yes, 23 - I'm going to need to up-size the binder rings soon!) and a perfect excuse, not that I ever really need one!, to visit my favorite MAC counter at Macy's. I loved everything the makeup artist did, and only hope I can replicate it - even just a little bit - for work tomorrow.

Sara and I are planning what I think is the perfect girls day. the gym. the pool to cool off and have lunch. the matinee to see sex and the city.

happy sunday and happy summer!

the new car.

...hopefully the last one we buy for a very, very, very long time!now she needs to learn parallel parking and practice a bit more on driving this car and then she takes her test. and gets her license. then we opened her checking account this morning. more steps toward independence!

girls beach weekend.

...whew! glad to be home, glad lisa drove (I know 14+ hours of driving is no fun, but at least I had a lot of knitting time - thank you, lisa!), but oh so glad to have the last four days of memories! thank you kris, lisa and especially janel for hosting us!

the mosaic is really the best way to share the weekend's photos(the entire album is here).

click captions below to see more info

1. welcome to florida, 2. janel and lucy, 3. beach toes, 4. thursday dinner, 5. friday lunch, 6. riding waves, 7. friday night, 8. in st augustine, 9. watermelon margaritas, 10. space shuttle #1, 11. space shuttle #2, 12. at the beach, 13. grilled corn, 14. night photo, 15. beach at night, 16. gaillardia

of course pictures are only part of the story. sometimes words help to recall it better: when are we leaving:who's picking up kris?:hostess gift? shoot! but lisa's is cute!:happy hour at the beach:lisa gets the cave (and a well-deserved uninterrupted night's sleep):what happens in st augustine stays in st augustine:a two-mile run turns into a five mile workout:bike rides and ringing the bell:shrimp tacos:high maintenance:sex and the city:beach bum beer:of course we can have shrimp six meals in a row:bl(cr)ackberry:bike ride for dessert:challenger takeoff so much better than rip tide rescue:cooking:wine:super secret parking spot:spying on the rehearsal dinner at oc whites:watermelon margaritas:french press wake-up:wireless in the dining room:digital scrapbook show and tell:janel might be a morning person:lucy on the couch?!:hand-held shower:sharing recipes:family histories and family skeletons:sunscreen? might need a towel, or a shirt, or bury myself in the sand:gulfcoast v. atlantic:when's high tide?:when's sunset?:life of the party:trouble maker:cheetos and diet coke cures all:manfriend:soduko:what's catholic (and who is): [lisa, kris and janel - what are the highlights I'm forgetting? I'm sure there are many! please leave in the comments]

I couldn't figure out how to edit the mosaic, so this photo of our last lunch together at A1A Aleworks stands alone. great photo. great lunch (yummy crab blt - omg, katie & sara, I've found a better love than salmon blt!). great ending. ...well at least an ending for our "together time" - we still had a 7-1/2 hour drive home and kris had a flight at 7:30...