love.

...the digital "stuff" from ali. yes, I've posted about it before, but seriously, this stuff is cool! fun to work with. and easy to turn an ordinary photo or piece of patterned paper into something special. for this week in the life project, I was originally thinking these, but I've got over 40 photos already. so maybe this would be better. and this photo - love my new love circles on a close-up shot of one of the roses in the garden across the street from my office.

hello work.

hello work
Originally uploaded by mere2007

...I'm trying some different things with photos this week - well, mainly that I take lots and lots of them, but also that I try to capture what the everyday moments are really like.

pictures and words.

...not quite what I plan to do for the "week in your life" album that I'll be starting tomorrow. but a pretty good step toward getting caught up with create 08. just three more entries to go, or really four, if I count the one that will go up this tuesday. still, no longer unrealistic to think I can catch up (and stay caught up?!). click the photos to see bigger and click these links to read the journaling (teacups, fall, work).

just what I needed.

...feeling very ...um... un-creative lately. no pretty paper and glue. I'm so far behind in my create08 (aka paper adventure) that catching up seems unrealistic. I miss it.

but yesterday ali posted about a week in the life album and that was a project I especially liked from life artist. and shimelle's got the latest installment of scrap your day up (I even found the naked calendar online here). and leslie posted about fall and pumpkin cookies.

thank goodness it's friday, so two days of weekend around the corner. I think it's time to get creative!

fall dinner.

fall dinner
Originally uploaded by mere2007

...all vegetables. just the way sara and I like it right now. and great conversation poring over the salud fall schedule and thinking about more fall meals, and our thanksgiving menu.

not that I need a "real" excuse.

...to go back to portland next summer. but this one looks pretty good. I signed up for the mailing list. and now I just need to get karen and lydia excited about it. and see if francie and dale are ready!

2-day walk 08.

...2 days, 30-ish miles walked with my best friend and sister, feeling like we helped to make an impact in the fight against this horrible disease. thanks to our dear family and friends, we raised nearly $3,500. yes, three five zero zero! and donations are still coming in.

I think we both agreed this year's walk was better than last. on the staff's part, the hotel, the organization and the route will be hard to top. and on our part, or really just mine, I'm not thinking I'll be laid off running for 3 months! (but I am sitting here now with both feet propped up and under ice). we've already signed up for next year (sidebar upcoming updated and I'll add the link to our donation page as soon as the staff recovers from the event and resets everything for 2009).

(and this mosaic is only 13 of the 26 "best" photos I took... click here to see them all).

celebrating.

...sara's induction into the national honor society with a lovely dinner, just the two of us, at bistro vg.

bookclub at alice's.

(click photo to see who's who)

...to discuss the Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. General consensus was positive. But we might've liked it better as the "Friday Night Bookclub", since that's our favorite type of women's group. Of course if it were our club, it would be the "3rd Wednesday Night Bookclub". Other thoughts - the knitting didn't seem "real" - Kate seemed detached from it somehow. The ending seemed rushed. We hope they make it a movie and pick someone totally gorgeous to play James (actually, we think the plot would serve very well for a movie - it's a great chick flick!). Everyone wants an Anita in their lives. Wish there had been a picture of the two knitted dresses; we found it hard to imagine what they look like.

monday last-day.

...yeah, I know there's no rhyming or alliteration, but that's more how it felt. the last sunrise.

(click these photos for more info)

the last walk. buying the coffee so I could recreate the lovely st honore moments. the last episode of mad men. the last lunch.

the last shopping. which was actually really more of a very new thing. who knew quilting could be so...inspiring! we spent a good couple of hours searching fabrics and then sewing machines. turns out lake oswego might be the quilting capitol of the world (at least compared to atlanta, where the nearest bernina dealer is in marietta and quilt fabric might be just that far away too)

the last drinks on the deck.

but hopefully not the last time for my $35 dress this summer!
in all it was a lovely visit - the best of everything that you can enjoy with 25+ year friends. very very lucky me! thank you francie & dale!

sunday funday.

...a leisurely recovery from saturday wineday. a pretty walk by the river, sensing fall is on its way. coffee at st honore in downtown lake oswego. more mad men (of course!). tapas at andina in the pearl district. grilled asparagus and mussels were fabulous-delicious. and the potato fritata and grilled scallops were yummy, too.
and shopping - wait til you see the $35 dress (yes, seriously, thirty five!) from bubble boutique!

hummmmm....what will today bring? monday "insert word here"-day?

wine country.

1. bergstrom, 2. mary & francie, 3. wine tunnel, 4. archery summit, 5. vineyard, 6. domaine serene, 7. lange, 8. francie & willie, 9. francie & dale

...the weather, the views, the company, the wine, the food - it was a perfect day.

fridaying.

...portland style. starts out dark-early (my early rising eastern time translates to very very early rising pacific time!) but then a fabulous sunrise.
more mad men before shopping at the adidas company store (one of francie's neighbors got us passes). stocking up on running and workout gear. the best part was not realizing there would be a 50% discount at the register!
lunch at st honore in NW portland.
more shopping. first twisted. they have a wonderful selection of yarns I haven't seen in person, plus a colorway of silk garden that was new-to-me, too. bought socks that rock silkie in a green on green colorway called jade to knit clapotis for francie (she must have that scarf for paris!), three balls of the silk garden for another knit round scarf (that makes four of them - yes, I'm creating a whole wardrobe from that pattern!) and louet merlin in eggplant to knit this (they had a shop sample on display and I tried it on - too cute!)

and then ink+peat. the store absolutely lived up to the photos I'd seen before. and it was so cool to meet pam!
an unsuccessful attempt to find mad men series one on dvd.

and finally, a lovely dinner on the patio.

hello portland.

...great view of mt hood from the plane. (going back to atlanta, I should get to see mt ranier). we had a lovely first day, kicked off in great style with lunch on the deck. then a walk. I'm working hard to get ready for next weekend - the hills here should help! francie's introduced me to mad men. wow. and it's on amc. more wine and lots of plans for paris.

the hostess gift.

...finding something for my good friend francie is hard. but we're planning a trip to paris next spring and I somehow got through a conversation that she didn't have the barefoot contessa's paris book. and it seemed only fitting to make the madelines (thanks to sara!)

alexa.

...done! and I am in love with it. know you will definitely see pictures of the finished sweater because I think I will wear this one a lot. and it was fun to knit. except for the finishing. I calculated 93 rows and 410 stitches of 3x2 rib. suffice it to say - I will not be making another sweater with that particular design element anytime soon!

nope! I'm planning to cast on this (and maybe this - you know, it's a long flight and I'm planning plenty of diversion - sorry I couldn't find a non-ravelry link!) for my trip to portland today. and when I finish them, or find some good yarn, I intend to cast on this.

healthy breakfast.

...remember my starbucks feedback? way back on april 3. healthy breakfast was one of the ideas I had that wasn't an "original". and now starbucks has introduced a whole new line of good-for-you breakfast options. I left the house this morning without my breakfast and lunch (totally an accident!), so had a great excuse to try the fruit/berry stella. loved it! good job, starbucks!

(photo courtesy of serious eats)

three thousand eighty.

...the amount karen and I have raised for the upcoming 2-day walk. wow. wow. wow. and thank you!

a photo from last year's walk

here's to america.

1. here's to america, 2. august birthday phase 10 tournament, 3. make a wish, 4. cards, 5. i-75 sunset, 6. sunday brunch, 7. cards...again, 8. after dinner, 9. sunday snacks, 10. knitting, 11. pre-wish, 12. cards, 13. before dinner
please click the links for details and full photos

...hopefully a not-too-controversial title for a blog post about a fabulous weekend. celebrating my mom's 70th birthday. my brother, my sister and I drove to florida to spend the weekend with my mom and dad. in addition to all the photos above, we took two before we left on monday and my mom liked them in front of the flag - a focal point in her family room - and, I think, a fitting tribute to what I like best about america...families, shared histories branching out to create new traditions, abundance, a solid work ethic, shared values and love. truly, these are the same things I love about my family. and I love them for it. thank you, mother (and daddy!) for the wonderful memories from this weekend...added on top of so many others!