more kitchen table time.

...it's been way too long since I indulged in a kitchen table photo. probably because it seems kind of weird  when it's just me. it's much more fun if there's someone else to share it with. 

click the photo to see the notes

today's story isn't about knitting*, but letter writing. I've got three regular pen pals (my mom, katie and sara) in my life and I try very hard to send weekly letters. because then I get weekly letters. and getting real mail is worth it!

*I was actually surprised that I was knitting in all of those kitchen table photos. really? is that all I ever did while I was sitting there?! (no need to answer!)

instant gratification.

...the kind that comes from realizing a project's completion in mere hours.

otherwise known as the marian cowl, knit in malabrigo rasta. I met this yarn for the first time on monday night and knew I had to knit with it. tuesday morning I did some research to post on the shop blog and found a perfect pattern (sorry, this link only works for ravelry users). I bought the yarn and yesterday, cast on 57 stitches, knit for a bit.

kind of a funny thing, I'd planned this to be a "wordless wednesday" post - but it took me over an hour this morning to figure out how to get the photo off my iphone!

and finished it. I think the total knitting time was around two hours.

yesterday, I figured out my plan for holiday knitting. and realized I wasn't going to have much time over the next eight weeks for spur-of-the-moment projects. unless they only take two hours!

the handoff.

mary, dawn, karen...and the quilt!

...I think we were all amazed at how quickly we managed to set a date to handoff the quilt (less than a week seems like a minor miracle with three busy women). but we managed it last night - and had a great time with dawn. we met at tara humata and enjoyed sitting outside, drinking margaritas, eating chips and guacamole and these really cheesy yummy fajita nachos (sorry no photos, you'll just have to imagine the goodness!) and talking. we've known dawn for years - I think we both have daughters who babysat for dawn when she was a brand new mama (and that "baby girl" is now a beautiful third grader - wow time flies!!) - and that made it extra special. we also learned that her donation was in memory of her husband's mother. it seems like everyone we know is touched by the disease somehow. and that's why we do this walk.

again, many thanks to all of you for your generous support. we couldn't do it without you!

a birthday.

...our fall birthday bonanza is officially underway - we celebrated marc's birthday last night with his favorite dinner (I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of bratwurst and sauerkraut!) and his favorite dessert.

sara baked this friday night and it was perfect to serve sunday evening. happy (early) birthday, marc!!

a wedding.

...my good friend virginia's daughter got married yesterday. the weather was perfect, the setting was beautiful (I think I saw more people taking pictures of the scenery than the people!), the food was delicious.

I had my camera and I managed a few good photos, but this one was really all about enjoying the day and the people. and celebrating a marriage. sara and I had a wonderful time!

congratulations and best wishes to corey & ryan!

and the winner is.

...karen & I finally managed to get together wednesday evening to draw for the quilt. we really wanted to do it the old fashioned way.

with slips of paper in a bowl. each $25 donated for our walk got one slip of paper in the bowl. there were 102 slips in total, representing the 32 donors and $2,600 raised.

karen drew (I took the pictures!) we were nervous. but felt good that no matter who was selected, it would be someone special.

...and the winner is...

we've traded emails - since dawn lives nearby, we'd really like to present the quilt in person. (you can imagine the scheduling difficulties this might pose, but we're hopeful we can work it out!)

many, many, many thanks to our friends and family for your generosity and support. we love you! - mary & karen

birthday wishes.

...for my dad who celebrates his 73rd birthday today!

wishing you a day filled with adventures and pretty fall scenery. plenty of photo opportunities. apple pie with ice cream. and laughter with friends.

much love, m.

10 ways to have fun on a long car ride.

The longest car ride I've taken in the past twenty some years was last summer, helping Katie move from Atlanta to New York City. According to Google maps, our trip was 881 miles (about 14 hours 22 minutes). And I remember it being fun, so here goes!

Katie in the driver's seat

1. Be the passenger. Yes, that means you're responsible for entertaining the driver, but it gives you so many more options for how to spend your time. This is a no-brainer if the person you choose to drive is the better driver.

2. Actively navigate. It seems to make the trip go faster if you know how far you've been and how far you have to go and how far til the next turn. My car has a built-in navigation system and I use it all the time. For the NY trip, we had a rented UHaul. No navigation system. I printed out pages from Google Maps before we left and used them constantly.

3. Sing along. No navigation system, no CD player, no iPod dock. But plenty of country music and Katie taught me a few songs (that was my first "real" exposure to country music...I liked it!) and Michael Jackson had passed away just a few days before ... we sang Thriller and Billy Jean more times than I can remember! Note that an iPod dock adds hours of possibilities here - podcasts, music you choose, audio books...

4. Play games. Twenty Questions is our favorite and it's especially good for when it's dark and there's a scary thunder and lightning storm ahead of you.

5. Read out loud. I had a book of Amy Hempel's stories that we both love. Reading a few of them passed a good 90 minutes in Pennsylvania - enough that I completely missed Allentown.

welcome to Virginia!



6. Take pictures out the window. Our trip took us to eight new states. I took photos of all the welcome signs (except New Jersey, which on I-78 didn't have one and New York - funny there isn't a Welcome to NYC sign on the Manhattan side of the Lincoln Tunnel :-)

7. Eat. Sara packed us an awesome cooler, filled with tuna wraps, carrot raisin muffins, brownies, cheese and crackers, nuts and pretzels. We spent a good 30 minutes or so in New Jersey on Saturday morning calling her to get the carrot raisin muffin recipe.

8. Talk. It seems so obvious I almost left it off. I love car time for the conversation opportunities. Catching up. Making plans about what you'll do once you get there. or maybe with the rest of your life. Or silly things, like "cave towns", why there's a huge stretch of Pennsylvania without a Starbucks, how can Google really think that the drive from Lincoln Tunnel to E 79th Street would take only 20 minutes, isn't the sunrise pretty, ... [note that the corollary to this one is "be ok with the silences" - especially on a long trip, constant noise isn't necessary]

9. Stop when you need to. To sleep. To get gas. Restroom, etc.

10. Knit. I actually didn't on this trip. I was too busy having fun in other ways. But I had a new sweater project with me just in case.

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cooking with my girls.

...nigh impossible to accomplish in person, so we're launching a(nother!!) blog to share about all things culinary - pretty food, recipes, kitchen toys, etc.

a huge thank you to katie for all the hard work to get this blog off the ground and for finding the perfect youtube for why we called it what we did. for the record, sara wasn't a fan of the title, but she was outvoted. this scene from friends still makes me crack up when I see it!

and thanks (in advance!) to both of them (me too) for the commitment to keep it going. there's too much potential here for the really good stories to let it lapse.

so in honor of fall and pumpkin. I present my first post.

... and right now I'm taking a very deep breath and trying not to sweat yet another place to share my thoughts!

10 things to love about fall.

...thanks to sara, I got a great headstart thinking about this one! it helps, too, that it actually feels like fall - the temperature is in the 40's right now and it should get into the high 60's later today. clear blue skies and sunshine. really, what's not to love?!, but here's my long list:

"the" pear tree (see #8) - photo taken sept 28, 2009

1. jeans. especially with a (handknit) sweater or with (handknit) socks and danskos.

2. the onset of the rogovin family birthday whirlwind. three of us have birthdays within four weeks. opportunities for favorite meals, delicious desserts and celebrating.

3. planning for the holidays - our thanksgiving meal and christmas shopping. sara's already sent me some ideas for thanksgiving. and katie and I had a long chat last week about the shopping.

4. vivaldi and michael buble. something about fall means the return of classical (and classic) music.

5. sleeping with a blanket. even if I have to keep the windows open.

6. replacing faded impatiens with pansies in the planters on the deck and by the mailbox.

7. college football. (and not just because it's great to knit and watch - I really do enjoy the games!)

8. crisp morning walks in the park. checking out the pear tree and watching the progress of the leaves turning.

9. the 2-day walk.

10. the end of daylight savings time. I love that extra hour of sleep.

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we did the 2.

...as in the atlanta 2-day walk for breast cancer. karen and I. 30 miles walking through atlanta, seeing our beautiful city. too many photo opportunities (early on sunday, my camera's memory card was full - and I had to ration photos for the rest of the walk. seriously, I need a new memory card!!). for a truly wonderful cause.

1. at the finish line, 2. we're doing the 2 for lisa b, 3. day 1 setting out, 4. sunlit skyline, 5. day 1 b'rest stop 3A, 6. day 1 lunch (with socks), 7. freedom parkway, 8. the celebratory beer (with socks), 9. the crew, 10. day 2 setting out, 11. day 2 b'rest stop 2, 12. day 2 b'rest stop 4, 13. after walk celebration brunch at anis

you can see all the photos here

We agreed (as did a few others we talked to on sunday) that this was our best walk ever. the course took us to new (fernbank, callanwolde, woodruff arts center) and familiar (emory, georgia tech, piedmont park, inman park, freedom parkway) places - but even the familiar seemed "new" when we saw it from a different direction. I saw a bit first-hand how much preparation goes into making everything run smoothly, and I was still really impressed with how well it came off. the weather was crisp and sunny. and I'm not sure if it's the nearly 900 miles I've already walked in 2010, or maybe the few official "training" walks we did, or my fabulous nike shoes, but my body finally handled the 30 miles like I've wanted it to! yes, I am planning a (much shorter!!) walk in hembree park later this morning!

but I saved the best for last - it wasn't official before we started, but by the time we'd finished saturday's 20 miles, we'd reached our fundraising goal. yes, $2,500!!! we are so blessed to have such generous family and friends. thank you!!

Karen and I are getting together later this week to draw the winner for the quilt. stay tuned!