unexpected.

...today's daily photo prompt reminded me about Kym's recent observation that it's hard to plan a surprise. so I decided I would draw my "expected" line in the dark early hours when I was planning my day. as expected (?!?) I had a few surprises today, mostly good (whew! it was Friday the 13th after all) and wanted to share three of them with you:

first, the treat I enjoyed at knitting this afternoon. my first #psl, aka Starbucks' "pumpkin spice latte", celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. I guess I'm a slow adopter. I made a light version by adding two pumps of the pumpkin spice "sauce" (yep, it's not even a syrup) to my regular latte. I liked it. but I think I'd love it with just one pump. ...that will be next month's treat!

second, Katie and I are reading Peter Pan. We've seen the Disney movie and Mary Martin's Broadway performance (both on video) more times than I could count. And as much as I love them both, I have to say, the book is better. Because of passages like this:

"It is the nightly good custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day...When you wake in the morning, the naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind and on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier thoughts, ready for you to put on."

and last, the weather. it was a delightful 80 degrees this afternoon, with a breeze. Katie's deck was cool enough for a sweater (and a glass of red wine :-)  and she willingly took a few photos. This is the cardigan I finished last month (raveled here).

 

wishing everyone unexpected happy this weekend!

One-word Wednesday | Remember.

Ten on Tuesday. Home Sweet Home.

...Carole's prompt this week has us thinking about what we miss most about our own homes when we're away.

1. Holly and Marc. I seem to have to leave one (or both) of them behind when I'm away. 

2. Coffee (brewed half regular and half decaf) with heated almond milk. It is my favorite way to start the day and I really only get it at home.

3. Knowing where everything is (or if I've forgotten, being perfectly ok with opening all the cabinets and drawers to search for it).

4. Toilet paper. (is it really weird that I love the brand I use that much?!)

5. My getting ready space. It's efficient and I'm used to the light so my makeup routine works better.

6. My closet. (I mostly miss the options it presents, but living out of a suitcase isn't great either).

7. The clock chimes at the quarter hours. That sound sets the rhythm of my time in the house.

8. Regular running routes. My go-to three, four and five mile routes all start (and end) at my front door.

9. The pantry. Almonds, walnuts, pretzels, popcorn, graham crackers, and granola bars. (yes, I'm a snacker!)

10. My knitting chair, with an ott-light floor lamp next to it. Comfort with perfect light for knitting and reading.

click here to join the Ten on Tuesday fun!

A(nother) Fresh Start on Project Life.

...I can't remember the last time I talked about Project Life here (of course I haven't talked about much here lately, so I'm sure that's partly why). I do remember a great start back in early 2013 and I'm pretty sure I blogged about getting a new-to-me printer and how much printing my photos here improved the process. But then in mid-February I missed a week for Katie's bachelorette weekend and before I knew it I was months behind. I attempted the first of several catchups before the wedding (yikes, that was nearly four months ago!) and finally got it all together last weekend. Yes, the first 35 weeks of 2013 are now documented and sitting in a 12x12 album under the coffee table in my family room. It makes me happy to type that. There was sunshine on Saturday and I took photos to share (but they're still sitting on my camera. ha! I just realized my two main hobbies both require FO shots!)

That last bit of catchup covered 13 weeks: four in late February/early March; four in May/June and five from late July and all of August. I learned more about the process and how I like to work as I put it all together. I absolutely love the finished product and I love the creative process ... as long as it doesn't take more than a couple of hours and I'm not playing catchup. In all that excitement I signed up for a three-week on-line class called Project Life Lessons (one of the three teachers is Elise Blaha; I've followed her blog for years and love her style and her album!) Class started Thursday...and week 36 ended Saturday. No more catchup! I certainly hope to have new tips and techniques to incorporate over the next few weeks, but not yet. 

My new much-simplified approach is to print all the inserts myself (if anyone wants a barely used Clementine kit, I have one for you!). I did splurge and buy a few new digital products, including both the Seafoam and Midnight Project Life core kits and a few photo/journaling cards from Paislee Press (Elise Blaha designed Seafoam and Liz Tamanaha designed the rest); but I got the album half-price at Michael's! I'm also including a lot less - like half of what I was doing before. Week 36 took me barely two hours to pull together yesterday and I love it as much as some I labored over.

All five of the photos I included appeared on Instagram last week (four from my feed and one from Marc) and I think that's going to be pretty typical. Three of mine were prompted by the FMS daily photo challenge and that's probably going to be typical, too, as long as they help me tell a story. Loving Cathy Zielske's Instagram template (used on the middle row's 2nd and 4th inserts) - it was free on her blog a few weeks back.

I had more time last night and made the album cover page (I still need to add two photos but I want at least one of them to include Marc and he's not here!) I am kind of in love with the color scheme of black & white, with pops of gold and kraft. Maybe because it seems fall-ish?

...another lesson learned is that quick blog posts are more likely to happen with iPhone photos edited with PicTapGo or Afterlight - and no links!

One-word Wednesday | Panzanella.