mere et filles

wordless wednesday.

2012-02-16T05:06:00.002-05:00

10 favorite chocolate treats.

2012-02-14T05:58:00.000-05:00

...ooohhh, a most appropriate prompt for today! thanks, carole! a quick visit to my flickr stream shows a nice assortment of chocolate goodies. perfect inspiration while I drink my coffee - I am not so much a chocolate fan at 5:30 a.m.!

1. my go-to treat is a "good" (think barefoot contessa here) piece of dark chocolate. harry's has a wonderful selection. the photo above was my stash about three weeks ago (it's considerably smaller now). I love to pair it with a glass of red wine. a few years back, I even commissioned yarn dyed to match!

2. the dark chocolate panini at bistro vg. it's not too sweet, but very fun.

3. vinny's chocolate mousse cake. (bistro vg and vinny's are owned by the same people - and their pastry chef is amazing).

4. alpine bakery's million dollar cake (roswell's best chocolate cake!)

5. barefoot contessa's french chocolate bark. to.die.for.

6. brownies. barefoot contessa's version is delicious. (hum, ina obviously has a thing for chocolate, doesn't she!)

7. hot chocolate. ...today might be a good day for this. it's hovering in the thirties...and raining.

8. mint chocolate chip ice cream. I haven't had this in years, but growing up it was a favorite flavor.

9. chocolate mousse. it's my dad's favorite dessert and we had a throwdown at our last family reunion. everyone was a winner!

10. chocolate pound cake. another childhood favorite that I haven't had in years. my aunt gave me the recipe, but I've never made it.

happy valentine's day and best chocolate wishes!!

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the thirteenth journal ends.

2012-02-12T07:57:00.000-05:00

...wow. it still amazes me. this journaling habit. 62 months of my life. documented in 13 journals.

the last page is always me today. a snapshot of what I'm about right now. (and what my hair looks like - funny how much that's changed in the last five years!)

the end of journal #13

with journal #6 I started tying a piece of yarn from each finished knitting project to the moleskine band

with journal #7 I started listing those finished projects inside the front cover. and with journal #13, I added the yardage to that knitting record.

since early october, I've completed 21 projects and knit just over 9,000 yards of yarn. which is more than FIVE miles. whoa. (no wonder I haven't had ~~much~~ time for anything else!) I haven't knit a sweater since november when I finished vodka gimlet. and ten of those projects were for others.

I hope journal #14 tells a similar story about knitting for others. but maybe not knitting quite so much. and definitely getting back to sweaters. we'll see.

zucchini apple soup.

2012-02-10T19:50:00.001-05:00

...aka healthy recipe #3 (#8 from my list). and apologies, I know I've neglected to share #1 and #2 here, but oh well, we're starting at 3. because this one is really the first recipe that I've cooked by myself from start to finish and that I've made enough tweaks to the original recipe to call it my own (and the one that I photographed to share!)

my friend marci was the inspiration. (if you frequent cast-on cottage, yes, this is our marci!) she's been working out with a trainer and he shared a healthy soup recipe with her. she shared the basics with us last weekend. I bought granny smith apples the next day. and then, the onion and zucchini. on wednesday, martha lent me her immersion blender. ingredients - check!

marci's recipe called for two onions and one apple. I'm not a huge fan of onions, but I love apples (and I had a lot of them)...I substituted an apple for an onion.

I started with a non-stick pan, sprayed lightly with pam (sadly, costco doesn't sell the olive oil version, so this is the plain pam) heated over medium heat. I added a few cloves of garlic, chopped fine and one sweet onion, peeled and chopped.

while that cooked, I sliced the zucchini.

and then added it to the pot.

while that cooked, I peeled the apple, then sliced and diced it. and made the chicken broth. the onion and zucchini were just soft when I added the apple and broth, turned down the heat to low and waited for it to simmer.

then I set the timer for 30 minutes and ate breakfast (and started the latest book for bookclub!)

30 minutes later everything was perfectly cooked and ready to blend.

thanks to the immersion blender, a few minutes later I had soup!

a lovely dinner for one. (or two, or a starter for four). [edited to add - the slightly tart, slightly sweet apple really sets off the zucchini - and you can't tell there isn't any cream in this very creamy soup. I tried it hot and cold and it's delicious both ways...but today I'll be having it hot. with a spoonful of greek yogurt stirred in for a bit more protein!]

here's the recipe:
nonfat cooking spray
3 cloves garlic, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 medium zucchini, sliced thin
2 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
3 pints chicken (or vegetable) broth
salt & pepper to taste (I didn't add any salt, but I did add pepper)

coat a non-stick dutch oven with cooking spray. heat over medium heat and add garlic and onion. saute about 3 minutes and add zucchini. saute about 5 minutes (onion and zucchini should be very soft) and add apples and broth. lower heat to low. simmer for 30 minutes. emulsify. done.

wordless wednesday.

2012-02-08T17:44:00.002-05:00

10 things I can see from my favorite knitting spot.

2012-02-07T06:46:00.000-05:00

...the hardest thing about carole's prompt this week is identifying my favorite knitting spot. a quick review of my flickr stream shows knitting all over the place! at my kitchen table, at my desk, in my living room, at starbucks, at friends' houses, at cast-on cottage. even central park (that one was very fun). all of these are wonderful places to knit and depending on what I'm knitting, some are better than others. knitting lace? hands down my kitchen table where I can have the chart handy in front of me (and where I can concentrate without too much distraction). knitting a sweater? love my living room chair because it's big and sweaters can get big when they're close to being done.

I do love knitting lace and knitting sweaters, but what I really love is knitting with others. and I think my favorite place for that is cast-on cottage. especially on friday afternoons.

a friday afternoon back in september. originally blogged here.

and here are ten things I see:

1. friends.

2. other people's projects - always inspiring.

3. yarn - ditto the inspiration. and the colors - it always makes me happy to look at yarn!

4. patterns - there is always something new out on the table, a magazine, a book, and it's rare we don't get excited about a new project at some point.

5. starbucks. yep, there is one right next door and many of us - me included - always stop by the drive-thru on our way in.

6. sweet treats (if we're lucky :-)

7. my camera.

8. my project - knitting, pattern and a pen (depending on the project there might be more, but these three things are constants)

9. smiles (hopefully!)

10. holly in my lap (this happens almost everywhere I knit!)

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sleeve math.

2012-02-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

sleeve math in process (and math with a purple pen?! it rocks!)

...there is a lot of math in knitting (and sometimes cooking!) - mostly numbers and counting and a little bit of algebra to work out gauge issues. when I tell my students "there's a lot of math in knitting", many of them groan. but for me, I think it's one of the things I like most about the craft. it's a problem waiting to be solved. but it's not a problem with just one right answer (the mid-life me loves that...but not so much the 20-something me!)

the problem I had was with the sleeves of my ella coat...sleeves that are knit flat, as separate pieces and then seamed to the bodice. one of the reasons I love to knit seamless sweaters is that I can try them on - or at least try on pieces - to be sure they fit. I love to knit sweaters. I hate to knit sweaters that don't fit. the ella coat is designed to accommodate stripes. so I get that it's knit for seams (knitting seamless stripes is a problem that needs a better solution!). and I could convert the whole thing to be seamless, but I'm knitting along with a group on ravelry - and a group at the shop - so I want to knit. along.

we started the sleeves on friday. I was concerned they'd be too big. my chicken-like arms measure 10" at their widest. as designed, the sleeve for my bust size would be 15-1/2" wide. of course it is a coat, but still?! I'd already shortened the armhole depth and I wasn't sure I could also narrow the sleeve and still have it fit into the armscye. so I decided to follow the pattern and hope.

until I read a comment on ravelry about sleeve math. specifically about this fabulous article from knitty way back in 2005. on the first read, I thought it might be just a bit overboard, but it was "real math" :-) and the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I was to try. so yesterday afternoon I sat down with my ella coat swatch and the pattern and my own measurements (and a calculator and my favorite purple pen) and figured out a new sleeve design. it took me about two hours. which in the big scheme of things isn't really that much (if it works!)

then I pulled out the original sleeves - see how big they are?

in my new design, I reduced the cast-on from 44 to 36 stitches (nearly 2") and I reduced the upper arm from 70 to 54 stitches (about 3-3/4")

thanks to the super bowl and catching up on downton abbey, I've finished 60+ rows so I'm nearly half done with the new sleeves. the shape seems better... but I really don't think I'll know if I've been successful until I finish them. and sew them in. stay tuned for an update!

fo friday. three for them and one for me.

2012-02-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

...so far, 2012 is looking like a different kind of knitting for me. less sweaters. more cowls. especially lace ones. and more for others.

one of my goals is 12 hats for charity. on new years day I had one. and now I have three (and the fourth is on the needles). I love that I'm making these hats from yarn I have...and that it's yarn I love. I know a hat that's not washable might not be practical...but it's nice. and I'm sure there are folks who need a bit of nice with their hats.

thank you to my lovely model carter with his mom! - this is another dean street hat

and to carter by himself! - this is turning, a new hat pattern that I won in a blog giveaway!

next up is a cowl for katie's future mother-in-law, jane. she has a banner birthday this weekend and we're going to celebrate it later this month (with brunch at murphy's). this one is definitely hard to give away!

a noble cowl. raveled here.

...and finally, the one for me.

this is my first maggiknits. a fur-collared capelet. even though I converted the pattern to have the knitting be seamless, I had to spend hours this morning weaving in ends and sewing on the fur collar (twice - am I the only one who didn't realize a fur collar had a right and a wrong side?!) in any event, I love the finished project and I'm excited to cast on my next maggie's!

an early spring?

2012-02-02T18:57:00.000-05:00

sadly, I don't have daffodils in my yard. because they're blooming all over my neighborhood right now. but the buds on our huge rhodie tell the same story. no matter what the groundhogs say, it appears like spring is definitely just around the corner. of course, six more weeks of "winter", if it means this kind of sunshine and highs in the sixties...I'm fine with that too!

wordless wednesday.

2012-02-01T20:58:00.002-05:00

10 favorite foods for the super bowl.

2012-01-31T06:01:00.000-05:00

...this week, carole's prompt is about super bowl food. timely. and fun!

this photo is not from a super bowl spread...but it shows perfectly the kind of food I like!

1. vegetables and dip. I recently made giada's spinach white bean dip and it's delicious. of course the thai peanut dipping sauce shown in the photo above is also good (just not quite so healthy!)

2. shrimp. I'm a huge fan of ina's roasted shrimp cocktail.

3. cheese and crackers.

4. fruit.

5. nuts. ina's rosemary cashews are delicious. but any nuts will do.

6. chips and salsa.

7. something sweet, extra points for chocolate. maybe a good brownie?

8. popcorn.

...and of course I can't forget

9. potato chips and blue cheese dip (sara makes a healthy version and it's my favorite!)

and

10. buffalo chicken wings

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happy birthday.

2012-01-27T05:55:00.000-05:00

...to katie. she turns 25 today. marc and I had fun flipping through the pages of her baby album last night. and I finally chose this photo to share. she's smiling (this was - and still is - pretty typical). she's styling (even more typical these days). and she's in motion. always going someplace. someplace new. someplace challenging. hopefully someplace fun and fulfilling.

k, best wishes for your birthday and this next year. love. miss. xxoo - m.

cranberry cornmeal muffins.

2012-01-26T12:07:00.000-05:00

...quick bread #1 from my fifty for 50 list (item #2 in the because it's fun category is to bake 12 new (to me) quick breads).

vanessa and beth came over this morning for our first discussion about power of a praying woman. and a meeting like that always calls for a quick bread. today I tried a recipe from the pioneer woman.

ingredients assembled

I didn't change much except to add fresh chopped cranberries in place of half the dried cranberries (and next time, I'd use only fresh) and - of course! - I didn't make the butter. the instructions weren't clear on how to mix the wet and dry ingredients. I added the dry to the wet - all at once, and stirred to combine before adding the melted shortening, then the vanilla and finally the cranberries and pecans. I also held out a tablespoon of the dry ingredients and tossed it with the cranberries before I added them so they didn't all sink to the bottom.

cranberries and pecans stirred in last

I don't have any mini loaf pans, so I made muffins. and I only wanted a dozen, but I had enough batter left over for another two or three.

ready for the oven

delicious - love the tang of the fresh cranberries and the texture of the cornmeal. I'll definitely make them again (after I try 11 more new recipes!)

wordless wednesday.

2012-01-25T17:52:00.002-05:00

three things.

2012-01-24T21:55:00.000-05:00

...I want to be sure to remember about today's photo.

snapped outside cast-on cottage about 5:20 pm today

1. today was sunny. and warm (ish for january). I wore a long-sleeved black t-shirt and linen tunic over black pants (with flats and no socks). I'm thinking it might be march, not january.

2. it was this light at 5:20 p.m.

3. I wore my hair curly. for the second day in the row. still love the straight, but curly = ten more minutes of knitting.

(apologies to the ten on tuesday crew...I'm really just not a movie person!)

currents.

2012-01-23T07:53:00.000-05:00

me last night, "watching" the nfc playoff game...thank goodness for knitting!

listening - raindrops hitting the roof and the back deck.

eating - healthy nachos and fish tacos (two of marc's recent specialties - and as always when he cooks, we have leftovers for days).

drinking - coffee. this is seeming like a two-pot day.

wearing - the same 2-day shirt I wore last night (no need to dress up for a rainy walk with holly and housecleaning!)

reading - the language of flowers (vanessa's pick from january's bookclub) and the gargoyle, thinking this will be my pick for february bookclub.

weather - 40-ish degrees and raining.

knitting - maggiknits skerries capelet (and six other things, but I can only knit on one at a time!)

wanting - to see the sun. it's been days.

needing - to finish my december album before the details slip away from me; I've only got five more days to go and the photos and pages are prepped.

enjoying - having marc home.

looking forward - to my first test knit - the bulky cowl for this KAL; I have the yarn and will get the needles tonight. (and yes, that brings my project count to eight, but it's only 52 stitches and 28 rounds total - I'm thinking I can finish it in a few hours).

wondering - if we'll really escape snow and ice this winter. I hope so!

happy mail.

2012-01-20T19:29:00.000-05:00

(...and/or I obviously have a thing about red birds :-)

all this recently arrived in the mail from my dear friend honore. looking back on my blog, I think my last happy mail post was about mail from honore...back in early 2010. when we'd both just retired and were discovering how much we had in common beyond ali's passion for one little word. the quick and dirty version - we "met" in the comments on ali's post about her 2010 word and realized we were both retiring that january.

we've been in regular contact since then, sharing comments on each others' blogs, emails, birthday cards - we're both celebrating milestone birthdays this november - but mostly, encouragement. to find our passions, pursue them with energetic enthusiasm...and celebrate our successes.

I love that she combined her passion for sewing and art with one of my favorite photos of this winter season. she included two tag books - both honore originals - filled with tags to encourage my art journaling, with covers she made from my winter 2011 banner photo.

of course she also recognized my passion for knitting.

and red birds!

(thank you dear friend... "real mail" coming soon!)

one little word. shine.

2012-01-19T13:42:00.000-05:00

...when I shared my one little word for 2012 way back on january 6, I never thought it would take me nearly two weeks to finish the january prompt. but it did (and not just because I've been knitting :-)

I did the work to create all the cards last week...and then waited days for the sun to come out. because the album opens with a portrait. and I really wanted the sunshine to feature prominently in this one.

yesterday we finally saw the sun.

thank you martha for taking the photo!

so this morning I spent 2+ hours sorting through my tremendous stash of pretty papers and embellishments to create a supply box just for this project. yellow papers, gold stickers, bits of ribbons and lace, and bling! and finally, I'm ready to share.

I'm using the gray printable from ali's downloads...and hopefully I'll use up lots and lots of those supplies!

I am really excited about this word. it found me as I was compiling my fifty for 50 list and many of the items I included are part of what I'm inviting this year...giving, serving others, spiritual growth and sharing.

it's going to be good - bring on the shine!

the cover page (the welcome photo posted above is on the back), with the january prompt behind it

wordless wednesday.

2012-01-18T22:05:00.000-05:00

don't mind me, I'm knitting.

2012-01-17T21:50:00.000-05:00

...marc is due home in the morning from a ten day trip to asia. the day he left I had grand plans for finishing projects (my december journal, 2012's first one little word prompt, maybe even a photobook from our mexico trip and certainly I'd get my yarn room organized and my photo album updated), starting a few (a birthday gift for katie's mother-in-law-to-be and the two charity hats I hope to have finished before the month ends), getting the last of the holidays swept away and generally being in a great place to start the new year.

ten days later I haven't finished any of those projects, but I did make a good start on this year's one little word prompt. I watched an entire season of downton abbey while I finished a shawl...and I started five new knitting projects - two for shop KALs, one charity hat, that birthday gift and one maggiknits...and today, I couldn't help myself.

I started one more.

seriously, I'm smitten with the new shibui heichi yarn - it's a rustic silk. gorgeous colors. worsted weight (it knits up pretty quickly) and the patterns in this book are stunning. I want to knit the entire book in those four colors - plus another medium brown I've asked theresa to order. all before summer hits.

(I might need help!)

10 things to do inside when it's too cold to go outside.

2012-01-17T06:25:00.000-05:00

...carole's topic this week made me laugh out loud. maybe it's very rarely too cold here to go outside at all, but mostly because anyone who reads my blog knows that all ten are likely to be knitting, or at least knitting related. but I'm going to challenge myself to come up with at least a few things that aren't!

our house, after snow in february 2010

1. knit.

2. blog about what you're knitting or about the weather, or both.

3. browse ravelry...allow yourself to get get waylaid for a bit in the forums, favorite a few new projects, maybe rearrange your queue.

4. catch up on the tv shows you've recorded, but not found time to watch (for me, that's parenthood and very recently downton abbey, and soon to be mad men - I've also started recording revenge, but understand I need to go back to the beginning before I watch the new episodes).

5. make soup.

6. bake cookies.

7. try a new cocktail. (and let yourself spend a few minutes browsing through old posts, reconfirming how much you love thea's blog and her designs and her cocktails!) - note that 5, 6 and 7 require paying special attention to the pantry to ensure there are appropriate staples on hand.

8. do laundry.

9. write a letter.

10. skype with someone...just because you can't leave the house doesn't mean you can't be social!

(huh, that wasn't even hard...and it almost makes me wish for a super cold day someday soon!)

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downton abbey.

2012-01-13T06:41:00.000-05:00

...as in my latest obsession. in class on sunday there was plenty of excitement about the start of the second season. I'm not sure where I was last year when season one debuted, but boy did I miss out! fortunately, the episodes are available on-line (through next tuesday, I think). so I spent many hours yesterday at my desk, with my knitting, watching tv. (and no worries, the coaster on the right started with coffee, moved to tea, and didn't get to wine til 7pm :-)

what a gem! I love the upstairs-downstairs aspect. and lord granville's strength of character. of course maggie smith makes anything better. and I can't believe elizabeth mcgovern is old enough to be the matron (she's my age, though, I guess we are that old!)

back to watching....

wordless wednesday.

2012-01-11T21:51:00.001-05:00

10 favorite soups.

2012-01-10T06:25:00.000-05:00

...carole's prompt for this week is perfect for the chilly rainy weather we're having - I can't wait to see what everyone suggests. I'm always looking for a new soup recipe!

this is #5 below

1. split pea soup. a sara specialty. and since it's all vegetables, it's healthy.

2. rosemary white bean soup. another sara specialty. (I miss her cooking already!)

3. chickpea soup with tomato concasse. sara and I took a cooking class a few years back and this was one of the featured recipes. sadly, we misplaced our notes from the class, but sara's been able, pretty much anyway, to recreate it. the class also featured a savory rosemary walnut biscotti, which is, I think, the perfect accompaniment.

4. tomato soup. I'm not a fan of cream, and this one from ina garten (without the topping) uses bread as a thickener. it's especially good in the winter with a toasted cheese sandwich (a hearty multi-grain bread and an aged cheddar or gruyere with just a bit of dijon mustard...oh my is it really only 6:00am?)

5. pioneer woman's tuscan bean soup, as lightened by sara. (I'll be posting about this soon).

6. white chicken chili. no recipe to share, but I like it with plenty of beans, green chilis and a spoonful of greek yogurt.

7. gumbo. marc is great at throwing together a pot of turkey sausage, frozen vegetables (okra is a must for gumbo) and tony chachere's creole roux mix.

8. butternut squash soup. roasted squash (or even a mix of roasted vegetables if you happen to have a huge container of leftovers at thanksgiving), pureed, thinned with vegetable stock. heat and serve.

9. gazpacho. when it's warmer.

10. corn and seafood chowder. I haven't made this in years, but every now and then, I'll be tempted and order it out. especially if the seafood is crab or rock shrimp.

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the second lap.

2012-01-09T21:34:00.000-05:00

that's me - moving fast to keep up with holly...on the 2nd lap

...holly and I are two days back into our two laps at the park routine. a routine I don't think we've had since early december. weather, holiday visitors and vacation...those walks just didn't happen. I missed them. and judging by holly's pace on the second lap this morning, I think she did too. or maybe it's just so easy to spot the squirrels and the birds now, it's more fun for her?!

in any event, we did two laps in 41 minutes. I don't make that kind of time with some of my human friends.

that's a great change for holly since the summer. and for our weather since this time last year. yikes! for the record, today was shower-y and mild; highs in the low 60's and I'm guessing - based on my hair - humidity about 90% :-) ...make that 100%...it's raining now!

over lunch.

2012-01-09T07:42:00.000-05:00

...I enjoyed another lunch at bistro vg last friday. this one with my sister. it's been a favorite holiday tradition of ours these past 15 years* to go out for lunch, and over several hours and a few glasses of wine (and a meal :-), revisit the highs (and occasionally the lows) of the past year and talk about our dreams and plans for the new one.

back in 2005, we actually documented a few of those "predictions" for the next 10 years (we had lunch at a little italian place, lucia's, and we wrote this down on the paper that covered the table...note to self - that paper doesn't age very well!)

we thought it would be fun to share those predictions...a few have come true, or are well on their way to coming true. jillian, sara and PJ have all graduated from high school and katie from college (jillian, PJ and sara are in college and on their way to graduating); and for me, we're planning a wedding, into our second year of empty nesting, I'm retired (and marc still has no plans to!), have been to paris with katie, and I'm turning 50 this year.

a few are likely not gonna happen. I don't play golf anymore (and I never did break 100 before I quit!) and sara wants to visit italy, not paris, for her college graduation trip.

and a few...who knows. maybe we'll move (once sara's out of college in 2014). maybe we'll take a trip to wine country. and maybe I'll be a grandmother! also, that one down in the bottom right "no tattoos"...so far so good, but I'm not betting on that one!

one that we haven't followed through on is our annual beach trip. we both agreed we need to get back. maybe in 2013.

*check out 2009, 2008, 2007 photos...I'm not sure what happened to 2010!

focus friday. december one little word.

2012-01-06T10:17:00.000-05:00

...december's prompt was to document facts and feelings about our word. and things we wanted to remember.

the final spread - november on the left and december on the right

I have a lot more feelings than facts about my word. which makes sense since it was a feeling - having lost my focus - that set me on the journey in the first place.

the one thing I'd been putting off about the project was a binder for the completed pages. this morning I chose the easy route and simply grabbed one of the empty target binders I keep for knitting patterns. it might not be perfect, but it serves the purpose. I anticipate looking back over those pages a lot. they need to be accessible.

the binder is at the far left of row of books; I'll be adding the 2012 pages to it as I finish them, too

in closing, I feel proud of what I've done with my one little word. I love that this is a word I'm not going to lose (ask me my words for all the other years and I might not be able to even remember them). I plan to continue focus fridays here on my blog. and I know what I learned last year is going to give me a jump start on my 2012 word. shine.

wordless wednesday.

2012-01-04T20:09:00.000-05:00

10 things for 2012.

2012-01-03T08:39:00.000-05:00

...so glad to be back with carole's ten on tuesday!

this week - quite appropriate for this, the first tuesday of the new year - it's 10 things for 2012. I'm already working a pretty long list of things that I hope to wrap-up before mid-november, so I need to resist the urge to turn that into a list of sixty to-do's (even though I will have six more weeks after november 17th before 2012 ends). of course I couldn't resist altogether, but you can see...I've tried!

1. help katie & rob plan their wedding. the engagement came in early december, or this would've been on my fifty list already.

2. bring back wordless wednesday. I stopped it when I started my photo-a-day project. but I miss it. and it's a fun way to break up a week of words.

3. keep my desk neat and my inspiration board inspiring.

4. do something different for my december daily journal. (and finish my 2011 one before I forget what we did!)

5. cook dinner at least once a week. how embarrassing that this is even a thought! but with marc's schedule, I've let myself get lazy about meals. not good.

6. keep the knitting fun (and don't set unrealistic deadlines for myself).

7. knit for others. really, how many sweaters can one person wear?

8. start my christmas knitting earlier. yep, I'm saying it now - I will not be knitting like a madwoman on christmas eve.

9. stop saving my stash of pretty paper and scrapbooking supplies...use them!

10. remember life is about more than simply checking off the boxes on my to-do list...celebrate the process.

what I did on my christmas vacation.

2012-01-02T17:08:00.000-05:00

...apologies for the long silence here, but I was away...enjoying warm sunshine with my family*...in mexico!

we had a fabulous time. the weather was perfect, the hotel was beautiful, the food was delicious, the drinks were plentiful and, best of all, the company was delightful. I couldn't have asked for a better way to end 2011.

here are a few of my favorite photos - you can find all of them here (yes mom, even with captions!)

1. we're going to mexico!, 2. beach games, 3. view from our balcony, 4. local wildlife, 5. lunch at the grill, 6. relaxing, 7. the band, 8. monday at the martini bar, 9. monday at the martini bar, 10. up close, 11. dinner at tuscana, 12. tuesday at the martini bar, 13. view from our beach

but now we're facing the reality of getting back - home for katie & rob (today), to school for sara (but not til the weekend), to work for marc (tomorrow), and for me and holly, to "normal". happy new year and all the best for 2012!!

*save holly who was in the excellent care of my sister for the week

belief.

2011-12-25T07:05:00.000-05:00

"can you prove any of the stuff you believe in? my daughter asked me & when I said that's not how belief works, she nodded & said that's what she thought but she was just checking to make sure she hadn't missed a key point."

~ storypeople

happy holidays and merry christmas! I'm going to take a short break from my computer to enjoy time with my family...will be back before the new year.

an early christmas gift.

2011-12-23T07:20:00.000-05:00

...from katie & sara. a matinee performance of the nutcracker followed by cocktails and dinner at ecco.

when the girls were young, the nutcracker was always part of our holiday, but we hadn't been in years. I think it's time to bring back the tradition!

the fox was decked out for the holidays and so were we.

the performance was wonderful ... and after the curtain call, one of the dancers proposed to the snow queen! awwww.....

ecco is just a few blocks from the fox and the bar opens at 4pm. perfect timing.

dinner was delicious (salad and pizza, risotto and ricotta cheesecake) and the conversation was so much fun. weddings. jobs. making the most out of study abroad. families. holiday traditions. favorite songs.

thank you girls - I loved every minute!

holiday bookclub.

2011-12-22T06:54:00.000-05:00

...one of my favorite december traditions is hosting holiday bookclub. we don't discuss a book, but there is still plenty of conversation. and food. and wine. which is really what our bookclub is all about!

thank you, katie, for a great photo! (click to see who's who)

cranberry bliss.

2011-12-20T19:00:00.000-05:00

...text message from sara, 1:52 pm this afternoon:

Bought the stuff to make cranberry bliss bars!
Should smell blissful when you get home :-)

oh my yes. I wish you could smell this.

as much as I love coming home to chill, coming home to family, warmth, lights...and the smell of baking, is the best!

(thank you sara, it's wonderful!)

sunday in the park.

2011-12-18T21:39:00.000-05:00

...I fumbled through my mittens to create my 2011 top ten christmas playlist on my iphone.

holly did get just a bit impatient. my fingers did get really really cold.

and when I got home I asked sara to download one more song. so now my 2011 holiday list has 11 songs.

I think it's perfect!

what music is on your playlist this holiday season?

fifty years. a celebration of love & family.

2011-12-16T07:13:00.000-05:00

...today is my parents' golden anniversary. I love that our whole family was able to share in their celebration last month. so no party today. instead, I have a few images of the book to share.

that's one great thing about creating a book on-line - you can get more copies very easily! we ordered nine additional copies - one for each sibling and one for each grandchild. I have to say, I think the pile looks pretty impressive on my counter!

the cover photo is from their wedding. this is one of my all-time favorite photos. they look so happy...and stylish!

for the rest of the book, my sister-in-law and sister helped compile the photos - which meant a lot of scanning! we started with several hundred images and I pared it down to about one hundred for the final book. I used paislee press' off to press digital layouts to create the pages. and then I uploaded those finished jpg files to blurb to make the book. this is my first blurb book, so I can't say if it's easier to upload finished pages...but for me, the whole book thing was enough of a learning curve that it helped I knew how to use photoshop!

the book is organized by decade. each section starts with an opening two-page spread and a tag-line to define the decade.

here's the one for the 1960's.

and for the 2010's.

then there are detail spreads that tell a story from the decade. like this one about snow and camping from the 70's.

it's a good thing my mom took a lot of photos. and that she put them into albums for each of us. (and I am very happy now to have those photos all digital!)

each decade closes with another two-page spread. here's half of the 1990's.

and half of the 2000's.

the final book is forty-four pages total. I am really pleased with how it turned out. and reminded again how blessed I am to be part of my mom and dad's story.

mother & daddy - I love you. thank you for living the example of love. and family. xxoo - m.

holiday maggiano's.

2011-12-15T18:26:00.000-05:00

...the tradition continues. as good as ever. I guess that's what makes good friends.

a quick photo on the way out the door - love the holiday sparkle!

we enjoyed fried calamari, maggiano's salad, pasta, wine and more pasta to take home. but no dessert (too full - not sure what we did differently to have room last year)! it was fun to talk about the holidays. and families. and weddings. and dogs. and - for just two minutes! - work!

thank you ladies for a wonderful time!

wip wednesday.

2011-12-14T19:58:00.000-05:00

...what's left to knit (for christmas gifts).

since two of the recipients read this blog, it seems safer to post an in progress photo of the ever-dwindling yarn instead of the ever-growing projects. with 12 days to go, I'm feeling pretty good.

...so good, in fact, that I've ordered the yarn to knit the maggiknits piece. I want to wear it for new years. when we meet rob's family for the first time :-)

tuesday unwrapped.

2011-12-13T19:26:00.000-05:00

...as much as I love letting these tuesday posts be completely spontaneous, I was a bit worried driving home from work at 5:30 that I had nothing in mind. the only photos I'd taken today were of a new trunk show at the shop (a blog post there coming tomorrow). I was thinking something along the lines of welcome home - I turned on the porch light and the tree lights (and turned up the heat :-) - and took holly out for a walk.

and then the moment hit me. that walk. the simply company of my best four-legged friend. the routine. the 30 minutes to unwind* (even better when it's not cold outside). love love need this time.

especially this time of year when it's accompanied by snowmen aglow.

*if you're familiar with myers-briggs, I am a committed "I" type (INTJ to be exact). working in a yarn shop for six straight hours every tuesday drains nearly every bit of energy I have. this walk with holly recharges me.

hello monday.

2011-12-12T08:59:00.000-05:00

my desk at about 7am this morning

...hello to only four more days before the girls are home.
...hello to finally having my december journal caught up!
...hello to a holiday lunch today with my disciple class.
...hello to continuing a years-long maggiano's tradition on thursday with janel and lisa.
...hello to having sara's gift over half done, and to katie's over three quarters.
...hello to holiday postcards ready to mail!
...hello to a long to-do list, and to feeling like it's actually do-able.
...hello to feeling the magic of the season.

sunday in the park.

2011-12-11T18:54:00.000-05:00

...the crisp air and clear blue sky were energizing. the little pops of red made me happy.

but it was the sunshine that really made me smile.

grateful, every day.

2011-12-11T06:41:00.000-05:00

...an email from big picture classes (where I'm taking ali edwards' one little word class) arrived in my inbox yesterday announcing a new self-paced class called grateful, every day.

this one caught my eye because big picture classes will donate 100% of the proceeds from my $10 registration fee to the charity of my choice, and they'll match that $10 100%, for a total donation of $20.

wow!

I've wanted to learn art journaling for years and the teacher mou saha, says her goal for this project is to create an art journal exploring the blessings in our own lives. what sealed the deal was looking at the supply list. a class that has me using watercolor paper and three different kinds of faber-castell pens seems like a perfect way to start.

so I signed up. (note that I wasn't able to designate a specific charity, but I was able to select one area from a list of four - women, children, animals and world relief). still a great deal. and a wonderful way to start this sunday.

(sorry for the long silence here - things are good, just very busy!)

tuesday unwrapped.

2011-12-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

...treasuring this morning moment for two reasons:

first, that brilliant cardinal red is seen best against the neutral landscape and bare trees of winter. I don't really think of winter as a pretty season, but it is. beautiful.

and second, I was already late for work (spent a few extra minutes on my hair, ugh!), but I saw the bird as I was backing out the driveway and knew it could be the moment. I tried to take the picture from my rolled down car window, but of course I wasn't close enough. so I put the car in park, jumped out and gave that cardinal my best photographer moves... and I still made it to work with four minutes to spare!

again, I'm linking up with emily. looking forward to seeing what others have to share.

december daily 2011.

2011-12-05T20:46:00.000-05:00

...I'm a little embarrassed to admit this. (don't worry, it's nothing terrible - I'm only "a little" embarrassed :-) I've been slow about posting here because this is post 1001. and I had grand intentions of celebrating post #1000. I guess when I made that fifty for 50 list, I didn't consider the real impact of trying to post daily during november, or how much I post in december, sharing december daily, and holiday fun. so here's my first change to that list... instead of celebrating my 1000th post, I'm going to celebrate my blog's 5th anniversary. next february. when I'm sure things will be much quieter!

whew, it feels so good to get that off my chest! ...and now back to regular posting.

2011 journal...ready to start

one of my favorite things about december is my december journal. started in 2007 with shimelle's fabulous journal your christmas (JYC), I've continued the tradition with a mix of shimelle's prompts and ali edwards' december daily (tell a story each day). 2008 was a hybrid album, 2009 & 2010 were full digital. and for 2011, I decided on another hybrid. just to have the fun of playing with scissors and glue and pretty paper. for reals!

five days into this format, I'm loving it! I downloaded ali's 6x8.5 printables and bought a 7x10 art journal from michaels. I dis-assembled the journal and ran the pages through my printer. one page per day - with room to add "extra stuff" when I get it. once the month is done, I'll reassemble the pages, do something fun with the covers, probably add ribbons to the spiral binding. who knows!

so today's JYC is about advent calendars and I have a new one this year. I've discovered empty nesting and advent calendars can result in 1) way too much chocolate and/or 2) a daily early morning reminder that you're getting old. so I'd planned something new for this year. I'd downloaded ali's advent boxes a few months ago, but it wasn't until last thursday that I hit on the idea of overlaying those boxes on favorite photos (heavily inspired by this photo).

today's page - the tree, three of my favorite ornaments already hanging, and a photo of pulling it all together (it was actually much messier than this!)

I spent ~~way too~~ many happy hours on thursday going through my archive of photos and found 24 favorites. I gathered them into photoshop pages, spent a few more hours matching those advent boxes with the photos, and later, adhered the photos to patterned paper, cut them out, added eyelets and cord. the finished "calendar" is 24 of my favorite mostly holiday photos, ready to hang on a tree.

I love the finished result. beside the tree is a snowman dish full of ornaments waiting to be hung. he's full of happy memories waiting to be relived. ...and I loved the process of creating it. those hours spent sorting through the photos reminded me how beautiful our holidays are...and I'm grateful to have so many of those moments captured.

sunday in the park.

2011-12-04T17:09:00.000-05:00

...we walked two laps. holly chased and barked at squirrels while I noticed the grays and browns in the landscape (it took my mind off my very cold fingers).

and then she posed for a photo.

the perfect way to commemorate our one-year anniversary!

focus friday. november one little word.

2011-12-02T07:33:00.000-05:00

...november's prompt was about self-reflection through a series of "i statements". ali provided the six statements and we had three extra spaces for pretty paper collages. when I first watched the video back on november 6, I thought "wow, good stuff"...but as the month progressed, I found it hard to nail down my thoughts. this word, and the process that ali has led us through, have had such an impact on me. how do I sum it all up on six little cards?

last weekend, with the 30th just a few days away (of course the focused me was going to finish the prompt by the end of the month!), I printed the cards on scrap paper, glued them into my journal, and started writing. I finished yesterday (yeah, a day late) and printed the cards for real. the paper collages were easy (for once!) and the words seemed right.

except for the i believe statement. the one I journaled read "the process ali presented has been a huge part of why this word. this year. has worked." but when I went to write it on the card, what came out was "I chose the right word. at the right time. and I'm so grateful. (amen!)" those words are right.

I watched the december video last night, and I'm looking forward to finishing up the project later this month. and yes, I've already signed up for the 2012 class. and chosen my word. more about that later. for now, it's still about focus!

wip wednesday.

2011-11-30T17:39:00.000-05:00

...christmas knitting has (finally??!!) begun in earnest.

raveled here

tuesday unwrapped.

2011-11-29T19:10:00.000-05:00

...I first read about tuesday unwrapped yesterday on emily's blog. and her simple suggestion to

share a moment that may have otherwise disappeared... Instead, stop. Notice. And be thankful.

spoke to me. and I thought about joining in, but it wasn't until this morning when I finally got back on my normal dark-early alarm schedule that I figured out my topic. so no, this isn't a post I triggered for today. it's what struck me as I was pouring my second cup of coffee and it was only 6:30 a.m.

I had 45 whole minutes to spend with my journal. I came to my journaling habit just five years ago (a few months before I started this blog - yes, you could say I'm trying to make up for much lost time by having an extremely well-documented second half of my life!) and it's one I love.

but this month, my journal suffered my push for daily blogging (an unsuccessful push at that since I missed last friday - you probably didn't even notice did you? I didn't either, until saturday!) I was pushing the daily blogging to see if I could...and to see how it impacted my blogging. back to my focus battle from september, I wondered if posting more often would make my blog better. more on that later...

because what hit me full-on this morning was how much I missed the time with my journal. blank pages I can fill with whatever I want. free to cut and paste (with scissors and glue, not the cmd key on my keyboard). or write. or dream. or reflect. in a way I do not do here on my blog.

clearly this is another balance issue. I love having this blog. having a place to share and connect with others is important to me. but so is having a personal and private place to do my own thing.

so this morning, I stopped. noticed. and was thankful. for the time I had to write in my journal. for the time to work through yet another balance issue (and this evening, for the time to write about it here!)

looking forward to linking up with emily today and for the next few weeks.

currents.

2011-11-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

listening - pandora's christmas station.

eating - thanksgiving leftovers; we didn't cook as much as we usually do, and sara took a shopping bag full back to school...but it still seems like we'll be eating this for another week.

drinking - pomegranate tea (from vanessa, for my birthday...love it!)

wearing - my uggs. first time this season. not sure how I feel about that!

reading - extremely loud and incredibly close...on my new kindle (woo hoo - thank you katie & sara!); the movie comes out christmas day and because I loved the book when I first read it, I felt I needed to re-read to be ready for the movie.

weather - the temperature dropped from the 60's to the low 40's today...and snow is forecast for tomorrow. yikes!

knitting - the collar on my vodka gimlet (aka "grey goose") - finally, the end is in sight. I started this sweater when it was summer and now it's going to snow!

wanting - to prep the pages for my december daily album (wow, this will be my 5th year of a daily journal!), but my scrapbook.com order hasn't arrived yet.

needing - to update my to-do list for everything I need to get done in the next three weeks.

enjoying - my house decorated for christmas. new this year is a little tree (seen in the background above) for my collection of bird ornaments.

looking forward - to both girls coming home on december 16th.

wondering - if my christmas knitting will really go better this year...I've planned, and I've tried to be realistic, but really, who knows??!!

sunday in the park.

2011-11-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

...holly treed a squirrel.

(actually, she treed about four, but it was no fun taking photos after than first one!)

celebrating 50 years.

2011-11-26T07:48:00.000-05:00

...together. their anniversary isn't til next month, but we celebrated yesterday. getting our three families and six grandchildren together isn't easy so we celebrate when we can (and technically we didn't manage six, since katie's spending the holiday in LA, but we did see her on facetime and I know my dad took a photo of her!)

the food was plentiful and delicious. two kinds of lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread, tiramisu and gingerbread cake (no turkey or pumpkin pies in sight!)

and there were decorations. little 50's and hearts spread on the tables and golden 50's streamers.

and smiles.

my mom and dad

and a group shot.

and a photo book, which I apparently forgot to photograph... oh well.

...it was a lovely party, I'm so glad we were able to get together to celebrate. happy anniversary (a few weeks early)!

real reason.

2011-11-24T19:24:00.000-05:00

"There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good."

~ storypeople

three kinds of cranberries, the macy's parade on dvr, 3 laps in the park, I'll make the turkey if you'll make the sides. making thanksgiving with you, sara, is the highlight of my holiday! xxoo - m.

wednesday lunch.

2011-11-23T17:11:00.000-05:00

me, my dad, my mom and karen

...part 2 of the thanksgiving lunch-along tradition. and the 4th (yes, I typed that right - fourth!) lunch I've shared with my parents over the past week. today's tradition started as wednesday golf followed by the family "everything but turkey" buffet at the club about 15 years ago. marc is the only one still playing golf and we no longer belong to that club...but I've held tight to the tradition of spending this day before thanksgiving with my parents.

we still finish up my holiday grocery shopping at harry's (now whole foods). and a few years ago we added a visit to barnes & noble so he could shop for a birthday book.

I don't remember when we started having lunch at the village tavern - must have been a few years ago, because katie remembers those lunches. "aw, you're going to have crab dip?" yes indeed. their maryland crab dip is a highlight. and last year they started half price wine by the glass. this is definitely a tradition we're keeping!

10 things for which I'm thankful.

2011-11-22T09:01:00.000-05:00

...limiting this list to 10 things is hard. but this morning, these are the ones that are top of mind.

me, my dad and my mom at macaroni grill...after lunch and before shopping (see #8)

1. a family who loves me. unconditionally.

2. my health. as I walked dark early with vanessa, and then again with holly, I am especially grateful I actually enjoy those daily walks.

3. I'm surrounded by friends, in person and on-line. we make each other laugh, and cry. we listen. we share. we play. we are there for each other.

4. sara's coming home tomorrow.

5. skype with katie. we have her first knitting lesson scheduled for tonight and I expect to share a champagne toast with her on thursday.

6. holly. she is the best four-legged company I could ask for. (and some days, she's the best company period :-)

7. we have plenty. our holiday challenge is one of "too much", not "too little".

8. holiday traditions. the photo above was taken at lunch yesterday. for about ten years, my parents have been coming to see us for thanksgiving (my sister, my brother and I all live within about 20 miles of each other; my parents stay with my sister and the rest of us take turns entertaining them). lunch and shopping is our monday tradition. (and our wednesday tradition.... that might be tomorrow's blog post!)

9. time to do the things I love. knit. study. take photographs. blog.

10. my knitting students. they are fun and inspiring and when a lightbulb goes off for them, it's just the best! I can't imagine anything else I'd rather get paid to do than teach them!

thank you, carole, for another wonderful prompt!

he gets it.

2011-11-21T07:02:00.000-05:00

...this message was waiting for me when I got home from knitting yesterday (a few hours later than usual because the girls made a wonderful birthday party for me!)

so this is what he'll see when he comes home tonight.

sunday in the park.

2011-11-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

...it was quiet enough to hear the water tumbling over the rocks. and reflect on my thoughts. as we walked two laps in the damp morning mist.

I love you because.

2011-11-19T10:43:00.000-05:00

...so, today is my anniversary. 28 years if you're counting (and of course, I'm counting!) marc is still impossible to shop for. and I spent all my creative energy on last year's photo. truly, I had nothing new to offer.

until kal published her love you because kit. thank you, kal!

this is perfect. I downloaded everything, resized the dry-erase pdf file to 8x10 (I had to crop it a bit, but it turned out fine), printed it (at costco), put it into a frame (from target), added a message...and whew! done!

I wasn't sure what my first message was going to be until late yesterday - when marc texted that he had landed in las vegas and would be home very early this morning. nearly 24 hours ahead of schedule.

this is the actual framed print, sitting on the kitchen counter. I used an 11x14 frame with an 8x10 mat. decided the whitespace around the print would be good for writing, too!

I'm including four dry-erase pens with the gift. planning to have the framed print sit on our kitchen counter so we remember to leave each other messages like this one. reminding each other about all the things we love...big, little, everyday things...that make a marriage...and make a marriage last.

... and just for fun, another photo from the archives. this one from our wedding. november 19, 1983 seems like a very long time ago!

love you, marc. only you.

the birthday.

2011-11-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

...first, many thanks to everyone for the sweet birthday wishes and support for my fifty for 50. I'm excited about it and I think it should be great fun to share all about it here.

so yesterday was my 49th birthday. and the first one ever that I spent without a family at home to steer my direction for the day. I thought it was going to be weird or sad, but it was actually pretty great. yep, I'm 49 years old and I'm finally learning how to live on my own (not that I do, or want to permanently, but every now and then - as long as I have holly! - I love it!)

I started the day with a walk with vanessa (and holly) in the park. two laps. we hadn't done that since august and it was delightful to feel the crisp air, see the season and catch up.

my parents are visiting for thanksgiving and they took me (and holly) to lunch at nine in roswell. we had a great meal on the porch (highly recommend the grilled pimento cheese!) and then a photo. I've written about how special it is to spend birthdays with my mom and dad. we think the last time we shared my birthday was when I turned 21. two days before my wedding. wow!

polly, mary & holly, roy

lunch was wonderful and then it was off to martha's for cupcakes and coffee.

next a quick stop at the shop for some knitting (finally!) and more coffee. and finally home. I got holly settled (one quick walk, she inhaled her dinner and then zonked on her bed - whew! birthdays are hard work!) and started my birthday for one. gifts, cards, chocolate cake, red wine and a candle. that's all it takes!

... then I talked to sara. and made a wish and cut the cake. and had an extra bite (that's what having my own cake is all about, right?)

... then I skyped with katie. (and ate the cake and drank the wine). enjoyed all the cards and the emails and the facebook and text messages. and went to bed.

tired. happy. loved. blessed. grateful.

thank you all so much!

fifty for 50.

2011-11-17T07:20:00.001-05:00

...today marks the beginning of my 50th year. (not to confuse, and not to embarrass my parents who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next month :-), my 50th birthday isn't til 2012 - this is my 50th year. and being one who loves to-do lists, I decided to make a big one for this year.

things to accomplish once and done.
1. grow my hair to wear a pony tail.
2. knit through my WIP's.
3. read mansfield park (and then I've read all of jane austen's novels).
4. make pesto with my own homegrown basil.
5. knit ten projects from my stash.
6. finish the superhero photo treasure hunts.
7. clean out the guest room.
8. finish the poppies needlepoint canvas (that I started months ago).
9. sort through the books on my bookshelves and donate the ones I no longer need.
10. organize all the pre-2003 photos.

things to set me on a good course for the next fifty years.
1. take a photo a day.
2. have a physical.
3. and a mammogram.
4. and an eye exam.
5. schedule a colonoscopy.
6. start a strength training routine.
7. keep walking 15 miles a week.
8. and 12 new (to me) healthy recipes.
9. get a manicure (and keep it up).
10. participate in one little word for 2012.

things to do because they're good.
1. celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.
2. and my dad's 75th birthday.
3. and sara's 21's birthday.
4. (with karen) raise another $2,500 for the atlanta 2-day walk (and walk for the 6th time).
5. knit 12 hats for charity.
6. revitalize the church's prayer shawl group.
7. practice 50 random acts of kindness.
8. investigate volunteering at a senior center with holly.

or because I'll learn something.
1. teach katie to knit.
2. bake bread with sara.
3. make a photobook.
4. knit fair isle with two hands.
5. read power of a praying woman.
6. read mere christianity.
7. figure out "what's twitter?"
8. identify 12 trees at the park.
9. learn three new needlepoint stitches.
10. master oatmeal cookies.
11. take a monthly self portrait photo.
11. take a class.
13. try yoga.

or because they're fun.

1. re-read all seven harry potter books.

2. bake 12 new (to me) quick breads.

3. host a card-making party.
4. complete four more needlepoint projects.
5. celebrate my 1,000th blog post.

or just because I want to.
1. get four regular students in my saturday afternoon lace class.
2. take a trip to visit a friend.

then 49. document my progress and 50. plan a celebration for next year's birthday!

thank you in advance to everyone who will play a part in helping me accomplish all of this, including everyone who cheers from the sidelines!!

here's to a wonderful year!

come full circle.

2011-11-16T19:06:00.000-05:00

10 ways to use fresh cranberries.

2011-11-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

...I'm a huge fan of cranberries, especially fresh ones and especially for cooking, so carole's topic for today will be fun!

my favorite two ways to use fresh cranberries - cranberry relish and cranberry conserve (recipes blogged here)

1 & 2. cranberry relish and cranberry conserve (pictured) are stars at our thanksgiving table.

3. warmed cranberry brie (leftover conserve used in place of whole berry sauce) is my standard hors d'oeuvre for the holidays.

4. cranberry oatmeal bread. I made this for bible study last week and it was delicious, especially served with pumpkin cream cheese (I used this recipe, but substituted leftover roasted butternut squash for the pumpkin - highly recommend!)....and an added bonus - there's a second loaf in my freezer!

5. ina's cranberry harvest muffins. it's worth getting the figs, but I substitute pecans or walnuts for the hazlenuts.

6. sugared cranberries. a special treat for the season. as pretty to look at as to eat!

7. in crystal dishes to decorate the mantel.

8. with white votives in a shallow bowl for a pretty centerpiece.

9. strung (with white popcorn?!) and hung on the tree.

10. eaten plain. they're really tart, so I can only eat a couple at a time (and yes, I know this is weird - marc and sara both gave me a hard time about snacking straight from the bowl), but they're crunchy and deliver that wonderful cranberry taste without anything extra.

more (early) signs of the season.

2011-11-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

...two of my favorites are out today!

I admit I tried the holly station for a few songs, but I held off on the biscotti. isn't that new packaging cute?!

sunday in the park.

2011-11-13T17:51:00.000-05:00

...I was again reminded how grateful I am to all who serve this country to ensure my freedom. I send my heartfelt gratitude to them and their loved ones for all they've sacrificed. thank you!

knitting memories.

2011-11-12T17:36:00.000-05:00

...my profile on ravelry says I've been knitting for about 35 years. as best I can remember, my grandma (on my mother's side) taught me to knit when I was 13. I don't remember my first project, but I'm pretty sure one of the early ones was an earwarmer for my dad (we lived in wyoming and it was around 1975 - earwarmers were cool). I remember telling him not to look at what I was doing...and him telling me the only reason he was looking was because I'd told him not to.

I don't remember much more knitting til I was in college. marc's mom is a knitter and his sisters were catching on then. I remember trips to yarn stores in new haven (so much yarn!) and sharing patterns and project ideas. I tell people that I really became a knitter then. about 30 years ago.

but honestly, a lot of the years between then and say late 2007 (when I joined ravelry and started to record my knitting projects)... it was a blur. I remember buying yarn and knitting certain projects. but not much else.

so it was a great surprise when I was going through the photos to find that great shot of sara's first birthday to find this one. from thanksgiving 1984.

(back) steve, my dad, karen; (front) marc, my mom, me

marc and karen are both wearing sweaters I knit. and I think karen's is the first project I knit with yarn from cast-on cottage (different owner, much different store back then!).

and then this past week when I was dusting, I noticed the knitting in this photo collage (made by marc in 1992).

let me show you a few of those photos up close

(fun photo from georgia tech's famous 1991 season closing game on the left) and on the right, a pregnant me (circa 1986) knitting a blanket for soon-to-be-born katie

knitting on the couch and wearing a sweater I'd made - not sure the year

circa 1983/4 - I knit the sweater I'm wearing. no published pattern, but the woman who owned my LYS wrote me directions. (I'm curious who took the photo, because this was just after we were married and it was just the two of us living in the condo!)

...now if I can just piece together what happened from then to 2007 - just 15 years! - I'll be set!

birthday dinner part 2.

2011-11-11T22:58:00.000-05:00

...it's hard to believe it was just a week ago that sara was home for her birthday and we made that delicious dinner. it's also hard to believe I still don't have a photo of sara wearing the scarf I knit her, but that's a different story :-) tonight it was about delivering the two gifts that didn't arrive on time (free shipping is great...you get what you pay for - but as long as it gives me an excuse to see her, I'm not complaining!)...and pizza.

yes pizza. at varasano's. thin crust (famous crust) and delicious.

of course I started with wine. that crios de susana balbo malbec. it was good. and just what I needed after the 90 minute drive downtown (yikes! even on a holiday, friday traffic was awful).

we shared the antipasta and caesar salad to start.

and then had two pizzas. this is the nana's house special. sara liked it best.

the photo of the fontina mushroom didn't turn out. but that pizza was my favorite (and I'm looking forward to the leftovers I now have in my refrigerator).

sadly, the dessert menu didn't excite and the coffee was a bit blah.

but we got a good photo before we left.

and I got to see a few more smiles when sara opened her gifts.

extended birthdays are good!

cooking light.

2011-11-10T21:36:00.000-05:00

...I've tried to make eating healthy a way of life, but honestly, my cooking isn't always in line with that goal. lately it seems to be a lot of baking - a mix of "healthy" and "yummmm, that's delicious" (and it should be because there's a LOT of butter in it!)

really, it seems like it's a lot easier not to cook. I can just cut up vegetables or make a salad or a wrap. but when the weather turns chilly like it has this week, I feel the urge to cook - to turn on the stove and the oven, to stir, to smell cooking, and to eat something hot. sara's birthday dinner was a great segue into fall cooking...and last night I transformed the leftovers into real food.

yes, I cooked!

the chicken became chicken broccoli casserole.

I used this recipe, except*

the butternut squash became a salad.

I used this recipe for the dressing, but omitted the shallots

I tossed the (leftover) roasted squash with toasted walnuts and served alongside mixed baby greens, tossed with the dressing and just a few tablespoons of grated parmesan (no cranberries!)

and marc and I sat at the table - with a glass of pinot noir that the wine lady at whole foods said was delicious (and she was right!) - and ate. and talked. it was wonderful.

that's my plate in front...with the bread :-)

I said it to marc last night, but I want to say it again to all of you who will hold me accountable! - it wasn't hard and I need to do it more often!

*here's what I changed for the casserole:
1. steamed three heads of broccoli in the microwave and then chopped very coarsely;
2. added a scant 1/2 c low-fat mayonnaise plus a scant 1/2 c fat-free greek yogurt (less mayonnaise and greek yogurt substituted for the sour cream);
3. omitted the worcestershire sauce (because I forgot it!);
4. 1/2 c grated parmesan, all added to the casserole (none on top); and
5. added more pepper, more salt and about another 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the dish before I baked it. (I wonder if this would've been necessary if I would've remembered to add the worcestershire?)

a colorful canopy.

2011-11-09T16:59:00.000-05:00

10 ways to beat a cold.

2011-11-08T07:48:00.000-05:00

...this one is especially timely around here. marc, sara and I have all been bitten by the cold bug this season. and technically carole's topic is how to care for yourself when you have a cold, but I think taking good care helps you beat it, so here goes:

1. hot tea. I am a confirmed coffee drinker. the first sign I'm not feeling well is that I don't like to even think about coffee. hot tea, however, is soothing and hydrating. something with chai is especially nice with a bit of milk. (and my special M mug always makes me smile!)

2. juice, water (and more tea). I heard recently that drinking lots of fluids helps to flush out the germs. that might be true because the extra liquids do make me feel better.

3. zinc and vitamin C lozenges. start sucking these at the first itty bitty sign of a cold or sore throat. they might even keep you from getting sick.

4. chicken soup. more liquid, and this one with some protein and flavor and proven benefits for fighting a cold.

5. rest. early to bed, no alarm and a few naps during the day. (I guess it goes without saying you should stay home when you're sick!)

6. workout. this one's tricky, but sometimes working up a sweat helps me feel more like my (well) self.

7. cozy up with a book and a blanket.

8. tissues with lotion. lots of boxes!

9. sweatpants, sweatshirt and slippers.

10. and then, a long hot shower and real clothes. spending too much time in my sweats starts to make me feel worse!

my new view.

2011-11-07T21:55:00.000-05:00

click the photo to see notes in flickr

...I've been a fan of shanna murray's decals for ages, so I was thrilled to get one on my stocking last christmas. I'd planned to put it on this wall behind my desk to frame an inspiration board. but when I got serious about putting it up (say april?) marc started talking about installing something above the granite countertops ... and I got worried about committing my precious decal to a wall that might not be a commitment.

so I thought about less permanent solutions. a blackboard came first, but I couldn't find a frame to match the decor (I even tried paint, but that was a mess!) and then I figured out the frame idea. it took a few more months for a 50% off framing coupon (and for me to get the nerve to do it!). finally last month, I did. I took a few deep breaths and adhered the decal to a huge piece of brown paper. (kudos to shanna - it was easy!). then I took that paper to dick blick and had it framed. a few weeks later... my inspiration "board".

I'm using magic tape right now to adhere the various pieces of paper. but I think it would be cool to get masking tape - in colors (or stripes??!) like the japanese washi tape.

but most of all, I'm glad to finally have reminders of what's important right now right in front of me!

sunday in the park.

2011-11-06T17:05:00.000-05:00

...I saw a few pretty bits of red still hanging on to their branches.

the birthday dinner.

2011-11-05T09:15:00.000-04:00

...there are many great things about sara going to georgia tech, but when it's her birthday, the best thing is that she's just 45 minutes away and can come home for dinner (and stay the weekend because tech has a bye this week!)

she loves to cook and I love to cook with her - so we enjoyed fixing dinner together. I bought the chicken at costco (seriously, I know ina has a tried-and-true recipe, but this one is way easier, and less expensive - and delicious!) and we added salad with roasted cherry tomatoes and a red wine vinaigrette, roasted brussels sprouts and butternut squash macaroni and cheese (I'd been wanting to try this myself since sara posted the recipe a few weeks ago...but a big pan of mac and cheese is too much for me to eat by myself!)

the table does look much more inviting covered with food than with yarn and knitting!

we joked about this being good practice for the thanksgiving meal we'll be preparing in a few weeks. again, for just three. it's kind of hard to cook a really good meal for just three people. so it's a good thing we all like leftovers!

sara didn't request anything special for dessert, and while I suspect she was secretly hoping for cheesecake, I decided to recreate our favorite bistro vg dessert. by ordering three browned butter tarts from the bakery that makes their desserts. I requested three different flavors, one with figs if possible.

and oh my, they did not disappoint.

fig, cranberry and blackberry browned butter tarts

make a wish!

and enjoy....happy birthday, dear sara, happy birthday to you!!!

couldn't resist the close-up shot - and yes, it tastes just as good as it looks!

happy birthday sara!

2011-11-04T06:39:00.000-04:00

...happy birthday sara! love this photo of you and that huge smile - you were a happy baby who grew into a fun little girl who grew up to be beautiful woman. I hope today brings you plenty to smile about...birthday wishes, shared laughter with your friends, cake, and maybe even a bit of sunshine.

love you! xxoo - m.

p.s. yes, I knit that sweater!

another bout of startitis.

2011-11-03T19:30:00.000-04:00

...my last bout of (documented? :-) startitis was at the end of august. followed two weeks later by a commitment to stop setting unrealistic knitting goals. followed two weeks later by a set of what I thought would be reasonable goals for the month of october. the good news is that I think I did well by those goals. I met all of them except starting katie's birthday sweater. But that's because she won't be home for thanksgiving after all and my first try-on opportunity will be december 16. (YAY! and believe me, I'll be ready by then!)

I even managed to squeeze in a totally unplanned hat, the beginning of a new lace shawl and finishing the body on my grey goose.

so I started four projects this week. and purchased yarn for two more.

and I was feeling good about it all except that marc finally complained about my knitting taking over another room of the house. an important one. especially with sara coming home for a birthday dinner tomorrow.

yes, from any angle it's a mess! and even I knew it was bad when I couldn't find the remote for the tv this morning. I am happy to say that I've since organized that mess and moved it to the counter so the table is cleared for eating. and tomorrow I'll get the extra yarn and stack of patterns and my needles moved back to my yarn room. [I haven't figured out a good way to keep six in-process projects neatly in sight while I work on them. as a start, I ordered another project basket. maybe I can keep the traveling projects in one and the at home projects in another? welcome better ideas!]

so those four new projects? here they are!

raveled here

the rocky coast cardigan from coastal knits. I was impressed I managed to hold off starting this one til I finished those october projects. swatching doesn't count! last night I finished the raglan increases, tried it on and had my sister take a picture. today I've worked a few inches of the body. love working a sweater on size 10-1/2 needles for a change!

raveled here

gyllis, the latest release from stephen west (happily not colorwork meaning only a few ends to weave in!). I love lace in worsted weight and the shape of this shawl won me over the first day I saw it. the pattern was only available as a kit through an LA-based yarn store til november 1. I admit I stalked the pattern page for about seven hours on tuesday til it was released. I'm using a llama/mulberry silk blend in a gorgeous holiday red to knit this. a shawl on size 8's goes quickly too!

this is the next pattern I'm suggesting for my saturday shawl class, so I need to finish it this month for sure.

raveled here

leg warmers in a pretty gray alpaca. katie found a photo of these on pinterest and made me feel like a rockstar when I said I could knit them for her. I started these on monday and it felt good to be knitting 1x1 ribbing in the round on size 2 needles. reminded me of my 2011 sock obsession I guess. but now I'm looking forward to starting the lace (just a few more rounds of ribbing to go).

raveled here

and finally, the biggest project. a jared flood pattern (umaro) knit in rowan big wool. 14 balls. like I said, it's "big". thank goodness for size 15 needles!

...and while I'm still running high on startitis, it seems like the best time to document what I plan to accomplish for november:

finish grey goose (another 500? yds)
finish rocky coast (another 750? yds)
finish gyllis (500 yds)
start katie's vitamin d (tbd)
start catkin (tbd)
knit a hat for charity (200 yds)
~2,000 yds...should be a challenge, but doable if I stay focused!

christmas cups already?

2011-11-02T20:40:00.000-04:00

10 great interview questions.

2011-11-01T07:21:00.000-04:00

...hummm, when the topic isn't simply fun (remember favorite childhood games?), they're typically timely (like roadtrip tips and advice for a college freshman) - so I'm thinking someone must be looking for a job. of course as I type this, I realize someone is always looking for a job. my second cup of coffee hasn't kicked in yet and I'm still a bit slow.

that's me on the far left, at a time one of my teams made a client happy - see #2 - and we celebrated with a photo

in any event, this topic intrigues me because I actually have a lot of experience asking interview questions. over my 27 year career in benefits consulting, I hired dozens to fill all sorts of roles; I must have interviewed three or four times that many candidates. that's a lot of questions! here are ten of my tried-and-true favorites:

1. tell me about a time you made a big mistake. what caused it? what did you to do recover? what did you learn from it?

2. tell me about a time you made a customer really happy.

3. ...and a time you made one really unhappy.

4. things change so quickly in our industry. how do you stay abreast of new developments?

5. tell me about a big project you managed. how did you keep the team on track?

6. what would your manager say you did really well on that project? and what could you improve?

7. what would your team say you did really well? and what could you improve?

8. which of your skills are a great match for this position?

9. where do you think you'll have the steepest learning curve?

10. what's your favorite excel function? (this one is more just for fun, but I'd probably be swayed to hire an analyst who loved pivot tables more than one who didn't have a clue!)

I hope these questions help anyone out there who's looking for a job. or anyone who's hiring!

currents.

2011-10-31T13:42:00.000-04:00

holly at the park this morning - 39 degrees is purple coat weather!

...wow time flies - I can't believe it's been over three months since I posted one of these (and how much has changed in just that short time!)

listening - classical music from my itunes library, on shuffle. love all of it, but vivaldi's four seasons is a special favorite. something about fall always makes me want to hear vivaldi!

eating - oatmeal, with dried cranberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon and splenda.

drinking - decaf tazo chai tea with skim milk.

wearing - jeans and clogs (and handknit socks); will put on my creature comforts when I leave the house later this afternoon.

reading - writing down the bones by natalie goldberg...serious inspiration for my journal!

weather - chilly, but dry. it's warmed up to the 50's since our walk this morning.

wanting - the new kindle. loving the idea of having a stack of books on one small device instead of toppling over on my nightstand. (and would welcome input on whether or not I need the 3G or just wi-fi?)

needing - to get my eyes checked. my last appointment was in 2008 - yikes! - and I'm pretty sure I need a stronger prescription in my reading glasses.

enjoying - my knitting classes. I have a great group of students across the four classes. they're fun to teach and inspiring my knitting!

looking forward - to celebrating sara's 20th birthday this weekend.

wondering - about my one little word for 2012.

a pink rosebud.

2011-10-30T21:55:00.000-04:00

modeled on me and raveled here

...an email landed in my inbox last thursday - my friend shari's sister has breast cancer and she starts chemo tomorrow. could I recommend some hat patterns?

well of course I could (and I did) - and I quickly grabbed one for myself.

I had fave'd rosebud as soon as it was released (I have a "few" skeins of stash yarn that would work perfectly for the pattern) and I loved having a great reason to buy the pattern and excuse a few of my other knitting goals to make room for a hat.

jared flood does not disappoint. the pattern is beautifully laid out, clearly written, and results in a lovely finished hat. (check out my ravelry project page to see the few changes I made).

I'm bummed that the hat doesn't really look pink in any of the photos. but trust me, it is!

I'm looking forward to knitting it again (for me :-)

in process - through the first repeat of the chart

lovely decrease detail...

focus friday. a finished project.

2011-10-28T18:43:00.000-04:00

...knitting has been good to me this week. as in I finished a project, have another done except for 38 stitches to graft (coffee work tomorrow morning!) and we got a gorgeous shipment of madelinetosh, including madtosh light, in the shop today. and I got to spend nearly all day yesterday and today knitting with friends (and even captured one of those times with a photo - thanks, karen!)

the finished project is creature comforts, the current project crush at the shop (or maybe it was really a knit along, I'm not sure). several of my students are knitting it, too; and really, the knitting along was one of my favorite parts of this project. until I finished it, and put it on, and peeked at the back in my bathroom mirror. truly, the best part about this one is wearing it!

thank you, sharon, for taking the photo - and the suggestion to hold my arms out :-)

now that it's done and I've worn it, I'll admit I was a bit worried about a few things. the seams, having it fall off my shoulders, or just plain fit weird. but really, none of those worries came to be. and I love the finished piece. I did make a few modifications and they're documented on my ravelry project page.

a view from the front (note to self, next time smile at the camera!)

more on the nearly finished project and what I'm going to knit with the madtosh light later this weekend...

the morning walk (fall).

2011-10-26T17:16:00.000-04:00

halloween decorations.

2011-10-25T18:47:00.000-04:00

...I'll say it up front - I'm not a fan of halloween. I think it goes back to my girls' younger days when I was balancing a full-time job, day care, homework, housework, yikes! ... and costumes, candy and trick or treating was just.too.much. really, I am not at all creative in the costume department, I don't really care for candy bars (except the really good stuff that should be adults only)...and now I have holly who barks like a much bigger dog whenever the doorbell rings! like I said, not a fan....

but my neighborhood seems to be really getting into the whole thing. not that we have decorations anything like what anne hanson shares with us (I doubt many of us have that much to share!)

vanessa and I were out dark early for a walk this morning and saw huge skeleton faces in windows, plenty of orange lights and a very creepy strobe-lit bonus room. once it was light, holly and I went to check out those "scary" scenes.

um, yeah, not nearly so scary in daylight! and I was relieved to see that the creepy shadow in the strobe-lit bonus room window was actually some sort of black-robed ghost, hanging outside (it was breezy when vanessa and I walked).

but the best part for me were these blooms in the front yard of a house that didn't have anything orange or scary or pumpkin. just lovely.

thoughts on inspiration.

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

from ann taylor's november ad, featuring demi moore

...should I be embarrassed to admit I admire demi moore? oh well I do. I think she's strong and committed and smart. and wow, I knew we were about the same age, but when I looked up the wikipedia link, I see she's actually six days older than I am. huh - so add to that list "aging well" :-)

she was featured in the latest ann taylor ad campaign, which arrived in print in my mailbox last week. I always love looking at fashion ads, and this one didn't disappoint. the words on one of the inside pages spoke right to me.

Be Inspired. yep, I cut that out and pasted it in my journal and thought about inspiration. about being inspired. I started a list of things that inspire me. and I realized that - at least for me - being inspired is very different from other "be's", like be optimistic, or be grateful, or be healthy, or be beautiful. those things can exist on their own, but being inspired seems to be a path to someplace else. I need to be inspired to {something}. like pretty yarn or a new pattern collection inspire me to knit (or rearrange my project queue). a brilliant sunrise inspires me to say a prayer of thanksgiving and grab my camera. the latest november magazines arriving in my mailbox inspire me to start planning holiday menus (and cook!!).

I wasn't expecting the list to go like that when I started it. I was expecting a long list of things that would leave me inspired. plain and simple. no object required. things like sunshine, crisp morning walks, time with friends. what inspires you (no object required)?

focus friday. photographs.

2011-10-21T12:13:00.000-04:00

...I've made reference here a few times to the superhero photo workshop. it started september 19 and ends next week. I've been a bit irritated with myself because I don't feel like I've been taking full advantage of everything the course has to offer. truly, as of yesterday, I'd only uploaded four photos. yep, only four!! I'd hoped for more like 100.

I was even more mad at myself about my lack of participation because ali's prompt for october is photos. a re-run of the february prompt, we're capturing nine 2-1/8 x 3-1/8 images that tell the story of our word right now.

but then I spent several hours yesterday afternoon updating my photo album. I had over 120 photos to add, all taken since the beginning of august. and as I worked through the pile (I use the kolo catalina albums - 4x6 prints and I write a short description of who/where/when for each), I revisited so many happy memories. knitting, celebrating with friends, holly's birthday, lunches out, dinner out, the beach, fall at the park, 30 miles walking through atlanta with my sister... some of the photos aren't that great, a few are really spectacular...but all come together to tell my story. one for which I am incredibly grateful.

so (for now, anyway!) no more regrets about the photos. I'm going to work through the class at my own pace and enjoy it.

I did grab my camera this morning for our walk and added three more to the four. and I found nine images to reflect focus for me right now.

1. rainbow in the fountain at the park - it always makes me smile when I see it; 2. on the trail with holly and sure signs of the changing season; 3. our pear tree - I LOVE the way the leaves glow from the light; 4. my latest lace shawl; 5. knitting with friends; 6. a favorite scripture (I've had the bible for years, but only started highlighting passages recently); 7. sunset at the beach; 8. framing the new with the old (I love the metaphor!); 9. remembering to look up

the handoff.

2011-10-20T10:46:00.001-04:00

karen, sharon (and the bag), lisa (and the quilt), mary (and holly)

...karen and I met up with the lucky winners of our 2-day drawings this week. we feel so fortunate that, like last year, the winners live close enough that we can meet in person to handoff the prizes...and enjoy dinner.

the weather wasn't great, and I had holly (which means sitting outside), so we met at mirko for italian food on their covered patio.

sharon and lisa hit it off great. we enjoyed a delicious dinner, two carafes of house wine and plenty of laughter!

lisa met holly for the first time (love at first sight!)

lisa and her new quilt - again, many thanks to our sister-in-law lydia and her quilt club for donating it!

honeycrisp and sharp cheddar.

2011-10-19T17:31:00.000-04:00

happy birthday!

2011-10-14T13:02:00.000-04:00

...to my dad.

one of the sad things about living 350+ miles away from my parents is that I don't get to celebrate birthdays in person with them very often. and almost never on the actual birthday. so I treasure this photo - taken on my dad's birthday back in 2002 - and the memories of a birthday, shared.

he and my mom were up for a visit and we surprised him with lunch out at the macaroni grill. I had to tell some sort of story to get them to the restaurant located by my sister's office (instead of the one - now closed - by my house) so she could meet us. I'm pretty sure we shared fried calamari, a few glasses of the house chianti and something for dessert (my dad and I love dessert when we're out!). and maybe they even sang happy birthday to him in italian. the smiles on our faces suggest we had a very good time!

happy birthday, daddy!

fall bloom.

2011-10-12T17:06:00.000-04:00

10 things I did this weekend.

2011-10-11T09:13:00.000-04:00

(see #4)

1. had an inspiring, but way too short!, discussion with lydia and virginia about our last six weeks of daily reading.

2. worked my one saturday for october.

3. added a few inches to sara's birthday gift and worked a few rows on my creature comforts cardi.

4. swatched for the rocky coast cardigan. the yarn is juniper moon farm's chadwick, a single-ply worsted blend of merino and alpaca. I think it's a great match for the pattern (since we don't carry the suggested organik).

5. made super healthy hummus (with basil instead of parsley) to accompany a huge platter of vegetables - standard game day dinner for us this fall!

6. walked two laps at the park with holly.

7. attended church (and yay, it's finally cool enough to wear long sleeves and a lace shawl)

8. bought three new patterns (smooth edge, driven and slow line) at veera's birthday sale. (and then spent way too much time on ravelry, thinking about my queue!)

9. taught the sunday seamless sweater workshop.

10. watched ali's video for the october one little word prompt.

...turns out I did more than I thought - and definitely enjoyed it more than I remembered. thanks, carole, for another great prompt!

Go here if you would like to sign up for the Ten on Tuesday mailing list.

the second lap.

2011-10-10T07:28:00.000-04:00

...thank you, fall, for cooler mornings (even if daylight doesn't come til nearly 7:45 am!), because I now have my walking partner back! yes, for two whole laps, holly is energetic and curious and great company. I snapped these photos at the beginning of our third lap yesterday...not that I intend to make three a habit, but it's nice to think we could do it!

focus friday. finished.

2011-10-07T19:21:00.000-04:00

...as in the nantucket vest. which I really finished on tuesday. and wore on wednesday (and thursday :-) but saved to blog til today (so I could write one of those very cool alliterative blog titles).

when I wrote last weekend about having a day's more work to do on this piece, I thought I might be over-estimating a bit. turns out, not so much. I finished the back piece - 60 stitches wide x 13 inches long of straight stockinette - sunday evening, but one look at the body and all those ends to weave in... I put it into timeout. it sat there all day monday while I started my creature comfort cardi, feeling no guilt because both those projects were on my october list. and then tuesday morning I had a burst of energy and decided to start the finishing.

it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I took my time getting the pieces pinned together. and even stopped for a try-on (and a photo :-) before I put my crochet hook to work.

turns out seaming with a crochet hook is pretty painless. I had the two seams done and nearly all the ends finished in about two hours. one more hour that evening and it was ready to block.

I followed my usual routine - soak for 20 minutes (holly enjoyed her walk!) and then lay out to dry. taking a photo at this point helped me get the oval more-or-less even. I turned the fan on high and left it til morning.

I pulled out the points just a tiny bit and evened up the edges along the back

wow! I knew it fit from the try-ons while I was knitting, but the finished piece is fabulous! I'm going to get a lot of wear from this one... tomorrow I'm planning those same cropped jeans and a dark gray long-sleeved t-shirt (the weather is finally turning a bit cooler).

many thanks to martha for the photos (and the fresh flowers :-)

project notes - raveled here - I followed shelley's pattern as written except for the yarn substitution (and the do-over :-). this was my first time knitting with maggi's linen and I think it's perfect for the pattern. love that it shows off all the stitch detail, while maintaining the integrity of her suggested 100% cotton yarn (maggi's is a 48/52 linen/cotton blend).

charmed.

2011-10-06T20:35:00.000-04:00

...the weather in atlanta has been beautiful this week (we're very short on rain, but long on highs in the 70's and low 80's with low humidity and a breeze - the kind of weather I imagine san diego has all the time. yes, that beautiful).

so when my plans for the afternoon got cancelled mid-morning, I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do than sit outside. and knit. with a friend. (daily list #9 & #10 :-)

joanna and I spent two lovely hours outside at starbucks. and she obliged #8, even helping to "pose" holly. obviously, holly didn't want any posing!

we chatted and we knitted and we chatted. I asked if she was planning to meet susie gibbs next week. and that got me chatting about her fabulous yarns, and the lovely laceweight traveling woman I saw on hoxton's blog last week. her shawl is one of the prettiest knitted things I've seen - ever. and once I saw it I knew my plan to re-purpose my breezy cardigan was right. I even have a size 6 lace needle ready for action!

of course mine is orange. and it's for me. but it's the third time I've knit the pattern. it's got to be charmed.

just begun. raveled here.

a collection.

2011-10-05T20:12:00.000-04:00

10 things I love about a wedding.

2011-10-04T07:19:00.000-04:00

from a wedding sara & I attended last fall

...ooohhhh I love weddings - thanks, carole!

1. sharing in the couple's love and commitment, especially when I know them personally (as opposed to knowing their parents :-)

2. the dress.

3. the flowers.

4. the food.

5. the cake.

6. toasts.

7. meeting their family and friends. watching everyone mingle and interact. and have fun.

8. shopping for a gift. I love how versatile bridal registries are these days. I try to pick something fun and long-lasting (an ice cream maker, bar-ware, serving pieces...not guest bathroom towels!)

9. dressing up (I do this so seldom now, it's fun)

10. looking back at the photographs and remembering what a fun time everyone had.

Go here if you would like to sign up for the Ten on Tuesday mailing list.

talking in class.

2011-10-03T22:28:00.000-04:00

creature comforts, barely begun

...I love many things about teaching knitting. sharing inspiration, seeing that light go off on a new technique, finished projects, "firsts" of any kind. and the conversation. there is something about a group of knitters sitting around a table, even when they're concentrating on their work (and hopefully learning something new), there's non-stop chatter. about knitting of course (patterns, yarn, who's doing what, what we love - and hate, new crushes), but also about cooking and books and movies and tv and life.

I noticed that folks were pulling out notepads to jot down things to check out later. that's a bit distracting when you're trying to concentrate. so I started taking notes, and then I'd compile the notes from all four of my classes into an email and send it out weekly. I got great feedback ... but the students really deserve the credit - they're the ones who come up with all the material!

and I thought it might be fun to share the notes here - we'll see how it works!

knitting projects

creature comforts and vodka gimlet are the top two projects this month - if I count correctly (and remember counting is not one of my strengths!), ten of us (plus me - I'm knitting both) are working on one of these two projects. the photo above is my creature comforts, started today, and about 2/3 through the first cable repeat.
I'm hoping someone will want to knit a beret sometime soon. the selbu modern is a favorite of mine and I'd love to knit along. it's colorwork. the suggested yarn is canopy fingering (remember that from the westknits knitalong?)
the next saturday shawl class is silver and gold (aka crocus and sunflower - you can knit one or the other or both). and the one after that will be stephen west's new pattern gyllis - it's lace! (and not a triangle!!)
rosamund's cardigan - this is a kind of oldie (interweave fall 2009) but definitely a goodie. it's in my mental queue (I have stash yarn to knit it) and think it would be a fun project. seamless to boot!
a few folks asked about my holiday knitting plans and the sweater that I'm going to knit for katie. it's heidi kirrmaier's vitamin D. she chose a warm spicy orange/red colorway of my favorite nuna yarn. this is a re-knit I'm excited about!

books

first up, the new kindles! thanks for all your input - I think the wireless touch is going on my birthday list!
we've read time is a river, unbroken and saving ceecee honeycutt - enjoyed and recommend.

and last but not least, cooking

we're hoping to get becca's mom's lemon fruitcake recipe (with all the right instructions :-)
here's the recipe for the delicious granola that sandy makes (from the barefoot contessa)
and here's the recipe for my white sangria (thanks to thea!)

white sangria

inspired by thea colman's recipe

makes about 3 quarts

1.5 liters inexpensive pinot grigio (in other words, use one that comes in the big bottle)
1 cup cointreau
1 cup vodka (citron is great if you have it)
12 oz frozen fruit - I like a mixture of peaches, melon and berries, but really, I think anything would do
2 liters sprite zero (or diet or 7UP)

combine the alcohol and the frozen fruit in a pitcher and let sit overnight. when ready to serve, pour the mixture over lots of ice in a punchbowl and then add soda to taste (I find about 1-1.5 liters is all it takes).

the battle rages on.

2011-10-01T17:15:00.000-04:00

...surrendering isn't supposed to be hard, right? or maybe it depends on the battle. or the personality of the fighter.

my bet is on both.

I chose to surrender a battle that has been beating me since I retired and started knitting "professionally" (please excuse the quotation marks - my husband thinks it's a hobby, but it pays for my yarn, so I think it's more than that). key point here is that knitting is now the only thing I really do. yes, I still meet friends for coffee, I keep house, I walk my dog, I teach, I read, I study, ... but really... most of that takes a back seat to the knitting. it's certainly the only thing I do - besides blogging and photography - that creates something that lasts outside of me. so I take it seriously. and that's my personality.

I like to take things seriously. I like to set stretch goals and meet them (I taught a seminar once in my former life that "exceeding" stretch goals meant you hadn't set the goals right ... simply meeting a stretch goal is a victory).

so there we have the perfect storm to setup this battle.

and in my first month, I've been defeated.

but I've learned.

I almost hate to revisit the campaign, but maybe I'll learn more from it if I do!

remember september 2? a few days before a 3-day weekend (when I wasn't working or teaching), a week before my planned beach trip, and a month off from teaching two of my classes. knitting time seemed abundant. I was excited about the projects. I could do anything!

funny, when I posted on september 16 about my surrender, I didn't actually surrender any of those earlier deadlines. in my head I was still planning to finish a shawl and two sweaters and maybe let the vest slide to october. really?!

yes really?! what was I thinking! I was setting myself up to fail. and I don't like that. that's why I'm surrendering the battle. I said it. and I wrote it. but I didn't do it.

I worked like crazy to finish the crocus shawl so I could share it with my students (that worked, they're excited about the pattern and two of them have started it).

now I'm working like crazy to finish the nantucket vest (so I can start the next sweater). I'm close, but really, I have at least a day's more work to do.

and now I have birthday and holiday knitting to start. I refuse to let those projects become part of my battle this year. over the last few days, I've been re-working the "deadlines" in my head. trying to be realistic about how much knitting time I really have and how much knitting I get done.

my new rule of thumb is about 75 yds of yarn a day. more if it's straight stockinette or heavier yarn. and less is if it's not. that means I can knit about 2,250 yards a month.
so for october, I'm going to:

finish nantucket - this is mostly finishing now, not knitting, but say 200 yds
start & finish sara's birthday gift - TBD
start & finish creature comforts - 1,000 yds
start & finish the sunflower shawl - 450 yds
start katie's birthday gift - TBD

I think these goals are realistic, and depending on the gifts, maybe even a stretch. not that I'm looking for stretch this month. I'm just hoping to get back to a saner place.

do you set time goals for your knitting? if so, does it work?

and the winners are.

2011-09-29T07:02:00.000-04:00

...drumroll please!

karen & I met yesterday to draw the winners for the quilt and duffel bag. like last year, we did our drawing the old fashioned way with strips of paper in a bowl. for the quilt, we had one strip for every $25 donated. 114 strips all together. I cut and karen drew...

woohoo! lisa bryan. we are delighted. lisa is a friend, tennis teammate, breast cancer survivor and major inspiration for us. we wore her name on our shirts last year.

and for the bag, we had one strip for every donation. 33 in total. karen drew...

congratulations sharon!

same as last year, these two live close by, so we are hoping for an in-person handoff. maybe all four of us together?! stay tuned.

we also received another donation - my friend and knitting student liza saw me tuesday and asked about the walk, and about our fundraising. I told her it was all wonderful and we'd raised $2,495 - just $5 short of our goal. she opened her bag and handed me $5. (thank you again, liza!) which means....

(remember we transferred $1,000 to my account just before the walk)

YES, we reached the $2,500.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

truly, our friends and family are the BEST!

daily 9 and 10 - check.

2011-09-28T20:08:00.000-04:00

10 things I (would like to) do daily.

2011-09-27T07:31:00.000-04:00

from my journal, entry dated 1-15-07

...inspired by carole's topic this week to re-visit a journal entry from way back in 2007 - january 15, 2007, to be specific. I'd just started journaling and scrapbooking and reading blogs (mostly about journaling and scrapbooking :-) and everything was an inspiration. this day was a list of 10 things I wanted to do every day (inspired by this blog). and every so often in my journal, I'd document how I'd done those 10 things that day. three of those 10 have really stuck with me:

learn something new.
tell marc, katie & sara that I love them.
wear mascara and lip gloss (I'm passing this one on).

...but the others I didn't even remember. I think it's time for a new list!

10 things I would like to do daily - the september 2011 version:

1. learn something new.

2. tell marc, katie & sara that I love them.

3. wear mascara and lip gloss and earrings.

4. laugh out loud (from my last list).

5. take holly for a walk; let her smell the leaves for a minute a two without getting impatient.

6. blog or journal.

7. read something just for fun (also from my last list).

8. take a picture (I'm going to start another 365 project very soon).

9. knit.

10. have a real conversation with a friend - in person, phone, skype all count. email or text message does not.

that's it - what do you want to be sure to do each day?

thank you, carole, for the inspiration! if you'd like to play along with the "real" ten on tuesday, here's the link!

did the 2.

2011-09-25T21:38:00.000-04:00

...yes we did! two days. thirty miles. the logo on the back of this year's shirt is very cool. it reads "did the 2". I didn't catch that pink "i" the first time I read it and I love that it's so subtle. this event is certainly a group effort. the staff and the volunteers work so hard to make it "easy" to walk those 30 miles. but when it comes down to it, walking 30 miles in 2 days is really personal.

I am so proud of myself and my sister karen for doing it again. her 6th walk and my 5th. I think the walks get easier, but we get older...it sort of balances out?! (although I'll bet karen would say the walk itself was a lot easier when she was six years younger - I told a few people this year that she is now the age I was when I did my first walk...and I think she's a bit more sympathetic to my complaints about how much it hurts!)

here are a few of my favorite photos from the weekend - you get a good taste of what we saw, how hard we walked, and how much fun we had.

you can see all the photos here

1. the finish line, 2. sunday b'rest stop 3, 3. atlanta, 4. room with a view, 5. saturday mile 20, 6. we're walking for mom, 7. oakland cemetary, 8. old and new, 9. a capitol reflection, 10. you go girls, 11. congrats from the fox, 12. saturday b'rest stop 1, 13. karen & mary

this event has become a highlight of my year...and none of it would be possible without the generous support from our friends and family.

yes, we came within $5 of our goal - $2,495!!! that's amazing! we are so grateful for your contributions and your support. we felt you lifting us up...especially during those last few miles yesterday and this morning, when putting on our shoes and socks to go out again seemed so hard. THANK YOU!!

we've both signed up for next year. it will be the 10th anniversary of the walk - and I'm proud to think we've been part of it for more than half those years.

again, to everyone who supported us - thank you!

hello fall.

2011-09-23T11:30:00.000-04:00

...I'm so glad you're finally here! summer definitely overstayed his welcome and your arrival is truly a breath of fresh and cooler air.

I have big plans for us. many walks in the park with holly. we only did one lap today, but she kept up and even pulled me a few times (not just to chase the squirrels!). a successful 2-day walk with my sister. fig pizza. cookies. wine tasting. birthday celebrations. an anniversary. thanksgiving with the whole family. better photos.

and of course, knitting.

so please, settle in and make yourself comfortable. we're going to have a great time!

love, mary

do over.

2011-09-22T22:08:00.000-04:00

nantucket vest...in process

...this is really not the post I'd planned for today. I'd intended some sort of update on my knitting progress (since it's been three weeks - yikes - really? three weeks?? since my last one), perhaps combined with a few more thoughts on unrealistic deadlines. that was the plan I had yesterday morning.

I finished the silver crocus - blocked and drying at 8:30 a.m. - and then set off for class. with only my nantucket vest to knit. only that, you might ask? yep, long story short, the project that I thought I would push is now the #1 project I want to finish - so we can start another KAL for the holidays AND so I can feel a little bit better about starting another sweater (which I've committed to my classes next week). and if I really want to finish something, the best thing to do is knit it. really, that's probably the only thing to do!

so I was happily knitting along - thrilled to be on the first eyelet row - when I noticed it. a twist. nah, I'm sure I'm mistaken, it's not twisted. it can't be twisted. I checked it! I knitted a bit more. I checked again. it's twisted. aaarrrggghhhh.

I didn't stop to take a photo, I just ripped. and then thought really hard about casting back on again. really at this point, maybe I should just abandon the project. but kathie and penny talked me into starting again. they said - and I do agree - I'll love the finished piece, it'll be great for fall, it's fun to knit and

...it was the only knitting I had with me.

so I claimed the do over. 306 stitches (double counted), joined in the round, being careful not to twist. I think I've checked it at least 30 times in the 20-ish rounds I've knit since then. good news - it's not twisted. the photo proves it! and now 36 hours later...I'm right back where I was yesterday morning - except for the twist of course!

...and two good things have resulted:

first, my students loved to see that "even mary" makes mistakes; I countered with "I'm not sure about something that you can work at for 30 years and still not master?"; they responded "nope, still makes me feel good" (I do have to say, they were very sympathetic...and only smiled a little)
second, I have recommitted to the project - and to finishing it before october. (I think it's a realistic goal :-)