Ten on Tuesday | Labor Day Weekend.

With a nod to Labor Day, today Carole's asked us to share about our weekends. Here's a quick recap of ours.

1. Marc played four days of golf. He also watched more college football games than I can count, plus a little golf and a little tennis. He even handled Saturday and Sunday's dinners ("football food" at its finest - potato chips and homemade blue cheese dip, deli sandwiches, cole slaw, potato salad...and beer!) 

...and now for my part of the weekend :-)

Monday morning with Becca

2. Four days of golf means a lot of time for "me". I spent Friday afternoon with Katie (we knitted while Charlie napped), Saturday morning (via FaceTime) with Diane, Sunday afternoon with Lydia, Monday morning with Becca, and Monday lunch with Lauren. It was wonderful to have so much one-on-one time with each of them. 

3. I enjoyed the cool(er) mornings - runs on Saturday and Sunday and a walk in the park with Katie on Monday.

Sunday morning's run

4. I was on the lookout for signs of fall...and I was surprised by how much color I saw!

Monday morning at the park

5. I finished up my summer reading (topic for another post) ... and started Laurie Colwin's wonderful Home Cooking (thank you Bonny for the recommendation!). Sharing a wonderful meal and talking about eating is the best. Lydia and I did that on Sunday and Lauren and I did it again on Monday :-)

yep, unsurpassed double whammy for sure!

6. We watched movies. Lydia and I saw The Light between Oceans in the theater on Sunday (it was really true to the book and highly recommend if you loved the story as much as we both did ... it's been a while since I read the book, but I think I might even like the movie better!) Marc and I watched Hello, My Name is Doris (Sally Field is marvelous) and Courage (meh, college football tearjerker, but still an ok story and I loved the late 1960's setting).

7. I knitted. still no FO's, but I'm close - next week for sure! I'm especially happy that I worked more than a repeat on the blue baby blanket and now "get" the pattern. The last six rows flew by when I didn't have to consult the written instructions. I wish Rowan used more charts!

.... and that's really it! I didn't mean to "ish" this list, but I couldn't figure out a way to turn it into a list of ten. And after a day with this guy, seven is really gonna be just fine!

"Hi!" from the playground at Whole Foods (after ice cream)

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful long weekend, too!  Thank you Carole, for giving us a great excuse to share all the details! ... and if you're not already playing along with the Ten on Tuesday fun, click here to join.

Ten on Tuesday | Memorial Day Weekend 2014.

...this week, Carole's asked us to sharethings we did over the holiday weekend. Here's a quick look at mine:

1. I spent time on the porch both Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Our porch faces east so it's cool in the afternoon and colorful most mornings. Saturday's sunrise was exceptional.

2. And then traveled with Katie, Rob, Sara and Holly to the north Georgia mountains for a mini-family reunion with my parents, sister and brother (and families). My mom says this is the 19th year we've gathered for the weekend; I love starting the summer with my family and it was sweet this year to add Rob to our mix. We're looking forward to adding BabyT next year!

3. Made cappuccinos. Sort of. I used Katie's stove top espresso maker, Illy beans and a Nespresso milk frother (which I'm calling my "real" souvenir from the trip). The flavor is good, but I haven't mastered the crema (or maybe this espresso maker just won't do it?)

4. Played one game of dice.

5. Finished the third Louise Penny book (and did not buy the 4th, instead started June's bookclub selection, The Good Luck of Right Now, which I'm enjoying so far...but still looking forward to that next Louise Penny!)

6. Drank Picpoul de Pinet for the first time this season (and beer margaritas, too).

7. Bound off the Traveling Scarf and made a bit of very slow progress on a laceweight Panoramic Stole.

8. Watched the last episode of Mad Men Season 7 (part 1). I have really enjoyed this mini-season and hope next year's final finale meets our expectations. 

9. ...and the first five episodes of Orange is the New Black. all in one afternoon.

10. Started thinking seriously about baby knitting. The shower is mid-July and I've got to get going soon to be ready!

What about you? how did you spend the holiday weekend?

click here to join the Ten on Tuesday fun!

Weekending.

...this one started on Friday afternoon with a packed and super-fun knit-along session at the shop. There are about a dozen of us participating in Rowan's Afghan Mystery KAL. The first (of ten) clue came out on Thursday, so this was our first group meeting to knit. The KAL continues through June and then we have a few weeks after the last clue to finish up the projects to be eligible for prizes (!!!). There is a great virtual community in the Rowan forum on Ravelry, but I think having in-person support is going to be a good thing...it's more than 3,000 yards of yarn to knit!

...waiting for me when I got home on Friday ♥

Marc and I stayed in all three nights (as usual!) and finally tried out Amazon Prime video. We are huge fans of the Poirot series starring David Suchet. Turns out there are about 12 seasons available on Amazon Prime, and dozens of episodes we've never seen. We watched five over the course of the weekend. Even at that crazy pace, we've got a few more months to enjoy!

Saturday it rained some more, so no long walk. I had an appointment at the Apple Genius bar (my three-year old laptop is running really slow...sadly, it needs more memory!) and then braved Costco. Costco at noon on a rainy Saturday before Easter Sunday, yeah, it was a zoo!

In the afternoon, I took advantage of Marc golfing (yes, in the rain) to catch up on the TV I've been missing. Mr. Selfridge, Game of Thrones and Mad Men all began new seasons in the past week or two. I had six episodes total to watch and managed four on Saturday and two on Sunday. Of course I'm now behind another three episodes from last night - why are the three shows I watch all on the same night? I know it's early, but I think all three shows are going to have good seasons. I also finished the second Florence scarf and started the third (more on that in another post).

Yesterday was glorious. The rain cleared out Saturday and left behind bright blue skies with just a few clouds. Holly and I enjoyed another long walk in the early morning. Then I went to church with Katie and Rob and they took me to brunch after. It was lovely to celebrate Easter with my favorite couple!

Rob, Katie, me

yay for good mother-daughter photos!! (thank you, Rob!)

Marc played golf late and used the morning to cook - roasted pork loin and brussels sprouts and made a simple fruit salad for dessert. It was all delicious.

Today brought more blue skies and even warmer temperatures. The birds are carrying on a very loud conversation outside the window. I think spring might be here for good. finally. Has it arrived where you live yet?

Weekending.

...is it really Monday already? how was your weekend? here's a quick peek into mine:

Friday afternoon I spent an hour at the Bobbi Brown counter with Kelly. She showed me some new tricks with concealer and bronzer and eye liner and I left feeling so pretty! I tried to recreate the look on my own yesterday; I need more practice before you get to see it on me!

Then I met a few friends for a glass of wine. Haven't done a Friday Happy Hour in a long time and it was delightful. Here's a waterlogue of the stunning tulips growing outside the restaurant where we met.

Saturday morning I took Pilates and met Virginia after for coffee, knitting and conversation. Love that this is going to be a new routine for us this spring.

Saturday afternoon I watched the first episode of the BBC's North and South and decided I'm going to watch this one and skip the Craft Lit audio. I finished the first Florence Scarf and started the second one (this one is purple).

Marc and I made roasted vegetables with kale for dinner and watched basketball (y'all know that means I knitted :-)

Sunday morning was clear and cold. I'm glad to say goodbye to the rain for a bit. I noticed that the trees are starting to green up. Seriously? Seems like they just blossomed. and 30-something degree mornings still seems like winter.

Sunday school (not my turn to teach, which is always more relaxing), church and then the memorial service for a friend's husband. He was only 56 and left behind two sons still in college. I expected much sadness, but it wasn't. The readings and the hymns were beautiful (especially because the sanctuary looks out onto full-blooming cherry trees) and two of his friends told stories that had the whole congregation laughing out loud.

I enjoyed some quiet alone time yesterday afternoon. A little bit of knitting and reading and another sunny walk with Holly. Went to bed early and slept soundly. It feels good to wake up Monday morning after a good night's rest!

Off to walk Holly, and then it's our "hill run" and yoga. Happy Monday!

Weekending.

...it certainly looks like spring, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. It's a chilly 34 degrees outside and I can only hope the sun warms up before my run. Or perhaps I was simply over-optimistic when I washed and put away my running gloves and hat?

oh yeah! snapped these photos on my drive home yesterday afternoon with sun roof open

Saturday morning I was up early and took a Pilates class. My first in months and it was great. I was sore in some new places, so I know I worked muscles that the yoga isn't getting. I hope I can make that class and the coffee/knitting meet up with my friend Virginia that followed a Saturday morning routine for the next few weeks.

Katie picked me up in the afternoon and we went shopping. She's searching for fabric to recover her dining room chairs; we didn't find what she wanted. But I did find a new salad spinner and great sales at J Crew and Ann Taylor...

Marc and I ate roasted vegetables on salad for dinner and watched basketball. Well, I kind of watched and mostly knitted and looked at things on Ravelry.

Yesterday was another dark early morning. I'm still not used to how late the sun comes up...but I am enjoying the sunrises! I went to the 8:30 service with Katie & Rob and then led the high school Sunday School class. The lesson was about the "lost parables" in Luke 15. We had a good discussion about the seemingly small choices that can lead to getting lost...and how easy and hard it can be to get found. The kids were really engaged with the prodigal son story; many of them identify with the "good" brother and it was fun to see them connect that parable with real life.

I had more time to knit after church and then picked up Katie for my afternoon knitting class (she's become a fairly regular attendee and I so love that time with her!) This was my first Sunday class in weeks and I was delighted to have four students...who hadn't gotten into anything too bad in the meantime! There were a few new finished projects and a lot of talk about what to knit next. We're excited about the upcoming Rowan Mystery Afghan KAL (I don't know too much about it yet, but it starts next month, Martin Storey designed the pattern and it uses their new worsted super wash wool). Three of us picked out yarn (and yes, I was one of the three!)

I got home just in time for more basketball (saw the end of the Wichita State game and I am really glad I'm not playing the bracket game this year - yikes!)  Marc made paleo mexican chicken soup for dinner and we watched Notting Hill for maybe the third time (this month). I love that movie!

The movie and basketball have been great for my knitting - I'm well into the second (of two) balls on the Florence wrap and have started the neck shaping on Tsubasa.

Hope your weekends were sun-filled and productive... and let's hope the same for this upcoming week, too! Have a great one!