friday chillin'

my motto at work is "just because we're away from home doesn't mean we have to lower our standards", that's why i have my coffee pot ready to go when i get in, and we have another half pot at 2:00 sharp- folks set their watch by it literally!;

soooo since i gave up afternoon coffee for lent, i've substituted it for afternoon tea (british style-sometimes) anyway, all that to say that today, after a great lunch of pizza and salad with katie, i enjoyed my cuppa tea and a scone complete with blueberry preserves and homemade "clotted" cream( thanks to bonnie, and the barefoot contessa)- yum!


i was real tempted to put my feet up, but refrained! happy friday indeed!

un-relativity

as i was saying to mary yesterday, i love blogging and projects like her create 08 album because it's simple and if you only have one picture you don't have to fret about the "right" layout-or taking lots of staged pictures ; which is what i found i was doing when i was into the whole "scrapbooking my children's lives" mode, capturing memories and thoughts should be simple, so that being said here are some random un-related photos


first up, here's Brenda and her first sock, my first sock student-Brenda crochets and quilts and has now self-taught herself to knit-excellent job, girl! and she's already gotten started on the second sock, has yarn for pair 2 and 3! on a note about new sock knitters, kare (SIL #2) has completed 2 pair and is getting ready to start #3, and she learned how to do these the end of january- yeah!


how about this cute tin, bought this at Knitty City in NY- the top say's "Put money for wool fix here",










can you read the small print- "is wool your dirty little secret too?"
love it- mum needs to save her pennies for more yarn! you can have one too for the low low price of $8, call Pearl she'll take care of you- tell her i sent you!



here's clue #3, finished it at about 10:00 last night- ugh, gotta get caught up on this- thinking of hiding out in my hotel room in april when i go to miami, and doing power knitting while eating room serivce, or stuff from publix- we'll see






how about this little dealy- found this in the ladies at the GT Research Institute, had to grab my camera- every fan needs one!





now for a belated v.day update, the flowers are from carol, all the chicks at work got them, aren't they pretty, since i wasn't quick enough on the draw, i had to use my very large- greatest writers mug mum brought me back from england- it has all the great, dead british authors on it male and female!♥


here's my favorite, think i've gotten a handle on close ups. steve got me the roses for v.day several days ahead so that i could enjoy them for several days before i left for ny . . how sweet, yes i saved one for the memory box♥




here they are at my desk- as of this posting they've gone into the trash, but i got to really enjoy them, and they didn't turn brown-

beauty

they say- beauty is in the eye of the beholder AND beauty comes from within- both of these fully describe Janice . .

Mom, Janice and I-- the picture is blurry, but hey, that's okay!

today the ladies of our church choir celebrated and honored janice with a hat and scarf shower- last fall janice was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent surgery followed by chemotherapy- this week will be her final treatment fingers crossed. she enjoyed wearing hats prior to losing her hair, so she was not new to the whole hat thing, but needed to add to her wardrobe.

today we cried, laughed, and shared in the joy of janice and her beauty, her faith, her love for us, our love for her . . .
a true feeling of sisterhood i think few are able to experience.

throughout this time of trial janice's faith has never waivered, and her spiritual strength has become an inspiration to us all.

here's a few shots . . .



tea, coffee, punch, finger sandwiches, yummy desserts

This photo gives you an idea of how zany janice is, i don't think i've ever seen her without a smile on her face---that's just who she is

her goodies, she got some beautiful scarves and hats along with some fun stuff-

we all wore our pins proudly today . .

city scapes

here are a few photos from our trip . . . hav a look at the rest on my flickr account (lifeandyarn) . . . . thinking about doing a collection of photos from central park in black and white and putting them over the headboard in our room.

sick day #2

Unlike this sick day- today is a REAL doosy, and i feel like crud-the cause of my misery is either the sick TFOs at work, the NYC subway, or the airplanes- i'm banking on the subway or the TFOs, the scratchy throat started yesterday, and i had that "feeling", why couldn't this have waited until about 6pm Saturday- would have been much more convenient. had to cancel my haircut, wax, and possibly the much needed pedicure- all of these have been scheduled way in advance and are desperately needed, oh well, hopefully next week. it would have been so bad being at home for a full 12 hours today without work if i actually felt up to doing something, like knitting, but i've pretty much just slept and had large amounts of hot tea, at this point i'm getting a bit more energy, maybe i'll try some knitting, i did finish 1 sock with nymph, so i have 2 1st socks, and need to get to the second of both of these going. tried to upload the 148 photos from NY, but flickr wants me to upgrade, i think i'll try getting the right mb combo and upload them tomorrow- we'll see- i seem to be rambling now, am i delirious, tired, who knows, Judge Judy is on right now i love her, glad i put tonight's lasagna together last night, maybe i'll take a nap, maybe i'll . . . . . . .

in a new york minute

well maybe not a minute, more like a few-
in a word the trip was FAB-U-LOUS!
the slogan for the trip was . . if you forget something-just get it while you're there- it's not like your going to a foreign country- well okay you sorta are. . . but anyway . . . truly it was a lot like another county, we saw people from around the world-NYC "natives" and visitors! amazing. Photos to follow, too many to try to post now-

weather-cold, blue sky, gray sky, damp, light rain, cold, windy, warm-but not at the same time! the cold and rain didn't stop us from being out for 12-13 hours each day!

favorite shops-Himalayan Crafts (Jillian) and Knitty City (Lydia)- missed the Yarn Company on Broadway, and just stepped into String on Lexington/Park Ave-must visit them both next time

food-cannoli (yum), bagel, omelets, doughnut (Jillian), coffee, tea, hot chocolate, dried fruit & apple (grand central market-way cool place a "mini" Harry's, Joe Allen's (awesome), pretzel from a street vendor, and pizza, of course!

sights-people, fur coats, dogs, taxis, bright lights, Trump Towers, marquees, trees, snow, park benches, doormen, runners, joggers, strollers, shops galore some very posh, Whistler, Degas, Picasso, Cassatt, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Pollock, Kandinsky, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Turner, Rodin, WM Chase, Madam X, Greek-Roman art, artifacts, sculptures, jewelry, Cyrian artifacts, armour, medieval stained glass, chevy's suspended in the air, life-like wolves, "paintings" made with gun powder, Cezanne, art, art, and more art!

favorite spots- Central Park! The Met, Barnes and Noble on Broadway both of them, Starbucks.

our route-started out on W 47th street headed east to 5th Avenue-north to 86th St (Park Avenue was somewhere in there!) across Central Park to W79th and Amsterdam to Broadway to W46th Street, back again on Sunday all the way through Central Park- past the Imagine mosaic, and through Strawberry fields, Monday-subway from 42nd Street to Grand Central Station to E86th via Lexington Avenue- Tuesday to School of Visual Arts on E 23rd St. then the airport.

museums- The Frick, The Guggenheim, The Met, The Cooper-Hewitt, MOMA

missed most-coffee first thing in the morning, the family

what to do next-The Cloisters, The Met, the financial district, Brooklyn, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, the Zoo, more picnics in the park and less time in restaurants! maybe a show?

lessons learned- come back when it's warmer! buy food at the deli's or places like Grand Central Market, use the subway more, spend more time sitting in the park watching people

we really did a lot of stuff and my boss, who's from Brooklyn, said we really made the most of our time and did the trip right-even if we missed a lot of "hot spots". Jillian was a great traveling companion, never complained, and I felt that this was "our" trip, we discussed what we wanted to do and when-we even enjoyed the quiet moments-her with her book, and me with my knitting and my book-I think these times were a refreshing break so we wouldn't get too tired of each other-- within 24 hours of arriving we were talking about when we could come back (next year Spring Break?!)- a big thanks to Jillian for going with me and thanks to Karen and Steve for financing our adventure!

New York, New York

this will be the last post until we return, and get back into the groove thing- the weather forcast has changed drastically (for the good) since I looked last week- cold but sunshine!











a little portfolio for our travel documents and info!

not sure if i can put a mini-album together during the trip complete with thoughts and feelings- might get creative with restaurant napkins, or something small and easy to manage-hope to do better with the trip to Vegas in a few weeks.

tonight will get packing- got my quart size baggie ready for contact solution just in case luggage is lost or delayed) plan to check the pilot case as I hate trying to squeeze things into the overhead. also, trying to decide on which knitting projects, the victorian lace is at a good "no-brainer" point, and i have the nymph yarn to start another pair of sock, but i have one more spicy sock to do- hmmmmm, or perhaps the baby blanket for a co-worker i've started on- we'll see . . .
plans will be to go to karen's on friday night and stay over since we'll be leaving at 0 dark 30- sounds like a good (and fun) plan-

we only have a few goals for this trip

1) visit as many museums as we can
2) eat some great food
3) watch people and see the city
4) visit SVA
5) have FUN, FUN FUN

i'll leave you with a few song lyrics to set the tone-
'cause I'm leaving on a jet plane (John Denver)since i'm in a new york state of mind, (Billy Joel), so start spreadin' the news, I'm leaving today (saturday) I want to be a part of it: New York, New York. -(Frank Sinatra)

actually there are a TON of songs about NY, and with NY in the title, google it, i swear!

TTFN

PS, happy ♥ Day

mediocre. .

webster's dictionary defines it as moderate to low in quality; average-latin mediocris. that sorta describes my weekend with a couple exceptions. this really describes the 2 dining experiences that i had--saturday lunch, since i had other folks with me after delivering the baby blankets, was at a chain restaurant, figured it would have "something for everyone", well considering how much the something was, and what i actually got, i could have done much, much better in my own kitchen, also on sunday it was pretty much the same, but the mediocre extended beyond just the food, but that's not a story for the blog.

do these sentiments make me a food snob? i know i'm picky, but i like dining out to be an experience, forget expensive hotels with their ambiance, and chocolates on the pillows, that's nice and all. however, when i eat out i'd like the food to be 1) something i'd never attempt at home 2)as good or better than what i'd fix, and i'm pretty good. back in the day when folks saved their money for days or months in order to dine out the whole premise was that it was to be a real treat, nowadays, i think restaurants figure you'll eat whatever is put in front of you 'cause no one wants to take the time to cook and clean up- i'll stay in my kitchen, thank you!


something that was NOT mediocre about the weekend was: finished the first pair of socks for Isabelle,














completed (sans the grafting) sock #1 of the spicy socks, got lots of itty bitty niggly things finished around the house, did some b.day cards, finished the HOA financials, and made baklava! yum!




enjoy the photo and the lovely plate that Mary gave me as a housewarming gift. andrew helped out on this, and we have already made plans for the next batch with a couple mods- stay tuned!

work week wind-down . .

work has been busy, busy, but not to the point that i've resorted to pulling my hairout-good thing ♥
looking forward to the weekend-

♥friday night- sock class #2 (Brenda's already ripped out and started over)
♥saturday morning-ride stationary bike i've done something to the ol' knees, so i've backed off the walking thing for awhile, and video
♥delivery of baby blankets and lunch with the "ladies"
♥sunday-bike again, typical church stuff, coffee fellowship, counting the offering-don't ask,
♥sunday afternoon- lunch with cindy-to finally exchange CHRISTMAS gifts, you'd think that i'd see someone who only lives 15 miles away a bit more often-unfortunately with different aged children, different interest, etc. that has been the case for the two of us, hopefully we can get more on track. when i was staying at home with the boys and going to school we were able to do more-oh well, part of growing up!
♥finalize plans for new york-itineraries, probably some packing, checking the weather- can't wait!
♥ hopefully i'll get clue #3 finished by sunday

Less fun things include- greeter name badges, HOA january financials, laundry, chauffering the boys back and forth, meals for while i'm gone, and ya' know i think that's it sssshhhhh. . . don't tell anyone!

de'ja vu?

well not really, we did re-celebrate katie's birthday for her anyway . . . original plans were to have dinner and a drink- but life/school got in the way, so we met for coffee this morning- katie got up early and i went into work late-lucky for us school and work are very close by

here's katie with the birthday plate i plan to use at other birthday celebrations, complete with a candle and cupcake, say cheeese! doesn't she look fabulous at 7:30 am!















we only had about an hour and a half, but managed to talk about lots of stuff:
college guys-jobs-travels (where we've been, where we're going, where we'd love to go)-Mr. Legs va va voom!!!-photography (katie showed me how to do close-ups so the writing isn't blurred thank you!)- where Sara should go for college-apartments-atlanta traffic-parking on campus-priviledges of being "older"-voting-and tons more- a great way to start the day!










love the cup with Katie's name on it- very artsy!



thank you katie for spending some time with me

TTFN
Gratitudes:
rain
the opportunity to have a say in my government
chicks who are fun to be with

Blog blah blah

not much to blog about, i had a very short list of things i wanted to do, and this was really things i wanted to do rather than things that were "requirements"! nice change :-) my list is shown with my first purchase from knit picks, this is for a baby blanket that i had wanted to cast on, but didn't get to this weekend. a friend from church ordered some sock yarn from kp, and it's really nice- good to know there is less pricey alternative for yarn buying (without going to michael's or joanns)!















here's the first square for my quilt, don't laugh, there were some gliches, but this one will go towards the bottom where it doesn't stand out so much! kathy and i will go to the fabric store around the 26th to get the february square, so stay tuned . . .
















got some birthday cards made, going for more paper and embelishments, thanks for the inspiration, Mary!
















last up is clue #2, ran into a snafoo and had to undo several "good" rows, but got back on track and finished it about 44 hours late . . . hope to get clue #3 done a bit sooner.















mom and i had a fun time at debbie's "grandmother" shower, the usual suspects from church were there, and brunch was fab! deb's got lots of books and other fun (and useful) stuff for when she's taking care of isabelle, and lucky us, isabelle was there for us to admire- nearly done with her socks,

still working on untangling "nymph" :-( as long as it's done by next week, i'm okay, i want to take it with me to new york as my traveling sock project. the "elvis" yarn is going to vegas with me-very appropriate don't you think?

TTFN