what's in the box

pj is anxious for the rest of his birthday gift to arrive, he thought when this box showed up he was going to get to open it-NOT- gotta wait til Saturday kiddo!

enjoyed a wonderful long lunch today with polly and roy at the old mill before they headed to roswell, looking forward to celebrating katie's graduation from ga tech this weekend. for pj's birthday we have a wonderful meal planned and dessert with the mollers-will definitely have photos from that.

the road to happy feet

took a while to get there, love my pink toes! however, before i could relax and enjoy being pampered, we had to do a few things first!
first up a 3.5 mile hike up, and i do mean up, kennesaw mountain. after finally finding a place to park we were able to complete the hike in about an hour-not bad, then a picnic, followed by handing out almost 200 water bottles to day trippers at a local park-that part was hot, but we had a great time-
next up: people drop offs/pick ups, and a couple errands, after that a chance to shower, nap and put my feet up before we headed to the battle of the bands, 3 hours of heavy metal , loud music. although it wasn't really my thing music-wise, i was very pleased to see how many parents and a few grandparents showed up to support the bands. the things we do for our kids!

pj played in two: coverdown and strain theory-i thought strain theory was the better of the two. here's a video, pj's playing the bass (on the left) it's a bit long.

up for sunday morning was church, an exceptional sermon, one that makes you glad you didn't miss it-then kathy dropped by so we could go to red hen and get our april block of the month (did a little stash enhancement here!) then we stopped for lunch (tiramisu-yum!) before i headed off again to drop the boys off at church-then FINALLY happy feet (and hands)-what a weekend-the gorgeous weather made it even better!

getting by with a little help from my "friends"

tried working on the millefiori cardigan this past weekend-finally got to the part with the clamshell pattern tres difficile mes aimes! it just wasn't looking right, sooooo i decided to cast on the sweet tee, needed to feel productive. decided it was worth googling to see if anyone else had trouble-love the internet for this! found this and this and left a comment on both blogs and got quick responses from both knitters basically telling me to tally-ho, fight the good fight, and continue on-the pattern will work itself out-i was also surprised to note that several knitters managed to get through this project rather quickly, once you get past the clamshell it's all stockinette. now i have the sweet tee for lunchtime knitting, and the cardigan will be my at home knitting until i get further along. by this weekend, i also hope to cast on the go with the flow socks and finish the toe on the miami ribs. however; if the weather is nice, i have some much needed gardening that needs to take place, so expect an update of some sort.

post-game wrap up

so here's my recommendations and "do's and dont's" for new york-life is about learning, and what better time than on vacation. soooo i recommend:
go, go at least once to nyc-what is there NOT to do?
DO rent an apartment, the VRBO website recommended by mary was a great idea-it was exactly what the website showed, and the price was excellent for the area and the amount of space.
DO visit the local deli's, i was surprised at the prices and selection-you can get everything imaginable there- we were able to get breakfast sandwiches and deli sandwiches at very good prices-and feeding hungry boys-that was a plus-and they were never disappointed; the guys at 5 brothers got to know us real well and were always friendly; however DON'T use this as your only source of nourishment! you are on vacation so eating like a native is great for most of the time.
DO go to the statue of liberty, but DON'T spend the 1+ hour in line for the second security check to go inside the statue-you only get up as far as the pedestal, and the view of the statue is better around the perimeter. of course if you like standing in long lines go for it.
DON'T go to the empire state building unless you want to stand in a very long line (again) more security check points, and 2 elevators to get to the top. if you can manage to find out when the "best" time to avoid the lines-then by all means go-the view is spectacular.
DO go on the river cruise-a great way to see the island.
DO go see something on broadway-we saw impressionism-it was a last minute decision, and i was thrilled to see jeromy irons on stage- we also saw joan allen and andre de shields exit the stage door afterwards.
DO take the subway, bus, taxi and use your feet! nyc is so easy to get around
DO go the the met (i could never get enough of this museum), but have had ENOUGH of the guggenheim and moma, and was NOT impressed with the american museum of natural history-way to many "habitat" displays for my tastes, nothing seemed very "real", i like paintings, textile arts, and sculptures much better.
DO walk down 5th avenue-love the people watching here
DO take time to visit the parks: we didn't do enough of this, and would have liked to explore the neighborhoods more
DO have a cannoli-yummmm
DO visit lou lous button shop on west 38th street
DO visit m&j trims: but only if you have an idea of what you are looking for-its huge!
DO visit tender buttons-if for no other reason, but to see the clientele and shop in a teeny store
DO visit brooklyn general-very very friendly and lots of great yarn and fabric
DO visit city quilter-great selection of fabric
DO visit purl and purl patchwork-more for the novelty and "cuteness" of the shop rather than ability to move around!
DON'T waste time in a comedy club unless you are lucky enough to see a taping of saturday night live.
DON'T visit petite buttons or great buttons: they are closed
DO visit ground zero, as well as, st. pauls chapel (which is nearby)
DO spend hours at central park-we didn't this time, but will on the next visit which will be during a warmer month!
DO visit bis.co latte-i didn't know there were that many varieties of biscotti!
DO take something to read and knit and find a cozy place to relax
finally DO make a general itinerary of where and what you want to do, mark it on a map, so you don't "miss" anything 'cause you didn't know it was sooo close!
i'm really looking forward to another visit next year.

NYC 2009

we're back, we had a bit of a delay getting out of atlanta, any kind of weather imaginable except for hurricanes or tornados-some of the wind made you feel like either of these were nearby! didn't get to do everything on the "to do" list, but we saw a lot and i think the boys had a good time. as always learned a few do's and don'ts for next time. uploaded all 254 of the photos i kept onto flickr, but have not gone through them with descriptions and details, so check that out later. here's our only group shot at the base of the statue of liberty. happy friday!

off and on

the knitting needles that is, here's a knitting update, this photo does very little justice in terms of color, love the buttons, but am thinking i might be changing them out, not sure if i like them as well now they are on the sweater. we'll see what new york's button excursion provides, but it's done, and i'm taking it with me this weekend.
finished the "hey teach" not 100% sure about this, fit doesn't seem exactly perfect, but it might do better with a different shirt underneath, loved the yarn and color, and the buttons for this one. am taking it to ny anyway.
ny socks, from interweave knits favorite socks, these are evelyn clark's- go with the flow socks, will be taking the miami ribs on the plane and hope to finish the mate this weekend. and am using lorna laces shepherds sock yarn in pinstripe.
cast-on the millefiori cardigan, the yarn is from sublime, a cottony feel, gorgeous color, but not sure if this is going to work, i've got gauge, but it seems to cottony for this cardigan despite the specs in the instructions, will plug along because a) i want to knit this sweater and b) i want to use this yarn, so i'm sure a meeting of the minds will occur at some point. this will be my at home knitting while we're away, and it looks like it will be a quick knit once you get pass the pattern around the waist.
also, the knitting shop in newnan i mentioned before is Two Sisters Knitting Nook, the website http://www.2sisterknits.com/ is not up an running yet, but i'm looking forward to a visit there this summer.