before holiday madness descends.

i was glad to have a few stress-free days to just focus on the moment.  on friday, sara and i had dinner plans. i had quite a bit of time on my hands before dinner, so i checked out a boutique near my office- en paris-a very cute place, and bought a file tote, which also makes a great knitting tote! i'm sure it'll appear in future blog posts. then i headed to starbucks for a coffee and knitting time. i was at the communal table until a spot in a comfy chair was available. loved the view, knitting on my cardigan (which is now finished!), watching the cars and people go by. the dinner and company were very good.

on saturday, brunch was on the menu-it's bowling night for steve and andrew, so a hearty mid-day meal beckoned. andrew wanted to make eggs benedict-with homemade hollandaise sauce (of course)-i was in charge of the potatoes and i made orange cranberry scones.  it was wonderful.

AND we had a couple extra guests-pj was spending a few days with christopher so they joined us, and we had a good time catching up with the college boys.

since dinner was just mom and i-i re-heated leftover pork loin chops, made some asparagus, and mushroom risotto-i think i could live on risotto-such a versatile dish.

on sunday, we had baked penne and i wanted a special dessert to celebrate pj being home-he loves coconut, so we had toasted poundcake (i love homemade poundcake), coconut ice cream and pineapple salsa. not only was it delicious, but watching pj's face light up and his high praise on a delicious meal made the calories so worthwhile. we had a lot of laughs-especially talking with "siri" on my i-phone.
the weekend wrapped up with a lovely call-if not spotty- from mary recapping a surprise b.day party, what's on and off our knitting needles and our upcoming family get togethers. now i think i'm ready for the holidays (at least thanksgiving) cooking timelines and menus planned, grocery lists made. hopefully there will be many blog posts to capture the moments.