junk drawer

week of color: yellow

mellow yellow... tho it kinda looks orange. oh well.

I'm having so much fun here...in New Orleans!!

more tomorrow.

week of color: green

Hey there from vacationland.

Here is my photo for Leya's week of color...can you guess where I am???

This is the view from our hotel. I LOVE IT HERE!

See you tommorrow for mellow yellow tuesday.

buzzing over a buzz

I'm still buzzing after my weekend away to the wine country on the North Fork of Long Island....

About a dozen of us made the trek out to my good friend Sara's parents home in the sleepy town of Cutchogue to celebrate her boyfriend Ron's birthday.  Sara and Ron hosted our first annual Turkey Fry and wine tasting extravaganza.

It was beautiful, relaxing and incredibly fun, to say the very least.

I didn't expect the wine to be so GOOD, but it was.

We laughed until our cheeks hurt, and drank and ate until our tummies were very very full.

I must say, Ron and Sara do spoil us...we have been able to enjoy one outrageous gastronomical experience after another due to their fabulous hosting abilities.

The icing on the cake for me.....Last Friday was my birthday (just two days after Ron's) and I look at last weekend as a present to myself.

Good friends, good food; what more can a girl ask for?

many many more photos on my flickr page.

aslo: thanks for all the sweet words about my last post.  means a lot.

a very special thanks to susan of sulu designs for the birthday suprise, gorgeous earrings.  I love them...everyone, please go visit her shop.  Her jewelry is even more beautiful in person.

has it really been a month?

I guess it has. Sure, I've thought about posting. I've written in my head millions of times. Snapped a photo and knew just what to say about that image, that moment, that experience...

But I haven't written have I?

There are many reasons for that, I guess. I kinda fell off the tracks in a way. I just kept thinking to myself How do I sum up where I went, all of my adventures, what's going on in my daily life if I am so far behind?

I've been to Maine, and to weddings. I've been working a ton, knitting a ton. Having a great time. I've been on television 3 times this month. Great stuff. funny stuff. Entertaining as hell.

I just haven't been too inspired to share this news. There are good reasons for this, of course. Certain people have been popping their heads into my little corner of the bloggy world and it weirds me out. To know that they are reading, watching. listening

but that was my choice, wasn't it? to put myself out there...to carve out a little hole in this forrest of stories.

So I have been censoring myself - pausing before I share again.

But you know what I say to all of that?

I am who I am, I live how I live, I share cause I wanna. so F*&K FUCK IT

So I'll start with a simple: hello there. It's good to see you again. You all have been doing quite well- I certainly haven't stopped reading...here's what I've been up to:

{I've been knitting up a storm. My sisters birthday came and went before her present was off the needles. ( a hat, pattern here)
She didn't seem to mind.

It's done now and I really like it.

{I had jury duty, I brought the pattern for muir from knitty to start. Gah. It was very hard. I might be putting it down. Mohair + lace pattern charts + courhouses aren't the best combo.

{I was on TV - a lot. TLC is airing a series of special shows about Trading Spaces, just like "The Best Week Ever" on VH1. It was super funny and I'm going to be on again this weekend. hilarity. tune in if you like

{My big project at work that has had me traveling all over the place finally launched this week. Check out what I do for a livin' here

I'm also a credited photographer on National Geographic.com. pretty cool, no?

Check out my photos here.

There has been so much in between. Moments where my chest fills up with joy. I look around. I love my life right now. I am home, I have friends here. I feel settled. It's all very very very good. ya know?

Hopefully the spirit will move me to post more often. It's just so entierely overwhelming to blog sometimes.

It can be alarming to discover who stumbles upon my humble little space...and the effect that it has on those that you love most. I don't like that. I don't like opening up that door for others...in ways that might be painful. Even though this site is quite benign...it is far reaching...beyond what I could ever imagine or care for it to be.

I only want good things to come of this place? ya know? It's not like I'm posting politcal diatribes over here. geesh. It's a freaking crafty blog.

but anyways-

I don't feel like closing down shop. I just had to pause; to think and to ponder.

thanks for listening.

back from the block

oh hello there....

peeping in to tell you that I have arrived home after going to Block Island. Again we had a great time and were enchanted by the islands beauty. absolute peace.

I've been super busy at work, again, I'll be checking in again soon!

For now...I will day dream about my weekend away.

well 'ello there...where ya been?

A sample of my end of phone conversations as of late:

Well hey there? How ya doin'? How is your summer going?!

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I'm great thanks. Just recovering from several weeks of travel insanity...other than that, I can't complain.

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My trips? Oh, they were good. Lots of sunshine and sailing. Works a bitch. ya know? (wink)

:::::::::::::::

well: hmmm. You know I'm working on a project for a company that's known for travel, so it's been a little intense.

:::::::::::::::

Where did I go? Well, let's see.

First there was Santa Barbara:

Then, back to Chicago:

After that it was off to San Francisco:

Two days later Connecticut.

Then this past weekend the Virgin Islands.

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I know! Crazy right? Only one day of sea sickness.

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Trust me. I do feel lucky. Not a bad way to spend a summer. but, god, I'm exhausted!

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Well, now my summer starts. I finally get to do some traveling for relaxation. It should be a blast.

::::::::::::

Yeah...the plane rides weren't bad at all...Oh wait. There's call waiting. It's my mom, I gotta jet, but I'll call you tomorrow and fill you in on all the knitting I got done during my travels. It's amazing what you can accomplish on a plane ride.

:::::::::::::

yeah yeah. ok. Miss you too. Let's try and grab coffee this week! Ok bye!

ahem

hello all. Sorry for the long absence. I've been busy hopping between both coasts and buried under creative burdens at work...sadly this here blog had to take a seat on the back burner while I focused on the projects at hand.

But with lots of airplane time and a few decompression days at home (read: sitting on my chair doing absolutely nothing but knitting and watching television) I've been able to tackle quite a few projects that popped up on my radar.

The purl bee has had some phenominal projects listed recently and I was thrilled to see a produce bag pattern listed for free.

during my marathon tv spree i watched a news story about how cities do not recycle plastic shopping bags. I was horrified. I had made the choice years ago to move away from paper to plastic so that I could recycle them.

the only way to remedy my impact was to knit my own reusable bag and I'm quite please with the results.

So pleased in fact that I already have another on the needles.

**updated to include the link to this GREAT pattern.

::total relaxation::

I just arrived home from the most surreal weekend away on Martha's Vineyard.

My former roomate Pheobe is getting hitched this summer. Otis, myself, and about 15 of their friends were invited to a very special engagement party at a family farm on "the vineyard."

I know that few people get to experience this gorgeous island in the manner that we did. We stayed on a 100 acre farm in an extremely rural part of the island and the party was held in the barn on Saturday night.

At one point I turned to someone and said, "I don't know what magazine or movie this is....but I like it."

It was a fantastic few days filled with such amazing beauty and such an incredible cast of characters I know that an event like this could never be replicated again.

favorite moments -

::watching the sun rise over the fishing boats docked near our ferry:::napping on the beach sheltered by towering cliffs:::seeing double rainbows::meeting a family whose generosity is tough to match:::sleeping with soulful wooden planks overhead:::feeling the breeze wash over me as I slept in a sleeping bar:::making s'mores:::seeing fireflies that look like twinkle lights in trees:::buying wool at a sheep farm:::twinkle lights lighting a barn:::weathered yankee faces:::an old icebox filled with beer and blocks of ice:::spying seals bobbing in crystal blue water:::laughing with friends, both old and new:::

memories like these are good indeed.

(More photos and notes here)

ready.steady.go.

I'm back...for how long, I'm not sure. This summer is shaping up to be a busy one. Which I love. But in the few days that I have to myself I am just trying to. slow. down.

I spent last week shooting in Reno, NV and Chicago, IL for these folks. Soooo cool. It was certainly a "pinch me" kind of shoot, and I have two more coming up in the coming months.

love it.

Did any of you notice the high quality in focus photos I posted? I have a new baby. Her name is Nikon D40 and she is the most amazing thing ever. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this camera people! LOVE it. It does amazing things....like take pictures that are in focus. What a luxury!

I'm so glad I invested before my trip out west and before this past weekends events.

My little sister competed in her first triathalon and kicked some MAJOR ASS! It was highly emotional watching her challenge herself with such grace and gusto. She certainly is a force to be reckoned with and, seeing as she was the one who usually kicked my butt when we were kids, I was trying to be extra nice to her, especially now that she is a lean mean fighting machine.

My camera ( aka: lover - because I would seriously make out with this thing. It's that great!) took incredible photos of her competing.

I couldn't be more proud of her....

Check out the goober-style smile on her face in all of these photos. Twisted! I would have been crying on the side of the road begging for someone to come and scrape me off of the pavement that I surely would have melted into. My sister is amazing. seriously.

Where ya'at?

Where I am:

Where I've been:

Stories later this week!