Have a great weekend, everyone!

For me, one of the beauties of blogging is the connections I have made with people I otherwise would not know.  I see it like having a bevy of pen pals.  I correspond with people in my own town, the next state over, on the other side of the country and across the world. The only difference is that with technology the letters arrive electronically and at lightening quick speed.

When Fatty and I planned our trip to New York this past summer, I was looking forward to meeting Susan and Julie.  Now, wouldn't you know, they both up and moved before I got there.   Oh well.  Susan is in now living in one of the Portlands, both of which are on our list of places to go.  And Julie is in Chapel Hill, NC which is somewhere we actually do go.  Hooray!

So, on Saturday morning, accompanied by my sister-in-law Heather and baby Kenan, I met Julie for coffee.  What a treat!  We sat and chatted for over an hour about all kinds of things.

I couldn't show up empty handed so I made Julie her very own coffee, or tea as the case may be, cozy.  The color scheme was inspired by this shirt that she made for herself.  I couldn't find that Amy Butler print in my studio (I own it, but the studio's quite a mess and that really deserves a post of its own), so I used one that has a similar feel.

I embroidered her name on it, too.  I chose a running stitch because it is fast (yes, this falls into the last-minute category).  As I finished, I wished I would have taken the time to back stitch or split stitch it so it would show up better on the corduroy.  It is subtle, though, and I do like that.

I didn't leave with empty hands, either.  Julie gave me some sweet Japanese fabric (a whole generous yard!) and green vintage buttons!

Julie, I am so happy I had the chance to meet you in person!  You are just as friendly, kind and thoughtful as I had imagined.  Thanks for the quilt store tip - it was a good one.  I bought a few yards (imagine that!).  Tell Bobby I look forward to seeing him and his sweater in action!

Yesterday I got re-acquainted with my bicycle.

I pedaled off to meet some friends for coffee.

The weather wasn't too warm - about 50-ish - but it was so good to get on the bike and go somewhere.  I love that my knitting can easily come along too.

And I think I just may be a sock knitter.  One down and half of the other left to go!  Get ready for photos of cute kid feet.

Ummm, I just spent about an hour on a really lovely post about Telluride, Colorado and why it is so dear to my heart (read...I have childhood memories there, met Fatty there, fell in love there) and then lost the whole f-ing thing.  Really, I could scream.  SCREAM!

Instead, you can see more of our vacation here.  And sometime I may tell the story again.  I guess you'll just have to wait. Sorry...

P.S.  I need practical Flickr advice from typepad users....do you blog from Flickr?  why or why not?  how do you make contacts?  help, please.  I am lost.

Fatty and I arrived home last night.  We had a great weekend getaway to Jamaica!  And no, it wasn't his birthday present.  You see, Fatty sells beer and those good folks at Red Stripe treated us to four days away which just happened to coincide with his birthday.  Nice, huh?  So thank you Red Stripe!  We ate and drank far too much, but had a nice relaxing weekend.  I wish I could say the same for my parents who flew in to watch the girls - the furnace went out, Kate was sick and there were some issues with our alarm system.  Yikes...we owe them big!

Some nice mail was waiting for me when I got home.  First a package from Superbuzzy...

They have lots of cute things over at their site.  I don't have any grand plans for these new fabrics, but I still have two Archies to make and all of the dolls' accessories....these might just fit the bill.

I also got these sweet postcards from Alicia.  Do I ever love her style!!  Just the perfect thing to put me in the Christmas spirit.

And speaking of the holidays...there is nothing quite like putting a bathing suit on the week before Thanksgiving to remind me that a little pie will take me a long way!

Oh....lest I forget....  Big Birthday Greetings headed your way Nolan!  Hope you have a great day!

I won't bore you all with the details of my craft supply odyssey today.  It is over and I have what I need now, but, man, it was hard getting it.  Instead, I'll share the bright spots...

The maple in front of our house has finally reached its peak - I love this tree and its red leaves.  And, yes, it is probably time for the spider webs to come down.

Tomorrow's Friday's birthday girl, Lisa, will be getting this belt tonight over good Mexican food and margaritas.  Yummy yum yum!  Time to pick up the babysitter.

I spent most of the day sewing, but don't have anything to show for it.  No photos, that is.  That's okay, though.  I finished the project and was very happy with the results.  Now it's packaged up and on its way.  All good - very good.

I have no reason to show you Fatty's truck other than I love it.  It makes me smile: all that turquoise with chrome and a little red to spice it up - vintage and smart.  So there - that is reason enough.

New York was great! So fun - everything I had anticipated and more.  I didn't take my camera along so I don't have any photos to share (Dumb of me, I know!).  I did make many little purchases and most of them are craft-related.  Here is smattering of fabrics I picked up at Purl Patchwork...

What a store!  It's itty-bitty, but because of the limited space, they only have the best.  Really, everything they have is sooooo nice.  It was hard choosing - I had to restrain myself.  There was so much more I wanted!  I am happy with my choices, though.  Looks like there will be some more of those patchwork belts in my near future.

My blog posting may be spotty this week - please bear with me.  I made some other purchases that I would like to share, but I came home to a full in-box, so to speak.  Mail, email, voice mail, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, costumes are all waiting to be tackled.  And then there's that sleep thing - I need to devote some extra hours to that, too.  I'll be back soon - hopefully tomorrow, but Wednesday at the latest.