and I know it well ...

So this is California.


This is Jen + Jamaica.

And these were the first two faces I saw when I got there. I'm pretty sure I jumped up and down when I actually met Jamaica. But I tend to do that. And her lovely friend Casey was so sweet to let me crash at her fab place in Laguna my first night there.

This was our delicious breakfast (of champions) and those are my Swedish pancakes with tons of berries on top.

This is my most excellent 'welcome to California' kit from sweet J.

This is 'the crane.'

And this was taken at The Lab.

Which brings us to the beginning of our adventures in downtown L.A.

And our stay at The Standard.

Which meant picking up Vee. (I jumped up and down when I first saw her, too.) Turning our duo into a group of three.

The rooftop view at The Standard was nothing short of spectacular.





As was the bathroom downstairs, by the photo booth.

(Oh yes! Our hotel had a photo booth.) We spent a lot of time there. But this is what we do.

The lounge/bar downstairs was full of these rad purple couches.

And an organ.


And this amazing yellow 24/7 restaurant.

Jamaica ate Ritz crackers, through the best of times and worst of times.

I danced and/or jumped a lot.

And Vee and I had our first official meal at In-N-Out. (It was really good.) I learned that Jamaica likes her fries extra crispy, and that they use something called 'spread' on their burgers.

The Dares girls (well, half of us) rolled up on CHA. And met the super sweet Elizabeth Kartchner. This is also where we get to hang out with Tina for a whole day.

We talked, we laughed ... we touched paper.

And we even spent a few minutes making something crafty at the Hambly booth with Allison.

But by the end of the day, we were spent. And so over the group photo thing.

So we ended the day with an iChat with Kristi.

Looking at these pics, I can't help but get all mushy and sentimental. These girls are something very special. I knew this trip would be good. And I knew that we'd totally mesh.

But I didn't know how much we would bond. And laugh. Get real. And just talk. We have this common thing of course, through the Dares. Which is a very cool thing. I wake up on Friday mornings (okay, now Wednesdays) and look forward to see how we've each spun the topic du jour; to smile and think about the long-distance craftiness, done separately but together. Hanging out with them in real life for a whole weekend was pretty much the best thing ever. Bordering on sisterhood. And I miss each one of these girls already.


I'm typing this while listening to Skinny Love and Blood Bank. Because the first time I ever heard Bon Iver was in Jamaica's car on the way to LAX on my way home. And that's just one of those things that sticks with you; I knew it would be the permanent soundtrack for this trip. To go right along with mental snapshots of these faces in the car.

goodbye, Iowa

+

I'm leaving you for Los Angeles. (Well, just for the weekend.) I'm off to spend a little time with Vee, Jamaica, Tina and maybe, just maybe, I'll get to see Amy and Heather and lots of other girls at CHA, too.

Lates.
xo.
jen

double down

New Dare is up today!
"I'm addicted to my _________."
Go check out what Jamaica and Gen came up with. (We all coordinate this week!)

And here's my take on the challenge at The Creative Type. We went with neutrals for this one. (And neutrals do not have to be boring.)

Speaking of neutrals, I found some really cool gray yarn in my stash this week and decided to knit a super long cowl for a friend.

I'm calling it the double down cowl. It's long enough to wrap around your head twice. But it's lightweight and not super thick like most of my other cowls.

Then, I found two skeins of this alpaca yarn in pretty raspberry color. If I remember correctly, this was the first 'nice' yarn I ever bought after I learned how to knit. So I made a cute little cabled hat for Lo using the Gingerbread Hat pattern by Angela Whisnant.

I stayed up late a couple of nights working on it, but it was worth it. I think I have enough left over for a cute little matching scarf.

I've been obsessed with crafty books lately (I go in phases with this) and there seems to be so many good ones out there that I want. I picked up the two on the right with a gift card I got for x-mas, and the other is from the library.

But the one I really have been obsessing over ever since Rachel blogged about it is Kid Made Modern by Todd Oldham. I could not remember the title or what the cover looked like for the life of me when I was at the book store last time (and I was a tad distracted by my two-year-old) but next time I head out, I must pick it up.

(It even has a Isamu Noguchi section in there ... !) Thanks, Rachel. :)

Last but not least, I'm participating in Craft Hope's Project 6. They've teamed up with The Orphan Foundation of America’s Red Scarf Project and I'm knitting two red scarves to send to foster care teens through this project. The Orphan Foundation serves thousands of foster teens throughout the U.S. They provide college scholarships, connect them with mentors and internships, send them care packages, and testify for them before Congress. Each year 25,000 students ‘age out’ of the foster care system and the Orphan Foundation is committed to helping them become tomorrow’s successful citizens. They launched the Red Scarf program in 2005 to send red scarves to warm the hearts (and necks) of college bound youth. The scarves can be knitted or crocheted and there is a pattern from Vickie Howell (photo above of her scarf) on the Craft Hope website to help you get started. If you'd like to participate, you can find all of the guidelines, etc. here. The deadline is Valentine's Day, February 14th 2010!

"may every stitch you knit bring you a little closer to that calm, clear space in the center of your soul"

...
Some super rad pics with my first knitting class at Ephemera, taken by the most excellent Karen.



Just look at how much they accomplished! (What a super fun group.) Right now, we're mid-session with group number two.

Be sure to check back at Ephemera for their new schedule of upcoming crafty classes. It's absolutely a dream space to be in while you create and work and giggle and learn!