Home from Vacation

After Thanksgiving in Wenatchee, Christopher and I had planned a trip to Portland to see his brother Patrick and for me to shop shop shop. I was a little worried because it sounded like Christopher was going to cut my shopping in half (you know how men are!) But alas, I made it to every store that was on my heart's desire.
We started at Home Goods, Portland Nursery (i am so into terrariums), Artemisia (i died and gone to heaven), ate breakfast at Pine State Biscuit, checked into our hotel and waited for Patrick to meet up with us.
Patrick was running late and I was so itching to get to the Pearl District. Thankfully Christopher needed a break from shopping so I snuck off to the Pearl District and shopped at West Elm, Anthropologie, Canoe and Cargo. I was one happy little camper!
I made it back to the hotel and the whole gang was there. Everybody was pretty open to dinner so I suggested Tasty -n-Sons or Por Que No? from reviews I got online. Christopher wanted Mexican so we headed to Por Que No?  It was funny but at every restaurant we ate at, you would order at the counter and wait to be served.
Por Que No? is one happening spot albeit it is small, but it was hella crowded! Thank goodness the food was delicious. I had a Carnitas and the Al Pastor. I am still thinking about them today, yum!

The next day we packed up and headed to Cannon Beach/Arch Cape. Oh the joy of it all, lol! I couldn't wait to hear the sound of the waves. Oh wait, yes I could. I desperately wanted to visit Manor up on 23rd Ave. (a very expensive decor store where I would ooh and ahh.)

We finally hit the road and arrived at Arch Cape around 4pm. Christopher had found a rental home online thru Vacasa Rentals and we had a righteous view of the ocean.

On Tuesday, we headed to Cannon Beach and thank you Jesus the weather was all that I prayed for. Dry, warm and sunny skies.

 (this photo above is actually the beach at arch cape)

We had such a pleasant trip, but it's good to be home!

Road Trip East

This Thanksgiving we went to Christopher's mom in Wenatchee.

We had a pleasant drive going thru Snoqualmie pass and made it to Wenatchee a little after 1pm. For the past 3 years I have been with Christopher, we have always gone to my Uncle Ron's home for a big Wiley gathering. Now that his mom has moved from Arizona to Washington it seemed fitting to have Thanksgiving with his family. 

We had a great visit with Fred, Aloma, Kelly, Steve and Freddie and a wonderfully cooked Thanksgiving meal. Luckily we got to take some turkey, pie and cake home too.

Here's a picture of Christopher's mom and sister. Aloma asked that I not post her photo, but seriously this is a gorgeous photo of them all. It would be a shame not to share the family love!

Christopher's sweatshirt says it all. Live united!

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving too!

Trip to Bremerton

Here are some photos that I copied from Adora's facebook page. We traveled to Bremerton to celebrate Dg's 60th birthday. She requested the Victorian Tea House in Port Orchard. The food was delicious. I had the curry sandwich with salad which I devoured and topped it off with bread pudding. It came with a rich cinnamon sauce that I didn't expect. I ate every bite!

We stopped by Jen's Attic and I found blue canning jars and an amber pyrex bottle. Pretty cool find.
Can't wait til our next visit!

Seth Turns One

Hello there!
I am happy to report my little nephew Seth turned 1 two weeks ago. My sister had a nice little gathering on the Sunday when the Seahawks won against the New England Patriots. It was a happy day indeed!
Here's a photo of the little guy. He is such a mama's boy!

Lately all my cards have been made from corrugated cardboard. I scored a nice free stash of pre-cut ones and it's my go to background.

I bound it with 7gypsies gaffer tape and loaded it with stickers. On the inside it says, "I love you to the moon and back."
I would have posted sooner since it has been so long, but I left my camera at my sister's home and it took that long to retrieve.

Another One Bites the Dust

I was so sad to see Paper Muse in Sumner closed. They were a small boutique like scrapbook store with lots of flair and style. I popped in on their second to last day and was so suprised everything was 40% off. I feel like the only store worth driving to from Seattle now is Ben Franklin in Redmond. It is getting harder and harder to find the latest and greatest at local stores.

Whole Lotta Awesome

I've been on a little vacation from work and to fill the time I shopped then hit some r&r up in beautiful mt. rainier.
To start, I found this super comfy Drexel Heritage chair on craigslist for $30...major score in my book.

It wouldn't fit in my little mazda so thankfully as a zipcar member i had some extra freebie credits and rented a car that it would fit in. yeah!
I also found this zebra print chair in blue on craigslist. she wanted $120 firm and i talked her down to $100. it's basically a brand new chair...score. it's perfect as my craft room chair.

Next on the list are terrariums. Have you seen the rage lately? I am not a green thumb, but I love the look of succulents. I googled how to make terrariums and off to the nursery I went. I had a blast updating the look on my chinese altar table.

I am a big fan of Yelp and found some cool interior design shops. If you are in Kirkland a cute little store called Simplicity Decor is a fun stop. I found this white ceramic a-ok hand that adds a little humor to my table. I was actually looking for a white ceramic deer head, but they were out of stock (i did actually find it at z gallerie, but postponed that purchase much to christopher's delight.)

Another purchase that I am super happy about is this bouquet of orange roses. I absolutely love them.

So now after the shopping is done and Christopher wrapped up his work week, we headed to mt. rainier for some r&r and i literally mean that. When we hike we like to find perfect little spots to take a nap after a good hike.

It's been a whole lotta awesome!

Wedding Ceremony

Christopher's cousin Brittany tied the knot to Scott at the Navy Base on Whidbey Island. We missed the wedding, but managed to arrive well into the reception. Here is the happy couple.

We also got to visit with Christopher's mom and Fred who like to boogy too.

It's always fun meeting Christopher's relative and Uncle George (Brittany's dad) did not disappoint. Got to hear some funny stories too.

For Brittany's card, I decided to go with cardboard since it has been my kick lately.

All in all a fun night out!

Highlights from the Chihuly Glass Garden

Last Sunday, My work place put on a company picnic at the Pacific Science Center. We had the choice of seeing King Tut or the Chihuly Garden and Glass and I opted for the latter. One of my favorite exhibits is the  butterfly garden. Last time a butterfly sat on Christopher's shoulder, but this time no luck.

 They have photographers that will take your photo for free.

 My Favorite- Love the Colors!

 Lots of people thought the above was a real tree.

Got to spend the day with my 2 favorite people. Afterwards I took Skylar to the Greenlake Skate park. All was good until an hour in he crashed super hard. I looked up and I see Skylar covered in blood. He broke off his two front teeth and had a nice bloody nose. I was so surprised how calm we were. I told him to pinch his nose to stop the bleeding and thankfully another kid yelled out, "hey i think i found your teeth."
I felt so bad for him because his mouth and nose were swollen. He couldn't believe he broke his teeth.
So thankful I didn't have to take him to the hospital. Seriously makes me want to take a first aid class. Wouldn't hurt for sure.