The great outdoors

We have defiantly been the Oregonian outdoorsy types around here as of late. We go hiking on our days off, hiking when we have to work that night, BBQing, and even relaxing on a patio overlooking the Willamette river enjoying happy hour. Life is pretty good this summer so far. We have been all over town trying to find new and fun ways to be outside. Mt. Tabor last week was interesting to say the least. We were about to start our hike when we heard "excuse me, watch out" and when we turned around we saw about a hundred bikers all dressed up in costumes whirling by. That was fun to watch. Yesterday we discovered Powell Butte and hiked all over that place. You could get lost there it's so big, and it has an amazing view.

This was our view from a bar in Vancouver Wa. on the Columbia river where Scott, my sister, and I were having a few drinks. Sailing looks like so much fun doesn't it?
My moms birthday is this Thursday so I've been busy making her present. I really want to post it right now but then she would probably see it so I had better wait. After I give it to her it will be immediately posted.
We're still trying to find the perfect place to get married at, I didn't think it would be this hard. All the places I like don't have everything we need, I wish I could just squish them together and be done with it.
Well today is my stepmothers birthday so I better call her, hope it's not dinner time.

The dress!

I found it! This is the perfect dress. I've been going through all my old magazines so that I can get rid of some, and look what I found. This was in the Martha Stewart Winter Weddings Mag. It's by Reem Acra but I can't find it anywhere. Maybe I can have something similar made. I love it because it's so pretty but not a traditional wedding dress. It has a total Alice in Wonderland feel to it, which matches my theme perfectly.

Waaa Laa........

I'm proud to present my very first attempt at embroidery. I'm really liking it. It's very rewarding to have something I can actually use, and even better I did it myself. We needed pillowcases for the spare room/ office so I purchased some plain white cases at the Goodwill for a few bucks. I then browsed Barnes and Nobles and found this really cool book by Jenny hart.
It teaches you everything from the very beginning and has 88 pages of transfers for you to embellish anything you want. The designs are not your ordinary grandma ones ( not that there's anything wrong with those because I love them too.) but these are a new modern twist on an old craft.
This is my finished project, right at home on the bed. I still have the other pillowcase to do but that will have to wait for another day. I'm moving on to some tea towels for now.

This is another adorable project in the book. So lovely on a little girls dress. After I get a little more comfortable I'm going to attempt to draw my own patterns and see how those turn out.

What a weekend.........

Look at my new car, it's the black one. I had been shopping around all day and just stumbled upon it. I just couldn't resist. Ok so it's not really mine, but i wish. I could just imagine myself speeding down a long quite stretch of road this summer with this hot little GTO, just like in the movies. No really, this was on Saturday when My mom, Scott, and I were on our way to the Saturday Market. It's the start of the Portland rose Festival so there's all kinds of stuff going on down on the waterfront. These cars along with so many more were on display for the festivities.
Yum yum...............I do love strawberries. These are out at the Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island located just 15 minutes outside Portland. I don't think I have ever been out there before. We went there to buy some peonies and some local produce. I didn't buy any flower's, but i did buy lots of other things including local honey, and an interesting salad dressing that I can't wait to try.I think I really might enjoy living on a farm. As we were driving down the gravel driveway we see strawberry fields to the right and flower fields to the left, with a big red barn looking building full of everything you could imagine would be inside. The farm is surrounded by open land with the most gorgeous sky that you can see for miles. Yes, I really do think it would be lovely to live there. I would have a nice little farm house with flowers growing in my front yard and fresh herbs and vegetables growing right out in the back so I could just step out my back door and take what I needed to make dinner. Maybe I would have a goat, that would be fun.
This is an artichoke plant. There growing on the side of the building in the parking lot. My car is about 2 feet away. They had some inside and they were the biggest I have ever seen.

Pretty for a wedding, hum.

Wow we did so much on Saturday. We walked around the pearl district, had a light dinner and a cocktail. Then off to Vancouver Wa. to visit my sister and play some badminton. I was exhausted.
Yesterday was a perfect Sunday. Started out with a good Mexican lunch with a pineapple margarita. Then on down the street we strolled through Stars antique mall there were so many things I wanted to buy, but I restrained myself. It's so big it has 3 different buildings within a couple blocks.
What lazy Sunday would be complete without going to the movies. The McMenamins Kennedy School is the perfect place to see one. For $3 we got to sit on the softest most comfortable couch watch Wild hogs (which happens to be the most funniest movie) and drink a couple pitchers of good beer. All in all it was a perfect weekend.

Happy June!

I had a great thrift day yesterday. My new candy dish is gorgeous! I also got the cutest rose colored tea cup, an old green thermos, a cheese platter with a cool glass dome for it, and a few new sweaters. Pretty good huh? I might post the rest of my finds later, as soon as I'm over the coolest candy dish ever. Have a good Friday.

Hot Hot ................... HOT!!!

It's these kinda days when I really miss our air conditioner. They said on the news that it's suppose to reach 90 degrees today. It feels much hotter to me, but it's so pretty out. This is the view off our balcony.I love how green and lush the grass is, I really want to throw off my shoes and go roll around in it.............don't you? Today has been a good day so far. This morning I dragged Scott outside so that we could get some fresh air and a little exercise. On my way home from work yesterday I noticed that the street by our house has a nice walk area that's set back from the street a little, perfect for jogging. That got me excited to go outside and walk instead of the gym at our apt. (which we say we want to use but haven't yet) We didn't go that way this morning but sometime this week defiantly. Today we walked around the golf course across the street. I really hope I can get in the mode to do that at least 3 times a week, we'll see.
In a little bit we're heading over to my moms for a BBQ. I'm making mojito's and I'm really excited to use my new thrift store find.
It's an adorable Pyrex pitcher with cute little lemons on it. There are so many thrift stores around here it's great. One of these times I'll have to go out and make a day of it.
I better get started on those mojitos.

The Falls.....................Ahhhhh!

Scott has never been to Multnomah Falls so I packed a picnic and took him through the Gorge on the Historic Hwy today. Wow, we couldn't have asked for a better day. This picture isn't actually Multnomah but one of the falls after. We stopped and had lunch and this was taken just steps from our picnic table, how cool? On our way up to the falls we stopped at every scenic stop and hiking trail. One of the first we stopped at, we hiked back to the falls and felt like we were trekking through forest and that we were the first to discover it. I wish I had some pictures but the sun was at the worst spot and they were all blown out. On our way back into town we passed another trail that looked really cool, we're defiantly going back soon. We did all of this and didn't spend a dime, didn't think that was possible.
We also drove through Lake Oswego so I could show Scott where I use to live. They built a really cool new park with lots of paths and a little wading stream for people to soak in right in the middle of the apartments. It's right on the river so the view is amazing. We wanted to move there, but it's so expensive now since they added so many new restaurants and shopping areas right across the street.
We're having so much fun exploring everything, We can't decide what we want to do next. We discovered Roslyn Lake right next to us and also the Willamette Valley has wineries that stretch through a hundred miles, so I think we'll be taking a dip and tasting some wine very soon. I've been keeping my camera on me at all times so soon there WILL be pictures.