What I Did on My Blog Vacation

I've been a busy little beaver since we last spoke. Fall has engulfed my house with leaves. The weather is cool and crisp. Visitors have come and gone and now I'm back to blog another day. I thought I'd ease my way back into it with a little photo essay of what's been happening up here in Seattle.

Chocolate cupcake recipes have been tested.

Treasures have been discovered in boxes.

Help has been given around the house.

Trips have been taken both near...

and far...

and a bit farther...

and farther still.

Fabric has been cut and turned into things.

That's just a glimpse. Phew, I'm tired, but it's nice to be back.

Little Road Trip

Yesterday, Nick and I just didn't feel like doing things around the house. We ran some errands and then decided to hit the road. Everyone's been telling us to check out Snoqualmie Falls, so that's what we did. Good choice!

Less than an hour from our house, this place was gorgeous! It was a beautiful day too. We started at the falls which sits next to Salish Lodge & Spa. We took a little walk around the lodge too, I wouldn't mind spending a night there some time.

We knew we were going to like it in Snoqualmie because we got to walk across a bridge. We're both suckers for a good bridge, haha.

Not far from the falls was the little city of Snoqualmie and the Woodman Lodge. Oh my gosh! We had an amazing burger in this cool western saloon. It reminded me a lot of when I worked at Disneyland. This place is so cool. I can't wait to go back there when friends visit.

This was a great little diversion and it only took us away from home for about 4 or 5 hours. Lovely. Now, who wants to visit?

Away for the Weekend

This past weekend Nick and I went to visit our friends who hosted our wedding back in April. It was nice to see them and to be back in such a special place. I love that they still have the wreath on the door from the wedding. So pretty!


We spent an afternoon wandering through some shops in Mariposa, a small town about 30 minutes away. I was most interested in the kitties hanging out by Chocolate Soup.


On our way home we stopped at the biggest outdoor shop I've ever seen. It was amazing. At the entrance we walked through a giant tree and there were taxidermy animals all over. It was really neat, and Carnaby had a great time too.


It wasn't all fun & relaxing. I got lots of new monkeys made while we were away. Better get busy with my camera and get these guys into the shop.

A Long Weekend

This weekend we headed south to Orange County. It's a long, boring drive, so we took the scenic route on the way down.

We were lucky, it was a gorgeous day. It can be very grey along this part of the California coast.

We stayed at the Cambria Pines Lodge and had a quick walk through the gardens before continuing our journey.

Good thing I remembered that fabric shop in Buellton. It was so packed with goodies, even Nick enjoyed it. All the fabric is $5 a yard so I had to get some.

Remember those blocks I was working on last week? Here's the reason I made them and the reason we went on the trip. Mark is one! It was great to see him walking and smiling. What a cutie! (I think he liked his blocks too.) If you'd like to see a better shot of the blocks, click here.

We also stopped at an old favorite shop of mine on Saturday. I was surprised and delighted to see that Material Possessions is now carrying some Japanese fabrics. I picked up a few.

In the end it was a great trip and we're so glad to be home. The kitties are pretty glad too. We'll be home for 3 weeks now & then it's off to the UK for our wedding reception. phew, I'm worn out already.

I'd Rather Be Sewing

Bet you thought I disappeared, eh? Nope, just on a little road trip. I started feeling really guilty today about neglecting my blog so I thought I'd let you join me on my trip. Nick has officially flown back to the UK for a business trip and I am in Orange County for a couple days. I'm just plugging away at the wedding plans while I can. Today I went shopping with one of my bridesmaids and we were able to get her dress and shoes! That's a great thing. Tomorrow we should have the other 2 settled along with my niece who will be a junior bridesmaid. I found some really great embroidered organza today in a very pale shade of blush that I may just get for my own dress. I still don't have a pattern, but I don't want to pass up the fabric. It's just so hard to commit!

After dress shopping tomorrow I'll be driving up to my friends' house to do some more wedding stuff. Hopefully I will secure a photographer and a group rate at the Best Western. I must get home to sew some new things for my market on Saturday. I'll be at a new location and I'm still really low on stock after the holidays. I've been working on monkeys so much lately that I've neglected my poor sewing machine.

These little guys seem to be the hot ticket now. I've had the monkey coffee cozies on my "monkey list" for a while but didn't make them until I opened the new shop. Even Nick likes these guys and he doesn't even "get" monkeys. haha. I'd love to get some more made while I'm away.

I guess that's it for me now. I should really get to bed. Long drive tomorrow. Some time in the next few days I'll tell you about my quilt fabric odyssey from last week and what I found.

Have a great week all!

A Tiny Road Trip

On Saturday night, Nick & I set out to eat dinner and go for a walk on the coast in Sausalito. Heavy traffic urged us off the freeway, so we headed toward Muir Woods (only about 10 minutes from our house). We've been hearing about cool places to eat out that way so, why not? Well, we we ended up in a tiny town called Bolinas. We ate at a little cafe, Coast Cafe to be exact. It was a tiny place with lots of character and great food (and very strong coffee). There was even a quilt on the wall! We'll definitely be going out there again.
The drive out there goes over the hills and through the woods, literally, it was great. And on the way home we found the British pub that we've heard about. Can't wait to go back & check that out. Sadly, I didn't get a ton of crafting done this weekend, but I had a great time with Nick. :)

Happiness is a Warm Puppy

This past weekend Nick & I decided to take a break and go for a quick little road trip. After my morning knitting class, we took off in the new car and headed north. Only 35 miles from us is the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. Being a HUGE fan of Snoopy and Peanuts, this is a must see for me. I've actually been to the site before, but not the musem. There's also an ice rink where Schulz put on a senior hockey tournament for many years, a friend of mine's father-in-law played in it! We visited the museum and had a latte in the ice rink coffee shop, appropriately called, "The Warm Puppy". I'm just dying to skate there. There are even stained glass windows featuring our beloved beagle friend on skates. How cute.

After a short stop at the local fabric & craft shop (I have to know where to get my supplies), we headed east toward Sonoma and wine country. Not too far from Santa Rosa is the town of Sonoma, it's a lovely drive along a vineyard lined road. All of the grapevines are covered in leaves and the hills in Sonoma are full of them. We stopped in the downtown area and had a little walk around town. By that time most of the shops were closed, but I was very intrigued. (Will have to go back one day on my own and browse) There's a nice little park in front of the City Hall building. I ran around trying to snap some photos before dinner. Poor Nick. Anyway, we had a lovely afternoon and evening out, not far from home, and a good dinner at the Irish Pub. mmmmm