Back from a Much Needed Vacation

I bet you thought I disappeared, huh? Actually, I did for a while. Nick and I have been super busy around the house, his parents were here for a week and will be back for another visit soon. We used their arrival as an excuse to get some projects done around the house, so we were very busy in April and May (I'll share some pictures soon).

We went on a gorgeous day trip through the Cascades when Nick's parents were here, this is just one of my photos.

Last night we got back from a 10 day trip to California. We spent some time with our friends who let us get married at their house a couple years ago. We went on a great hike while we were there.

 

 The weather was a little hot for my taste (that's easy to do), but it was a beautiful day.

Next we headed down to the OC and, of course, went to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.  I think of Disneyland as my home, so it was great fun to visit.

This is my favorite body of water at the resort. It always looks so refreshing!

It was nice to get away for a while but I'm so glad to be back! Sorry about the blog break, I didn't mean to be gone for a whole month. 

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?

Around the World

We're back! Nick and I flew home late Sunday night and were so glad that yesterday was a holiday. We were beat. I spent most of the day lounging on the couch, not a normal activity for me at all. So, I thought I'd share a couple photos from our trip...

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, one of our favorite resort hotels on the Disney property. I love the attention to detail, the theming is great!

We had enough time to hit all four parks on this trip, here are a few snapshots.

Cinderella's Castle is beautiful and the weather was too.

We love the Jungle Cruise.

I'm not brave enough for Splash Mountain, Nick had to ride this one alone.

EPCOT is my favorite, I love to check out all the different countries at World Showcase. We loved the updated Circle Vision film in Canada.

In the end, it was a great trip. Nick and I had a wonderful time and we barely thought about work. I can't wait to go back.

Two Spoonfuls: Travel Treats

I'm still on vacation but that doesn't mean I can't still blog about food! I haven't been in the kitchen since I left, but I have been enjoying some yummy treats while I've been away. Check it out...

At Walt Disney World, there are lots of chocolate dipped apples, strawberries, marshmallows, pretzels and probably some other things too. Don't you love the little sprinkles? Just in time for Valentine's Day!

Nick and I bought an all-inclusive package for the Disney portion of our trip. The package came with a meal plan that turned out to be a bargain. I don't think I can eat another thing! Each meal included a drink and a dessert. ugh I never get dessert, but these little chocolate cakes were easy to bring away with us & they were so yummy too!

Let's talk coffee now. The coffee at our hotel is made from liquid concentrate rather than ground. It has been my experience that coffee made this way is generally divine. I love it. I've looked forward to a cup each morning we've been here. Yesterday we discovered cappuccino floats at the Magic Kingdom. What? Ice cream on top of iced cappuccino? Yes, please! I've always been an advocate of ice cream and coffee but I never thought of a float.

I couldn't leave you without at least mentioning cupcakes. I haven't had one, but they look pretty darn good.

Wait a minute, I think Jenn mentioned something about cupcakes. Let's see what she's been up to this week.

On Holiday!

Hooray!!! Finally a vacation where we can relax. I'm closing my shops, packing my bags and heading to Disney World. I might even leave the yarn at home!!

To prepare myself for the fun of getting away, I went into the city on Thursday to do a little shopping. Here are a few things that jumped into my bag...

A monkey spatula!!! I couldn't leave this guy behind. Gotta love Williams-Sonoma.


Polka dot cupcake liners...thank you Martha!

I won't tell you how much this tiny assortment of goodies cost me. Ridiculous, but fun!

And when I got home, my Moo Mini Cards were here! Aren't they the coolest? I can't wait to add them to my packages.

Now, I must say goodbye and finish packing. Have a lovely week, see you on the flip side.

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.

We're Back

Nick & I just got back from our little weekend away. I made some progress on the wedding and got a new monkey made. This is what things are looking like right now where the wedding will take place. Julie & I went out for a walk this morning and I took this shot in front of the house. It's very brown, but you can still see a bit of Autumn in there. Just beautiful. It's been raining off & on, there's even water in the creek!


We checked out a few places as possibilities for our wedding night stay while we were in town. The Hounds Tooth Inn is only about a 10-15 minute drive from the house, and is just what we had in mind. There are 12 rooms and a summer house. I think Nick & I will get the summer house and have some of our family and friends in the main inn. It was a lovely place. They let us walk through and check out all the rooms. It was kinda fun. I'll be calling them this week to see what I can reserve.
I tend to spend a fair amount of my time crocheting when we're at Jim & Julie's, and this weekend was no exception. I'm thinking about opening a second Etsy shop just for my monkeys, so I've been trying to think of some more monkey things to make. Here's the little pin cushion monkey I made, I'd love to hear what you think. I know, he looks a little like a fire hydrant, but I wanted him to be flat on the bottom and have some dimension to his hat. If I make the hat go straight up, he'll look like a can of beans.

That's about all I have to report right now. I'm so tired from driving and I still have to unpack. Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for Halloween.

Halloween Weekend

Nick & I are off to Oakhurst today for our friends' annual Halloween party. I think I've got our costumes sorted out enough, I hope so anyway. I'll be Ginny and Nick will be Harry Potter. Our neckties are being FedEx'd to the house this afternoon (fingers crossed). If I don't look too hideous in the wig, I'll post a picture next week, lol.
I've been so busy lately that I'm really looking forward to a few days off. We always have such a nice time at Jim & Julie's, it's the only time I fully relax. Of course, I'll work on monkeys while I'm away, I always do. Oh! And while I'm on the subject of monkeys, I'm reminded of an indieview I just did for The Indie Path. The girls over there were nice enough to feature me, and my monkeys, on their blog yesterday. Thanks ladies.
I also wanted to show you another corner of my sewing room. That's my handmade shelf I purchased at the Harvest Festival a couple years ago. I have an old dresser I keep under it with my shipping supplies and some fabric bits. My laptop sits on the dresser so I can check emails & post in the forums throughout the day. So far, that's working out really well. Don't you love that hangin' monkey? He holds tea lights in his tummy.
Right, so I need to pack and get on the road. Just couldn't leave without saying goodbye. Stop in at my Flickr account if you want to see something I made yesterday. Have a great weekend. And say hi to Jenn while you're there, she's Flickring now too.

Away Again

For those of you who've been dieing to know what I look like, here's a picture of Nick & I in the spot where our wedding will take place. It's been a very dry year here in California, so it's really brown right now. When April rolls around, though, these hills will be covered in tall grass & flowers. It should be beautiful. (Side note: I'm on my tippy toes & Nick's standing in a hole! HaHa)We spent the weekend out there with our friends & had a great time. I reserved a cake and might have found a caterer too. I guess that means the date is set. Nick's mom has booked a cool pub/restaurant in Britain for reception #2 as well. The ball is rolling fast now. It's very exciting.
As for my crafty news, I finally got some crochet time this week. I have a customer who requested four key chains. I had sent her one as a gift for buying lots of monkeys. I haven't added these guys to the shop yet.
They're a lot smaller than a regular Gadget Monkey, but the detail makes them slightly difficult to work on. I finished all four at the Farmer's Market on Thursday. Good thing too, I had one sale that day. It was my worst market at the Civic Center so far. Must have been the rain, it was really slow for everyone. No worries though. I also made four new Gadget Monkeys this weekend and I have a new bag to list today.
I don't want to go on all day, but I also need to show you the cool stuff I got in the mail last week. I don't buy a lot online, it's a money thing, but sometimes I can't resist. These folks do great work, check out their shops on Etsy.... My cousin & his wife just had their first baby in August, and I've been gathering cool baby stuff for months. This is not the only onesie (thanks to Jennifer and Lemon Cadet) little Mark will be getting from his Auntie Ginny this weekend, but it might get the most laughs. The shop is WeROnesieful, and they are truly onesieful. I love it!

My second fantastic find is from DogboneArt. We all know I'm a monkey fan, but have you seen these monkey muffins? Oh my gosh! I've been coveting them for a long time, but when I saw the Dorky Candy Cane Brothers I just had to give in. Mine is called Buck Toothed Bob and he's for a friend of mine. (We have this "candy corn thing"). Anyway, I'm keeping the monkey muffin for myself. He's going to look cool on my new sewing room shelf.
If you're jealous, and I know you are, go check out these fine shops and have a great week.

Day Off

After having two weeks off, I decided to join Nick & our visiting friends on a trip to the city yesterday. I'll get back to work today, I think. We've lived here for almost 5 months now and have spent very little time in San Francisco. Nick goes there every day to work, but promptly gets on the ferry and returns home. And what better attraction to experience than Alcatraz? That's right, we visited an old prison. Have any of you been there? I'm guessing you have if you've been to San Francisco. Alcatraz is right up there with the Golden Gate Bridge, Trolley cars (which we also did) and sourdough bread. I've been to Alcatraz before, but not for a long time, maybe over 15 years. Can you say creepy? The audio tour was good, but made it even more unsettling I think.

I'm pretty sure the highlight of my day was walking past Macy's in Union Square, the place is covered in Martha Stewart. Aqua rugs, aqua signs, logos, window displays. I might have to go back to SF next week for some bridal registry ideas. Gotta preview before I drag Nick along. sigh

All Sorts

I'm glad to be back, it's funny how a vacation makes you tired. No complaints from me though. This summer was the wettest in history for England and we didn't see a drop of rain the whole trip. It was lovely every day and we got a chance to see lots of people and places. And hey, I got engaged! What could be better? I've got my wedding magazines and my planning book all ready to go now that I'm back home. I don't feel very stressed about planning the wedding(s) as I used to do events for a living. My biggest concern at the moment is setting a date. Nick & I will marry in California (at our friends' place) and later go to the UK for a second reception, maybe here. I plan on making my own dress and probably a lot of other elements too. I hope I can manage everything. lol We'll see.

While I was away I realized I haven't done a crafty post in a while. So here's a little crafty business for you. I finally bought some fabric at the Cath Kidston shop on this trip. I usually go in there and find too much choice then end up buying nothing. Not true on this trip. Here's the fabric remnant I got. Not sure yet what it will be, but probably a bunch of different things. I won't tell you what I paid for this. Let's just say in pounds, it's a good deal. US dollars? Not so much. Never mind.


I also picked up some great printed felt while we were down in Cornwall. There was a really nice fabric shop there that had lots of little things. I read about this felt on someone's blog a while back, but I'd forgotten about it. I'm so glad I came across it, it's so cute. I also picked up some other little bits & bobs. Snoopy buttons, a book, some trim. I didn't buy any fabric there, I was so good. It's really easy to turn things down when you consider the exchange rate, believe me.

All in all, it was a great trip. I had a great time and it was good to take some time off before the holiday season ramps up. I am hoping to get lots of things made in the near future, but we've got company coming tomorrow. I don't think I'll be getting much sewing done. It's a shame, because I have a new diaper bag in the works and tons of ideas. I want to get some new things made for my next Farmer's Market on Thursday. And one last thing. I just had to show you the coolest birthday present ever. Nick's mom and I went out shopping the other day and she insisted I pick a birthday gift for myself (it's coming up this month). This is what I chose. I think she might be thinking I'm a bit nuts now.

It's the sheep, not the sewing machine by the way. I'm a huge Wallace & Gromit fan and I love Shaun the sheep from "A Close Shave". In the UK he has his own TV show for kids. My Shaun bleats and shivers. I'm in love.

Sunny Day in London

I must have walked about 5 miles today, but the sunshine was worth it! I think it was my first day in London with blue skies, no foolin'. I walked all over today, starting at Tower Bridge. Gromit wasn't able to make it, he had a previous engagement, but Chico still had a good time.

Nick was in the office all day so I was able to do all the shopping I wanted. I made a trip to one of my favorite stores over in Marylebone (I'll show you what I got later). I had a good time in there though, let me tell you, lol. I met Nick after work for some dinner and then we rode the London Eye.

This is another thing I never got to do while I lived in the UK. It's a long list and I'm working away at it. I'm not sure you can see how tall this thing is...it's really high! I'm afraid of heights too. Yep, it was a little scary, but take a look at this view. Wow! I'm glad we planned it for sundown.


p.s. I just looked up how high the London Eye is . . . just over 442 feet. Yikes!

From the Air

Today we were lucky enough to get a ride around the Cornish coast in a tiny little airplane. This was my first time on one of these planes and I was a little nervous. It was a beautiful view from up there, Gromit and Chico had a wonderful time. The color of the water was amazing, as you can see.

This last one is a view of St. Michael's Mount. It's an old monestary that you can actually see from the front windows in Nick's parents' house. I still haven't been there, but it was great to see it from above. I feel I'm really leading a charmed life at the moment.

Greetings from England

Hello from England. Gromit and Chico are having a great time here. Yesterday and Monday we had a wondeful time visiting Bath. It's a beautiful old city. We really enjoyed touring the Roman Baths and the Abbey. They have some nice shops too, but Gromit gets bored so we try not to stay too long. We took a nice cruise up the River Avon and we afterwards drove to a place called Exmouth to visit Uncle Bill and his new granddaughter Ella. She was very cute and slept a lot.

Now we're down in the far southwest corner of England. Nick's parents spend most of the summer down here so we thought it would be nice to stop by for a few days. The weather has been gorgeous for us so today we went for a long walk on the tops of the cliffs overlooking the sea.

Gromit and Chico were very tired by the time we got to the cliff by Logan's Rock, so we stopped for a sandwich and some water. Penberth Beach has been known to attract a few nudies, we decided not to ventre down there. The view was amazing and the water was so blue. Nick decided it would be a nice spot to pop the question and I completely agreed. Gromit held the ring, but I'm wearing it now. It's very pretty and sparkly too. I love it!

Tomorrow we've got a busy day planned with an airplane ride & visits with friends. We're off to Nick's sister's place in Southampton on Friday and to a wedding on Saturday. It's a busy vacation, but still relaxing.