Wow! What an AMAZING weekend. It’s not often that I have a weekend FULL of activities. I knew that Natalie and I were going to go to the Sock Summit on Friday. So before the summit I decided to sew up a  couple bags for us. I wanted to make something that was HUGE, could hold a lot, looked cute, and used fun patterns. I made a cool green striped bag for myself and a nice retro blue/green/brown bag for Natalie. I love making bags, sewing!

The Marketplace.. just one of the MANY vendors

My weekend really started on Friday. I took the day off to go to the Sock Summit with my best friend Natalie. She and I have known each other for many years. We met when we both worked at Intel in the training department for IT. Natalie is one of my very best friends. She’s an instructional designer too and a VERY avid knitter. She’s into technology too. She’s actually got a great podcast that she’s doing, Cloudy with a chance of fibers. If you haven’t listened to it, you should. She and I went to the Sock Summit on Friday. Who would have known that there were SO many people interested in socks. It was so crazy to see all the booths with yarn!

Results of my shopping binge!

I loved looking at all the beautiful hand dyed yarns and the combinations of bamboo, wool, alpaca, etc. There were so many booths, many more than I think I’ve ever seen for the scrapbook convention. The vendors came from all over the place too! I found so many yarns that I fell in love with. I did a little bit of damage while Natalie and I were there. It was sort of funny when we went because we’d start out walking the marketplace together, one of us would stop, the other would keep going and before you knew it we would loose each other. I don’t know how many times that happened. Ordinarily I would have just texted Natalie on my computer but we were both having a heck of a time with getting our phones working there. I guess most people were having issues. It did make things frustrating. Natalie organized a yarn crawl for those that listen to her podcast, or know her on twitter for the afternoon. We all met at the bell and then took the yellow line Max and headed to The Naked Sheep in North Portland (NoPo). I love that place. They’ve got great seating for people to just hang out and knit. They’ve also got a great collection of yarns and other knitting paraphernalia. So we hung out there for a while and then got pizza and Ruby Jewel ice cream at Atomic Pizza just two doors down. After that it was a walking trip back to the Max and then to Mississippi Avenue to walk the street and have some great dinner. It was such a long day but so AMAZING! I had a great time.

Saturday started out as a lazy day for me. Eric planned to go to the Beer Fest. I’m not a beer drinker so I really had no interest in going. I did want to go downtown though and enjoy the beautiful day. Eric and I hopped on the Max and headed downtown. After eating at the food carts we headed down to the waterfront. Eric headed to the Beer Fest and I headed to Pioneer Mall to get a new shirt because it was so hot.. I needed a new shirt. After hitting the mall I walked down to the waterfront and walked the esplanade. It was so nice to be out in the sunshine and just enjoy being warm. After walking around for a while I decided to head back up toward the Pearl District. I went to Cool Moon Ice Cream. It’s on 11th and Johnson, a bit of a walk but on a nice day, nothing big. I love Cool Moon. They make some of the most amazing custom ice creams. I ended up having the very best Salty Carmel ice cream I’ve ever had.

After grabbing my ice cream I headed across the street to the park to people watch, sit on a park bench in the shade, and knit my sock. It was so nice and cool, I loved it. I could do that every day. Maybe not the ice cream but just being outside on a nice day… that’s amazing. Once I’d been there for a while, and finished my ice cream I decided to head to Powell’s Books. I love that place and it seems that every time. So I went and checked out some books, but nothing spoke to me so I headed off to Stumptown coffee and the Ace Hotel lobby to hang out for a while until Eric, his cousin Brian, and Brian’s wife Diana finished at the Beer Fest. I ended up meeting them down in Old Town at Ground Kontrol. I hadn’t seen Brian in ages and I’d never met his wife until Saturday. Diana is so awesome. She and I chatted for a long time while the guys relived their childhood and played video games. It’s so funny to see Eric get excited about old video games he used to play. At one point I found Eric and Brian playing Joust. After everyone ran out of quarter we headed to dinner at Kin in the Pearl. It’s one of Eric favorite places to go. We sat there and chatted about everything from law, to politics, to family, to wine, and I can’t remember what else. I couldn’t help thinking the whole time that it was nice to see Brian again and nice to meet Diana. She and I would often break off in our own conversation and talk about socks, knitting, sewing, or our jobs. We were there for hours just chatting about everything. Once we were done eating we were off to Clyde Common for a drink. Diana has worked as a bartender so we wanted to take her there to give her the experience of unique drinks. We got there only to find out that junior had just clocked out so we headed to Tear Drop for great drinks. We sat and hung out together enjoying good drinks and just chatting. Junior ended up coming over for a while too which made it just that much more fun. It was such a great night. I loved meeting Diana and seeing Brian again.

Eric admiring the herb garden and drinking lavender lemonade.

Last weekend was AMAZING! Saturday was a beautiful day in Portland. It being a great day means you HAVE to enjoy the day outside. I mean it’s not often that good days come to Portland. After thinking about our options we decide to go out to Sauvie Island and just “check things out”. We’ve been out there before but never just cruzed around, checking out all the places there. So we decided to hit the road.

We drove all over the place and just explored. Of the many great places one that really caught my attention was the Blue Heron Herbary. I’ve never been to a Herbary so I wasn’t sure what to expect besides.. well herbs.There were a TON of them and the gardens were beautiful. I was blown aways by the hundreds and hundreds of herbs. There were several varieties of the same herb too. I think there were like 20 types of lavender. We bought a couple mint plants, just for mojitos, as well as lavender tea, pepper, and whole mess of other food items.

Kruger Farms for lunch!

After traveling over much of the island, we decided to stop at Kruger’s farm for a picnic. Eric had packed one before we left. It was so yummy. Eric made this great salad of jicima, tomatoes, cucumber, roasted corn, black beans, and I don’t know what else. Maybe he’ll post it on his website Grub n Glug. In any case it was terrific. The best was the avocados on it. After lunch we walked around the farm and checked out the place. I think we’ll go back when the berries are ready and go picking.

If you haven’t done so you should go to Sauvie Island! It’s super fun!

This weekend was a blast! It’s not often that Eric and I have Memorial weekend of, heck this is the first time in many years. It was so nice to be able to spend the day together… but also not have a heck of a lot planned. I think life gets to crazy sometimes and it’s hard to stop and pause and enjoy things. I’ve honestly been thinking about that a lot lately and how important it is to be in the moment and live life. Today in fact, I was talking with my friend Natalie’s husband, also named Eric, about the very thing. How it’s important to “go into your cave” and just “be”. I know pretty out there for me to say but as I grow older I recognize how much we’re hit with things and just “going through the motions” of life and not really living. I mean, I’m guilty of it. You know, the go to work, come home, turn on the TV, make dinner, eat, watch more TV, go to bed.. get up and do the same thing the next day.  Well this weekend was really to break that cycle and just live and do things that I wanted and not feel guilty that things around the house weren’t getting done.

Friday night we went to dinner at Jenny and Jessica’s house. Those two girls are somethings else. Both are the sweetest every and Jenny is a cooking rockstar. After I finished work we headed over for some visiting, good food, and of course dessert. I have to share a super funny story though.. hope you don’t mind Jess. Ok, so we’re hanging out in the kitchen while Jenny cooks dinner and Jessica says she’s going to make dessert but she can’t remember what the dessert is called. She knows that it’s Italian and these light, fluffy cookie like things that you top with cream. We came up with all manner of Italian things.. but none were right. Then, out of the blue, Jessica says, “I know eclairs!” Without hesitation Jenny, Eric and I all looked at Jessica with “that look” that says.. “what .. are you nuts?”. Yeah, OK. we told Jessica they’re French.. not Italian. We all had a great laugh at that and in the end.. decided to head to Pix for dessert. Yummy French macaroons.

Saturday found Eric and I in our PJs, sitting on the couch, drinking the great lattes he’d made and reading our books. Yeah, ALL DAY! It was so awesome. I loved just sitting there in my PJs all day without a care in the world and enjoying my book. I have to do that more. I remember being able to do that when I was younger but I think now I just think of so many things that need to be done around the house.. or garden.. and feel guilty taking that time for me. I wish I could do a better job of switching off the type A in me because I enjoy the break and it does recharge my batteries. Between reading my book, cat naps, and having the cat sleep on me.. the day was made and not an ounce of guilt was felt. Note to self… DO THIS MORE!!!

Sunday morning we got up and did much of nothing until about 2 in the afternoon. I

figured we really need to leave the house if for no other reason that to get some air and see the outside. We ended up hitting NW 23rd with our friend Stephanie. The three of us cruised through Pottery Barn and found some great glasses for Steph. While we were there we also checked out the various couches. I really want to sell our couches and get a four seater sectional so we looked at them. This one Steph is sitting in was one of my favorites because of the colors. Of course the cost was crazy and it’s not the top priority right now but it was fun to look. Later in the day we ended up at this great Peruvian restaurant for happy hour. Oh, wow was the food great. I wish I could remember the name of the place. It’s right across from Ben and Jerry’s and down the street from Cost Plus. Eric would know. In any case.. super good food and drinks.

Today found me hanging with my friend Natalie. We hit Fabric Depot for fabric so I can finish her quilt and then of course I needed fabric for a quilt I’m working on. As like any other time.. Natalie and I found a ton of fabric we loved and some great patterns so now I have her quilt to finish, a couple of shirts for myself, a couple for Natalie and a couple dressed for her too. I love having projects to do. After Fabric Depot we headed to NW 23rd and the Crepe place for coffee and crepes. Natalie finished the sweater she made me while we were there so now I have a new sweater. It is the MOST AWESOME sweater ever. I can’t wait to wear it to work tomorrow. I’ll take a picture in the morning and try to remember to post it so you can see it. It’s green.. of course.. but it’s not just one tone.. it’s several different strands. She made the yard.. just for me so it’s a one of a kind. How special do I feel.. SUPER SPECIAL! Now I need to finish her quilt and things.

It’s been a busy weekend and yet pretty quiet. I have to say I’ve really enjoyed it and I’m ready to get back to work tomorrow. I’ve learned a lot about how to relax.. now I just need to do it with more frequency. Perhaps I’ll blog more.. journal more.. and just be.

You know there’s nothing better than spending time with friends you haven’t seen for a while.  Tonight Eric and I met up with our friends Eric and Natalie at Toro Bravo for dinner.  It was such a nice time. We all had some AMAZING food. Thanks Eric for ordering the Paella because that was the bomb!

What’s even nicer is that the four of us talked about all sorts of things; politics, greenhouse emissions, farming hemp, American history, and more. It’s so nice to have friends that are well rounded and able to hold conversations well.  I always learn so much from Natalie and Eric each time we get together.  It’s fun too because I can share the things I know a little bit more about too.  Thank you both for a great night.  We need to do it more.

After dinner and after dinner drinks Eric and I headed to southeast Portland for the infamous Whiffies Pies that I’ve heard about from people I follow on Twitter.  All I can say is YUM!  I had the marionberry pie and Eric has the pineapple pie. They were both so tasty, nice and warm.. and well… just good.

I snapped a picture of Eric with his pie.

The last week here has been…. well, CRAZY! We’ve gotten a huge dump of snow here in the last week. I think we’re up to the fourth snow storm coming in the next day or so. Today marks day 9 of being stuck at home, except for a brief amount of time on Friday, when the weather cleared and we had time to get Christmas gifts. We now have 8 inches for now and a 1/2 inch of ice on top of that snow here in Hillsboro, Oregon. I can’t believe it’s this bad. I’m pretty sure that this snow storm is worse than the storm of 2003/2004. I mean already highway 84 has been closed several times and chains have been required for all cars around town for days.

When this crazy weather started I was excited at to prospect of a white Christmas but now, it’s looking like it’s gong to be a small affair for Christmas because the snowy weather is supposed to continue for the next week which will mean bad roads and I don’t want my mom and Eric’s parents making a treacherous trip like that. Like I said… this is day nine and I’ve got cabin fever so bad… heck, even Eric has cabin fever. We’ve played video games, watched movies and tv.. for tons of hours. We’ve even broken out a puzzle to do… that’s how bored we are. We’re both sick of being home and getting bored with it all. I’ve taken some time to make some holiday caramels and I think here in a bit I’ll make some sugar cookies. I think the other thing that stinks is that this isn’t much of a Christmas break, because we can’t go anywhere, or do anything. In any case, I’m hoping the weather improves so we can all have a wonderful and safe holiday.