Birthday Friend

Today is the lovely Mrs. Natalie Keller-Lyons Birthday. One of my all time favorite people and dearest  friends.  I'm horrible with numbers and dates so I called her a couple of days to wish her a happy birthday, along with a confession that I was nearly positive it wasn't her birthday but wanted to be on the safe side.

We met in culinary school a few years back in Portland in a room filled with 18 year olds.  We had both just graduated from college and moved from California.  We were instant friends although most of our time was spent in the kitchen and working outside of school.  She moved to Los Angeles after we graduated and I stayed in Portland.  When I visited her last year in L.A., I realized that it was the most time we'd ever spent together outside of the kitchen, but we always pick up right where we left off.

She got married to her longtime love--Cameron, at her family's winery late September this year.  I was one of her bridesmaids and spent the days before the wedding with Natalie and her family.  I kept thinking how crazy it was we'd only known each other a few years,  I feel like we've known each other forever, the way you feel about your childhood friends or your family.  It was a beautiful wedding and she was a flawless patient bride. Even when the car taking her to the wedding ran out of gas and delivered her late to her own wedding, she arrived calm and collected, smiling and laughing... as usual.  One of my favorite things about her.

So... Happy (actual) Birthday to you friend!
I know you're younger, but you always seem the wiser.
I look forward to many years of laughing and of course... matching moo moos and walker races.

Here is a song for you.  Just replace *Lisa with Natalie.


xoxo

Pins and Needles

A year ago today I left Portland and moved back to California to spend some time with my parents, it was only suppose to be for a few months, but a month turned into a year and plans that included moving back to Portland, turned into moving to Washington.  What can I say, plans change.

It was coincidental yesterday, that almost to the day I left Portland last year, I left California for Washington.  It feels surreal really and hard to wrap my head around that I'm here now. I've trapped myself inside all day watching horror and war movies trying to get used to the idea of being in a new place, with a new job and a new home.  Grateful that I never had to be the new kid at school, because I have a feeling this is what it feels like in a much bigger way.  I always like the idea of change until it happens and then well--it's kind of terrifying--maybe that's why I've been watching awful movies all day--trying to convince myself it could be worse.

 I know... it gets better.

The last couple of months have been crazy and hectic, hence my hiatus here.  Honestly I don't think I'd have been able to write anything legible or worth while, that didn't involve freaking out or worrying.    

I realized I  haven't really talked much about moving to Washington and the plan that involved me moving back to California and now here, it's changed so much throughout the year I've lost track.    Lots of my good friends didn't even know until recently, they figured I was going back to Portland.  I guess I've gotten so wrapped up in the planning and not wanting to jinx anything.

 (I'm superstitious--big surprise!).  

Well... my family is buying a home together here in Washington.  Yep, my parents, my brother and his wife.. all of us, yes we're crazy, no we don't always get along, no we wont be doing a reality television show. I think the first thought in everyone's mind is commune and I guess by definition yes, although I feel silly calling it that.  It's something we sort of dreamed and joked about for a long time until it became a realistic possibility--the times are changing.  We thought about Portland because we love the city, but then decided on  Snoqualmie Washington where my brother and his wife live already, my job was flexible and well... it's beautiful here and close to Seattle and the idea of acreage, chickens and goats was appealing.  So I moved back to California to help my parents pack up their house and sell it.  It took a good few months (almost a year...) to get the house on the market with everything going on, but we finally did.  A week later it had an offer. 

 Meanwhile, we considered and searched lots of possibilities for the living arrangements here in Washington: buying land, building on to something, buying two houses, and then we found it--the perfect place. The same week my parents were accepting an offer they were making one.  

and then the craziness began.  

Buying a house isn't fun and selling a house is about the same amount of fun, so doing both at the same time, with one out of state, is just crazy, about as crazy as buying a house with your family.  There's been a lot of hurdles, surprises, challenges and still nothing is set in stone--pins and needles I tell you. I'm hopeful in a few weeks time I'll have a special new place/home to share with you--but like I said I don't want to jinx it. Yes, that's the big plan, a family home!

In the meantime, I have a new job here and have moved sort of impromptu and suddenly, hoping for the best with the house. I'm staying with my brother and his wife, the pups are waiting back in California until I'm settled.  My parents have another year in California before my dad retires and they move up here to join us.  Lots and lots of changes and lots of stories to come.

And so, even though I'll see some of them soon it was bittersweet to say goodbye to California, my parents and my pups. We've had such a crazy year and it's really brought us closer together.  It makes me very hopeful that everything will work out for the best, and that our dream isn't so crazy after all.  Tonight I taught my mom how to use Skype, and we chatted and talked with the dogs for awhile before she invited me to watch TV with her (on Skype) and I figured it was time to say goodbye.  I can't wait to have them all up here in Washington.

Stay tuned.

xoxo

Toot Toot!

It took a bit longer than I had planned, but I am at long last leaving California and headed back to the Northwest I've missed so much!

 I don't want to get ahead of myself and tell too much too soon, but if all goes as planned with fingers extra crossed it could involve a new home, some acreage and maybe a goat and some chickens.  

During the move, I plan on closing the shop for a bit, so I've done some major marking down, to clear out the store  and also make room for all the new things coming when it reopens up in Washington.  So now is your chance, it will be open for the next couple of weeks before I close it temporarily.  Everything has been marked down at least 30% -50%!

I am so excited about this next phase of the journey and to share a bit of it with you!

xoxo

Doggy Love

There's no better way to explain my absence around here lately, than to say there's been a lot of celebrating around here.  Lots of good things are happening. 

At the end of September one of my best friends got married. I plan on sharing a bit more about that this week--cliff note version--it was amazing.

After all the celebrating and traveling it was nice to have a mellow weekend this past one and celebrate another best friend of mine--my dog Chewbacca.  It's not his actual birthday, but the day I adopted him four years ago.  I've celebrated it every year I've had him.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may be able to tell that I really can't get enough of him, it's kind of embarrassing really.  Honestly, I could take pictures of him sleeping and being cute all day long. In fact I'm  looking at him right now, sleeping, with his hands in the air like he's driving a bus and my heart just melts. 

I never imagined loving something so much could make me such a nut, but Chewy definitely brings the cashew out in me. If he could speak, the stories he would tell.  I could go on, and on...and on, but I'll spare you.  He's my co-pilot.

He's a simple guy really, he likes food, naps, walks and a new squeak toy every now and then--so we did just that and nothing more.  He may or may have had a table all to himself with a gourmet meal and a sprinkle donut for dessert. Totally normal, right?

We didn't forget about Georgia and Gypsy.  Gypsy's just too small to reach the table.

and... a picture of Chewy I took the day I adopted him. Can you believe this is the same muppet?

Thanks for letting me gush later in the week I'll hopefull have some good new to share about  something that's been in the works for a long time.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

xoxo

Giving Some Old Chairs Some New Life

Months ago, I drove by these amazing (yes they swivel!) chairs at a yard sale on the way to the post office. They were just about giving them away at five dollars and it was the easiest decision I ever made.  I'm a fan of things wood, but I wanted to freshen them up a bit and give em' some. It took me about a month to decided what color, another month to pick the fabric and an embarrassing couple of weeks to spray paint all the layers, but I finally finished. With some spray paint love and new handmade pillows I hardly recognized them.

now if only I could find a way to hang them.

Hot Air Balloons and Cinnamon Rolls

The night before I'd stayed at a friends house, we ate the best JELLO box cake I'd every tasted, with fresh strawberries.  In the morning we woke at an hour I never knew existed, an hour I'd normally still be dreaming about Care bears and RainbowBrite.  We'd come to watch the hot air balloons, the sun just beginning to rise.  It was the first time I'd ever seen such a thing, the colorful, magical beast rise, lifting into the air.  

This weekend was the first time I'd seen the balloons since I was a kid.  We were running late, you could see them in the distance, rising above the corn fields into the sky.  When we got there, there was only one left, so colorful and grand, just like I remembered them. There is something that will always be exciting to me about hot air balloons.  I hope I'm just like those ladies sitting front row in their lawn chairs.

My Dad, like a little kid demanded cinnamon rolls, he really had to pull our legs. What's better than waking up to hot air balloons and cinnamon rolls? 

Well, maybe some more of that box Jello cake, or how about that kid giving his mom a big squeeze in front of the balloon?  That'd be okay too.

A Year Ago Today

I can hardly believe it's been a year today that I said goodbye for the last time to my Granddad and friend--George.  I cherished every moment I had with him, and now I cling to all the memories--every single one of them.  

The hardest, bust best part of moving home where I grew up, to the house he lived in as long as I knew him, to his old room are all the memories.  There are so many wonderful memories in this house.  Figs on the tree, his orange orchard and roses, his big cat, Buster, the imprint his feet left in the path of the hallway, little notes he left on cards never sent, swimming in the pool he taught me to swim in. Being surrounded by those that lost him too, and all of the pictures and keepsakes.  Sometimes I find an old sweater or blanket that smells just like him...

The thing I miss most of all, though, is finding him here.  Sitting just like this, reading a book.  Ready to ask me questions about life, teach me something, or tell me a story.  I lived for those moments with him, the sound of his voice, a bit of his wisdom.  He was the best listener, even with his hearing nearly gone. The way he made you feel safe...and oh that laugh...

 I miss that laugh.

I was going through all the pictures this year and I found these.  Our family came from all over to visit in those last weeks to be with him.  Sometimes it felt like when I wasn't back home with my family, or in Portland, I was living at the airport ready to fly back and get a few more days with him.  My cousin Kate came all the way from Dubai with her youngest Bella--the youngest in our family.  

Buster, the cat, and little Bella had found their way into my granddad's room and climbed up on his bed.  It was the sweetest, most gentle moment between the three of them and beautiful to watch.  She looked just like an angel.

He was the sweetest, kindest soul. I miss him I do.