one day sun, one day rain = perfect

Saturday was a beautiful day in Portland. I will never get tired of the bright autumn leaves against such a clear blue sky. Around every bend was another gorgeous tree glowing in the sunlight. I spent the afternoon with a new friend and we visited some of the best of Portland. We got used and vintage craft supplies at the Knitten Kitten, we both had our first visit to the amazing (and very busy) Sock Dreams retail store and then I got to introduce her to one of my favorite places for lunch - Jade Teahouse. A nice day all around.

As I left the house Saturday I saw this large spider hanging out. I guess he should enjoy the nice day, too. Still...a little creepy.

Then today was overcast and rainy off and on. I even saw some fog. A perfect morning for fresh baked croissants* and coffee and getting some things done around the house. I mostly worked cleaning up the craft room, (someday i will actually do crafts in here again) doing chores and working on the DVD. It is very close to being all done.

I wish I could stop time. I love the feeling of a day like today when it is about 1pm and I have the rest of the day to get so much done. I always have such high hopes at that time. But, now it is almost 7pm and the day is done. Some things were definitely accomplished, but never as much as you imagine at the height of the day (and at the height of your caffeine kicking in).

Today I also posted on The Cedar Chest blog about one of my favorite ephemera finds in a long time. It is a a beautiful illustrated Children's Holiday booklet from 1935. Go take a look. It might give you some ideas for this Halloween weekend. Hope you all have a good week!

* Trader Joes has some wonderful frozen croissants (I like the chocolate ones) that you put out the night before. They rise real big and then you just bake them in the morning. I recommend them.

downtown

As far as I am concerned there are only a couple good things about tedious tasks like meeting with a lawyer or going to a medical office. One is that I often end up at some awesome old business building in Portland that I have never been in before. Today was a visit to a lawyer (car accident) and the Morgan Building.



The Morgan Building was built in 1913. There are little shops on the first floor inside. It is all very charming. There was an actual millinery there which was fun to see and also a wine shop with very posh people inside drinking wine and chatting in a very relaxed manner. They were the kind of people I really never see in Portland.

I only had my phone with me. Maybe next time I will have a proper camera.


I love that so much of Portland is still a surprise to me.

autumn activities

Fall always goes way too fast for me. There are so many wonderful things to do and so many ways I want to be out and about seeing the trees and enjoying the weather and also inside baking and drinking tea - but when you only have two days off a week to do those things, plus, you must also do projects and errands and chores....it is just not enough time and bam, the saeson is over. I would happily give up a month of summer for another of fall.

So far my autumnal activities have been small, but very enjoyable and I thought I would share them with you.


This is my fall display, so far. I love this little cabinet for my seasonal displays. I bought this wreath last spring when from thelittleprints. I was looking forward to bringing it out this fall. I love it. She does beautiful work.


This is my mother's dining room table. My nephew and I went over there for an early dinner a week ago. This is how she decorates the house just for everyday. Maybe you can see now why I get obsessed with my small decorating details. She is a master, though. She really should have been an interior decorator.


These are some lovely flowers I received from the mister. It was our 6 year anniversary. Fall is always extra special because it reminds me of our first couple of months together and the many trips we have taken around this time. This is our favorite season and we usually go somewhere in October or November. In a few weeks we will be at a river cabin in Mount Hood.


This is an incredibly good Sour Cream Apple Pie that I made for our anniversary. The pic may not look too appetizing, but trust me. It is delish and very easy. I got the recipe from the Posy Gets Cozy.
Yesterday we went to the Antique Paper and Postcard show out at the Armory, which is near the airport. Since I wasn't driving it was the first time I got to just stare at the trees. It was beautiful. I got this pic of a lovely autumnal road right as a big old plane came in. You can see it at the top.

Here's to more fall activities! What do you like to do for this season?

collecting

This post from Cecily Ink blog makes me feel like I need to collect more and have more of my collections of stuff out and about. Which if you know me, you know how untrue that is. Still such neat stuff and so artfully arranged. It makes me long for a empty studio room to fill. More pictures here.

i even inherit projects

I have been a little preoccupied lately with yet another deadline. I want to get my father's film out on dvd for Christmas. I have been wanting to get it on dvd for a while, but I am excited to say it is finally happening.

With the film, I am also including a few extras. One is a short film about him and what it is like to be a Wildlife Photographer and the other is a photo gallery. In order to save a good chunk of change I am doing the menu, the gallery, the chapters and some other things myself. Since my guy at the dvd factory is leaving soon for a long vacation, I have to hunker down and get it done this weekend.

So, here I am at home on a sunny Autumn day, listening to The Finches and Kathryn Williams and working on Photoshop. I made my first pot of hot tea of the season a minute ago. It is actually kind of chilly today. I love cool sunny Autumn days. I am drinking Harneys Vanilla Comoro with Coconut Creamer. Yum!

I also recently finished up the new website for my father and grandfather. Please take a look. It has lots of new stuff.

Okay, back to work. It will be nice to have this large project checked off my list and to be able to finally offer the dvd to people who ask for it. It is such an amazing story.

October is a great month for...

From one my favorite books when I was a tween. You can see more about it on September's entry.

more german grocery store goodness

I am very fond of German folk design and German food (sans meat). A couple weeks ago the mister and I went to The Berlin Inn for breakfast. And afterwards we visited the little German grocery store and deli next door. They always have Kinder Surprise Eggs there. They are a Chocolate hollow egg with a capsule in it that has a toy. The chocolate isn't that great. The toys are pretty fun. They aren't cheap, like 3 bucks each, so I don't always get them, but I couldn't resist when I saw the cute little house.



This seems to not actually be a Kinder Egg, but maybe a Russian version of it. Hard to tell since I can't read Russian. Is this Russian? {Hey I just found a mention of these as Russian Kinder Eggs on this candy blog. Oh my gosh and here is the whole collection. I totally got the best one, although those bears are cute.}

It has a lot of Bavarian style to it. The design of this one is way better than most Kinder Eggs I have seen. The egg tasted exactly the same. I loved the little toy inside and had lots of fun taking photos of it.





This also was inside:



I also got this mustard there and it is so very good. It has some horseradish in it and I love it and the tube is great. Why don't they do this in America? I even love the design on this. Mmmm mustard.

lemon tea

You all know how much I love a tea party. Here is a beautiful tea that was put together by Merrilee of Mer Mag blog. It was all done in yellow and black. She named it a Moody Mod Summer Tea. I love the color scheme and the invites.

These pictures make me wish I could not work and fill my cabinets with plates and table settings in many different colors and have different themed tea parties for all my friends every week.

So pretty.

stay gold

Golden Girls Season 1 on DVD = $10.49

"Miami, You've Got Style" A Little Golden Girls Book = $7.00

Reading the book along with each episode = priceless


Unfortunately, the pics in the book are not in color like these samples from the website, but if you are watching them or familiar with the show it isn't that big a deal.

Totally fun to read this as I watch the show. I am taking my time doing it and am about halfway through.

The authors are two very funny Portland guys who sold out of this zine/book at the last zine symposium. Not only do you get comments on GG outfits and characters, but you find out quite a bit about them, too, along with generous references to Portland culture, Harry Potter, Star Trek and lots of other geeky things.

Get the book (and the dvd). It is like gathering around a totally too small table and eating cheesecake with your best friends.

Your hosts:

September is the best month for....

When I was a tween my Mom brought home this book that was a collection of Glamour's How to Do Anything Better features. It was filled with advice and ideas for a young woman's busy life.

I didn't realize it at the time, but this book really shaped how I imagined adulthood. It was filled with things like, how to dress for a party, party themes to have, how to pot plants, deal with landlords, make your own Christmas gifts, how to make halter tops out of old jeans,how to choose the right tennis balls, how to cut split ends....as you can see it really did show you how to do anything better. So, besides the promise of a better more organized adult life filled with party problems to solve and dating outfits to make, the book was also filled with perfect 70's adorable illustrations by Durell Godfrey.



When I open this book now it is like I just finished reading it cover to cover. I know it so well. Young adult life was never as charming as this book led me to believe, but I don't hold it against it. I still love this book and the way it makes me want to do things better. I just realized that this book probably also had a lot to do with my crafty leanings. There are tons of projects in here, usually recycling stuff.

Glamours How to do Anything Better Book also had a feature for each month and what it was a good month to do. I have been wanting to share this book for a while. I decided September, which has often felt like the beginning of the year in a way to me, would be a good month to start. So, I will post each month every month this year and also some other great articles from the book.

Hope you have a nice September. What is September a good month for you to do?