Pacific Coast Highway-Day 1 & 2

For years Rob and I had been dreaming of a Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip. 

This last June we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. 

What a great occasion for our dream trip. 

  It was difficult deciding how much time we would need to travel 2,200 miles.

We are "those people" who swerve off the road every time we spot a cute little shop.

Antique shops, junk shops, coffee shops, curiosity shops, etc. The list goes on and on.

We also wanted to be able to stop at all the scenic stops along the way.

(Ever wonder about the World's Largest Skillet?  We had to see it!)

We knew we needed to give ourselves plenty of time.

We decided to do the trip in nine days. 

This seems like plenty of time.  Doesn't it?

Hmmm, I guess it depends on if you want to actually have time to sit down and eat.

If I were to take this trip again, I would love to have at least two weeks.

{Should I start buying Lottery tickets now?}

Today I'll share with you the first leg of our trip.
From Idaho, we had around a 600 mile drive
 to get to the beginning of highway 101. 

We were headed to Leavenworth Washington
for our first night's stay.
(I think it was out of our way, but I really wanted to go there.)

 

The first unplanned stop of our trip was in Pendleton Oregon. 
It was one of those
"Oh I've always wanted to go to the Pendleton woolen mills!" 
So, we swerved off the road and took a tour of the factory. 

We bought a wool blanket from their "bargain room". 
It has a little flaw with one of the fringes
which is basically unnoticeable. 
What a bargain!

I don't even know how many times we have driven past Pendleton and we have never stopped. 

It had some very interesting little shops.  If you are into western wear, this is the town for you.

This was one of the prettiest shops-very surprising for a western shop.   

It's called Hamley. 

Stop there and look around if you have a chance. 

It had sculptures, beautiful woodwork, brick walls, and tin ceilings. 

We resisted buying a custom made saddle for $5000!

Pendleton has an old underground city. 

We would have liked to take a tour, but we had places to go, and things to see.

We spent our first night in Leavenworth Washington. 

In my opionion, this is one of the cutest towns in the Northwest. 

I didn't take very many pictures, because it was so difficult to capture the beauty of this town. 

A bavarian village in the North Cascades. 

So beautiful! 

Some of shops closed early, which made me feel bad that I had spent so much time in Pendleton.

Early signs that it was going to be difficult to see everything I wanted to see.

On the second day of our trip we were headed to Cape Flattery,

the most northwest point in the continental United States.

Our first unplanned stop for the day was 11 miles out of town in Cashmere, Washington. 

Well, who could pass up a tour of the Aplets and Cotlets factory?

It's a very short tour because the factory is very small. 

We did get lots of good samples, and we couldn't resist buying candy for the road.

We spent a few hours in Seattle before taking the ferry to Port Angeles.

While we were in Seattle, we had to go to Beechers

and try Oprah's favorite Mac and Cheese. 

 

If you ever plan on trying it, be prepared to stand in line.

It was a very long wait.

We also bought some fantastic fresh fruit at Pike Place Market.

When we finally arrived in Cape Flattery it was getting close to dusk, and it was breathtaking! 

It's a 3/4 mile hike to get to the cape. It's a really nice trail with bridges and cedar boardwalks.  
It's easy to enjoy the views and take pictures, because
along the trail there are really nice cedar observation perches.

At the end of the trail, there is a beautiful view of the Cape Flattery Lighthouse.

It was getting dark and there were warnings on the trail about wild animals after dark.

I don't do well with wild animals, so we made really good time on the 3/4 mile hike back to our car!

We had an hour drive still to get to our hotel in

Forks, Washington.

We arrived at our hotel at 11:05 p.m.

The town was dark. 

It appeared the entire town had shut down for the night-

including our hotel!

Well, we learned something that night. 

Hotels in small towns don't have 24 hour reception. 

Fortunately, we found a number to call and we were in our hotel room by midnight.

The end of another great day.

Orchid Gone Wild!

I've been wanting to show you some updated pictures of my orchid.  I showed you some pictures of it, the beginning of January, when it was covered with buds.  Now, a month later, all of the buds have bloomed. It currently has over thirty flowers!

Since the orchid is in my classroom, it was really difficult for me to get a good picture of it.  I couldn't get a picture without a desk or a bulletin board in the background. My classroom is adorable, and some day I'll blog about how I decorated it, but I wanted to get a picture of just the flower-No Distractions.
I "Googled" orchid images (Have I ever mentioned how much I love to Google?).  I did some research and learned that I needed a backdrop, a tripod, and an additional light source.   
So we headed on over to our neighborhood WalMart and bought a tripod and a shop light.
I read that black velvet makes a nice backdrop, but that wasn't currently in my budget (neither was the tripod, but oh well).
So, being the thrifty gal that I am, I used a piece of paper. 
Yup, just a long sheet of recycled bulletin board paper.

 I am trying to figure out how to take good quality pictures with Megan's DSLR camera, but it isn't as easy as it seems.  It is going to take some serious studying and hours of practice!
So, for the time being, my answer was to take about 100 pictures and hope that I would get a couple of good shots.

 Here's what I got:

This beautiful plant has brightened my winter days.  That sounds really cheesy I know, but it is true.  Every morning, I turn on my classroom light, and there it is, with new flowers that have bloomed;  each day prettier than it was the day before. 

Valentine Decorating

Things I love about spring decorating: Birds, flowers, and nests. 

 In February, I love to sprinkle in cherubs, hearts, and lots of red candles.

My mantel was a bit of a challenge this year. 

Doesn't it seem like I should remember how I decorated it last year?

Sheesh!

I think decorating for Valentine's Day is a little tricky.

It's really easy to make everything look too cutesy and a little cheap. 

I can decorate with heart window clings in my classroom, so at home I

want to have a more classy look.

I bought this "fleurs" box last spring at Marshalls.  The paint was a light green.

I planted succulents in it and had it outside for the summer. 

The paint turned a perfect blue.

Nice!

  Another great space to decorate is above our built in bookcase. 

 It sits below a 5 ft. window so it is a  perfect spot for plants.  

 I used a couple of books with red covers as lifts and to add a splash of red. 

I like to use books in my decorating. 

I bought this mossy looking cherub last year at Marshalls. 

I got the picture at Target.  I think it is really "fun".

 

I have one week until Valentine's Day and then the Easter decorating begins!

The Phantom Decorator

I thought I was doing so great. 

My Christmas decorations were taken down well before Super Bowl Sunday. 

But, I was so anxious to continue reading some of the books I had put aside for the holidays, that I didn't quite finish the undecorating/redecorating job.

This was the sad state of my dining room during the last two weeks of January.

I didn't think my lack of decorating was bothering anybody. 

Apparently I was wrong.

I came home one afternoon and Ryan had taken the decorating into his own hands.

He made a nice arrangement of his high school pictures on the mantel-

Front and Center!

Actually, kind of cute.

 He put some valentine decorations on the mantel too. 

 I didn't notice Yoda mixed in with the decorations for about an hour.

He tried to gussy up my revamped crown.

 He even decorated in the hall.

Well, this gave me the little jump start I needed to finish my Valentine decorating.

I'll post about that soon.



P.S. I did finish reading  R is for Ricochet and The Little Giant of Aberdeen

        County this week.   I just went to the second-hand bookstore and bought

        S is for Silence.  Oops.  I wasn't going to buy that book until I was

        finished decorating. 

Bench Makeover

Last spring I was second hand shopping and I found this little bench for $20. 

It was in really good shape.  The upholstery was a little worn, but not bad.  

I  didn't buy it when I saw it and  I was kicking myself all night.   

I called the next morning and they were kind enough to hold it for me until I could pick it up. 

Yay!

 I found some fabric on clearance (yay again!) that was the same blue as my favorite little end table.  

I bought large upholstery needles and a button cover kit. 

I also bought silver uphostery tacks. 

I used 30 tacks around the bottom of the bench.

I used dental floss to sew on the buttons.

I pulled the "thread" very tight because I wanted the bench to be very tufted.

It has a hinged lid and some space for storage.  Gotta love that!

The corners were tricky. 

Instead of pleating the fabric in the corners I gathered it. 

I've never been real happy with the way the corners look. 

Some day, when I have nothing else to do, I will re-do the corners. 

Hah!  That will never happen.

I bought this little tray from Hobby Lobby.  It works perfectly as a

large coaster for our drinks.

We've had this little bench now for a year and I love it! 

If you have never re-uphostered anything before, a project like this

would be a great one to start with.

 Be brave and go for it!

You'll be happy you did.

Fashion Shoot at the train depot

Yesterday was Meg's second fashion post.  We have so much fun doing photo shoots together.  Megan is so easy to photograph.  She looks cute in every picture so it makes my job very easy.  This week we went to the train depot in Ontarion Oregon. I love the way the pictures turned out with all the pops of red in Megan's outfit.

For more wonderful pictures and some info. on Megan's outfit, check out her blog here.

Damsel in distress

This morning Meg and I were heading out for our second photo shoot (look for that post tomorrow).  We were set.  We had our vintage luggage (photo props-adorable) in the trunk and Meg's camera bag at our feet.   So, we are heading down the road and the car doesn't feel right.  A mechanic I am not, but I knew something was wrong.  I pulled over as soon as I could and our tire was completely flat.  So what's a girl to do?  Of course, I call my husband.  Thankfully, the gas station we pulled into had an Arby's.  So, we had to have a sandwich (turkey and swiss minus the mayo and onion-you must try it) while we waited.   Rob pulls in, removes the flat tire and puts on the spare;  all while we are inside enjoying our sandwich. 
Meg and I started discussing how glad we are that we are girls and don't have to take care of these things.  For example, trying to shovel a car out of a snow bank, finding a way into our locked up house, etc.  Now I know there are some females out there who would be proud to do these things for themselves.  And I say, "Kuddos to you!" Seriously.  However, I don't want to take away these opportunities for Rob to be my Knight in Shining Armour.  I'm sure there is some need he has to protect and take care of his girls.  So what kind of family would we be to deny him of his ability to fix things for us? 

Or, waiting for me while I shop?  Ah, who am I trying to kid?  He loves to "treasure hunt" as much as I do.
On the other hand; being a damsel in distress can have its challenges too.  When asking for help, it is most effective if you can bat long eyelashes.  Oh nuts!  That is a bit of a problem for me these days.
The Pioneer Woman recently posted a question about false eyelashes and how many people are using them.  Get it here 
I have a pair of false eyelashes that I wear on Halloweens.  I like the way they look, but I don't think I have ever put them on correctly.  Well, that is, if you aren't supposed to feel like you have needles poking in your eyes.  After reading around a hundred comments on this topic, I thought I would give the individual lashes a shot.
I watched this youtube video: Watch it here  It's really well done, and her tips are so helpful and easy to follow.

I bought the medium length lashes.  They didn't look very long in the box, but when I put them on they were unnaturally long.  I think I will need to buy some short ones.

Here are my natural eyelashes.

Here are my lashes with the individual eyelashes added.

As you can see, the lashes are so long that they touch my eyebrow. 

My two cents worth:

Positives:  The eyelashes weren't as difficult to apply as I thought.  Once they were on, I could barely feel them.  No poking at my eyeball.  A definite plus! I will need to buy some of the short length and add some short ones in. 

Negatives:  They didn't seem very thick ( Although, that is what many people like about the individual lashes-you can make them as thick or thin as you want).  So maybe that is also a positive.   I can't imagine putting these on daily, but I will absolutely take the time to wear them on special occasions.

Added Sunday:  Last night after I finished this post, I went to remove my long luxurious lashes.  Some of them just plinked off (maybe these weren't attached correctly).  There was one set of lashes right in the middle of my eye that would not come off!  I tried for about 15 minutes without any success.  I finally gave up thinking it would probably fall off during the night.  The next morning, it was still there-like little spider legs in the middle of my lashes.  I took a shower.  Still there.  I used about another 1/4 bottle of eye make up remover and nothing.  Then I read the fine print on the back of the eyelash packaging.  It says the lashes can be easily removed with specially formulated LashFree Adhesive Remover.  Ok, so I guess I should have read that when I was buying the adhesive.  I had a movie date with the girls so I had to trim the false lashes to the length of my real lashes.  I stopped by the drug store and they don't sell the adhesive remover.  Hmmm, I guess this will be a good test to see how long the lashes stay on.