Birthday boots, cake, and surprises!

July was a nutty month for me and Rob. We planned a trip to Spokane and Los Angeles, in addition to working long hours. The whole month turned out to be a whirlwind of planning, packing, unpacking, cleaning, working, and not sleeping for both of us.

Our two trips were to visit family. In Spokane, my sister was celebrating her recent marriage to her long-time partner, and wanted to throw a party for the family. She and her husband put on a huge barbecue with plenty of beer, meat, veggis and snacks to have us all asking: What?? There's more food?? But, it was nice visiting with everyone and congratulating the couple...even though it was a bit of a hectic few days. By the way, these were early photos, the food kept piling up, and I became too busy putting it away to take more photos.


In LA, Robert's sister had a traditional wedding ceremony and reception. We were there for pre-wedding festivities (including the rehearsal ceremony, rehearsal dinner, and just for the girls: mani-pedis and sushi for lunch). I was nervous to get my nails fixed because I thought it would be uncomfortable and that my nails were too ugly to fix. Not so! It was fast, easy, and I feel oh so glamorous! We had a great time at the wedding, there were formal speeches, toasts, dances, and so on, but there was also some spontaneous salsa dancing, karaoke and plenty of silly songs for Robert and I to improvise ingenious choreographies.

But, with all this excitement, and my birthday right in the middle, I didn't expect that much. I had already arranged my parent's gift to me. Yes, the coveted Fiona Frye boots (which went on an awesome Amazon.com sale)

A few times I have worn them with a casual summer dress, but they'll really prove their worth in the fall. I can't wait to pair them with skirts, leggings, and under jeans for extra warmth.

But, I didn't bother planning a party or anything. Luckily Rob and our friends stepped in and arranged a fun surprise party. With cake, snacks, good friends, and balloons, how can you go wrong?

Oh, and another thing? Everyone chipped in to get me Goodwill Gift Cards, so I can splurge without depleting my fun account. Hizzah! I already got to work on those with a new pair of shoes! Only $5.99 and they really tied my comfy airport outfit together.


So, many cheers and congratulations to the newly married couple and happy birthday to me and thanks to everyone who made my birthday very special this year!

P.S. As a question to any readers out there, what do you think about the leggings? Yay or Nay?

Red, White, Blue (and yellow and purple too!)

Rob and I have been wanting to get away for a while now. Not a major trip or anything, just a night or two away from the demands of to do lists, chores, hobbies, etc. Since it was a long weekend, we decided to drive to Portland, stay over night, and then do a nice hike in the area. We definitely made the most of our little roadtrip.

We arrived in Portland in the early afternoon and relaxed in the Pearl District, not too far from our hotel. We browsed in some of the ecclectic shops, grabbed some inexpensive happy hour eats, and tested our stamina at Powell's Bookstore. In the evening we enjoyed the blues festival, watched the fireworks, and gobbled some late night food at one of the (many) street vendors.

The next morning we drove to the Columbia River Gorge in the South Cascades to hike Dog Mountain. It was a pretty difficult hike for both of us. It starts steep, takes a break from being so steep, and then at the end it's steep again. Mercy!

It was also a bit chilly that day, and the wind was whipping all around us, getting stronger the closer we got to the summit.

But the views at the top were outstanding! You could see panoramic views of the river, the cascade mountain range, and rolling meadows of wildflowers.
I thought that all that hard work hiking up the mountain was worth it for such a view, Rob said he loved me anyways.

So, we had our luscious reprieve from all those to do lists and now feel much relief! But, we're not on holiday anymore...so it's back to the same old busy shenanigans!

Although, I have to say that last month ended up being a heavy-spending month for me. There will probably be no Goodwill Hunting posts until August at the earliest! My goodness how time and money flies when you're having fun!