Can I just start this post by saying how difficult it is for your best friend to live all.the.way. a.c.r.o.s.s. the country? At this point, Laura and I are maintaining earthly (or at least national) balance by pinning down opposite corners of the US until we can get ourselves relocated somewhere a bit closer to the middle as next door neighbors. Sigh. It's bittersweet, but one of the sweetest parts came last week when she was able to sneak away from Boston to come and visit--just us (no kids, no hubbies). We had an amazing time, and if you follow her blog, you've seen much of it from her perspective. But, I felt I had to do her trip justice and document it myself, too. Well, I guess it's impossible to do the trip justice in just a few (or even a lot) of pictures and words; we had such a great time. I do want to document it here the best I can. Beware, I should probably split this blog into multiple posts, but I'm not... :)
Laura's trip was perfect because we were busy the entire time but we started the week with absolutely no agenda (other than I had to teach my PSU class two times and at some point we knew we wanted pedicures). We were able to plan each day as it came. Don't get to do that kind of entertaining too often. Oh, and all of these pictures are Laura's. That's the joy of having a best friend who LOVES to take pictures. I just take her cool places and she captures all the memories. No since duplicating work, right? Let the pictures begin!
We started Saturday at the farmers' market (well, actually we started it at kickboxing class and then went to the market). The same one we went to with my parents. I was in desperate need of more fresh fruit and produce. We get so spoiled here in the summer!
And what's a trip to the farmers' market without a few treats? These little homemade cookies were wonderful. I had the oreo and Laura's was peanut butter. Yumm-o!
Saturday afternoon ended with happy hour with a couple of friends from work and then relaxing time in the backyard enjoying the wonderful Oregon afternoon sun.
Sunday was a decision day. It was supposed to be pretty nice, so after a trip to the gym, we trekked (in the car) to the coast. It was, as usual, mostly cloudy along the coast. But we did find some sun and some cute kids selling lemonade.
Oh yes. We also found the Tillamook cheese factory, too. Where they just happened to sample cheese and sell all their ice cream in freshly baked waffle cones.
Monday morning, Laura and I went to a Power weightlifting class, and then we got ready to head downtown. I taught my students at PSU while she explored downtown. When that was done, we headed to have happy hour sushi where it's $1 per plate. We had lots of fun trying different dishes and searching for our favorites on the track. We made rice krispie treats and hot chocolate for our midnight snack (the first picture at the beginning of the blog entry).
Tuesday was a fairly perfect, yet all backwards day. We lounged around the house until late morning, had the famous voodoo doughnuts and local Stumptown coffee around noon, headed to the Columbia River Gorge for photos and some leisurely waterfall tour hiking, hit the gym for kickboxing class (where I found out my favorite instructor is taking a leave from teaching...*tears*), showered and headed to Portland City Grill for late night happy hour at 10pm. We had the best calamari either of us had ever tasted, yummy spring rolls, spicy fries, and girly drinks. We stayed until midnight and then stayed up at home until the wee hours of the morning chatting.
Signature VooDoo doughnut dolls.
By Wednesday we were pretty tired. Neither of us remembering the last time we'd been up at 2am, much less the last time we'd done that two nights in a row. So, we had pedicures, and I taught my class at PSU while Laura explored downtown again. We snuck over to yo-cream for treats and watched tv/worked on laundry that evening.
Laura left Thursday morning, and I worked out, mowed the lawn, taught taekwondo, and packed for my trip to Phoenix (more to come soon).
Words really cannot express how good it was for both of us to have the time to just relax, be together, and catch up. We do a good job keeping in touch from our respective coasts, but a chance to do it in person with no real agenda and wonderful Oregon weather was so refreshing. I really am such a lucky girl to have someone like Laura in my life.
2 comments:
the pleasure, madam, was all mine! Thanks for a perfect week away. Can't wait till we can do it again.
love you lots. :)
sounds like a wonderful time! some delicious looking food as well :) glad you two had so much fun!
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