Seaside, Oregon Trip

I love the beach. Especially when there is sun! We went down to Seaside, Oregon for a quick night last weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time. Saturday was a beautiful day - actually quite hot! - so once we got to the campsite and had some lunch, we went downtown to the boardwalk and the beach. 

I love all the shops downtown and even though we didn't have a lot of time to do any shopping, we of course had to hit up the arcade so Zach could show off his mad Skee Ball and air hockey skills. Although I did beat him once in Skee Ball. Once is enough for me. :)

I even got a little sunburn at the beach (I did use sunscreen though!) while everyone played frisbee. It is hard being prego and not being able to play! I'm way to competitive to sit on the sidelines! But oh well. It's only temporary... 

We had yummy dinner and s'mores (and birthday cake!) and actually went to bed early (like, before it was even completely dark) so we could get up super early to go clam digging. I wasn't looking forward to the early wake up call, but pulled it together to go see what it was like. I've never been before, but I can't wait til next year already to get my hands dirty! Although it does look like hard work... Instead this year I was the "clam girl" with my sis Jenn. We helped spot all the air pockets that hopefully had a clam in there and I have to say, I was quite good!

Zach caught one on his first try! So awesome!

 

I was amazed with how many people were out there digging! I'd never seen anything like it. We drove down the beach for probably a good 3-4 miles before stopping for our spot and the beach was packed the whole way. Who knew clamming was so big? I certainly didn't... and I can't wait to go next year! Maybe with Little BK strapped on my back and ready to go? Haha. Maybe not... :)

Have I mentioned I'm obsessed with Instagram? Follow me to keep up on my travels, DIY sneak peeks and other random shots. :)

Are you traveling for the holidays? Where are you going? We will be packing... because we found a new rental! Moving in three weeks and can't wait to have more space. Pics to come... probably once we move in (with before & afters of course). 

Our Quick Trip to Leavenworth

Last weekend we took a super quick trip over the mountains and through the snow to the cute little town of Leavenworth. It had been a long time since we'd gone to Leavenworth and if you remember last year we almost got there. So I was pretty excited. 

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and checked in just in time to watch the last of the Seahawks game (GO HAWKS!). We stayed at the Enzian Inn and I would highly recommend it. The rooms are comfortable. The lobby and the rest of the hotel is pretty sweet. Decorated like a Christmas lodge it was so warm and cozy, complete with a sleigh and a two story tree in the lobby (literally a tree went through the floor!). You even get free snowshoeing and the continental breakfast is amazing (complete with a make-your-own-omelette bar). 

After the game, we bundled up and went downtown for the last Tree Lighting Ceremony of the season. The main drag was blocked off so people could walk freely down the snowy street. There were even a few free standing fire pits in the middle of the road for people to warm up. We stopped and got some hot cho and wandered through all the cute shops. All the shopkeepers are so nice! 

There were so many people, especially for the tree lighting. The street was packed, the snow was falling, and we were freezing! It was so cold! Tons of kids were sledding down the small hill in the park. They had a stage set up in the main park with the high school carolers singing Christmas tunes. When the tree lighting ceremony began, the whole crowd joined in and sang along with the carolers. It was pretty awesome when they first lit the big Christmas tree, then the row of shops along the main street, then the rest of the trees in the park. I loved it! If you don't know by now, I LOVE Christmas lights! They make me so happy:). 

After the tree lighting, we grabbed some yummy sausages at the Munchen Haus. Then we had to go back to our room to warm up! It was so cold (did I mention that?)! I just brought my rain boots so I was dry but freezing. We hung out for a while and then went back downtown after the crowds had cleared to take some pictures and walk around.

The next morning, we had amazing omelettes and coffee, walked around some more downtown and then packed up to head home since the passes weren't looking great. We ended up driving through a blizzard on Stephens Pass! It was quite the experience, but Curvy did great with the All Wheel Drive (and Z was a rockstar driving!). 

Here's some pictures of our trip!

We had a great (quick) trip and we can't wait to go back. Leavenworth at Christmas really is amazing!

P.S. 4 Days til Christmas!!! Hope you are enjoying the holiday season with your families and friends!

Have a Happy Weekend!

A quick note on Spin Class - I joined a gym last week and tried Spin Class for the first time in my life. It kicked. my. ass. Big time. But... I actually kind of like it! The only bad part is how much your sit bones hurt afterwards! I'm hoping the more I do it, the more I get used to it. 

So what are you up to this weekend? We are busy busy - date night, catching up with friends, CRAFT DAY, then Seahawks on Sunday (Ka-Ka!). I'm super excited for craft day with Kim and Shan! We started having craft days a few years ago, but it's been a while since we've had one. It should be a lot of fun!

Have a great weekend!

Photo found via

Back to it

Well hello there! I've been a little MIA this week, but for good reason! My husband is home! We've been catching up and getting reacquainted. He will be home for a couple months until his January rotation in either Shelton or Pendleton (again). I'm a happy girl once again. :) 

Zagapalooza was awesome! We had so much fun reliving our college days and catching up. My favorite part was "Kraziness in the Kennel" which was the first time since I graduated that I've been back in the arena to watch some basketball. It was awesome watching the scrimmage and now I'm super excited for basketball season to start! GO ZAGS!

Well, I just wanted to check in and say hi! I'm hoping to catch up on some projects this weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to share with you next week!

What are you up to this weekend?

Photo found here

ZAGAPALOOZA!

I'm headed to Gonzaga today for alumni weekend (aka ZAGAPALOOZA!). I'm going with my girlfriends, Blair, Lynn, Kelly and we are meeting Kristy in Spokane (she lives there). I'm so excited to spend time with some of my favorites! In fact, I thought I'd take a little trip down memory lane... so here's a little flashback of the five of us over the years...

2007

2008

2011

Birthdays, Weddings, Friendsgiving, and now... Babies (Lynn, not me. Sorry, Mom)! I've loved the adventures that we've had throughout the years and I'm so glad we've stayed close. I'm so thankful for you guys! Here's to another great weekend!

What are you up to this weekend? Hope it's great!

Happy Weekend!

It's definitely feeling like Fall here in Seattle! Gotta love those crisp mornings. Although, by afternoon it is still in the high 60s-70s (is it really October?!). I'm not complaining. I have had to pull out my plethora of winter jackets though (apparently I have a lot according to my work peeps - shhh, don't tell Zach!).

What are you up to this weekend? I'm heading over to Poulsbo to see the husband and the in-laws (fear not - I love my in-laws!). You're probably tired of hearing this by now, but I really miss my hubby (boo-hoo, whaaa whaaa, I know) so I'm super excited!! I'm not sure what will be on the agenda, but I'm looking forward to having some yummy food and just chilling (with a little bit of football, of course).

Hope you have a great fall weekend!

PS Are you as excited for this as we are (here, too)? I mean, we did name our first (furry) born son after one of the characters...

Photo from Bing

Peanut Butter Cups

Happy Monday! I can't believe it's already October!!! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I was so glad Zachy was home for the weekend! We ended up just hanging out and doing normal stuff. Having him gone all week sure makes it nice to just have him here to do the normal things. Saturday we went down to Puyallup to watch my brother coach his team to victory (Go Linfield!). It was a beautiful day and we met my parents there to cheer them on. After the game, we went to Home Depot and got supplies for a super awesome project that hopefully I'll be sharing soon! It was definitely a learning experience for both of us... 

Anyways, back to the point of this post, which is cookies! I first made these a few years ago with my mother-in-law (I can't take any credit - it's her brilliant idea!) and have been wanting to make them since but needed to get a mini muffin pan. Finally I bit the bullet and paid the $10 (I bought this one and so far it's really good!).

I used my trusty Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe and then used Hershey's Kisses and Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for the middle. 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Make dough as directed from this recipe.

3. Use cookie scoop to place one inch balls into the mini muffin pan.

4. Unwrap enough kisses and peanut butter cups to fill one per cookie.

5. Bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes or until tops of "muffins" are lightly browned.

6. Remove from oven and put the kisses and peanut butter cups in the middle of the cookies right away. I put the kisses in upside down.

7. Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy! 

Happy Weekend!

Yes, I know Fall is here but I can't help but think of lounging on the beach in the sun. It's been a looooooong time since we've been on a relaxing vacation in the sun (like since our honeymoon four years ago!) and I could really use one right now. How about you? 

What are you up to this weekend? Zachary is coming home and I'm so happy. Yep, that's right. I'm a single mama again this month while he is back living with his parents and going to rotation in Silverdale for Orthopedic Surgery during the week. Luckily, he's closer than he was in Pendleton so we can see each other every weekend. Have I mentioned that being a single mama is tough? RESPECT!

Have a great weekend you guys!

Photo found via (original photo source unknown)

Weekend in Instagrams & Happy Birthday Mama!

How was your weekend? We had a lot of fun this weekend with our families, first on Friday night we hung out with Zachary's family. His grandma came all the way from Napa, CA to visit for the week. We had a great time at Z'Tejas for dinner - a southwestern/mexican restaurant with yummy cornbread!

Saturday morning we went over to my parents house in Centralia for my mom's birthday. While the boys watched football, my mom and I went to downtown Centralia to hit up the antique shops (Centralia is quickly becoming one of my favorite places for great vintage and antique finds!).

First we went to Chehalis to this AMAZING fabric/quilt shop. Tons and tons of color coordinated fabrics line the walls. I love it so much, but at the same time, it's kind of overwhelming because there are so many choices! I've been trying to find some fabric for Zach's mom to make me a quilt and finally settled on getting a jelly roll in some colorful vintage patterns. I want to do a herringbone style quilt and can't wait to see the result (I'll keep you posted).

From there we went to the main street downtown to hit up some of our favorites (this is the third time we've wandered down there this summer). The first stop we went into I found this vintage Coca Cola crate for $9! I was so excited because 1) I'd seen a very similar one the first time we went antiquing - I didn't get it and had been dreaming thinking about it ever since. 2) Other crates like this I'd seen were upwards of $25-30, so I thought it was kind of a steal.

The second store we went into I found the globe for $15! Seriously, it was my lucky day (of course, when I am on the spending diet... oops! This was my "cheat day" I guess...). I snatched it up just in time for us to hit the next shop where I found an equally awesome globe for only $10. That was the lowest price I'd seen on a globe recently, so naturally I had to buy it. :)

Also, at the first store they had a ton of old Schwinn bicycles out on the street. I was seriously thinking about getting one. The one I wanted was a blue one, with a basket of course, and it was $120. Maybe they'll still be there next time we go...

My favorite find of the day was this amazing pinky mauve tufted wing back chair. It was love at first sight, but I was good and waited on it. By the time I got home, I couldn't stop thinking about it and decided to see if the store was open the next day. It was quarter past five and they closed at six so (with permission from the hubby) we raced back down to the store. The CLOSED sign was up on the door, but I decided to try it anyways since it was only 5:30, and thankfully it was still unlocked! I went in and asked the girl at the counter if we could look at the chair again and she said yes. We went back to look and it was just as I had remembered. Check out those wide curved wings and the tufts. I die. It was $58, which I thought was a good deal for the condition and the uniqueness of it. I decided to try to get them down on price and it worked! I saved $3! Haha. Gotta start somewhere, right? :)

Long, long story blog post short, I got it and it's wonderful and I can't wait to make it my next project!

We also made some homemade peach pie (recipe coming soon) and went out to birthday brunch at Judy's Country Kitchen. I love my family and we have a lot of fun. :) And the pups were happy to see their Uncle Aaron and get spoiled by the grandparents. Happy Birthday Mama!

Wow. That was kind of a lot. I don't blame you if you skipped all the words. I hope you all had a great weekend! 

Happy Weekend!

Hello and Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? We are having a family-filled weekend - dinner with Zach's family tonight (his grandmother is in town) and the rest of the weekend with my family to celebrate my Mama's birthday! Happy (early) Birthday Mama (it's on Sunday)!

Whatever you do this weekend, I hope it's filled with football, colorful leaves, and pumpkin spice lattes! Bring on fall!

Photo found here (original source unknown).

P.S. Check out some more sweet fall photos on Pinterest!

Golden Gardens + Paseo

On Saturday after an unexpectedly loooooooooong day at work we went out with our friends Mykell (she was my Maid of Honor) and her bf John. We had such a great time! First, we stopped by Paseo - this amazing walk-up Caribbean restaurant in Ballard. Mykell claimed that they had the BEST sandwiches ever. I was a little skeptical until she said it was cash only. If I've learned anything, cash only restaurants are usually pretty tasty. And she was pretty spot on. Both Zach and I got the #2, which we highly recommend (apparently #1 is the other really good choice). 

We took our sandwiches to go and went on down to Golden Gardens. I had never been before, but heard a lot from Mykell about how much fun it was (and how pretty). It's a really sandy beach and has a lot of fire pits where you can bring your own wood to have a bonfire! We brought stuff for s'mores but didn't get there early enough to grab a spot. Instead, we just laid out our blanket, popped open some brew-skis and ate our glorious sandwiches. They were so messy, but that's how you know they are so good!

We watched the sunset and then it got chilly so we went back to Ballard to Cupcake Royale! We each got something different and they were - you guessed it - delish. 

Clockwise from top left: "The Kate" - Chocolate with Vanilla (Pink) frosting; Chocolate with Mint frosting; Tiramisu; Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel. 

I can't wait to go back to Golden Gardens! I love the beach. Especially when there are bonfires involved. And s'mores. 

Have you been to the beach lately? Had any cupcakes? What's your favorite cash-only restaurant that you just know is the best place to eat?