Ok, let's see how many pictures I can fit into one post THIS time! You can't blame me can you? What would you do in a situation like that?? Gaaa!... (Napoleon Dynamite anyone?) Moving on.
Monica lives in beautiful Astoria, Oregon. It's right on the Columbia river near the ocean. It's full of historic buildings and old houses with tons of character. You can see the water from almost every point in town. Including from our hotel balcony.
I snapped these pictures from our balcony after tea and stitching group.
Cowgirl Rosie was rewarded with a special treat after the long car ride earlier.
Then it was time to go to Monica's house before dinner!! Yippee! On the way we drove through town and went up to 'The Tower'. It's amazing. Do I know the tower's official name at the moment? No, that's how mushy my brain was from the dreamy day. But, it was amazing. Have a look see.
The tower is at the top of this hill. You can see the whole town from there. Here's the famous Astoria bridge. We crossed that sucker to go to tea and Karen's studio. Once you cross it you're in Washington. It's beautiful.
The tower depicts the history of the area. We couldn't go inside because some restoration was going on.
We gave the girls each a quarter to enjoy the view.
What gorgeous sights could they be looking at? I wonder.... It must be fantastic...
Well naturally my little nut cases were looking at each other. Of course! Why not with all of the natural beauty around. Crazies.
That's better pumpkin.
I wish you could have smelled the cool air. Take a deep breath and pretend while looking at this picture above. Aaaaahhhhhh... so nice.
Now we're driving to Monica's house.
Are you ready? I loved her house. It's pretty and cozy, full of quilts and full of charm. I didn't take tons of pictures inside her home as she gave us the grand tour. We were chatting too much! And I didn't want to appear too creepy... but I got some in her studio. It was SOOOO CUTE!!! Just as you imagine it would be. Full of humor and beauty, charm and love. My girls loved it too. There was so much to look at. The sun was fading so not all of my pictures turned out as I hoped they would. (sniff sniff)
Look! It's Triskit on the stove, naturally. Where else would she be? Josie, and Big Sis, were so exited to see her.
Their first meeting. Josie looks suspicious, Triskit looks exited, and a little shocked.
The girls and I love little Triskit. She's so cute with her braids, rubbery little legs and her tramp stamp.
Look it's the shelf! THE SHELF!! When you see it in real life you want to gently rub your hand on each item and say, "oooooooooooooohhh".
I had to slap my hand to keep from touching everything.
That's it for the studio. I know! Sorry I don't have more for you. We were just having so much fun chatting. I thought I took more pictures of her studio than I actually did. And I was a tad worried about Cowgirl Rosie being naughty outside. Monica's sweet dogs were so playful and kind to Rosie, and she just ran away from them and showed her mean teeth.
Time to head out to dinner.
Monica has such a great backyard too! It's perfect for a summer backyard barbeque. Really perfect. I'm thinking the husbands cooking food, with us girls lounging in chairs, drinking margeritas and watching Cowgirl Rosie show her mean teeth. Perfect!
We had a blast at dinner. I really wish we could have stayed longer. The husbands had burgers, Monica and I each had a rueben. They were YUMMY. The kid food was served in dog bowls.
Big Sis loves Elvis.
It was so nice to be with people who didn't think I was a total weirdo for taking pictures of our food. Did I mention how great Monica's husband is? He is GREAT. So nice and easy going. We also got to meet their cute boy who just graduated from high school. He was great too! We really really enjoyed the whole Zombie family.
Sadly it was time to part ways after dinner. We said our goodbyes and promised to get together again soon. Monica and her husband couldn't have been more kind or more fun! They were both so sweet to our girls, and to Rosie. We had such a great time and wanted to stay longer. I can't wait for our next trip!!
The next morning my husband and our girls brought back breakfast to our room.
The girls bring books everywhere we go.
This one below is my favorite. "Harriet Tubman... Secret Agent". You go Harriet!
Friday morning was a rainy one. I love Oregon rain. I had to take pictures from the balcony again. It was so nice to sit out there after breakfast and listen to the rain.
After getting some fish and chips for lunch we were headed back home. The girls quietly worked on their stitching. Rosie caught up on some sleep.
Thank you so much for inviting us Monica! I am truly blessed to call you my friend. xo
green with envy...that's all i'm sayin'...☺
Posted by: t | June 24, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Beautiful scenery, beautiful crafty room, beautiful dinner, beautiful company, beautiful part of the world!! Isn't it great to catch up with bloggy friends! :)
Posted by: Maree @ Farmyard Crafts | June 24, 2009 at 02:33 PM
Sigh. I had to look at the pictures all several times. Does she live in paradise or something! My gosh!! I live in a land locked state and I'm still not used to it after living here 30 years. I was just saying how I miss the water. Someday I will visit Oregon. I've never been there. We have had 2 trips planned and things always seem to come up. But that won't always be the case. I hope. It is fun to see everything through your eyes. Thanks so much for sharing. The famous studio of Monica! How wonderful. The girl has taste! Gobs of it. But so do you. Your home is lovely too. I could comment on each picture but we'd both be here all day. Monica is one of the nicest people I've "met" blogging. So genuine, gracious and inclusive. I appreciate that so much. I'm telling you. We quilty gals have just the best people to rub shoulders with. Best ever.
Posted by: Nanette | June 24, 2009 at 02:58 PM
Goodness, I wish I was there, too. Of course as a newbie sewer/quilter, I would have been totally out of my depth. But if I could have been a fly on your camera - well. And, as a former Oregon girl (who still considers herself an Oregon girl) I would have loved to smell the salt air and felt the rain on my face. You live a blessed life when you live in Oregon. Glad you had a great time!
Posted by: Tara | June 24, 2009 at 04:30 PM
There's just so much I don't understand about this post. First of all, what's with the husbandS -- plural??? Is there something I don't know about??? And I'm not sure about the view from your room, but the view from Monica's room is SOOOOO much better than the view from my room. It's beautiful there -- all I see is cornfields. Is that because she's #1 and clearly providing more than moi??? And finally, I feel so left out! You'll have to compensate me by letting me take care of the girls when you're... well, you know. That's only fair compensation since hubby was shooting blanks and I only got boys!
Posted by: Thimbleanna | June 24, 2009 at 06:11 PM
Sarah, the shelf.....I can´t shut my mouth!!! It´s incredible and worth to look at it for months. It´s such a beauty and full of the most lovely things ever.
And the view from your balcony is absolutely amazing. Sigh, I wish I would have seen all these things in real.
Hugs,
Sabine xxx
Posted by: Sabine | June 24, 2009 at 08:44 PM
Ohhhh I'm so envious. I love being in Astoria, hangin out with Monica and my bridge, I love that bridge. We stayed at the HI Express under the bridge (like trolls) and loved watching people go over the bridge from our beds, and boats coming and going. I must have 200 pictures of the bridge and boats. I'm glad you had fun, I know Monica and Tom are the greatest and believe me I'm a little weepy with the missing her right now.Thanks for the sharing. She said she had a wonderful time with you guys and how delightful your girls and CB Rose were.
Posted by: pam | June 24, 2009 at 09:18 PM
What a great trip, Sarah. Oregon looks sooo pretty. I grew up on the water (the east coast) and I miss it. Love all the pictures, especially the ones of the girls doing their stitching in the car (how awesome is that?) and of Cowgirl Rosie. I really think she is my favorite dog ever. Too funny about the mean teeth. LOL
Posted by: Jen in NY | June 25, 2009 at 06:32 AM
I have a love/hate relationship with that bridge! I'm from Washington, but will soon be moving to Oregon. I just have to say, that one of my favorite movies was filmed in Astoria, The Goonies! Looks like a fun trip!! Can't wait to have weekends in Astoria and the coast. We miss the water!
Posted by: Sara | June 25, 2009 at 09:41 AM
Gaaaaaah. I'm speechless.
Your post, the comments (Pam and Nanette and you had me in tears... and Thimbleanna's made we want to run and get her a plane ticket west).
I'd mention what a wonderful, funny, cute, talented, kind and outgoing person you are (and your girls... Priscilla and Little Sis... and Lt. ACQ... how amazing and nice and wonderful they are... and Cowgirl Rosie who was HILARIOUS and gave my dogs some exercise and fun)... but gonna save it for my post about you!
Posted by: happy zombie | June 25, 2009 at 11:00 AM
oh....i have been pouring over your pictures. The minute i saw the first one i knew it was Astoria. I love it there...when we lived in WA we went there and down the coast a little every year. But we always stayed in Astoria. I love the tower and the views and the bridge...they are all amazing. It looks like you had a awesome trip.
Posted by: Leslie | June 25, 2009 at 06:54 PM
What a wonderful day you had. The tower painting? was amazing. It is so good to meet other blogging friends in the real world.
Thanks for popping in my new blog.
Posted by: Melanie | June 26, 2009 at 12:09 AM
wow - I;m not surprised Rosie fell asleep - it looks like you had the most awesome time - the views, the pics , everything , just amazing. I'm surprised your camera hasn't conked out .. I've been a bit MIA lately too knitting knitting :-)
Posted by: periwinkle | June 27, 2009 at 01:49 PM
I wish I was there too. What a great day!
Posted by: Carrie P. | July 01, 2009 at 05:33 AM
My husband and I are great lovers of Oregon! We've been through Astoria twice. The first time we stayed in a motel right under the bridge. No cars fell off during the night so we figured it was safe! I think it's called The Astoria Tower, actually. The first time we were there they were refurbishing the outside so we couldn't go in. The second time it was open. Hubs climbed all the way to the top. I got about ten stairs up and literally had to crawl back down.
The next time we are in Astoria I'm going to stand in the middle of the street and yell, "MONICA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Perhaps you should warn her!
Posted by: Jean | July 02, 2009 at 03:02 PM