Hibiscus remind me of growing up in St. Croix. Since Portland is thousands of miles away and not even close weather-wise, I was rather shocked to happen upon this beautiful hibiscus.
Life
Social Media Explained
I saw this recently at Blue Star Donuts. Pretty funny and accurate summary!
Summer Flower
Summer flower from bouquet I bought at the farmer’s market today. Love the colors.
Maui
I had the good fortune to spend two weeks on Maui on vacation. It was a much-needed respite from a very busy year. It amazes me how the sun and sand can recharge me and the kids loved the balmy weather. Our biggest decision each day was which beach to venture to for that day; knowing that the afternoons were reserved for the pool. Marine life was abundant; fish making themselves known as soon as we walked into the water. We sailed out to Molokini one day and snorkeled to our heart’s content. Fish of all colors and shapes swam with us, quite unafraid. Fortunately, the eels stayed at the bottom of the reef since they were cool to see but I really did not want a close-up. And so, I sit at my desk now and dream of the heat warming my back, the relaxed evenings and the next time I will be able to snorkel the fabulous reefs of Maui!
Palm Springs for the Holidays
I was fortunate enough to vacation in Palm Springs over the holidays. I have never traveled over the holidays and it ended up being a nice reprieve. Who could complain about the nonstop sun and 20 degree warmer weather?! I also visited Joshua Tree National Park which is stunningly beautiful and surreal in its own rite. Attached are a few pictures.
Happy New Year everyone. Tonight I will spend the evening with good friends and good food…a great way to send off 2012!
2012 in Review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,200 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.
Narita airport, Tokyo
My husband has been to Tokyo several times and every time he goes, he sends back the coolest pictures. These came from his most recent trip. It is an oragami store. He said it was so amazing and there was even an oragami that you needed to use microscope to see it. Definitely, Tokyo is on my list as a “must see”.
Life and Cake
With adversity, comes toughness, grit and love. I know this because I see this where I live and I live on an amazing street. There is such a sense of community. The families on my street often get together “just because” or to celebrate holidays like Halloween. The moms on the block get together with even more regularity. It is easy to celebrate when times are good. But what separates people is what they do when times are bad.
One of the gals on our street is fighting ovarian cancer at the ripe ol’ age of 39. She has two children aged two and four. As soon as we heard the details, we banded together and created a menu calendar–meals are being taken care of for months to come. Neighbors have their kids over and someone even raked their leaves yesterday!
She turns 40 today, on the day of her second chemo treatment. I decided a celebration was in order. No one should “celebrate” their 40th birthday doing chemo so I invited all the moms on the block over for cake and wine last night. Eleven women showed up and it was heartwarming to see the love and solidarity in the room. One of my friends (that does not live on the block) offered to bake the cake for the party. The cake was delicious and paired well with the laughs and conversation. I believe our fighting friend and neighbor stands a chance of beating this ugly disease because she knows we are all rooting for her…she can do this! And we will be an even stronger community when she reaches the end of her chemo treatments.
Red Ridge Farms
We went to Dundee to stay with Eric’s parents overnight for the Thanksgiving holiday. Despite the downpour today, I really wanted to go on a little field trip to the gorgeous countryside that surrounds Dundee. It is amazing how many wineries there are. I have had my eye on Red Ridge Farms, in particular. It is Oregon’s first olive grove. Apparently they have over 13,000 olive trees over 17 acres. We tasted seven different oils and the lemon-infused was my favorite. We also tried three different balsamic vinegars; the fig was my favorite and the passionfruit was Eric’s favorite. Needless to say we picked up a few bottles to take home and a few Christmas gifts, too. The scenery was stunning and the grounds were beautifully landscaped. I can only imagine how picturesque it would be during a sunny summer day! It would be a great place for an event or party, too. We will definitely go back!
We then headed over to the quaint town of Carlton for lunch. There were several tasting rooms and unique lunch spots
and gift shops. We had a great field trip today. It is fun to not let the weather dictate what we did today. And even though the girls protested being out in the rain, I think they came home pretty satisfied, also.
Coolest Flowers
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