Tuesday, June 5, 2012

April Album II: Girls’ Weekend

On my birthday this year, my dear esposo took the kids down to Oklahoma to celebrate my father-in-law’s retirement while I hosted our second girls’ weekend here in Portland.  I had some initial mixed emotions, since my birthday was spent without my crew – plus I was missing out on a big celebration for my husband’s dad.  But it was a wonderful way to enjoy my birthday –  hanging out and spending some much needed time with my mom and sisters sans kiddos.  My sister Gina couldn’t make it, sadly – she was on bedrest at the hospital awaiting “cuatro” – their fourth child, who was due to arrive in a few weeks (spoiler alert: Baby Anthony Thomas arrived on Mother’s Day and wow, is he a cutie!  Mommy and baby are both doing well…).  My mom arrived a couple of days early, so she could visit with the kiddos before their trip. 

Mom and I also celebrated my birthday before Rita and Meg arrived – a day of shopping and organizing.  I took her to Mother’s Bistro downtown, which was lovely.  Unfortunately, we don’t get to spend quality time like this very often.

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Girls weekend began with the arrival of Rita and Meghan!  The next morning we started off with some yoga and my famous “smoovy”.

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We spent that morning on the historic Columbia River highway, catching a glimpse and a kiss of mist from the beautiful falls there:  Latourell, Shepard’s Dell, and of course the crown jewel, Multnomah Falls.  The weather was cool but beautiful and slightly damp – a perfectly lovely Oregon day.

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Rita, Mom, and I stood in front of the scenic Columbia River, at the Crown Point Vista House.

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The area is so incredibly scenic; it just speaks for itself.  We left a spot for Gina in the bottom right photo, since Mom has been known for her fancy and artful “photoshopping” of portraits. We really missed Gina.

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After all that hiking, we needed some pedicures.

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The next day, I took them to two Portland markets: the Portland Farmers Market at PSU and the Saturday Market (which runs on Sunday, too, just to be confusing).  There were many colorful artists and musicians to take in.  I am a sucker for live music, especially when the musicians are barefoot or play washboards.  It’s true. 

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We had lunch at the Farmer’s Market from a booth that was making its own corn tortillas.  Oh yum.

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The Saturday Market was pretty packed also.  It was a good excuse for me to go, since I hadn’t seen the new (not-so-new anymore) fountain or permanent structure for the market booths.

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I handpicked this spot to make sure that the tie-dye made it into the photo.

Girls weekend

Girls’ weekend is usually about creativity, so I busted out my sewing machine for the first time since the day before Leo was born.  I was pretty happy to be sewing again.  I have projects galore, and my new rule is: no new fabric until I get some projects finished!  Then my lovely sister-in-law gifted me with some great fabric scraps (which doesn’t count at all).  Yay.

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Rita and Meg got creative in the kitchen for some salmon, polenta cakes, salad and a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie to celebrate my birthday.

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The next day we went out to brunch on my birthday before Rita had to catch her plane (boo hoo!), and thus began my process of winding down after such a fun weekend.  I always have a hard time saying good-bye to my mom and sisters.  This kind of weekend is too scarce (my sisters and I have each been pregnant since the last one!).  I guess with such young families, we’re lucky to sneak in some time to ourselves, but here’s to many more girls’ weekends and with fewer intervals between them. 

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Luckily, my crew came home soon after everyone left, so I didn’t have too much time to sit on my pity pot.  Happy 35 to me. 

visit with Lillards

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