Happy Caturday!

Love this project by New York illustrator Sam Kalda that aims to demonstrate the bond between men and cats. More here.

Portland City Guide

Design Sponge has released another Guide to Portland! This time from the folks at Egg Press.

Ian's First Father's Day

Fun with Dad during a quick pit stop.

We had a really lovely Father's Day. Our friends Kristen and Cameron invited us out to their vacation home in Sunriver and spoiled us with good food and company.

Cruising by Smith Rock

While the drive from Portland to Sunriver is longish, the landscape is so beautiful that time passes quickly.

Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

Gussie loved hanging with big kids Gavin and Maryn.

After a yummy Father's Day breakfast, Cameron took us out on his drift boat on a lazy section of the Deschutes.

The guys fished, but no bites.

Augusta enjoyed her first boating experience.

No matter where you looked you had a nice view.

Mt. Bachelor emerging from the clouds.

Another great vista outside of Maupin on our drive home. 

...

Also, I could resist including a few of my favorite photos of Ian with Augusta. She's a lucky girl to have such a good Dad!

The very first time Ian held Augusta!

  

Ian's budding soccer-watching companion (if only she could stay awake).

Ian is a very patient Dad.

You're the best Ian! We love you!

For Your Monday

Image source.  Via Creature Comforts' pinterest feed.

Mark your calendars for Portland's Concerts in the Park.

Love this project.

A fascinating new look at Vermeer's paintings.

The World Cup explained in less than two minutes. 

Pretty, pretty. 

Happy Caturday!

Loved this brief history of cats at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.

Wide Awake Augusta

Little missy is currently going through a phase where she thinks that bedtime is party time. Even though we know she is tired, when we lay her down in her crib, her eyes pop open and she is ready to play. It's both really frustrating and really adorable. But, seriously Augusta, go to sleep.

In other news she is a crawling machine, has gotten all four of her upper teeth, and at our well baby check up a few days ago weighed in at 16 lb 3oz  and was 28 3/4 inches tall. I can't believe how fast she is growing!

For Your Monday

Image source.

I'm guilty of this. via A Cup of Jo.

I want to go to there. And here.

An interspecies world cup.

Our kitties enjoy munching on our houseplants, so I love this non-toxic houseplant guide.

This looks pretty incredible.

Happy Caturday!

Image source.

How cute is this cat latte art?!?!

Rose City

A neighbor's rose.

This time of year it's easy to see why Portland is nicknamed Rose City.  They are everywhere! It seems like you can stand on any corner in the city and see at least one rose bush. My iphone camera is full of photos of roses, so I thought I'd share a few...

Peninsula Park

We have the good fortune of living walking distance from Peninsula Park, which happens to be Portland's oldest rose garden, and went for a family stroll the other day. Gorgeous!!!

Peninsula Park

Peninsula Park

Peninsula Park

Peninsula Park

Peninsula Park

Peninsula Park

Neighborhood rose tree

This year we planted three new rose bushes (one was a gift from my grandparents) and I can't wait to see them grow. All of my fingers are crossed that I don't kill them!

One of our new blooms.

Plus last year's garden surprise.

Girls Weekend

Last weekend, I flew down to San Francisco to hang out with my BFF Becca before she leaves the west coast to start an MBA at Duke.  I am, of course, very happy and excited for Becca and this big step she's taking, but super bummed that once again, we are swapping coasts. So glad we got this weekend together!

View from our hotel room.

Our time in San Francisco proper was pretty limited, so we made the most of it! We met up with some of Becca's friends for happy hour and I indulged in my first margarita in over a year and half, had a delicious Californian farm-to-table dinner, then more luxury drinks back at the hotel (Becca managed to score us an awesome deal at CLIFT for the night, so we felt very posh), and squeezed in a bit of shopping the next morning. I found a darling souvenir for Gussie at Rare Device and would have happily bought one of everything in the entire store.

The next day we headed to Palo Alto. I went for a stroll around Stanford and tumbled across Rodin's Gates of Hell currently on view at the Cantor Arts Center. Pretty incredible.

Then it was time for Sunset Magazine's Celebration Weekend. Every year Sunset Magazine turns their headquarters into and a (mostly) outdoor street fair with tons of vendors offering wine/beer tastings, food samples, travel information, gardening tips, and cooking demonstrations.  So much good stuff!

Yummy olive oil (kinda regret not checking a bag so I could have brought some home).

Gotta check out Fabio of Top Chef fame host a gnocchi making demo.

One of the highlights for me was a behind the scenes peek at the Sunset test kitchen. Want that job.

 

And the incredible California produce.

 

While we didn't have time to visit Napa or Sonoma, but we did check out a couple of wineries near Palo Alto.

Shepherd sister sandwich!

Our favorite bottle from Picchetti Winery.

I couldn't have had a better time, but was pretty happy to land at PDX and be greeted by Augusta. Three and a half days is a long time to be gone from your baby! Huge thanks to my Mom and Ian for taking such good care of her while I was away. It didn't seem like she missed me at all...
P.S.
Gotta love that Ian's first outing as a single dad was to IKEA.