Shabby Chic in Cannon Beach

Mostly wordless Wednesday.  My friends were always talking about an amazing Shop in Cannon Beach OR, where they had the most wonderful assortment of French and Shabby chic furnishings.  Despite several scouting trips to the beach, I could never find it. 

OK, I probably didn't have their card and got the address wrong, but the main drag in Cannon Beach isn't that long!  Anyway, I finally stumbled upon it quite by accident, and found it to be full of beautiful furnishings and fun ideas. It's worth the 'Eye Candy' to check out Seasame and Lilies. http://www.sesameandlilies.com/

Art Group Reunited

It was a perfect crisp, fall, day when the Art Buddies met in NW Portland to sketch and paint on the go. The rain will soon be here, so we definitely jumped at the chance to paint outdoors. 

Portland has some great architectural details and as we tried to artfully capture them, we freaked out a lot of people.  I guess we must have looked like Census Takers or undercover agents, because we had some anxious strangers coming up to use wanting to know what we were up to.  One man who was putting up twinkle lights and overparked, sheepishly announced he was leaving in a minute, had a good laugh when my friend turned around her sketchbook to reveal that she'd been painting him as he worked. Beware of middle aged women with sketch pads and pencils! 

We never made it past the corner where we started, since there were so many things to sketch in that small area.  From colorful plants to interesting shop windows, we did not lack for material.

We loved a shop called The Polish Pottery Place, on Hoyt, with it's colorful flock of tin chickens, pigs, peacocks and flowers.

This outdoor art was imported from Mexico, and was so colorful and cheery!

JoAnne set up her stool, and got right to work, painting in her colorful style.

Here we all are before heading out for lunch.  Next post I'll show you our finished work.  Note to self, next time bring another film card!  I did have pencil drawing in my book, although you can't see them!

More fun Portland signs.

The Power of Nature

Wow, it was one of those cool, crisp mornings on the Oregon Coast.  We were on our way to meet some friends for breakfast, when I made DH pull over so I could take these pictures of the fog burning off the Nehalem Bay.   When I just can't take one more gray, rainy day, I'll look back on this morning and experience the calm and peace of this this beautiful morning.

Book Club Bonanza and a Yummy Chicken Recipe

It's always love to see what other Book Clubs are reading.  There seems to be ceratain books that are 'must reads' every year, and we have a couple of them on our list. Our Book Club makes the reading choices for the year each September.  We only choose books that have a 4 to 5 star rating from Amazon. I thought I'd list our choices since it's always fun to see what everyone is reading.  Most of these I haven't read yet, so I'll just review the two that we have.

Here's our list:

September:  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  Stieg Larsson  This the first in a series that is the 'hot dot' in the publishing world these days. There's so much to this book, that I'll just say that it's an intellectual thriller with lots of violence and a compelling story, with a protagonist that rises above her social limitations.  It's very compelling novel with a call for social justice.  The Club generally liked it, and have moved on to read the rest of the series. 

October: Little Bee  Chris Cleave  This is a beautifully written story, with a compelling main character.  Most people liked the book.

November: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

January:  Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

February:  One Day  David Nicholls

April: Freedom, A Novel by Jonathan Frazen

May: Mountains Beyond Mountains  by Paul Farmer

June: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

We limit our club membership to the number of people who can fit around a dinning table.  The Host always serves dinner.  At our last meeting, my friend Valerie, served this wonderful chicken dish.  Don't be fooled by the simplicity of it, it had a wonderful flavor!  She served it with rice, a salad and dessert.

 Anne Shea's Chicken Thighs:

12 chicken thighs

6 whole shallots

6 cloves garlic

4 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cup dry white wine

1 Tbsp. tomato paste (sometimes I add a bit more for color)

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

salt and pepper

Italian parsley - chopped

Trim fat and excess skin from thighs after washing and season with salt and pepper. Brown both sides in 3 Tbsp. of butter and 1 Tbsp. olive oil for total of 8 minutes. Transfer to casserole dish and place in 375 degree oven. Drain most of the oil/fat from skillet (leaving a Tbsp. and the brown bits) and add the remainder of the butter and oil and saute the minced garlic and shallots. Add vinegar, wine and stir up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Allow to cook down about 8 minutes. Whisk tomato paste and simmer 5 more minutes. Add chicken stock adding a little at a time. Mix well. Pour over chicken in the oven and cook for 35 to 45 minutes. Turn chicken halfway through. Garnish with chopped Italian parsley.

Cannery Row in Astoria

Lately, we've been spending a lot of time in Astoria.  The city has been undergoing a resurgence of sorts, with lots of new shops and restaurants opening up.  Even though the economy has taken it's toll, there's still a lot to see.  The boardwalk is a great place to walk, or you can ride the free Trolly if you're so inclined.  I love to stroll along the boardwalk, checking out the shops, restaurants and  passing ships.

We tried this restaurant called The Cannery Cafe, and I had the best Tuna Sandwich on whole wheat ever!  Don't get it toasted.  Their Fish n' Chips look amazing, so I'll definitely come back. 

I'm always on the look out for cool things to watercolor paint, so these lovely flowers will someday be a subject.

I love the monochromatic look of this boat, trolling across the bay.

The Ultimate Beach Party

Well, the Big Date Night finally arrived.  We started out at Por Que No? Taqueria on Mississippi Ave.  If you go there, try the Bryan's Bowl. 

 Pre-concert people watching was the best.  We saw Fin Hats, Margarita Dresses, and lots of cool sunglasses. 

Crazy hats of all kinds...

 People brought their pets... 

 Attack Parrots... 

Some people even wore their Habits LOL...

 All in all, it was a fun Date Night!  Jimmy Buffet gave a rousing performance, two encores, with only one small break!  We left thinking of a tropical escape from the gloomy Oregon winter ahead! 

Date Night-Margartaville Bound

It all started three years ago when our Dear Husbands planned a weekend getaway for my Soul Sister and I.   We all enjoyed the surprise (to us), weekend in Astoria, visiting shops, dinners out, a visit to a Comedy Club etc.  The idea was that we would reciprocate in a timely manner, and the guys were getting antsy for us to treat them to a surprise weekend or date. 

We never intended to wait three years, and so when SS heard that Jimmy Buffet was coming to town, she said that we had to get tickets.  She said that he put on a great show, people had tons of fun, acted crazy, and the guys would love it!  So...we made the guys wear Hawaiian shirts and drove them to the 'secret' location.

We couldn't just give them the tickets, we had to make the presentation special somehow, so...SS masterminded a a dinner out at this cute restaurant on the Columbia River, that's only opened from April through October.  We only had a week until they closed, so we couldn't wait for a sunny day.

We had the guys sit under the surfboard, and the whole time they were thinking that the little hanging bag held one of the clues.  We knew it wasn't part of our surprise, but couldn't figure out what it was, until the waitress said it was to keep the bees away.  When they fly in, they think there's already a hive there, so they go someplace else...who knew!

The party planner extraordinaire!  Drinking something with an umbrella, of course!

I don't know what all these ducks do off season, when nobody's there to throw food for them.

SS took clues from the song, Margarataville which she wrapped and had the guys open one by one until they 'got' the date:

Nibblin' on sponge cake

all of those tourists covered with oil

A Mexican cutie (orange)

I blew out my flip-flop

Stepped on a pop-top

Searching for my lost shaker of salt

The concert is tomorrow night...stay tuned, and I'll report how the evening went!

We'll be back Island Cafe, when you re-open in April!

Game Day at the University of Oregon

Wow, is there anything more fun than a college football game on a beautiful fall day?  We're big Oregon Duck fans, and there is no better time to be a Duck than now, when they are No. 2 in the National Rankings. We've followed the team through thick and thin, going to the games rain or shine! Of course, the mantra in Oregon, is that "It never rains in Autzen Stadium!" 

Looks like Darth Vader, but it's actually a colorful guy advertising the Oregon Bookstore.

Tailgate parties were in full swing.  Someone had actually hired an Elvis impersonator, and he was in the parking lot, belting out tunes. 

It was a special day to have both of the kids with us.

Dear daughter and I!

It's always a rush when the Mascot Duck roars out of the bunker on a motorcycle, with the team behind him.  The crowd goes wild!

Beautiful sky!

ESPN'S Game Day was on campus earlier in the day for their morning program, College Game Day, and they returned after the Ducks beat Stanford.  The first half of the game was a nail bighter, but the team came back second half to work their magic!

Setting up for the evening game recap show.

Everyone swarmed around the announcers as they set up for the broadcast...reminded me of the ant farms that my kids had when they were little.

When we returned home at 1:00 AM, we discovered that we'd been 'Flocked'  with green flamingos by our good friends, the Johnson's.