The Stuff Summer is Made of:

After our big Fourth of July weekend, I had another Friday off (that was three in a row!) and I spent it cleaning house, reading by the pool (more AWESOME weather!) and running errands while my Husband diligently worked his behind off. Thanks to the extra day off I was able to get through pretty much everything- big cleaning efforts in the kitchen, laundry, mending, sorting/organizing the office and dusting (YUCK!). All my efforts enabled Saturday to be open for whatever, so we thought it would be fun to get out of the house and grab a hike at Multnomah Falls as we’ve not been out there for a while now! We packed up the backpack with a picnic lunch and set out pretty early. First stop was Steven’s dentist appointment, afterwards we were off! We hit Crown Pointe first thing on the old highway and we always stop. It’s one of “our spots”. I’m always excited to look down each side of the river and we even saw a train go by on the WA side. We were headed downstairs to use the restrooms before we left and somehow we migrated into the gift shop and found a print that I’ve seen there a few times. Well, this time we bought it! So this week I found a frame for it and now it has taken the place of a picture that I didn’t love all that much in a prime spot in the Kitchen. I came home last night and found that Steven had put it up. It is so cute!

We ended up hiking Wahanee Falls instead of Multnomah- which is good because when we were finished we decided to try heading up there just to see it and take photos and it was SO PACKED. We couldn’t find a parking spot so we bagged the idea totally and went home to lay on the couch. We had an “American Pie” movie marathon and basically did whatever we felt like on Sunday. Steven even surprised me with some Julia Child Pork Chops with French bread and wine for dinner one night… It was another fine use of the Le Creuset.

I’ve been reading the Julia Child memoir “My Life In France” and it has inspired me. We received an herb garden from my parents for a late house warming gift and we are surprised how well it’s doing up on our balcony and how much we are able to get out of it. The fresh thyme went into the above-mentioned Pork Chops. My Mom also offered to have two of my prized/treasured Paris mementos framed for me for my birthday. Tuesday we were able to meet up for dinner at Bridgeport and then headed over to Michael’s for custom framing (they are in metric). It was the first time I’d seen the sketch of myself and the pretty post card sized prints I’d brought home 8 years ago. It made me long to go back to Paris. Until that happens, at least I’ll be able to see them every day on my walls. I can’t wait for the framing to be done, another week and half still, but I’ll post photos when I get them. Also- I’ve got to start doing Girl’s Night Out more frequently! I had a total blast with my Mom!