Friday Fun...

Big adventures today...

After yoga class (yay for ankle recovery!) I came home, made myself lunch and decided to celebrate my finished painting. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I decided it was perfect weather for an adventure.

I bought an all day bus pass, and discovered that I can get to Ikea via public transit in less than 30 minutes here. I love TriMet! Chris is not going to be happy about this.

The sky was so pretty and from the train, and the clouds lifted so that I could see both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood. (I believe now, Havi. It exists. Though I was starting to doubt, since I had only seen it once.) I remember reading a Ramona Quimby book that talked about Mt. Hood and thought about how much fun it is to live in places I read about as a little girl. I'm rereading the entire Ramona series to celebrate living in Portland.

I bought some candles and researched desks, rugs and floor lamps and decided that Chris must return to Ikea with me soon. I'll lure him there with the promise of Apple Strudel-- that always works.

From Ikea I took the train downtown to Powells City of Books (I love it there! Even more than Ikea) to hear Molly Wizenberg. She writes the blog Orangette, she lives in Seattle, and she's just written a book, A Homemade Life, and like her, it's lovely. I sat and listened to her read and realized this is what Chris is going to do and it's going to be awesome. I can't wait to see him there. But first he has a lot of writing to do.

Finally, (and maybe the best part of the day) I met Amy of Angry Chicken. I've read her blog for ages, even though I don't sew (except for that one quilt) yet.I really love her ideas and her aesthetic. Just go look-- you'll see. She's awesome. And as for sewing, notice I said yet. That's because I made my very first apron this week. And I'm looking on craiglist for a good used sewing machine, because I want to make more. Much more. Amy's blog (and book) have inspired me to learn to really sew. Not just the one quilt.

Now I'm home. And I've lit my orange candle from Ikea and the cat is purring in my lap and my husband is on the way home (sort of-- he's flying from South Africa to Hong Kong tonight, then 24 hours in Hong Kong, then he flies to LA, and then he's actually on the way home) and I have half a vegan chocolate chip cookie left for breakfast tomorrow.

Days like today make me wish I could bottle gratitude and store it for later. Oh wait, I can. Someone remind me of this post the next time I'm whining.