Manzanita

Back when I used to nanny the family I worked for (for the longest and to whom I was the closest) had a couple beach houses on the Oregon coast. In the Summers I would spend weekends or even entire weeks laying in the sun with a light breeze touching the backs of my legs or walking down to the water with tiny little hands in mine then shrieking and running from the incoming tide. When it got cooler we would bundle up and play for as far into the year as possible. When it got too cold for playing on the beach we would go down for weekends in the Winter and snuggle up in the house with cocoa and movies and just be away for a bit. Some of my favorite memories are from times spent on the coast.

One of the places we stayed often was Manzanita, OR, the perfect beach town. There's a section of the West side of our state that is most frequented by Portlanders looking to escape the city and within that part of the coast most of the weather is pretty similar on any given day. The thing about finding the perfect beach in Oregon has everything to do with the land surrounding the beach. In Manzanita everything aligns perfectly to keep it warm but breezy. It's also one of the few coastal towns I've seen with locals that don't make me feel like I'm in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are some cute restaurants, a great ice cream parlor with a garden to eat your sweets in, a game store called Overboard, and the requisite super crowded grocery store. And! You can have bonfires on the beach! This past weekend I loaded up on cough syrup, decongestant, nasal spray, and cough drops and decided to show Trista, Johnathan, and Craig the close to my heart Manzanita...check out Tiger helping bring kindling to the fire pit.

Seaside

Even though I was feeling like an old broken lady this past weekend I had promised Craig months ago I would pick him up in Seaside after he ran Hood to Coast (it's this miserable endeavor involving running from Mt. Hood to the Oregon coast with a team in legs of a race). So Tiger and I headed out for the beach. We went to Gearhart and laid in the sun for a bit before heading over to Seaside to meet up with Craig and a couple other people. You guys, my dog loves the beach like nobody's business. It's insane.

Back, Back Again

Oh my goodness it's been a long time.

I've done a ton while taking my break from the internet. I painted pottery, went to the gorge, dyed Easter eggs, made new art, threw a party, got some awesome new kitchen stuff, wore pajamas out and about, watched too much Dexter, and took pictures of my cat. Obviously it's all too much to talk about at once so I'm going to go ahead and give you non-chronological bits and pieces.

I went to the gorge last weekend with Tova and some others for a picnic. I don't really know the real name of the place we went. Everyone just calls it the gorge and it was my first time there which everyone thought was super crazy. I had to hunt down Craig at his favorite coffee shop and kidnap him to come with because he wasn't answering his phone. He was all grumpy about it at first and insisted on doing his homework in the car but I am persuasive so he came with.



We stopped at this view point that was named Women's Forum which totally sounds like Lilith Fair in conference form to me but whatever. This family seriously took a photo at every single section of fence here. The mom kept taking pictures of two of the girls and telling them to "do a little kick" while demonstrating. Possibly my favorite part of the day.


This is the gorge.



Javi and I slept in yesterday. He's pretty much the best ever at snuggly weekend mornings. He's not a super snuggly guy but it's like he gets that on the weekends we're supposed to stay in bed late and be cozy.


This weekend we had a whole two days full of gorgeous sun. Of course today it's gone but I'm starting to really look forward to Spring. I love how in Portland just when you think you're about to go bonkers over the grey skies the weather comes through and gives you some much needed vitamin D.

To all those who won prizes from my giveaway, I mailed out your packages this weekend. I apologize for the late start but you should have your things soon!

Sunny With a Chance of Gorgeous

This is my drive to work. One of the things I love about Portland is how green or, um, red/yellow/brown it is. Basically I love all the trees. I once had a friend from out of state visit and while on the freeway she said "It's like driving through a rainforest!" Whenever I leave town I notice how few other cities have trees in the city, lining the highways, and just generally everywhere.

The best part though, is how lovely they smell this time of year.

Life's a Beach

So, a couple weekends ago I went to the coast since I can do that now in my new car that I am not scared will fall apart along the way and leave me stranded in some tiny wooded town consisting of a gas station and a store owned by a woman with no real knowledge of woodworking who sells her own handmade birdhouses.

I very much wanted to go to the gorgeous Manzanita beach where it's perfectly breezy and sunny and there are very few people, most of them flying kites. Instead my friends tricked me into going to this place called Oswald's West. It's a surfer/family beach, is pretty crowded and hot. Parking is pretty terrible and for a good hour I had to listen to this guy begin every sentence with "Dude!" and end it with a surfing conditions forecast.

Anyways, this beach has it's faults but I'll admit it's pretty. At one point I was laying in the sun (with my SPF 100+ on) and I thought "This beach looks like the one in Twilight." Before I remembered that Twilight actually was filmed in part on the Oregon coast.

It's my stay home sick movie. Give me a break.

Here are some photos.