Ferry boat road trip

On Saturday, my mom, grandpa, and Uncle Bub and I all set out on a one day road trip. It was going to be a nice Summer day, and I was looking forward to spending it with family. Our plan was to take the ferry over to Port Townsend to have lunch and site see. We all met at Mom's that morning, and headed out to the Edmonds ferry. Once we got there, the line was a 2-hour wait...yikes! We decided to change our route and drove up to Mukilteo instead.

The line at Mukilteo was much more tolerable. We had a little bit of a wait, but then they were able to squeeze us on at the end just in time to not have to wait for the next ferry.

waiting in line while smelling delicious fish n chips

here comes our ferry!

We got out of the car and went up to the ferry deck to watch as we left Mukilteo and arrived at Whidbey Island. Mom and I used to make this trip quite often when Liz's mom lived just off the ferry on Whidbey. We would go over in the Summer for the 4th of July, as well as Easter, Thanksgiving, and even Halloween. It's been years since she sold that house, so we had fun reminiscing as we drove by.

first ferry of the day

me and Bubba

No stops were made on Whidbey Island...we were on a mission: get to Port Townsend for lunch. We headed North on the island to the Keystone ferry (or Coupeville, it seemed to have two names), and this one took us right over to Port Townsend. We watched the campers right on the beach as we took off, and also saw some baby seagulls out on a piling. It was turning out to be a beautiful day, perfect for riding ferry boats.

stretching our legs while waiting in the ferry line

Thanks for having us!

campers

Momma

Dad on the lookout

screaming babies

another seagull family

boat launch in Keystone

Papa explaining something

goodbye Coupeville

After traveling for what seemed like forever (when you're hungry), we finally arrived in the cute little town of Port Townsend. I can't remember ever being here before, but the town is full of touristy shops, restaurants, and a beautiful waterfront.

First things first, park the car and get lunch! Bub knew of a sandwich shop that he wanted to take us to, so that's where we headed. We turned the corner off the main drag to find this adorable house that has been converted into a cafe. We walked in and started drooling over all the fresh baked breads, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and the hugest homemade pies you've ever seen all out in the front display cases.

We ended up splitting a couple of their ginormous sandwiches (on fresh baked bread of course). I don't know if it was because I was so starving, but this chicken salad with pesto and pine nut sandwich on homemade wheat bread was the most delicious thing I've ever had! It was definitely worth the wait and two ferry rides. Dessert was even better as we forced down their generous portions of pie. Mom and I had the raspberry cream cheese pie, while Papa and Bub had the King's Pie (chocolate ganache with bananas topped with custard...yum!).

After lunch, we walked off our calories and explored the town. We headed down to the marina and checked out all the cool boats that were docked. We also walked along the beach and collected rocks to put in Mom's yard. It was fun to watch the people out and about, either on the beach, out kayaking, or camping right on the waterfront.

resting after our big lunch

We also checked out the Pygmy Boats and the wood shop.

Before heading out, we walked along the main drag and did some shopping. I found a little store called Conservatory Coastal where they have the cutest home decor. I could spend a good amount of time in there looking at everything, but time was limited with the fam. I ended up finding a cute scarf and some tiny sand dollars to put in my bathroom.

Conservatory Coastal

the sand dollars in a shell Mom had and gave me

We then made our way back to the car, and headed to Kingston to catch our last ferry of the day. It was a pretty drive, and we even got to go over the Hood Canal bridge.

We had just missed the ferry in Kingston, so we had about an hour to kill. We got out of the car and walked around the ferry area, then got some cold drinks and sat in the park. 

The ferry showed up, and we boarded for our last ride of the day. We sailed back to Edmonds, where we had originally started. The weather was getting a little chilly by this time, but still clear blue skies.

goodbye Kingston

hello Edmonds

After a fun day, we made it back to Mom's house, and I headed home. Our day trip took us about 9 hours and 105 miles. We all had a blast and it was great to get a chance to spend time together.

Our route

Birchbox: third time's a charm?

Welp, my third Birchbox delivery came, and I think it's another bust. Since I've already spent $30, and haven't loved any of it, I think I may have to cancel. I really wanted to love Birchbox, I really did. Each month I kept thinking the next would get better, but after looking over all my samples, I just don't see it being worth it.

A review from last month's...I hardly ever take baths, but I wanted to try out the bath salts. It scared me when it made my tub water bright blue and smelled kinda funky. Not sure my skin felt any different afterwards either. The Luna bar was delicious, but I've already had those before. I do like the lip stain, but only used it once since I prefer my own lipgloss. The Yu-Be skin cream is kinda cool, reminds me of medicated chapstick the way it smells and feels on your lips. And I still can't figure out how to apply the eye shadow pencil...even after watching the tutorial video. It just doesn't look the same when I do it.

This month I ended up with some shimmer lotion, earbuds, perfume, mints that claim they help you stay fit, a teeny tiny lip gloss, and a pretty good sized mascara. The earbuds are kinda cool, but I'll never use them, I hate mints, I already have a mascara that I love, and the rest is so ity bity I'll barely get any use out of them. I know the point is to give you samples so that you can try stuff out and see if you want to purchase the real thing, but I was hoping the one actual full size item each month would be worth it. Plus, I've found that waiting an entire month for the next box to hopefully bring you something that you want seems like forever...especially when it just turns out to be a disappointment.

Bye bye Birchbox, or stick it out another month?

Hosting a trunk show

My friend Danielle is a stylist for a company called Stella and Dot who sells the cutest jewelry ever. The company is set up similar to Mary Kay, or Silpada if you've heard of that one, where they rely on their reps to make the sales. I thought it would be a fun idea to host a trunk show at my new home. This way I could help Danielle out with her selling while having people over to see my new place at the same time. Plus, as a hostess you get rewarded off the sales that are made with credits to buy discounted jewelry!

I set the date for last Sunday, and Danielle did the rest. She created an evite for me to send out as well as following up text messages for everyone committed to coming. She also set up a link online so that people who were unable to attend could still shop. On the day of, she planned to come over a little earlier in order to set up her trunk load of jewels.

I was excited to have the girls over, and got started right away on the menu. I hit up Pinterest for a few ideas as well as making some old favorites. Pretty much everything was a hit, so I'll share the recipes here:

Meatballs: one of my mom's go-to appetizers. Dump a bunch of Costco frozen meatballs in a crock pot and add a mixture of 1 cup ketchup, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup red wine. Set it either to high or low depending on how much time you will be cooking them before the party so they are warmed and ready to go.

Pear slices: I found this off of Sarah's Pinterest board. Recipe is here.

Jalepeño Popper Pizza: this was my favorite. Another Pinterest find...recipe can be found here. I used Pilsbury pizza dough (thin crust) for mine and made sure to make half without bacon for Colleen.

Bitesize Caprese: you'll see this one on Pinterest too, but I have to give credit to my mom for coming up with it...way before the days of pinning. You skewer a cherry tomato, fresh basil, and a little mozzarella ball onto a toothpick and drizzle with balsamic.

Artichoke dip: another one from Mom. I don't have exact measurements, but the ingredients include canned and quartered artichoke hearts, mayo, sour cream, parmesan, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. I served this with little toasted baguette slices.

Veggie cups: these are all over Pinterest too, but I first saw them at Weiner's house for Maeve's bday and loved the idea. Put ranch in the bottom of a plastic cup and fill with veggies so everyone has their own personal serving to double dip into, genius. I made the ranch from Uncle Dan's packet mix (my favorite, just mix with mayo and sour cream) and put in snap peas from my mom's garden and some carrots.

Cake batter popcorn: this is a Pinterest find too, but Danielle discovered it and served it at her housewarming party. I loved it so much, I made it myself! It's an easy recipe (found here) and who doesn't love popcorn and cake batter?

I also serve champagne with an assortment of juices and frozen raspberries.

Danielle came by and started setting up as I drooled over it all. The jewelry is all so fun and stylish!

The girls started to arrive, minus a few that weren't able to make it. It turned out to be just fine though, more food for those of us there! And, everyone that did come found something they liked to purchase. I myself wanted it all, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to limit it to just a few things.

Thanks again to Danielle and everyone that made it, I had a blast sipping champagne and gossiping all while dripping in jewels!

Family dinners

My grandpa came into town last Friday from Palm Desert, so I've been enjoying all the family time we've gotten to spend with each other.

Friday night I headed over to Mom's to join her, Grandpa, and my uncle Bub for dinner. It was a nice night, so we got to eat outside. Mom grilled a delicious flank steak on the BBQ, and we had freshly baked monster cookies (chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal) for dessert.

The next night, Clint and I headed back to Mom's for an even bigger family dinner. Me, Clint, my mom, Grandpa, my aunt and uncle, and cousins Joe and Max all gathered on the back patio to enjoy the nice day. Joe and Max played some croquet, and I took pictures of my mom's gorgeous garden. My mom has the greenest thumb I've ever seen. She's done such a great job with both the front and back yard, I just love being there.

Mom cooked up another delicious meal...pulled pork sliders, potato salad, fruit, and more monster cookies. We had a great time visiting and laughed a lot.

Then on Monday, I had the whole gang over to my place. I've been anxiously waiting to show Papa my new house, so it was great to finally have him over. I gave him the grand tour, and he even brought me a housewarming gift. Actually, the coolest gift ever! It's a set of three landline phones that you connect to your cell phone by bluetooth. Then they ring whenever your cell phone rings, or you can make outgoing calls with them using your cell phone line. It even downloads your contact list so you know who's calling. I can have one on each floor so I don't have to running up and down stairs searching for my phone! Smartest thing ever.

I made grilled pork tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, corn on the cob, a green salad my mom brought, and strawberry poundcake for dessert. I love hosting in my new house, so much fun. We also broke out the Kinect and had fun playing river rafting games while having our picture taken.

My grandpa's here until Monday, so I'm looking forward to spending some more time together before he heads home.

San Diego

Friday morning we woke up bright and early again to get our stuff together in order to disembark the ship. We wheeled our luggage up to the Lido Deck for one last breakfast buffet. The four of us sat and ate not wanting to leave as the overhead announcements thanked us all for coming, but it was time to go! We reluctantly rolled our luggage off the ship and made our way back to the car. I slept the whole way back to San Diego, cruising sure wears you out.

We got to Blake and Rebecca's house, and they graciously let us use their mother-in-law studio while we stayed for the weekend. They usually have it rented out, but the new tenant wouldn't be moved in until Aug 1st, so it worked out perfectly. Rebecca had some stuff to do around the house and Blake needed to do some work for a few hours, so Clint and I settled in and took a nice long nap.

Well rested, we went upstairs and enjoyed the beautiful day on their patio. We contemplated what to do for dinner...maybe just a salad? Nope. This is San Diego, take us to the nearest taco shop. Nancy's is just down the hill from their place which we've had before when we've stayed over, so I got excited when Rebecca suggested it. We put the order in, went down to pick it up, then feasted back at the house.

After dinner Clint and Blake set up the Xbox and Kinect that Uncle Clint had bought for the girls so they could enjoy it when they got home from Grandma's the next day. Rebecca and I relaxed in the hot tub while they did this, then it was time for bed. It was a nice relaxing day after relaxing on a ship for four days.

The next morning we all headed out to Carmel Mountain (just a little north of Poway) to Clint's cousin Jonathan's house. Jonathan was having the whole family over...Clint's parents Karen and Jerry, Karen's brother and his wife and their 3 kids (Clint's cousins) Cynthia, Christopher, and Jonathan, all their souses and little kids, and the 4 of us plus Brooke and Brynn who hadn't seen their parents since before the cruise. It was a full house and great to finally meet everyone. The weather was gorgeous again (no wonder Clint misses it there so much) as we ate outside and visited.

After Jonathan's we headed back to Blake and Rebecca's. Clint's parents stopped by too so they could drop off the girls at home. We hung out on the back patio again as some of Clint and Blake's friends came over to visit. We sipped on some Ladybugs, the most delicious summer blended drink I have ever had. Just blend frozen watermelon, vodka, lime, and sugar. Noms. Clint's parents had also picked him up a birthday gift while they were in Maui, so he got to open that.

Clint and his mom with his new surfboard cutting board

Karen and Jerry headed out, and we decided to order dinner again...from Nancy's. I was sure to get my fill of carne asada while I could! We spent the rest of the night jumping on the trampoline, playing Xbox, and then once the girls went to bed...sitting by the campfire and playing drinking games. We laughed a lot and had a great time. Clint sure enjoyed being home and being able to catch up with everyone.

The next morning we took our time packing, not wanting to go home and have the trip come to an end. We played some games with the girls, and took the bikes out for a spin in the cul-de-sac. Blake had found a tandem bike on one of his hauling jobs as well as a ape-hanger cruiser on the side of the road for free. Clint and I had fun testing these out.

Brynn had fun chasing after us

It was finally time to say goodbye as Clint's parents came to drive us to the airport.

We had such a blast. Blake and Rebecca are super fun to travel with, and I hope this was just the first of many trips with them. I also hope we make it down to San Diego more often to enjoy their beautiful weather. My one regret was not meeting up with Trisha and Jenni who just recently moved there. Don't you worry though, I'll be back soon, I'll make sure of it!