yesterday's comfort of simple layers, driving to the 90s & late night chocovine...

I wallowed in the splendor of new and quiet landscapes
the comfort found in familiar songs
the perfection in desperate, maudlin voices

the adventures of passion told in doleful eyes

i love full, lush foliage...

The dreary weather broke just long enough to enjoy a nice afternoon in Portland's Japanese Garden. I must have taken more than a hundred photos there! It's hard to get used to seeing such bright green, full, beautiful trees after all the desert landscapes that used to fill my life. But I am starting to really love all the forests and the way the world looks much more mysterious under some fog...

click 'em for a larger view. there are always more photos on my photostream @ bottom of page...

my finished cape!

So, I went with the heart fabric instead of the leopard print. I think it makes the cape look a little bit more fun...or...less intimidating than the leopard print would've made it.(not the best pics, but you get the idea)
 

While I'm at it, This is the nerdy shirt I wore under it...

Sunday & it's Raining!

It's cold, the wind is whirling things around, the rain's coming down & I love it...
Right now, it is the perfect background to my sitting on the sofa surrounded by blankets and fabrics as I go through my pictures from Vegas and decide whether or not to use this heart fabric to replace the hood lining in my new cape...I think YES!

day on the Oregon coast...

Our day exploring parts of the Oregon coast may have to be blamed on our insomnia and  this article on Yahoo! (top 10 coolest small towns). Well, since Astoria, OR was #2 and it's only a little more than an hour away from us, we decided to just make a day of it. We would see all those "tourist" spots we tried so hard to avoid. Since our journey started at around 5:30 am, we planned our route around exploring the small town of Astoria, the beaches, aquarium, arcade, and shopping of Seaside, the Tillamook cheese (and ice cream!!) factory of Tillamook, and the Oregon State Fair.  5:30am to about 10pm + traveling = longest day ever, but with great views!

Astoria mural along the river.

 New JCP merchandise with a classic facade.

  One of the many cute store fronts.

 Astoria riverfront.

The Astoria column. By far the most touristy of our stops but the view from the top is amazing.

 One hundred and sixty-some step, spiral staircase to the top.

A couple rest stops along the way.

 The famed Victor at the Seaside Aquarium. Who suffered a fatal blow as a result of being dropped to the ground while a thief attempted to run away with him.

 Some more aquarium friends.

 Some views and stops along the way to Tillamook!

 Tillamook! (obviously) The place was actually quite interesting. Cheese sampling and a good time watching a factory line machine malfunction while enjoying ice cream cones. Although we did manage to make it to the State Fair around 7pm, we were both tired and a little cranky for photo ops.