Mosaic Monday - First Birthday

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My friend's sweet little girl turned one this week - I can hardly believe it!

I made the decorations (I'll explain how in tomorrow's post) and my friend made all the food.

Candy-coated pretzels, strawberry lemonade, cupcakes, popcorn balls, meringue cookies and more. It sure was fun. :)

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the fabulous mosaics!

Good eats

Last Saturday we made a mad trip to Sisters and Bend in Central Oregon - a bunch of us going to a) see the house my mom is interested in buying and b) to give our friends 96 year old mother/grandmother a sightseeing trip. When asked if she thought she could make it she said, "Sure why not I just have to sit in the wheelchair all day anyway" (because of her foot surgeries). What a trooper!

It takes a couple hours to get to Sisters and we made a re-charge stop at Sisters Coffee Company.

It's all rustic lodge inside with these impressive peeled logs going all the way to the second floor.

These barseat's backs are made of hammered copper.

And there's this beautiful river rock fireplace which I was trying to take a photo of while not making the patrons uncomfortable (the ones I'm trying to hide behind the plant).

*sigh* This one's not any better. But you get the idea. Lots of comfy seats to sit and enjoy your beverage.

Here's Doris enjoying an Italian Soda. Isn't she adorable?

There's also a piano against one wall and someone came in, bought a coffee and sat down and played some absolutely beautiful music.

I love tea so I bought some to take home. If you follow me on Twitter you may have wondered what I was talking about when I said "gunpowder" tea (it really was just too interesting to pass up). It's just green tea leaves rolled into little balls so really it just feels like gunpowder but doesn't taste like it. :)

Also bought some huckleberry. And I'm convinced everything that comes out of Montana (based on my several trips there) is huckleberry flavored. It is good, and since around here you have to go in the mountains and fight the bears for them, maybe I'll just stick to buying the Montana version. Visit the tea company's website here.

On the way back from Bend we stopped to eat at the Tumalo Feed Company. And there won't be any photos of the inside because of the "mood lighting."

Because we got there before 5:30 PM we were able to order from a special early evening menu and for $13.95 I got a barbecue chicken breast, rice pilaf, a skillet of fried potatoes, garlic bread (yes, three starches but they were so good.) and beans, plus an after-dinner bowl of sherbet (choices of sherbert, vanilla, root beer float or a nightcap). The food was really good...I'm craving some right now...at 9 in the morning.

The sun was setting on the drive home and the clouds (actually kind of rare for "over the mountain" from the valley) were looking magnificent...even from the back, back seat of the car.

I have to say...it was an exhausting trip, but the food was good! :)

Etsy Finds - soft stuff

Every time a friend asks about etsy I tell them it is a magical and addicting place. :) I have found so many great things there that I could never find in a regular store. Here are some of my handmade faves with a softer side.

I just bought this bag (this exact one) from CraftyTokyoMama - she lives in Japan but come to find out, she used to live in my own tiny town in Oregon! How is that for amazing? Can't wait to put it to good use! If I can't fold it up, I can't remember to take it in the store with me so I was super excited to find this beauty.


This ADORABLE tote was made by the House of Whimsy. And this is the last one!

I am in love with everything over at Fuzzy Lumpkin Crochet - including this neckpiece.

The Framed Frog makes the most fabulous memory boards and they are so affordable!

I just stumbled across these cute, reversible cup sleeves at Daisy Cutter Design - only four dollars and free shipping in the US! Also her shop is new, so go buy something and make her day.

I wouldn't necessarily say these are soft but I bought my mom a pair of these scrubbies at More Than Hats and she absolutely loves them. They scrub well, are durable and aren't too rough on the hands.

I also love the sandwich and snack pouches made by Cotton Top Quilts - they are beautifully and well made. Plus they have a nice water and stain resistent interior. I've given them as gifts but haven't kept any for me - what's the deal with that? ;)

What fabulous thing have you found on etsy lately?

Mosaic Monday - Mom edition

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In honor of Mother's Day I thought a Mom Mosaic was in order. :)
(I'll probably hear about this later, haha)

Top left to right: Mom as a teenager, Mom and I somewhere in Utah, Mom and I at a mining museum in Montana.
Bottom left to right: Mom on her quad, driving slow and catching an afternoon breeze. Mom at Christmas...a few years back. ;). And mom as a little girl - SO cute - standing with her three brothers and two cousins who were close enough to be brothers.

Happy Mother's Day to all the fantastic women (literal mothers or not) who mentor, inspire, love and encourage.

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the fabulous mosaics.

The best semi-automatic weapon I've ever eaten

This weekend is birthday weekend for a friend of my brother's - actually he lived with my family for a month during which time I "murdered" him for my science fair board and project on blood typing. :)

Haha! Good thing he doesn't read my blog. Oh and that's ketchup on his shirt. We really got into it. :)

Anyway, he's kinda like a member of the family and for his birthday, my brother, in an effort to save some dough on sweets, had me bake the cake. I chose this recipe from Bakerella and it was AMAZING.

The flavor was incredible, the texture was incredible. I think I could have eaten the whole darn thing by myself.

I also made the buttercream - my first time trying that one - and I left the frosting rough and homemade looking rather than smooth. Skill certainly had some to do with that but I actually prefer a homemade cake to look homemade.

My brother wanted to decorate it (we both love Cake Wrecks and were trembling at the thought of piping on a message). Since his friend likes to target shoot and had just gotten something to do that with, my brother decided the cake needed a gun.

Haha! It cracks me up! I actually think he did a fantastic job making it look realistic, it just made me laugh to eat a cake with a big black gun on it. (And if you're a Cake Wrecks fan, yes we spelled "Birthday" correctly)

To match we had tank confetti and camo birthday banner, plates and napkins.

Afterwards we watched Zombieland. It seemed fitting. :)

And for something completely different, next weekend I'm doing a pink and lavender little girl's birthday! I'm saving photos until it's done but here's a sneak peak at what I've been working on for it.