August Recap

August Recap- Enjoying Summer 

Was anyone else's August busy?  When I looked back at my August it was packed full of fun.  No wonder the month just flew! 

I kicked off August with the re-opening of my etsy shop.   I closed it for the month of July so I could do a little revamping of the shop, glittering up a lot of new items and creating a lot of tulle poms in a variety of colours. I love creating items for peoples parties.  

The first weekend in August saw a visit from family who live out of state. It was great to spend time with family and celebrate my cousins birthday.   I feel so blessed to have a large family.  There was 16 of us at dinner.  That's just my parent's, aunts and uncles and cousins.  

The birthday dinner was followed by a weekend of goal setting with three local bloggers.  This was a BIG goal setting session.  We weren't talking about how we were going to grow our social media numbers.  We were talking the BIG goals that would take our businesses farther.  Of course I had to set up a little party table.  We had no idea after this session that we'd end up collaborating on a workshop together.  More to come on that later. 

The next week was the Portland Street of Dreams.  I love touring these houses with an eye on the party spaces.  I wouldn't want a house as big as the ones at Street of Dreams but I do get ideas for how to improve our little house. This year we're re-doing the front yard. It needs it bad.  My man says it's like four-wheeling with the lawn mower.  There's so much moss and lumpiness and just all around too much grass. 

An exciting event in August was the solar eclipse.   Of course I had to throw a little celebration.  It's not every year that the solar eclipse happens.  What an exciting event.  My man wasn't excited about it and just worked right through it.  I of course stopped what I was doing and watched the eclipse happen with a couple of friends. They say opposites attract right 😉

At the end of the month I had a great phone chat with Christa Graham Wedding & Events.  I met her in a Facebook group and me being the extrovert I am, as soon as I found out she was a wedding planner I reached out and said, hey, we should chat sometime.  We ended up having a great conversation and bounced a lot of ideas off each other.  Stay tuned for those ideas to come to life later this year and into the next. 

Phew! August was a busy fun filled month.  How was your August? 

Summer Wine Tasting

Summer Wine Tasting 

This summer the Portland Blogger and Creatives group got together for a little wine tasting at Stoller Winery. Summer is a great time for wine tasting with friends.  Especially if you rent a limo or other car service so everyone can enjoy tasting. 

I just love the wide open spaces around wineries as you drive up to them.  This lone white farm house caught my eye and as I stopped to capture the shot I day dreamed about living on acreage. But than I thought about how many times a week I make craft store runs. 😜

One of the things I really like about Stoller is that they kept Oak trees among their vines.  White oak's to be exact.  White oak numbers have decreased dramatically and Stoller is helping to preserve the species.  Plus just look at that view! I like the variation the oaks and pine trees bring to the view of the vineyard. It's such a relaxing view. 

Not only is Stoller helping preserve white oaks, their tasting room is solar. Way to go Stoller. Those Adirondack chairs were calling my name but I had to meet up with the rest of the blogger group. Plus I would have FRIED in minutes under the hot summer sun. 

Enjoying the first tasting in our flight.  This was a chardonnay. Normally I do not like chardonnays. I'm all about the reds.  But this one was surprisingly good. Our sommelier informed us that this chardonnay was from a stainless steel barrel not an oak barrel.  That must be why I like it.  Along with the flight we were also served a charcuterie board.  

Now this is my kind of wine, red. Do you prefer white or red?  Let me know in the comments. 

As the event wined down and we all started to head out I caught Mt. Hood in the distance as I made my way to my car. 

Of course Mt. Hood was so much clearer in person.  I can never capture it in a photo the way it looks in person. 

Have you enjoyed any outings with friends this summer?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

Pacific Northwest Blogger luncheon

Made by A Well Crafted Party   Correction. This was not made by A Well Crafted Party

 Saturday I attended my first blogger meet-up.  I've heard all about these and was looking forward to connecting with other bloggers in the area and getting some valuable information.  The event was held at Journey's, only about 30 minutes from my home.  Lunch was nice and light which was great since it was a warm day.

 We all got a professional picture taken from Margaret Jacobson.  Cara Denison. She put everyone right at ease and of course I had to have fun with the camera and bring out my inner model.

Three projects helped us all get our craft on and get to know our neighbors at our table. I sat with
This Sweet Revery, Rain City Baby, and Harpers happenings  . Not party peeps like myself but a nice group of ladies.

Our first project was a painted canvas tote from Brit.co . The kit comes with everything you need.

Shameless self promotion :) and yes, I know it's crooked

Our next project, I um, didn't finish. It was a hanging plant craft taught by The Paper Mama. All the ladies caught on quick as soon as they heard it was like making a friendship bracelet. I never made those. So not my style, even back when I was kid. 

The last project was from A Well Crafted Party .  We didn't have much time left for her project but it was easy enough to do at home.  Printable cupcake tags and a bunting. For those of you reading this she's offering a 15% discount in her Etsy shop. Just use code PNWblogger .Expires 9/30/13

SWAG BAG 

I've heard of these but have never seen one in real life. Now I got my very own!  Chocked full of fun goodies. 

It was a good afternoon full of crafts and meeting others.