... the nicest and sweetest days

"'after all,' anne had said to marilla once, 'i believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.'" --anne of avonlea

... dutch bicycles

in the spirit of my super-fabulous-too-amazing-insert-superlative-here birthday present, which i know i have not shown you yet, because i'm way too busy riding it to take pictures of it, i want to share with you this little video that is making me so happy right now. my good friend, who is half of the team behind the blog newelty, made this delightful video of her daily trip to dutch language school by bike.


i know, right?! and isn't that the happiest little song?

so why am i not packing up my bags and moving to the netherlands right now just so i can ride my bike around in such style and comfort? not to mention the flatness... oh the flatness! curse you and your hills, seattle!

so yeah, can i also mention how much i love newelty? describing it as a travel blog doesn't really do it justice since i, a person who travels so very little, always find so much goodness there. please go see for yourself.

... many little things

there's so much to enjoy right now.



like finally (finally!) planning a new quilt...



... that is slowly coming to fruition.



and painting our old, dingy, cluttered entryway in a nice fresh bright white. [contented sigh.] is it wrong that i would i rather leave it empty and spare and clean rather than fill it with our old crap again?



and, look! a bright splash of yellow that makes my heart so, so happy. (this color is called sunny outlook... need i say more?)



and the giant pile of basil from our farm share that we turned into a whole lot of pesto over the weekend.

not to mention many places to have a nice cold drink on a hot summer day:



a pimm's cup at the white horse.



a beer (and a veggie dog) at shorty's.



a fancy cocktail (and some seriously delicious food) at poppy.



and rejoicing in some recent fabric purchases.

and there's more. but there's always more, right?

... pretty cards

try not to be super jealous, but i just received these amazing letterpress cards in the mail as a thank you for doing the most nominal of favors for a friend.

seriously, someone out there read my mind and combined two of my favorite things: letterpress cards and quilts. aren't these absolutely gorgeous? you can find them here at the krank press etsy store.



they were sent to me by the talented jeannette, who also designs and sells her own super-awesome cards (see above... cuteness, right?) and who, incidentally, writes one of my most favorite food blogs.

and when you add all that to getting little surprise gifts in the mail? well, consider my day made. (and seriously, i need some made days lately, let me tell you.)

... quilting bee blocks

blocks for my first ever quilting bee! these are for our first project for do. good stitches. the fabulous rachel organized this round (and, in fact, put together this whole enterprise) and her parameters were that we use red and aqua and that the blocks be non-wonky and non-curvy.

i had a lot of fun making these, especially working with a color combo that i haven't used before (and discovering that i have very little red in my stash). however, i did find that i was more worried about sewing perfectly than i am when sewing for myself. thinking things like, oh no, those corners don't line up perfectly! or crap, that seam got sewn open! this is the first time that any other quilter will be looking closely at and sewing with my work, and it freaks me out just a little.

next month it's my turn to choose the theme and assemble the quilt. i have lots of ideas, but need to finally settle on one. what will it be?!

... the oregon coast

it seems i documented my vacation in reverse. see, i had the most recent things on my mind and could think of nothing more than portland and cupcakes and food carts (oh my!). but i can't forget the first part of our trip to manzanita, on the gorgeous oregon coast.



we drove down on my birthday (aside: on which i woke up to cupcakes and fresh eggs from my most wonderful neighbors, all discovered after the most perfect morning swim in the lake with my favorite swimming peeps) to stay at our friends' cabin in manzanita. they were there the first night and there was much game playing and talking and we stayed on for an extra day of hiking and beachgoing and tidepool watching. yay for good friends with awesome cabins!





our hike was along the coast through ecola state park to indian beach, that wound through beautiful a coastal forest with occasional views of the water and the rocks below.



i had fun watching the surfers and walking barefoot in the sand. and enjoying the long shadows made by the setting sun.



the next morning we got up bright and early for a tide pool walk led by a naturalist during a minus tide at oswald west state park. what fun!





we saw lots of sea stars and mussels and barnacles and sea anemones and crabs.



there was a gorgeous fog over the water and it was bracingly chilly, yet still, there were surfers out there in the scary looking waves. i so admire our crazy pacific northwest surfers.

but no time for lingering... it was onward to portland and all its delights.