Our Little Escape + Coastal Drive Bys March 3, 2008

On Thursday of last week I decided I was ready for an ESCAPE. For real. No imaginary trip to a castle in Scotland was going to do this time. I called my husband and sheepishly said, “Do you want to leave the kids this weekend and head to the beach?” He said, “You mean for the day, right? The beach house isn’t done yet.” And I said, “No. I’m talking about going to The Cannon Beach Hotel — for two nights.”

I could hear him smile on the other end of the phone. It was a spur of the moment idea, the sun was shining and I knew we had a window of opportunity that probably wouldn’t come again until summer. And I was ready to get out of town NOW! This is not something we do very often — just taking off spontaneously without the kids. And normally it involves a bit more planning and reality is, it usually involves an anniversary. This time, it was all about being spontaneous and fun. And continuing in my resolve to be deliberately disconnected from the computer in order to live a full life in the real world.

I called the charming Cannon Beach Hotel and lo and behold, they had a vacancy! We threw our bags in the car the next morning and off we went! One and a half hours later (and a Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard for each of us), we arrived. YAHOO! A weekend, UNPLUGGED and CHILDLESS! I think all that talk about the beach house and coastal kitchens last week, coupled with the “Disconnect Challenge” finally merged. A Beach Weekend, Unplugged. I was determined to live out my dreams, yes indeed.

I have to say that we are pretty much homebodies most of the time. We love travel but our life usually revolves around kids, schedules, our house, computers, cleaning, cooking, laundry, working and starting over again the next day with the same routine. Typical days for families with several children. The routine grows comfortable and familiar. Life is good and we are happy with it. But every now and then it is good (and necessary) to escape and get away as a couple (or even alone or with friends!). And that we did. Usually we’d escape to our own beach house, which we are so blessed to have, but knowing that it is still a ways from completion, we splurged on a hotel.

We had breakfast in bed overlooking a cozy fireplace, leisurely walks, tasty food from real restaurants (no Burger Kings), coffee breaks in charming bistros and time to breathe in the fresh sea air. The sun was shining most of the time. We took a couple of naps. We had time to talk about anything and nothing all. We had no where we had to be. And no computer in sight.

I loved this little espresso cafe (below). It had tons of vintage Scottie stuff and antique paintings everywhere. We sat at the copper counter and drank lattes and ate cinnamon rolls. Yummy. The cafe was in Gearhart, a town just a few miles from Cannon Beach near Seaside. Super quaint beach town.

 

Across the street from this cafe was an adorable cottage shop. Much to my utter embarrassment, my husband got the hiccups (very LOUD hiccups) while we were chatting with the owner, oohing and ahh’ing over all the cute stuff she had. I tried to usher him quietly out the door, but the owner stopped us and graciously shared her natural remedy for hiccups. She ran and got him a lovely bottled water and a cup. You would have laughed hysterically had I taken photos, he was drinking out of a cup upside down bending over in the middle of her cottage shop. She was carefully instructing him how to drink from a cup while upside down. I was mortified. But, it worked. He was hiccup free the rest of the trip. Thank goodness.

 

Cannon Beach has some really charming shops, restaurants and buildings. I never tire of wandering through them. In the summer all the flower beds are absolutely gorgeous bursting with blooms and greenery. In the winter all the trees are covered in magical white lights.

This is an adorable theatre where we have seen a few plays over the years. My parents just bought season tickets so I’m sure it will become their regular hangout!

 

I couldn’t resist taking a few little charming Drive By beach cottage photos just for you, my chickadeees! Yeah, my husband graciously pulled over and backed up and nearly drove off the side of a cliff for me to snap a few photos for you. He’s a gem. I tried not to take too many as I was trying to be completely unplugged from blogging. This was just a wee compromise. We do both enjoy houses so it wasn’t too torturous for him.

 

I had to show you photos of these furry Easter bun buns. Aren’t they adorable? They were just romping around freely in one section of Cannon Beach. Tons of them hopping all over the place. I’m a sucker for little cute animals. I love them.

OH, yes, and speaking of bunnies, I saw a movie I absolutely adored. I rarely love movies, most of them leave me snoring, but I thought this one was exceptional.

Miss Potter. The story of Beatrix Potter.

I am definitely buying it and will add it to my other list of favorites, including Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride II. It has a great story, cast, awesome scenery and houses (a must for me!), and cute little animals frolicking about. My husband even liked it, which was a miracle because it had nothing remotely to do with sci-fi, action or aliens.

 

There you have it, My Beach Weekend — Unplugged.

 

 

Personal Style & Bonus drive by January 20, 2008

Dearest Ones! You all are so fun to take on home tours! Thanks for coming along! I’ll do another one soon since clearly we are kindred spirits. It is so fun to dream and gawk with you. Speaking of dreaming, my friend over at The Liberty Post Gallery gave me the best birthday present, a special “Drive By” in honor of my special day last week:

You all are getting to know me so well, you all can present me with a “drive-by” anytime (Oh, that would be splendid! Just be careful, drive-bys can be harrowing and I don’t want any of you arrested! Leave the risky moves to me!)! Thanks again, Liberty Post! That is one cute house! Such a cheery yellow. I couldn’t help but be happy living in a place like that. I absolutely love it!

PERSONAL STYLE TIPS:

Now, a note on the red shoes. You all shared such great and touching ideas for personalizing your home and for displaying the red shoes. Thank you! I enjoyed reading through everyone’s suggestions. So much inspiration! And there is a great lesson to be found here. How we choose to display precious mementos should vary depending on our personal style, the object itself and the room it will be in.

What might seem right in someone else’s space (or on someone else’s blog!) could be entirely awkward or look completely wrong in your own home. Trust me, I’ve tried ideas in my own home over the years that were great, but totally not appropriate for me or my house. Ah, lessons learned! Interpret each wonderful idea or object you find in the world through the lens of your own style and the appropriateness of the item or idea for your own home.

If you do find an idea you really like, sometimes it just needs a little tweaking in order to make it more appropriate for your space. Even something that looks wrong in one room can look completely different when displayed ten feet in another direction or is grouped with something else. Keep adding and subtracting things, mixing things up and trying new possibilities until your eye says you have it right. Have fun with the possibilities for personalizing your space in subtle ways. Make sure things are meaningful and have a story. That is the way to create a home that is truly authentic.

I know Jenn will find a great and appropriate way to use those shoes! Thanks for sharing your ideas! Once she finds a new place for the shoes I’ll let you know!

Happy Day Everyone!

Photos Copyright: Liberty Post Gallery

Sweet Escape: Drive Bys January 17, 2008

It’s Drive By Time (yes, really we should call it “Drive By Shooting” but this is a non-violent blog and I just can’t bear to title it with such a horrible name!)! I had so much fun getting these photos for you, it had been way too long since our last Drive By neighborhood tour! I really felt like you were all right there ooh’ing and ahh’ing with me. Some of them were so hard to shoot! These houses are not all out in the open, mind you. We are talking gardeners in the front lawn, gates and privacy fences, bushes and shrubs and GUARD DOGS. Luckily my husband was with me to drive as I did the shooting.

I really put myself out on a limb though for a few of these shots, so I have to apologize on the ones that are crooked or slightly out of focus! I was so nervous about getting caught by security crouching down in the rose bushes. Sometimes I had to just shoot and run like crazy! It really can look suspicious when you come leaping out of the shrubbery and get startled by unsuspecting dog walkers. I hate when that happens. But it is all a part of the dangerous world of drive bys.

So, fasten your seat belts — here we go! These next few houses are in the Irvington and Grant Park area of Portland. These houses are more out in the open than the ones coming up in the next neighborhood so we didn’t have to deal with so many obstacles. I love the purple door and trim on this one! It became pretty clear to me after viewing my photos in the first part of the tour that I was drawn to Tudors…

 

And check out their downspout! No detail too small!

Ok, now we drove over the river to the westside of town to Dunthorpe, not too far from where I live now. This is a beautiful old neighborhood my parents used to live in. I’ll show you their house in a future drive-by, I forgot to take a picture of it! Dunthorpe is one of my favorite places for drive-bys because the houses are not McMansions or wanna be mansions, they are the real deal. Really old stately places owned by people who don’t need to impress you, they are beyond that. They like their privacy.

This next house is the one where I risked life and limb for the sake of my blog post. See the bushes in the forefront of the photo below? Yep, those are the ones I had to crawl through to get a glimpse of this beauty.

 

Once I got in the bushes I was able to get a little closer:

Once I made it to the “other side” I took a look around and saw this!

Oh! Happy Gasp! Can you imagine the parties I could have here?! I was so excited! I saw something you couldn’t even see from the street! I got a little lost in the moment and before I knew it I was running across the lawn towards the fireplace (see how it is a little bit blurry? That is because I am running as fast as my legs could go, closer and closer!).

I was really picking up speed when my husband shouted to me from the car:

“Meli? Meli?! Where are you?”

Darn, I had to turn around and make my way back to the car. Next time, if I leave my husband at home, I might make it around to the back entrance. Before I jumped in the car, I snapped a quick picture of the neighboring house.

 

For the rest of the tour my husband made me stay in the car. He threated to leave me in the bushes next time — he was so embarrassed.

 

Ok, now this was my personal favorite (below). It was really hard to get a picture of because my husband would not let me get out of the vehicle, but I did the best I could while hanging out the car window. I loved the lights hanging in their front window! This was my fairytale house. The gate was absolutely beautiful!

 

Many of the houses had their gates locked shut. Probably as a precaution against people like me.

 

 

I really really wanted to get out of the car and get a little closer to this house and to that white gate! But, this was the best I could do while strapped in the car. This is such a homey home!

Now this house (below) was in such a picturesque setting! It was hard to really capture how striking the landscape was. The other amazing thing was that the property was surrounded by a moat. I’m not kidding! We figured that out when we backed into it. Another awkward “Drive By Moment”! Time for us to leave the neighborhood!

 

I have more pictures to share but they are going to have to wait for another Drive By.

Thanks for joining me everyone! If you missed the first Drive By from October 2007, click here!

Sweet Escape: Fairytale Houses October 25, 2007

When I was a kid one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon was to have my parents take me for a drive through neighborhoods to look at houses. Even at a young age, I was fascinated by charming homes. I guess I was a weird kid! We’d slowly wind up and down streets, gazing at front porches, doorways, windows, shutters, lanterns, all the things that make houses look inviting. Sometimes we’d drive through massive gates to get a closer look at a mansion, before getting scared off by giant dogs!

So, because my dream of a sweet escape has always been lovely homes, even more than traveling to far off lands (although in recent years traveling has become more and more intriguing while the upkeep of those dreamy houses is slowly losing its appeal!), today we are escaping through a few of the neighborhoods I grew up in or lived in during my adult years.

I’ve been privileged to live in beautiful neighborhoods that satisfied my romantic fairytale ideals of my youth! Enjoy the festive fall decor and your Sunday afternoon Drive By!

This one (below) was my parents house when my kids were younger: