Oregon Coast Trail

Run

Pretentious...

Maybe, but not intentionally.

Our recipe blog IS called Our Perfect Recipe Quest, after all.

Funny thing is, I sort of meant that we were on the Quest for the perfect recipes, not that ours were perfect. It's all subject to personal tastes anyway right? well, mostly:)

I realized during my holiday baking that I add almost an entire cup of flour to my favorite cookie recipe! Seriously, how perfect is it, if I'm altering it every time? Well, needless to say, I fixed the recipe but I'm on the look out for mistakes. We're always experimenting with food to hopefully add to our repertoire.

Last night I made a Thai Chicken Salad. I've made it 3 times now. The recipe comes from this book:


It's kind of incredible. I mean, without sounding psycho... I really, LOVE this salad.

So, I've decided to add it to our list of favorite recipes. It's that good.

Check it out on our blog here. OR, better yet, buy yourself a copy of the cook book, there's a few other recipes in it that may just make the cut into our favorites list, and maybe yours too!

*FYI--This recipe is available on the OUR BEST BITES website. They've posted it for all to have and share.

On a clear day

We ran the bridge again today. It was clear, sunny and beautiful.
We ran 6.25 miles at a 10 minute mile pace + stopping for taking pictures:)
I love that this is the view on my run...

Running the bridge...

The Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Coos Bay on U.S. Route 101 near North Bend, Oregon. The bridge is the official symbol of the City of North Bend, Oregon.

I've been wanting to run the bridge since I moved here. But its small sidewalk and constant renovation construction has kept me from actually doing it. From my front door to the opposite side of the bridge, it is exactly 3 miles. So the run is 6 miles round trip.
My running partner Heather and I made the run. We almost abandoned the idea as the fog was extremely dense and sort of defeated the purpose of running the bridge(Hmmm, no view) but we did it anyway. It was exciting just to finally do it and kind of eerie at the same time. The fog leaves a thin layer of moisture on your skin that made me feel like I was running with a humidifier near my face.


Halfway across the bridge is mile marker 234.
Just me goin' the distance:]:



Next time we're going to run it on a clear day.
The view is spectacular.

Thanks for taking the photos Heather

Christmas isn't Christmas

Without a little White Christmas!

Run for it

I love to run. No, seriously, I do.
I'm not a terribly good runner, nor am I a very fast runner. I average between a 9-10 minute mile depending on my mood.
Finding time to run is one of the hardest things I do. The actual running part is easy. Especially if I have a friend with me:) or a rockin' playlist to listen to.

The very best part of running is the feeling I get while I'm doing it. Not the, "I think my legs are going to burn off", or the "I'm so winded I'm not sure I'll breath normal again" feelings. But the combination of those feelings and more. The feeling of propelling myself forward as quickly as my body will allow me to. The sound of my feet pounding the pavement and the overwhelming sense of accomplishment as I reach my goals. That's why I love running. That's why I keep running. It makes me feel good.

I just happened to move to a place where I can run all year long. Comfortably. My sisters brave the chilly arctic tundra in their home towns(and the intense heat) and I admire their perseverance. I'm not sure I could brave running in below freezing temps(on a regular basis)--no matter how much I love it:)
In addition to being temperate it's also incredibly scenic. What ocean coastline isn't? But just like running, there is something about THIS coastline that gives majestic and beauty a whole new meaning. Craggy rocks, gigantic surf and rolling dunes...need I say more?
I didn't think running could get any better, but it just did.

I've run the Oregon Coast Trail twice now. A wooded trail that starts at the Cape Arago Sea Lion look-out and ends at Sunset Beach State Park. It follows the coast line with incredible views every 100 yards or so. You even run through Simpson Beach and Shore Acres State park. So far, nothing tops it. But next time, I'm running round trip, 3 miles up, and then back.

My good friend Camber has run this trail with me both times. I think she loves it as much as I do. This last trip another friend joined us(Heather) and we made way too many stops to get a real serious workout in. The view was just too much to pass by so quickly. The surf was high and the tide was in. Look out mother nature is bewitching us again!

On the road up to the trail*:

Before the run*:

Simpson Beach*:

Us on Simpson beach(halfway)*:

High tide near Shore Acres*:

We could feel the mist on our skin and after the waves receeded we saw rainbows*:

Along the trail(that's me in the photo)*:

The end. Sunset Beach:

*Photos taken by Heather Allen

Finally!

The Pictures are here!
I was so excited I jumped for joy!

Recap:
My very lovely sister-in-law decided to marry a sweetheart of a boy last August. I was so excited for her. When she asked me to help plan and design the wedding I didn't hesitate! YES please!

Emily was a wonderful bride. I hope she wasn't to overwhelmed with everything. She did an amazing job making decisions(once we cornered her:) and I was so pleased with how everything turned out. A DIY wedding is a lot of work. Many hands worked together to create everything.

Emily was very specific about a few things(as every bride should be). Like--- her cake, shoes, invitations and colors but she was also very open to collaboration. I still wonder if it was everything she hoped for. She was the most beautiful bride.

Emliy chose Gray, Yellow, White & and touch of Blue(cerulean, to be specific:) as her colors. A great combination, but the blue really made it unique to her.

First, we put together the invites. I don't have a photo of the actual invitation. So I've just saved my illustrator artwork as a jpeg file(cutting lines and all:) for sharing right now.

Main invite:

Luncheon Invite:

Ceremony Invite:

Monogram:

All four pieces were printed on heavy matte card stock. They layered together, each one on top of the next, with the smallest(the monogram)on top. Then they tied them together with gray and white bakers twine.
We were going for fresh, modern and simple.
I was slightly disappointed with the color of the yellow on the finished prints. The printer's yellow was slightly greener than I thought it should be, but nothing to cry over. We got a lot of compliments, so it must not have been a deal breaker.

A big part of Emily's budget was devoted to her photographer. She was determined to have a really good photographer. Which, I think is smart. She choose Blush Photography to document her wedding and Brooke did a lovely job. She managed to catch such sweet moments and she was so good to take photos of all the little details everyone and I worked so hard on. I have so many favorites but I've really narrowed it down to just photographs of the details and design I was directly involved in. Plus, a few of my favorites of the happy couple!

Guestbook: I made most of this myself. I covered an album with Emily's choice of fabric. Then I inserted pages of card stock with envelopes lining both sides. We(Emily & Jeri & I) made hundreds of envelopes, using grey and white and yellow patterned paper. Guests were supposed to pick a piece of paper from the basket, some had questions they could answer(I'm always stumped when I try to think of something to write) or there were blank ones, and then they were to sign and slip them into an envelope.


The vintage yellow luggage is my mother's. Truly a wonderful addition to the decor. We used it on the guest table for cards and on another table to hold favors for the guests. Jeri(The mother of the bride) found all of the doilies at the thrift store and I wrapped all of the guestbook pens into flowers using balsa wood roses.

The favors were small bags of sugar coated lemon drops. The tag said "Thanks for 'drop'ping by. You are so sweet."

Cupcakes! Cupcakes! Cupcakes! Small, cute, and fun to eat right? Well, we turned up the volume on cuteness and actually decided to serve-- Cupcakes in a jar! Packaged oh so cute with the doilies and cupcake liners on top, they were a hit! No need to supply the spoons, they came all tied up in the same twine we used for the invitations. The only hard part was choosing between the chocolate/chocolate mousse and the vanilla/lemon custard. YUM!


The cupcake tower was perfect for our display. They took center stage at the reception.

We served lemon water from elegant beverage dispensers along side galvanized tubs full of the bride and groom's favorite sodas--Root beer and cream soda.


That's my cute Evie enjoying her treat.

The home where the reception was hosted is located in Heber UT. It's on many pasture acres of land, which made the setting very picturesque. The home itself was cedar shingled, with beautiful dormer windows and a large backyard. The pool was sort of a hindrance at first, but with some creative thinking I think we overcame the quirks of the layout and it turned out pretty original.

The tables lining the pool side brought everything together, making everything feel more unified. Plus it also kept all of the kids out of the pool! The reflections of the lights and tables in the pool were beautiful. It made the pool very much part of the decorations instead of a distraction. With all the hassle those lights were, they were totally worth it! Lighting is everything! Plus they really gave the outdoor "room" a ceiling which added to the cohesiveness of the layout.

Fresh flowers were a must. We tried to keep to our original goal of having things fresh, modern & simple.

All of the vases are from IKEA and I arranged all of the flowers myself. I worried continuously about the flowers until the reception started. I was determined not to have wilting flowers! I like how beautiful they looked all lined up together on the tables, with the yellow burlap as a runner.

I also arranged and made the bridal party flowers. We used: Spider mums, calla lilies, craspedia, hydrangea, scabiosa and a little woody plant called Berzelia berry(I think:)..... The boutonnieres turned out fantastic, as well as the bouquets(bridesmaids pictured with the guestbook) Emily choose some beautiful flowers!

Our groom is a baseball player and so the grooms cake was a baseball diamond. The cake itself was root beer flavored:) I thought the bride and groom figurines playing baseball were adorable. Emily found them even before we started planning the wedding.

I made the cake topper using the same papers as the guestbook. I love how simple everything looked but the details were charming.

We had signs directing everyone in the right direction. Depending on where they needed to be...

A couple things weren't photographed individually. For example, we took old windows and made them into signs for our food and beverage tables. This photo shows it best...(though not very well)

The patterns and words were cut from vinyl that we adhered to the glass. We hung the windows using hooks and chain from the large wooden gazebo. They turned out beautifully and are a fun keepsake from the wedding day.

Another thing not pictured was the luncheon. We rented a large white canopy and used all the same flowers and burlap that we used during the reception. The decorations played double duty and it saved some of our budget. At each table setting we had a special note to family and friends...

Emily had the idea to do a dutch oven luncheon. I thought it was genius. Unfortunately, the caterer we used was not someone I would recommend. The food wasn't terrible but it wasn't true dutch oven cooking, which was disappointing.

You saw sweet Evie pictured earlier eating her cupcake. I made the yellow petti-skirt she was wearing, and another identical one for her cousin. They were the brides two girl nieces in the bridal party. But here's a few pictures of the boys in their duds-- the wore grey suits with yellow bow ties! So handsome!:)


I wish she had photographed the other kids from the bride's side. They looked so cute in their petti-skirt and fedora hat!

Lastly, I share my favorite photos of my beautiful sister in law and her new husband:


These last 2 pictures just make me smile. Emily has some amazing parents who think the world of her(rightly so) These photos really capture their love and relationship. It's just so full of laughter.


Mrs Emily Chadwick. I love you. Thank you for letting me be a part of your big day. I loved every minute.