Our Newport get away...

Hyrum and I had been having a very busy couple of weeks with work and everything else! We decided that Saturday immediately after I was done at work, he was going to pick me up, and we were just going to hit the road.

We had no idea where we were going. The plan was to just get in the car, visit lots of fun places, and chose a place to stay when we were tired.

The first part of our trip involved us getting out of the city and into the farm lands!




We decided to stop in Tillamook and visit the massive dairy and take the tour.






The cheese was great, although his parent's dairy makes much better!


After the cheese, we drove for a few hours, stopping often to take pictures.

After driving for a few hours, we started to look for bed and breakfasts that would suit our taste. We probably drove past 30 before we finally saw one that we LOVED.

I won't tell you the name, because I don't want YOU to fall in love with it too! Selfish I know, but it was lovely!

Our room was absolutely lovely and we chose it because it had the best view of the beach and the ocean out of the whole house.











The view right outside of our room...



Before breakfast we took a walk down on the beach. We were having a blast jumping around on the rocks and looking for tide pools.

After check out we spent the day exploring Newport. It was so much fun. We started out by exploring the boardwalk and the boats.

Well that and some local friends that randomly come to visit.

We spent some time at the Ripley's Museum just for kicks...

Followed by the wax museum...

and the underwater garden.

After all of that fun, we went to Oregon's tallest lighthouse and climbed all the way to the top!

Yes we climbed the many flights of stairs it took to get up to the lense at the top!

Followed by black sand beaches...





We ate the most fresh and fantastic tasting sea food the whole time we were in town! Now we are super exhausted and need some to time to recover!

We are really looking forward to next month's get away too!

Life in the desert...

A long time ago I had the great privilege of going to a private art gallery showcasing of work by Gal Weinstein. It was fantastic and has stuck with me for a long time. I finally found some photos of his work.

Let me set the scene:

I was 18 years old and living in Ramat-Aviv, Israel. I was homesick in a way that I can't describe. Some days I felt like I was crazy; what in the world was I doing in Israel?!

When I was invited to the gallery I was really kind of flippant about it. It was just another outing with all of the family. When I saw the main ballroom I nearly lost it!


The whole floor looked like the dessert.



It was entirely cracked and fragile dirt. Bowed pieces with rounded edges. I waited until everyone left the room before I swooped down and touched the smallest of corners.


It crumbled.


I felt like I was home. In my parents back yard on the mountain.



* Just a little piece of information: the picture in the back ground is 3D and entirely made up of white canvas and black steel wool fuzz. Lovely.

Time to stop the train

Why don't I ever blog anymore? Well mostly because I am a busy girl and I have a pretty set schedule!

Like usual, my life is a lot of cake and flowers. What's not to love?

My neighbor brings me flowers from her garden almost every weekend. Sometimes I use them for cakes...



and other times I make them into arrangements with some of my flowers...



I have been working about the same as usual and have been having a lot of fun. I am getting to do a little bit more complicated or larger cakes. It is awesome.

This is a half sheet banana whipped cream cake for a birthday.



This cake was for a sweet little old lady. It is hard to tell the proportions of the cake, but the entire cake had a diameter of only 4 inches. That was one tiny loop bow. The pictures don't really capture how dainty it really was.




Today I spent 2.5 hours in the dentists chair and my whole jaw is super sore. I'm sure I will feel better in a few days. I hope...

Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary!

Yesterday was so much FUN! We took the day off to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary!

First he surprised me with these...



So lovely. He has perfect taste!

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We spent most of the day down at the river and of course we brought our favorite child. (Who just had her 3rd birthday on Monday)











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For dinner we went into downtown Portland to the Galleria building and had dinner at Bleu.






We went at 6 pm, which was the earliest dinner begins seating (we wanted privacy). We had a blast tasting and experiencing everything.





We decided on the 5 course meal, which is always super fun!

Hy had:

1.Soup:Beef and Barley soup
2.Appetizer: Pan Seared Shrimp with Bayou vegetables
3.Salad: Mixed Greens with grapes, bleu cheese, and walnuts.
4.Entree: Salmon with a lemon cream sauce, herb polenta, and tender asparagus.



5.Dessert: Crepe Suzette with mango sauce


To die for right?!

I had

1.Soup: Potato and Leak
2.Appetizer: Duck confit served on a puff pastry with a plum coulis.
3.Salad: Mixed greens with crab, mango chutney, and avocado.
4.Entree: Peppercorn crusted beef fillet, garlic mashed potatoes, and a bed of greens.



5.Dessert: Lemon and honey souffle...drool.

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After dinner we took a relaxing stroll around downtown to Pioneer Square, until it started to pour!







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It was an entirely PERFECT day. I am so thankful for H and everything he has done in my life. I cant imagine anyone being a better husband or best friend.



Better run, he just made smoothies! (BOY AM I SPOILED OR WHAT?!)

There are no bunnies in this house...

Since the Johnson family currently consists of 3 members (Hyrum, myself, and puppy Lily) there is no real reason to have an Easter bunny celebration! So instead of plastic eggs stuffed with manifactured candy, we spent the day relaxing together!

Hy suprised me with flowers, lilies and irises!



Lily got a GIANT bone for her Easter present!



Work has been pretty busy getting ready for all of the Easter orders and trying to fill all of the extra whole sale orders! I spent some time on Saturday morning making Baccone Dolce...drool.



They consist of baked meringue, a banana in the center, surrounded by warm ganache, whipped cream on top, and chocolate filigree behind a glazed strawberry.



Last weekend...



and some of the lovely ladies I work with...



Spring has come and the most exciting thing for me is the blooming of my pear tree!



If we end up with even half as many pears as we had last year, it will be far too many!





Now I am off to bed, hoping that tomorrow gets here pretty quick. The family has been waiting for some news the last few days and we are all on pins and needles. Good luck to us.