Astoria 'n' More!

My wonderful husband and I finally took some time out to be together and just rest. We chose Astoria as our 'do-nothing' vacation get-away and had a fine time pretty much doing that! We ate at some old favorite places: lunch on the way down at in Clatskanie (that's klats-KAN-eye for you non-Oregonians) at Humps and breakfast at Andrew & Steve's near the Waterfront. We also found some new great places we plan to re-visit again, perhaps in the summer. I was able to do some shopping at a cool place called Gypsy's Whimsy

Gypsy's Whimsy Astoria 2010

The proprietor was a very helpful lady who had very good herbal supplies. I was able to buy several herbs (Mullein, Nettles, Oregon Grape Root and Red Clover) in small quantities to try at home for different remedies. She has a very interesting store with all kinds of things that a pagan like me would be interested in: Day of the Dead figurines, Tibetan Singing bowls, Moroccan spice chests, handwoven textiles and natural body products. Just a door down was another store I loved as well, Terra Tones , where I purchased a lovely blue Peacock cut velvet scarf for OCF this year. I also got a neat Oak Man plaque and a bracelet for our daughter.

Pink Sweater

Window shopping in Astoria is fun too and I was able to grab a couple pictures of some interesting items: The pink sweater has a really beautiful pin on it and the picture doesn't do it justice. It has a long feathery loft and looks like it is made from Angora or a similar yarn. Down the street was a neat thrift store in an old pharmacy space with some very pretty shoes I would have liked to buy...but they were a very impractical color!

White Shoes

Although nothing was playing the ONE weekend we were there, they have some great shows at the Liberty Theatre, which was recently renovated in 2002. It is just down the street from the Hotel Elliott (itself restored in the late '90's). You can also see next door the sign for the "Rusty Cup" coffee shop, a nice comfortable place to hang out and read all the books or magazines you never buy at home!

Liberty Theatre 2010

Finally as an sewing enthusiast, I found a fascinating thing about the paintings in our room...they were embroidered as well! Here is a picture of the largest one (they were all done by "Ronnie"), which has punch needle trees, and straight stitch outlines of the houses and fencing. The artist used silver metallic thread at the water line on the farside near the mountains. The effect is very 3-D but soft and unassuming. It took me a whole day to realize there was something different about them....I can't wait to go back to discover more things!


Room Painting/Embroidery 2010

San Francisco!

I went down to "The City" the weekend before last, by myself to visit an old college friend who was going to be in the Bay Area. SO MUCH FUN...Bought tons of books and magazines at the Borders near Union Square...where they were putting up a huge Xmas tree and had a little skating rink!
"MEN AT WORK!





















My hotel was just 1/2 a block from the Chinatown gate, and one of my fave restaurants,Cafe de la Presse. The hotel I liked alot - all the guests were very friendly and always struck up a conversation in the ONE very old slow elevator. The only caveat I have is that it did not have air conditioning...which was needed for the unseasonable warm weather they had. In the picture below, I'm looking out on the backside of the Chinatown gate at one of the pretty window displays..the restaurant is on the other side of the street in the background. I bought something for my new nephew at one of the quirky tchotchke-crowded stores...

Tourists!



Hmmm, the Cafe had some great tomato soup, blissful chocolate & strawberry gelato, and a great steak! Plus there are lots of magazines and books (in many languages too..so you can brush up on your French or German) to read while waiting for your meal. Mostly my friend and I walked around downtown, went window shopping and talked - alot! We also had a Dim Sum lunch down near the waterfront with another friend...very good! It's always great to catch up with someone who you're not able to see often enough...speaking of window displays - here's another one that caught my eye. Don't you just LOVE the colors on this lamp!



I want this one in my dream house!



We also saw a live version of the Rocky Horror Show, which was tons of rolicking fun! We met a cute French guy who was taking two girlfriends to the show....even though it was technically "sold out", they managed to get tickets-Yay!. The play is a little different than the film, but I liked seeing what the Victoria Theatre did with it...and OMG the shoes! They were the highest stilletto fetish heels I've ever seen (mostly red instead of black this time around); I was contantly afraid some actor was going to get a terribly sprained ankle or land flat on his/her ass!...(it nearly happened once..the entire audience audibly went "aaaaggghhh"!).


We also visited a newer shopping mall (mostly for the temperature factor), The Westfield Centre, right on Market st....it's got a beautiful dome, 5 floors of shopping, a movie theatre (saw Quantam of Solace..). It's a bit on the chic spendy side...did find an interesting Japanese tea shop Lupicia, (link takes you to a short review)...bought some Pommier for a gift too!


Finally I'll leave you with an early morning pic out of my hotel window of "The City" on the day I had to leave (sob!).

Coit Tower & Chinatown

PS. I can't say enough about BART and MUNI...the FANTASTIC public transportation is one of the main reasons San Francisco is such a joy to visit.

Seaside Thoughts and Musings....

Sunset on the Prom

Geez, it's almost the end of August...this "workin" business sure tends to interfere with my life! I have only 3 more days, yay!Anyway, earlier this month I took a week long vacation in Seaside w/my Dad and Husband. It was alot of fun, especially since I took along my new book I got for my birthday, The Druid Magic Handbook by John Michael Greer, sequel to his first book on the subject, The Druidry Handbook (which I also have!).

I took time out to finish some sewing projects, of which I VERY proud! I plan on having them framed when I have some money to do so...along with my OCF poster I got this past July.

I also went for long walks along "the Prom", some with Dad, and some w/hubby...but mostly by myself. The last couple days were a little strange...very misty and foggy. I walked all the way to Avenue U from the Turnaround...and on the way stopped to sit on a bench for a rest. Quite unexpectedly a flock of Canadian Geese winged almost silently overhead...almost imperceptible in the heavy misty morning. They flew in from "nothingnesss" straight as an arrow into "nothingness"...only they knew where they were going by some unknown sense. They seemed to be going to Tillamook Head from the direction they were going...I only knew that since I've been to this area since I was a little kid and have a good sense of direction. Otherwise, you could only see about 30-40 feet to any one side of yourself, due to the fog.

Strange and glorious, maybe even a little thrilling. I took a walk barefoot on the beach later that same day. I wanted to experience something, a bit of nature, perhaps I was in a "Spiritual Attitude" as Brendan Cathbad Myers says in his book, The Mysteries of Druidry. (I got this book in Astoria, of all places!).

Yea, Druidry - it's got alot to offer. I'm pondering that as a possible additional path to the Goddess path I've been treading for some time now... And I've ordered all of Shekhinah Mountainwater's currently available works: her Rune Book, Music CD, and Last Interview DVD, (she passed away August 11, 2007). Last year I managed to get my hands on her seminal work, Ariadne's Thread; a well-used copy from Powell's. I feel lucky to have gotten it.

This has been a busy summer, but I've been in the best of health (mostly!) to enjoy it! I can tell my mind and heart have been turning to make some decisions and commitments...while letting others go..but I need to figure out out exactly how and when all this will happen. What's important, what's not - and focus my efforts and energy towards those goals.

Now, curiously, as I'm no longer in my twenties...or even thirties (!)..I feel confident I will make the right decisions...but I'm not so impatient or anxious about it as I was in earlier times.... it will be "All in good time" I expect!