The Loveliness of Lark Press

In spite of the lack of sleep, which is not due to active debauchery, but a, hopefuly temporary yet inconvenient  sleeping disorder which has set in the last few days, my long weekend in Portland has been good.
Lots of good girl-family time, which is rare and prized.
And a bit of shopping.
The most satisfying of which was here. Lark Press is my dream shop and this time I had the good luck to meet Nik of Bittersugar, who has a show just across the street of a phonetic alphabet at Ristretto Roasters at 3808 N Williams.  You can see more photos on her blog.
You can snag these here.
My plan is to get one for each letter in my family: PEAQ.  I'm very excited about this, though I have no wall space in my home yet, so I will have to clear a wall first.

So happy that I gave my son a Q name, because that quail is so perfect he makes my teeth hurt.

Oh, I think that it will take me a few posts to share my enthusiasm for GA, Savannah especially!  I'm starting here with a few of the gorgeous interiors of some of my favorites.   I could definitely have spent more time in this town, I can tell there is much richness under the lovely surface which I barely had begun to scratch.
The first three images are from the Back In The Day Bakery.  Mmm...red velvet cupcakes!
The next two are diner cars that Savannah College of Art and Design have restored and opened for business.
The next three are from Gallery Espresso, I made it a point to be there every day, it was just that nice!
(I will show some work that was showing there in a post soon.)
And finally, I have to get the link for this soon and will include it, but this is a bistro we returned to not only for the great atmosphere but for the shrimp and grits!

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The Grit
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I'm in GA for the weekend having  a little getaway with Pipo.  Today he is speaking at the Lamar Dodds Scool of Art here in Athens.  I'm spending the days wandering through this inspiring and quirky town.  I like it.
We've had great culinary fortune here in GA, beginning with a beautiful Southern fare at The Flying Biscuit in Atlanta and again last night and this morning at The Grit, here in Athens.  What these places share are an seemingly effortless ability to serve you the tastiest home cooking with a friendly pride with personality and  beauty in every object and surface that surrounds you!  This is SO my style!
I lived in GA for only my first 6 months...is it possible I absorbed a bit of the DNA in that time?

Spent part of the weekend at our cabin in the woods, then a hike down to Crater Lake. We were going to see if we could jump into the lake but it was a little chilly and windy, so we made friends with the chipmunks, one of whom helped himself to Q's snickers. I think we broke some rules, but they were just so darn cute.
The lake is amazing, such an intense blue! The hike down was easy but it's a workout on the way back up. I've been there several times but have never hiked down to the lake, so this time I made a point of getting to the actual water. Very glad I did.

24 short hours in Portland to celebrate our 15th was just enough time to visit a few favorite spots and discover a few new ones.
I always love milling about the Mississippi area, the cutest neighborhood around, I think. I was sad to see that Flutter was gone.....I'm hoping it just moved? But was thrilled to finally get a chance to visit this little boutique nursery in the top photo.....if plants can make your heartbeat just a little faster they most certainly will here.



Oblation Papers...........(swoon).... in the Pearl.





I've forgotten the name of this breakfast cafe in the Pearl (anyone?) but it had a high collectors' love factor and low hipster invasion element (hipsters are just fine, but there is a saturation point) which made it the perfect spot.




Hotel Monaco.........super cute.....highly recommended!




Doug Fir Lounge.....got the Dust a little drunk then finished his drink for him. To his credit, they do make them strong.

On vacation, visiting the area that one of my favorite writers immortalized.  It's been so long since I've been here that when we visited Cannery Row I could no longer recognize it as any place I had ever visited or visualized. I can't imagine the confusion Steinbeck would feel if he experienced it now. The aquarium, however is gorgeous. He may have appreciated that, at least.