Exploring One of the Oldest Cities on the West Coast

Even if it weren't for the fact that I was born there, I really love Astoria.  Not only does its history date back to the early 1800s, but it is just a beautiful town.  Sitting at the gateway to the Columbia River, Astoria is a quiet town in the winter, but full of tourists in the summers.  Sometimes it's kind of fun to act like a tourist in your own community - and I took full advantage of a little spare time this weekend to do just that.

If you drive down Commercial Street, you won't be able to miss the beautiful architecture of the old buildings.

The Liberty Theatre, now used as a performing arts center, was built in 1924.  In the last 15 or 20 years, a lot of work has gone into restoring the theater.  It is really impressive inside and out.

I know I already mentioned this during my Weekend Recap, but I LOVE farmers markets, arts & crafts markets - pretty much any kind of open-air market :)  Astoria shuts down four blocks every Sunday from May to September for their Sunday Market.

Gotta love the Kettle Korn hats!!

If you have never purchase a bouquet of flowers from a market - do it!  This bunch *which is actually a lot bigger than it looks in the photo* was only $10.  The first time I saw these massive bouquets at such a great deal was at Pike's Market in Seattle (speaking of which...I am super jealous of Beth at Hang on Honey - who is headed there this week!).

Astoria's market also has a fairly good-sized food court.  I didn't really spend much time checking it out, because I was there in the morning and not really hungry.  But it looked like they had quite a bit of variety.

If you have a favorite local market, leave me a comment letting me know where.  Maybe if I am ever in the area I can check it out!!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!
*This is my favorite commercial, as of late. And it's Wednesday - which means the perfect time to share it!*

Weekend Recap

I have a problem - my camera battery lasts too long and my SD card holds too many photos.  Ha - this, I know, is not a bad thing.  The problem is that I occasionally go to use my camera and can't because it is dead.  Since it hardly ever needs charged, I never think to check the battery before I go out.  Lately, I've been trying to force myself to just always plug it in when I know there is something coming up (it would be really embarresing to have to tell a client I have to cut their session short because my camera battery died!

I almost thought I was going to have to do that yesterday, but not because I forgot.  I took over 1000 pictures over this weekend!  While Saturday morning I had a fully charged battery, towards the end of my second portrait session Sunday it was getting really low.  Luckily, the little guy got tired so we wrapped up before it was completely gone.

This weekend was really busy - my pictures will tell you so!!

This weekend I . . .
     . . . went rock-crawling with Tristan.  I KNOW that I have mentioned his RC trucks before, but he really loves them and I will occasionally go with.  A fellow RC-er recently built a bunch of trails on his property so we drove out Saturday morning to check it out.  It was pretty fun.

This weekend I . . .
     . . . had my first experience at the race track!  Well, technically I had been there a couple times before - but not for races, for the annual Christmas light display!  Friday and Saturday nights Portland International Raceway hosts drag races where pretty much anyone can race, after an inspection of their vehicle.  I was a little nervous about going, because not only was it my first time watching the races, but Tristan had decided that he was going to race for the first time.  *First time on the track anyways*

     Him and a friend went 7 rounds and it actually was a lot of fun.  Each time I was a little less nervous for him and they did really good.  I could not believe how fast and loud some of the other cars on the track were!

This weekend I . . .
     . . . explored the Astoria Sunday Market.  I don't know why, but I just love going to local markets.  All of the fresh produce and craft vendors are just fun.  And - a great photo opportunity!

This weekend I . . .
     . . . of course, had a couple of photo shoots.  They were both a lot of fun.  I was opening the clouds would burn off a bit more - but it is the coast, so I didn't expect too much.

This weekend I . . .
     . . . explored the Astoria waterfront a little bit in between sessions.

There will be much more to come on all of this later in the week.  But there is a little recap for now!

Time to conquer Monday - yuck.

Happy Fourth of July...And Little Things Thursday *LATE*

So - I had every intention of doing a 4th of July post.  But instead I enjoyed time with friends and family.  I still really wanted to do this post, though, because I had put quite a lot of thought into it.  It will just be better because I can share photos from the Fourth :)

For Little Things Thursday, I want to mention some of the little things in life that I think we tend to take for granted and not appreciate enough.

*Deep relationships: In the past I did not realize the importance of having these in my life.  Relationships with long-time friends, and even those with family members and your significant other, can be extremely superficial.  Maybe not all the time - but sometimes it is easy to just float apart when it comes to serious issues.  Does that make sense?  I love my husband to death, and I know that I can talk to him about just about anything.  But what about the days that he just pisses me off - well on those days I have to have close friends to vent to :)  And I know he does the same.  I am so grateful for the people that I have in my life - especially in the last year.  I have grown a lot when it comes to relationships and there are a few people in particular that I can credit for helping me with that.

*These are NOT the only friends I am referring to...just the only ones I can find good photos of at the moment*

*Beautiful scenery: In my opinion, there is something extremely calming and peaceful about beauty in nature.  The other night, I was driving home from an evening photo shoot and the sun was getting ready to set. <I know I already shared these the other day, but they fit perfectly here, so I need to post them again!>

*Don't mind our bridge which seems to be continually under construction*

The whole way home I was just thinking about how beautiful the sunset was in my review mirrors.  If I wasn't so anxious to get home to my honey, I would have pulled over just to watch it.  I don't know how to describe it, but scenes like these just bring me a sense of peace.

I'm sure the skies are not the only thing in nature that can bring on this feeling, but that is when I, for one, feel it.

*Simple Joys:

From the time the parade got over yesterday morning, until we left to head home in the evening, I don't think I saw my niece without a sucker in her mouth.  She just kept going back to her bag of parade treasures for more.  Wouldn't it be nice if all it took to make our day wonderful was a sucker?

Maybe that doesn't work as we grow up - but there are still small joys in our lives that we should cherish more.  A hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning.  The start of an early (or holiday) weekend.  A simple note left for you on the kitchen counter.  We can let the troubles of the day bring us down, or we can hold on to these sweet moments and let them carry us through.

What are some of my simple joys?  Waking up next to my husband. The giggles of my nephew.  A warm sunny day.

Our little town used to have a pretty great 4th of July celebration.  A grand parade, carnival rides, live music and lots of vendors in the city park and a finale of fireworks at the end of the day.  The last couple of years have just been a little disappointing, though.  It is still fun to watch the kids enjoy the parade, but the afternoon festivities at the park have dwindled and the fireworks show is hit or miss.

None-the-less, we had fun with the kiddos and other family at the parade and with a little backyard BBQ.

Aren't these kids adorable? I don't know them, but I love their ear-muffs!

I think I mentioned this the other day - but if any of you want to share your own 4th of July photos, post them over at my Facebook page!

Oh - and if you haven't already, go check out Kelly's SUPER CUTE 4th of July nails at Today Was a Fairytale.  She is one of my sponsors this month and her blog is definitely worth taking a look at! 

Finally, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' to keep up with new posts!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Throwback Thursday

None of these are really THAT old...but they are all from before I started blogging.  So I thought I would share.

THERE IS ONLY ONE DAY LEFT TO ENTER THE BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY!  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!!

Finally - if you want to know how to make me really irritated, just go read Kalyn's list over at Life As I Pretend To Know It. Pretty much everything on her list applies. Especially the hunger issue. If I am hungry, you better watch out - right, honey?!