Annalie and I have been having a blast in Oregon so far! Did I mention that we were going to Oregon? Hmm, maybe I only twittered about that.

So…we’re in Oregon! We came to visit our good friends Erin & Rocco, whose wedding cake I made last fall. I was glad to move back to California partly because we would be on the same coast as them for a while. One of the biggest reasons I didn’t go to BlogHer even though it was happening in my state was because I decided I’d rather spend the money to visit Erin & Rocco.

I think I made the right decision! We’ve been blowing bubbles, cooking & eating great food, playing with the cats, going to the park, playing board games, and just hanging out and talking. Is there anything better than time spent with good friends you know so well that it doesn’t even matter if you haven’t seen them in a year?

While we were in Portland on Saturday we managed to meet up with Rhi, who won The Great Gumball Giveaway last spring. Since I’d just painted a dotty plate for her, I delivered it in person, and she was sweet enough to bring a hand-knitted snake for Annalie (which she promptly christened “Pinky Pretty Snakey” and has been carrying around ever since). Rhi suggested an excellent place for lunch where I ate the best mac & cheese of my life, and then she took us to the Saturday Market and we wandered around for a while. It was typical of all my internet meetings thus far, which is to say it was totally great! Rhi, I look forward to seeing you again next time we’re in Portland. (You too, Kerri!)

Would you believe all of this was only our first day in Oregon? I have more photos from today but have barely even looked at them yet. I don’t know how much time I’ll be spending online the rest of the week. If you don’t hear from me it’s because we’re too busy with all the mini-golf and Scattergories and going to the park and looking at photo albums and chasing cats and picking Asian pears and drinking homemade beer. Cheers!