Top Five Weekend Haps

5. Saturday afternoon I made myself a mug of sweet and spicy tea and sat down to finish Some Luck. Though quiet, this book was good, strangely soothing in its' rhythm. Each chapter featured glimpses into another year in the life of an Iowan farm family, beginning in the depression and covering 40 years. It gave me a tiny glimpse into what life might have been like for several of my ancestors on my dad's side who lived in Iowa in the 1850's. It's the first in a trilogy so I will look forward to the continuation of this family's tale, having already met several generations.

4. Saturday the girls and I went and Julia tried on dresses at The Vault, a vintage clothing store in Beaverton.  The girls have been watching Hairspray so Julia's been set on finding a dress like the ones they wear in the movie. She promptly fell in love with a gauzy formal and can't get it out of her brain. She calls it her "Soul Dress"and wants to spend some of her own money on it. It's tough to know just how to proceed-take the practical route-it has some need for repair, it's expensive, it won't fit her forever, or let her buy herself something she really really wants and feels dreamy in.......

It makes her very happy
3. Post dress-bliss/anguish (because we'd walked out of the store to "think about it") I took them to Frice Pastry on N. Williams Saturday evening as I'd read about it here and placed it on my list of treat places to try. Julia's favorite was the macarons, Avery's the eclair, mine the pumpkin spice macaron.

2. Sunday we went and saw Ivy and Bean: The Musical. Both girls had read books in the Ivy and Bean series when they were younger. It's a really good first Chapter book for girls. The play was geared for ages 4 and up, so I was a little worried it would be "babyish" for my 9 and 11 year-olds. What we found was that it was hilarious and well done, right down to the brilliant evil laughs Bean's big sister Nancy did before running offstage. Super fun. 

1. We had a late breakfast at Cup and Saucer after the play. There, we saw Julianne, a gal I'd met when my mom and I went on the Al-a-non retreat-she was one of the chefs responsible for feeding us on the retreat. Her family owns the Cup and Saucer(s) and she was waitressing there today, so I said hi and reminded her that we'd chatted at the retreat. As we were getting ready to go, I said we were lucky to get to eat a tasty meal out there, and she turned to the girls, interested in convincing them they were lucky-for a meal out, for a good mom to take them for a meal out. She said something like, "It's harder than it looks. Little things are a lot of work. It's like turning on a light switch or opening the cupboard to find something to eat, or putting on clean clothes.  Each of those things your mom had to think about."  I loved her wisdom.