Little miss and I were invited for a girls weekend up north and jumped at the chance to indulge in all things extravagant and whimsical. I grabbed my trusted (things I hope to someday see in Seattle besides fish throwers and shopping malls) list and fellow small groupie Abby and started our journey. Of course an hour in I realized that in all my excitement I had A. forgotten Ava's jacket, and B. forgotten all sleeping related items. Luckily Abby hooked us up and with a slight sleeve roll we were on our way. After eating cake and chit chatting into the wee hours we woke up with a plan. Our first stop was the Volunteer Park Cafe which was the most ridiculously cute boutique restaurant I had been to in awhile. If Abby hadn't insisted on paying I would have ordered one of everything, well at least the cookies anyway. Thankfully I was with like minded travelers.
Daydreaming while waiting for us to order
Beautiful Abby, who although she has chosen not to have children, always has pages of wisdom in this mothering journey.
Confident that we had covered all the food groups:
sweet, buttery, salty, gooey, crunchy, creamy, and chocolatey
we allowed some soup with lunch.
Ava was in her happy place as Janelle suggested we play a game where everyone choose which direction to go after lunch. Guess where the 8 year old landed us?
You are never too old for a game of chase
The park was bursting with autumn rainbows
and trees just right for climbing
skipping rocks into the pond
an old water tower
and a perfect view
Next on my list was a warehouse turned craft shop and exotic charcuterie? I think I spent an hour up in the loft at this tiny nook of a shop called Butter. Then I left crying because I couldn't afford ALL THE THINGS. Look at these pendant pulley lights! Could they be any cuter?
And of course we stopped to smell the roses
and browse fun cookbooks
Then we walked downtown a bit and while the ladies did some shopping I let Ava choose a spot. Of course she chose a bookstore. I might have failed to mention that there was an American Girl Store also within walking distance.
A few selfies
She loves her some peppermint hot chocolate
After some yummy Thai food we cozied up and played no less than 100 games of chinese checkers. Poor, poor Abby. I'm not sure she's going to want to travel with this crew for awhile.
Although she did seem to enjoy the snuggles.
It was girls choice with Janelles' die hard collection of romantic comedies and Shirley Temple flicks. We went with The Little Princess. I'm pretty sure I heard Ben clapping from 200 miles away as he did not have to suffer through 48 hours of fanciful girl time.
Before saying our goodbyes we wisely heeded Janelle's advice to stop at Cactus for brunch. I am still dreaming about the green chile biscuits with chorizo gravy and the tres leches french toast. There are so few restaurants that serve New Mexican food and this place made me plot my next trip north before I had finished one sip of their hibiscus mango agua fresca.
right?
Time with my girl, time to wander, time to run half naked in 30 degree weather to find the apartment hot tub, time to eat dessert first, time to add the full two hours to the meter and walk east just because its a cute neighborhood.
Miss A said it best, "Mama I am SO glad we did this. I had the best time."
Me too babe. Let's do it again soon.
And I meant it.
Sign me up for the tres leches french toast! Those pulley lights are amazing...I wonder where one finds an old pulley? And that star in the last picture! So glad you got away for so much fun. I fantasize about girl trips w/ you & Ava and me & Vianne whenever life permits us :-).
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