Finding a New Corner of Beauty

When you want to escape the August heat of Texas and yet stay in North America, the Pacific Northwest immediately comes to mind, and that's where we headed last week with friends to count off the days of summer.

Seattle was our first stop on the journey.

Top of our list to see was the infamous Pikes Place Market

with the "flying fish" (look closely) vendors,

and all the colors of $5 bouquets of flowers,

glass works,

and even peppers.

A visit to the original Starbucks nearby proved entertaining and delicious,

and then a first for me--a duck tour

onto the lake, where we saw the beautiful skyline, seaplanes and the Sleepless in Seattle house.

Have you ever done a duck tour?

More fun than I would have imagined!

Then it was on to Vancouver, where we started off in Stanley Park,

where the lushness

and color of the vegetation prove how "happy" they are in this fertile environment.

Next, we enjoyed some time on Granville Island. We were quite intrigued by these "floating" houses on the water with a beautiful view of the city.

Granville Island is also known for its colorful market--such beautiful presentation and delicious flavors.

I also discovered a dragon fruit--have you sampled one?

We left the city to find gorgeous scenery on our route towards Whistler.

A Blooming Friendship

One of the amazing blessings of the blogging world is making new friends through cyberspace, and once in awhile actually connecting with them in the "real world."

Such was the case this past week, when a friend and I called on a blogging friend, Georgianna, when we were visiting the Pacific Northwest.

Georgianna invited us into her beautiful garden for a little walk-around,

and a delicious lunch, where we relished in the moment of meeting someone face to face that we had previously known only through our blogs.

Georgianna is an amazing photographer, so we were especially thrilled when she shared her office with us, where all that creativity crystallizes once her camera comes in and the pictures are downloaded.

Shooting florals are her specialty,

but entertaining us as a hostess with salads and desserts

which were almost too beautiful to eat, is her talent as well.

Next we enjoyed a special treat when we watched her style a shot with some local flowers from

the farm of a friend.

Living amongst such beauty in the Northwest

where flowers like this thrive in the lingering weeks of summer must be a special gift indeed.

Meeting you, Georgianna, and spending the afternoon with you and Lori, my Florida friend, was an afternoon I'll long cherish.

May our friendship which started out so many months ago with a comment or two on our mutual blogs bloom into a relationship which we'll always nurture.

Treat yourself and spend some time on her blog, where you will find beauty to grace your day.

Special Visitors in London

We had some very special visitors this summer to London--my son and his wife, along with their two sweet children. It's a nine and a half hour overnight flight from Houston, so we were all a little concerned about how the little ones would handle the flight. 

Jordan slept all night like a trooper, but Jackson, well... that's a different story. I think from what my son said, he only slept about an hour and a half. He wasn't fussy--it's just that he couldn't lie down in his bed like one is supposed to do, so he just stayed awake for the fun.

So, this is the face of jet lag!

Action Jackson, as we call him, was as limp as a dish rag after just a one hour nap at our house. So while the others were sleeping, we just laid around.

Until he got his second wind,

and found the 4 flights of stairs at our house! That was the extent of his jet lag, and remarkably he went right onto a regular schedule after that.

Of course, a lot of Starbucks along the way helped out!

Just kidding!

The kids were awesome travelers, but that didn't mean they couldn't sneak in a nap on a bench when we stopped for lunch.

And this is how we rolled for the week...

On foot,

in double decker buses--on the top, of course,

in the tube, where Jackson tried to make friends with everyone,

and couldn't understand why the Brits were so reserved. 

I mean, how could you not smile and chat with a kid that cute?

He loved the boats on the Thames,

riding the cannons at the Tower of London,

and trying to figure out just what kind of music that guy in the skirt was making!

Playing in the park was a big hit,

especially when he made goo-goo eyes at the cute little French girl in the little plane with him!

A little phone stop on the way home,

and a lot of time with Uncle Jason made Jackson one happy boy!

Jordan was delighted to hang out with her mommy and Kiss-Kiss, her aunt,

who was a great shopping buddy at 

Spitalfields Market.

Having a pretend tea party at Anthropologie, where Kiss-Kiss works, was great fun,

as well as trying on scarves that were on sale.

Her favorite activities were going to see The Wizard of Oz musical, and tea at Fortnum and Mason, which I'll blog about later.

And every little girl's dream--seeing a few castles 

and palaces along the way.

It was one of those "mountain-top" experiences for all of us,

with memories we will cherish forever.

Come back soon, ya' hear?!