Christmas at Home (both of them)

First up are a few shots from the last few days of my two week trip back to Wisconsin. I was scheduled to leave on a Sunday night, but the flight ended up being cancelled. Teeny airport, a bit of snow, one flight a day, and some mumbo jumbo about a tail flap meant I was staying an extra night. So, Mom and I took advantage of the extra time and decided to do Christmas early! Here's us in the Christmas sweaters we gifted each other (we have such great taste) and a few shots of the snow I got to enjoy seeing because of the delay. Previously we hadn't had much at all yet in Wisconsin, so I couldn't resist taking a few shots of it.

Then, when I finally got back (home) to Seattle, we hit Christmas head on. We got our tree, decorated, wrapped gifts, and thoroughly got into the holiday spirit. It's tradition to get a real tree. No, not just tradition. A must. Ideally I would like to cut our own, like we always did when I was a kid. Unfortunately, things are a bit different in the Seattle area and apparently you can't cut your own tree without paying an arm and a leg. At least not that I've found. So, we settled for a pre-cut one. But we got it a tree farm, so that counts for something. As is also tradition - at least for Kevin and me - is making sure we get one that's small enough to shove in the back of our car. Once we got it home, we got straight to decorating. I got out the usual vintage bulbs that I got for a pittance at a garage sale one summer (remember that Lindsey??). I still love pulling them out and putting them on the tree every year.  This year there were a few new additions as well.  Two ornaments that were my Dad's as a kid. See the pretty red bird and the elf? So special. Other new additions included some new pillowcases I made from an oversized Christmas sweater we found at a thrift store awhile back and a somewhat newly thrifted Tom and Jerry's set.  This set is extra perfect for us because it's made by Homer Laughlin. Along we being the original maker of my absolute favorite Fiestaware, they also make lots of wonderful other dinnerware, which we've taken to collecting. Especially their classic restaurant / diner dishes.

Miss You

Portland Part II

At last, here is the long awaited continuation to our Portland weekender that I hinted at way back when.  Sometimes, life puts things on hold.  This time, the routine was put on hold by a two week long trip back to Wisconsin to say goodbye to my Grandma Schoeneck.  It was wonderful to be back home for an extended period of time visiting my family and friends. But it's also great to be back home in Seattle and back to the norm...which includes regular blog posts! So, can you guess what the highlight of our last day in Portland was???

ROLLER SKATING!!! Not just any roller skating, either. Roller skating around a gigantic suspended Wurlitzer pipe  organ. With our wonderful friend Rachel. And there was a photo booth.  This place was fantastically old timely from the roller skates themselves to the general decor.  There were even some wonderfully graceful older gentleman showing off what had to be the moves of their youth in the middle of the floor.  And let's just talk about that Wurlitzer for a minute. The organist sat in a little booth on the outside of the rink and he played music almost the whole time we were there.  It created the perfect ambiance. 

Rachel and I were roommates in college, but haven't lived very close enough to each other since graduating. In fact, we were pretty much an entire continent away when she moved to Pennsylvania and I moved to Washington. Now, she recently moved to the Pacific Northwest, too, and we can finally hang out on a semi-regular basis again! Yahooooo!

Memories

This place has a lot of them.

Feeling like the house was bursting with people when I was a kid. Playing with cousins inside and outside. Watching Jeopardy with Grandma. Watching Grandpa eat grapefruit and toast and drink coffee at the kitchen table. Eating food. Eating more food. Playing games at the kitchen table like Scrabble and spoons and cards. Doing everything at the kitchen table. Playing upstairs with the dollhouse. Stepping on a tack while going up those stairs. Chinese checkers. Doing craft projects with Grandma and being reminded not to use the fabric scissors for paper because you have to segregate your scissors like that. Going into the fruit cellar and smelling the sweet smell of fruit. In my memory it always smells like pears. Puzzles on the card table in the front room. Sleeping over in the back room and saying prayers with Grandma. Especially that German prayer I can’t remember anymore. Cutting our Christmas tree in the field of trees that’s now taller than the house. Repainting the house. Remodeling the whole bathroom. Eating sweet rolls. Eating butter horns. Eating kolaches. Eating soda cracker bars. Getting slippers for Christmas. Walking down to the crick. Canoeing down the crick one snowy day with Dad then carrying the canoe back up the hill. Walking down the driveway to get the mail. Watching the birds. Especially the humming birds. The red checked dress. Always the red checked dress.

Grandma Schoeneck passed way on Monday, November 19th. She was born on January 29th, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois. 8 children, 19 grandchildren, 9 (soon to be 10) great-grandchildren. To me, her passing feels like the end of an era. Grandpa Lester passed away nearly 10 years ago and my Dad passed almost 6 years ago. I know I will always be part of the Schoeneck family and feel so blessed to have so many loving relatives. But, still, in a certain way it feels like my last direct connection to the Schoeneck’s passed with Grandma. It’s symbolic for sure, and more in my head than anything else. But it’s also part of the reason I feel so thankful that I got to say a nice long goodbye to Grandma’s house, including taking these photos and reflecting on all the memories.

Apple Capital of the World

Both of these were thrift store finds in Washington. How could I not get them?!? We try not to collect too many random kitchen items. It's our greatest thrift downfall, what with my Fiestaware and Pyrex collections among other things.  For anyone who's been to our kitchen you might think we've failed at that by the state of our cupboards. Anyway, back on topic. What is the Apple Capital of the World? According to these vintage-y mugs both Yakima and Wenatchee have laid claim to the title.  So, which is it? I am certainly not going to argue with vintage-y mugs. And there's no other way to tell for sure.  Other than the mugs that is. No technology that could help us here...just the mugs. So, as far as the Churchill household is concerned, they're both the apple capital of the world. Who knows, maybe we'll have another random thrift find and a third city will be added to that list. If we did, I would definitely be coming home with that mug.

PDX Weekender

Last weekend, Kevin went down to Portland for work and I decided to burn up a few PTO days and tag along. I took the Amtrak down on Thursday, which is an absolutely beautiful ride, especially from Seattle to Olympia where the track closely follows the water and especially when the weather is clear. This time of year I thanked my lucky stars that it was indeed clear! I took full advantage by lingering in the dining car with my coffee and cookie.

Thursday night we had a lovely time with some of Kevin’s Portland work folk at the Secret Society Lounge and Toro Bravo. If you're in the Portland area I would highly recommend both. Friday morning had us up early and off to pick up Voodoo Doughnuts for the office. They’re known for their crazy flavors and all around quirky vibe. Also their long lines, but we dodged that by getting there super early. In the end we decided it was something we needed to do once because of the hype but probably wouldn’t go back. We’re sort of classic doughnut types (Top Pot Doughnut shout out, whoop whoop!). Dinner that night was a mix of sushi, ramen, and dumplings from Shigezp Izakaya. Then we headed off to a place called Brasserie Montmartre. Clearly we have no qualms about mixing cultural cuisines. Although, the main reason we went was to catch a bit of free music courtesy of Boy and Bean. They're a sort of vintage throw-back trio that were very enjoyable to see.

One goal of the weekend was to hit the food carts for lunch. Over the course of the weekend we sampled Euro Trash, the Flying Scotsman, and Gaufre Gourmet (a waffle joint). All three did not disappoint! The fish and chips we had at the Flying Scotsman were probably the best we’ve had this side of the pond, which is no wonder as they’re served up by an actual Scotsman. As for the waffle, I'll admit I was skeptical. I’m generally a waffle traditionalist. Give me a big slab of butter and maple syrup any day of the week (literally, we have waffles any day of the week). However, my taste buds were blown by the intriguing blend of fig butter, bacon, Camembert cheese and arugula and I would definitely go back next time we’re in PDX.

Saturday started out with us in search of canelé's. Did I mention yet that our travel plans generally revolve around food?? I had never heard of a canelé before this weekend but I guess they’re hot right now in Portland. They’re pastries of French origin that are made out of a sort of custardy batter that’s baked to a caramelized crisp on the outside yet is still soft and gooey on the inside. We found our first one’s at Ken’s Artisan Bakery, along with the obligatory croque monsieur. All in all we were not so impressed with sir Ken’s. Long wait, not enough places to sit, and the canelé and croque were just so-so. They were awfully pretty, though! Later that day we had two perfect lattes at local Stumptown coffee, then caught a movie at the Living Room Theater. I visited the Living Room on my first solo trip to Portland awhile back and it was instant love. Good movies, good relatively cheap wine and yummy food during your show, comfy seats you get to pick when you buy your ticket. Pretty much my ideal movie watching experience. This time the movie was Detropia, a documentary about the changing face of Detroit since the recession. If you're the documentary-loving type I would recommend it.

On Sunday we set out in search of canelé's again and this time ended up at St. Jack's. Oh man were they good! Not only was the place adorable and not too crowded, the canelé's were night and day from Ken's and had me thinking immediately about trying to make them at home. That might be a little far fetched of an idea...but we'll see.

 

Our weekend ended with a fantastic visit with our good friend Rachel before heading out, which I've decided deserves it's own post since I've spend this one rambling about food! Here's a teaser...