let's not forget jonas...

This guys is turning 4 in less than 3 weeks!!!!

In the midst of all the packing and moving, I'm not sure what his birthday celebration will look like, and if you know me, you know that it KILLS me that I can't plan him a super fun birthday party this year. :( (See past parties here and here.) But, I also know that he's an easy-going little boy with simple wants and pleasures... (When I asked what he wanted to do for his birthday he said "Oh, I just want to eat chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles with my friends.")

I know that there are grandmas and grandpas out there wondering what to get our big boy for his birthday and I'm going to shamelessly throw out a wish list for Jonas up here. There are things Jonas wants, things that I know Jonas will enjoy, and things that I want Jonas to enjoy. :) 

Ok. Back to packing.

sorry so quiet...

This past week has been a whirlwind! 

Things are happening much more quickly than we anticipated, but it seems that we'll be moving to Alameda at the beginning of June.

We saw a place on a whim on last Sunday morning (we had been looking for a place, and then stopped looking for a while, and then saw this place on CL last week and decided just to go to check it out) and decided to apply and see what would happen.

We found out we got the apartment (the ground-level unit in a duplex) on Monday and then it's been a week of figuring out if we really like it, if the neighborhood is ok, if we should look for something else, seeing and liking and not getting another place, driving out to Alameda to see it again... 

In the end, after a week of praying, listening, questioning, answering, emailing, driving, trying not to stress out, we have decided to go for it.

And now we're moving in 3 weeks!

So, while Jeff was gone this week for work in San Diego, amidst all the crazy, I've been looking online for inspiration for our new place; smaller space, wood floors, no separate dining room, low ceilings, 2 full bathrooms... All things that make me excited to purge and simplify...

God is good and we are excited for this new adventure! Life will for the most part still be more or less the same; we'll still be at Christ Church most weekends, we'll still invite our friends over (though they're probably less likely to come across the bay to play), we'll still be the same ol' Lockes. We'll just be a little more tan from being out of the fog and probably sweatier too. :)

i sewed something(s) for myself!

This summer, one of my goals is to go from having beginning sewing skills to intermediate sewing skills. 

One way to do this is to start using sewing patterns.

I've resisted using patterns until now because they require so much work. Printing them. Cutting them. Taping them together. Pinning and tracing them.... I'm a fast & dirty kind of sewer-- I like projects I can get done in one nap time (less than 2.5 hours) so delving into the sewing pattern world is a big deal for me. 

My first sewing pattern was this one from Wiksten and it went surprisingly well. I ended up two tops, one that I've already worn. The pattern itself was really easy to use and wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, AND I finished my first top in one nap time! YAY.

(Excuse the wrinkles. Because I was trying the pattern for the first time, I used leftover tablecloth fabric and it wasn't very cooperative to being worn. Very Maria VonTrapp I know.)

I've never been so excited to be at an intermediate level at anything before. :)

vacation part 2

After Mt. Shasta, we got back in the car to drive up Portland.

Penny was less excited about this leg of the trip...

But we made it and our first stop was at Stumptown to see if it would live up to all of it's hype...

... and it didn't. SF has spoiled us when it comes to coffee.

But, we did have some delicious food and ice cream.

Our first night in Portland, we met up with old friends from New York, Harvey and Amy and their beautiful kiddos at a brewpub in the Pearl District. Yummy food and yummy beer (so says Jeff). Afterwards, we dragged our VERY tired children to Salt & Straw for ice cream...

...Honey Balsamic Strawberry! SO GOOD!

We stayed in a small basement apartment we found on airbnb which was in a GREAT location, right off of SE Hawthorne, and was really comfy and cozy. I'm totally sold on the airbnb thing now. So great for finding affordable places to stay in, especially if you have kids and want to have a kitchen and stuff where you're staying.

Our second day in Portland, we went to Slappy Cake's. It's like Korean BBQ but with pancakes! Clever idea, but I think kalbi is better. We got to meet up with one of Jeff's friends from high school and his adorable son, Carson. 

They had chicken fried BACON! With maple syrup sauce!!!

We spent the morning riding the bus and streetcar downtown, perusing Powell's Books (awesome! like Strand in NY but cleaner and super-organized), eating at food carts (fried chicken from Flogene's), and waiting for rain. It never came while we were out! Yay!

(I love stripes.)

We met up with Clara's friends, Stephanie and Mark, Podnah's Pit-- supposedly the best Texas BBQ outside of Texas! It was awesome. So good that I forgot to take pictures of the actual BBQ. Though, I did take a picture of our frito pie...

We headed back south on Friday morning, with Penny's hair in a ponytail, and stopped at the outlet mall in Woodburn on the way down. No sales tax in Oregon! Awesome. :)

(Jeff got some new shirts!)

Portland, we like you a whole lot.