Just another rainy day…

It’s another blustery and precipitous day here in the lovely Bay Area!

Driving anywhere is a nightmare – not to mention highly unsafe. Everyone on the radio is shouting, “There’s a severe weather advisory!! Work from home if you can swing it! You don’t want to drive in this mess! STAY INSIDE!!”

To be honest, the weather itself isn’t necessarily what makes venturing outdoors unsafe. It’s really not that bad…especially for someone from the Pacific Northwest.

It’s the California drivers, you guys.

They are the safety issue right thurr.

They still do not know how to adequately drive in the rain…even though it happens every. single. winter.

“Oh my goodness! What is this wet stuff falling from the sky?! I don’t understand!?!! What’s going on!? WHAT DO I DO?! I can’t remember that this happened last year too, and every year before that!”

I must admit, I don’t think it’s entirely their fault….the roads around here are also awful. Because our state is poor and in debt and stuff.

Isn’t that awesome?!

Anyway. I actually love this weather, it’s my favorite. But I definitely miss the Pacific Northwest, and I find Native Northern Californians hilarious sometimes.

And I also wish I didn’t have errands to run today.

love, Rach

Just watch…as soon as I click publish, a tree is going to fall on my house or something just to show me that I am definitely sitting in the middle of an actual severe weather advisory, so quit your whining about the Northwest. I would laugh so hard.

TILLAMOOK

My husband is a complete turophile.

So, naturally, when we traveled up to Northern Oregon for Thanksgiving…a trip to the Tillamook cheese factory was in order.

I’ve been here a number of times throughout my life, and it’s always a delightful experience! The self-guided tour is awesome, it’s fun to watch the cheese being made and processed, they give you free cheese samples, and the gift shop is chock-full of every kind of Tillamook cheese ever made (including “squeaky cheese”!) and lots of entertaining cheese-themed silliness. But the best part???? THE ICE CREAM COUNTER. It’s the only place in the world where you will find every single flavor of Tillamook creamery ice cream under the same roof (did you know they make sorbet?!), available for you to devour in freshly-made waffle cones!!! oh. so. good.

Needless to say, I’m a little bit in love with the place. Pretty sure the hubs’ fell in love too.

Here are a couple random photos I remembered to take:

Brother the [blur of a] cow + cousin the farmer

Hubs the cow + Tiptoeing cousin the farmer

Sister the cow + Myself as the crankypants farmer

Crazy kids waiting for lunch! Which is delicious, btw. I LOVED the Centennial Grilled Cheese.

Favorite piece of cheese paraphernalia found on the tour

We grabbed a block of smoked cheddar and vintage extra-sharp cheddar to enjoy at home. SO GOOD. Highly recommended!

And my tiny little cookbook addiction problem led me to purchase the Tillamook Cheese Cookbook as well…but I mean, who wouldn’t want a cookbook where every single recipe is doused in cheesy goodness?! Plus, they have an entire chapter dedicated to Macaroni and Cheese. I think that speaks for itself right there.

Basically, if you’re ever in Oregon, go to Tillamook. If you fancy a beautiful drive, take the scenic route along highway 101 – coming up through Newport and Lincoln City is my absolute favorite 🙂

 

 

And if you’ve never been to Oregon….get there. You’re missing out.

love, Rach

Babies.

This past weekend, a good friend of mine and her 1-year-old daughter stayed with us for a couple days. It was lovely!!

But now, I have a problem.

I have caught the “baby stuff bug”.

Ingrid helped me start a baby registry, because I was being all contrary about it and refusing to start one.

“I hate asking people to buy me things, it feels so needy and I hate that.”/”UGH WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY NEED SO MUCH JUNK FOR THEIR BABIES”/”I don’t even think baby clothes are cute”/”Why is all baby girl stuff pink, I hate pink.”/”I am such a grandma, I don’t like any of this modern stuff, why can’t I just find everything at thrift stores”/”I love children and babies but I think the whole baby industry is a scam, kind of like the wedding business. PEOPLE ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OFF OF OUR FEELINGS!”/etc etc etc….

These types of thoughts are probably also why I had the worst wedding registry in existence. AKA why we still have yet to own a complete set of dishes…we’re up to two glasses, two mugs, two plastic cereal bowls, and a whole mess of plates! woohoo!

Well, Ingrid pretty much smacked me upside the head and set me straight. “You will need basic onesies, some in every size. Bottles and a bottle brush, too. These swaddling blankets are great. You know you like this baby carrier, you’ve used mine. Register for the cloth diapers you want, I know you’ve researched them. Here are some thoughts on baby swings and car seats.”

I now see the light…some baby junk is essential. I’m remembering this now. It’s not like I don’t have any childcare experience.

But…I’ve also found the cute stuff (AKA: not pink).

All I want to do all day is edit my Amazon registry until it is absolutely perfect and has everything I could ever want or need listed.

And hunt down baby stuff at garage sales (I scored a great Johnny Jump Up and Umbrella Stroller for $8 total this weekend!)

And talk about baby things and hold other people’s babies and think about babies and babybabybabyblahblahblah….

Yep….I am turning into THAT lady.

HELP.

love — rach

PS – on a slightly related note – I’ve been surprised lately by how much I find myself hating my entire wardrobe and how virtually all clothing looks on my current body. I find shopping for maternity clothes akin to shopping for a bathing suit. I am most definitely not a “cute fashionable pregnant lady”. I wish I was!! I just need to buckle down and buy some real maternity clothes, I think, if only I could find some that I like…Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🙂 it’d be nice to enjoy this part of my life to the fullest now that I am (finally)(for the most part) not nauseous 24/7 😛