{inspired} a summer of fun

I've been having some thoughts on summer lately. After our hard wood floor + back entryway projects, Chris and I agreed that we were not taking on any more major projects this summer. Mostly because the next big project on our list is the bath and gutting the room that houses our only shower scares me. This doesn't mean we won't do some little projects. I will finish my craft room. And, we will finish the back porch we started last summer. 

Ultimately, my goal this summer is to have fun. Period. It seems a little silly to say out loud, but for the past three summers we've tackled pretty major house renovations. We've painted the house, landscaped the front yard, built a garage. The list goes on. This summer though, I want to hang out with my friends, I want to go antiquing, and hiking and on little weekend getaways. I want to wake up on a Saturday morning and spontaneously decided to drive over to the coast. Or up into the mountains. 

It was with this mindset that I ended up in Hood River, OR on Sunday. Hood River is about an hour east of Portland, in the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge. Chris was heading up there to buy a car (I'll explain in a minute), so I tagged along to explore the area a little .... something I've never done, even though it's so close.

This is the car *we* bought. Chris has a vintage car obsession hobby and he's sooooo excited about this guy. I think it'll be pretty fun to ride around in :).

After we checked out the car, we explored. It's amazingly beautiful country, so I thought I'd bring you all along for the ride.

Our first stop was a charming lavender farm. I've always wanted a covered patio area overflowing with plants and flowers. It's so English-garden to me, and I this lavender farm really brought this idea to life. It was so cozy and sweet, and I took a million pictures.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that this was the view from the patio tables. That's Mount Hood. It keeps watch over Portland and the Columbia River Gorge.

Loving the vines, and all the wild flowers bordering the seating area.

More seating. They actually have weddings in the far-off grassy area, and I welcome anyone who is having a wedding here in the near future to invite me. I buy great wedding gifts. :)

We also stopped at a winery ... and suddenly this blog is about my adventures drinking my way through Oregon. What can I say? Wineries are great fun.

One thing this area is know for though, is the number of farms. We stopped at a quite a few, talked to the farmers and bought up delicious strawberries, cherries and veggies.

I'll be taking lots of photos on my adventures and sharing some of them with you here. I hope you don't mind! But even more so, I hope you join in. Here's to a summer of fun .... who's with me? :)