Bakingdom

All you need is love. And dessert.

My Move in Instagram

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Guess what?

My new kitchen is almost put together! I’m even baking this afternoon!!

WOO to the HOO!!

*ahem*

Sorry. I’m super excited, though. Clearly.

I wanted to spend today giving you all a little update on how the last few weeks have been. I know it’s not nearly as interesting as sugar and frosting, but I hate that you all are being a bit neglected due to the move, so here’s some fun from my move. 🙂

Plus…I have food for you guys later this week. Yay!

So this whole thing started about three weeks ago with the arrival of my boys, stateside. Best. Day. Ever. I have family in Minnesota, so we met up in Minneapolis, where we had to hit up the Mall of America. Of course.

Then, the Hubster and I sent our boy on his way, to visit with his aunt and uncle and his cousins, while we celebrated our tenth anniversary in Minneapolis for a few days. Alone. It was heaven.

Can you tell we’re having fun? Up until this point, it had been a long time since we’d been together, so we were pretty much giddy lovebirds all weekend. 🙂

And check out the swag he got me for our anniversary!! This necklace is from Etsy seller goseek, and I have wanted it pretty much forever. I mean, I’ve had it pinned on Pinterest for at least six months. So. Yeah. Hubs did good there.

But if that weren’t enough, he also got me a gorgeous new anniversary band (AND tickets to Cirque du Soleil). Yes, I’m totally bragging.

We spent our days laying around or (shocker) doing food related exploring. We hit up Penzey’s Spices, and we were both in heaven. We’ve been ordering from them for at least 8 or 9 years, so it was totally fun to get to visit one of their stores.

We also had an excellent dinner at a great rotisserie called Brasa. It was delicious, and healthy. But it totally didn’t seem healthy. I highly recommend it.

After that, we joined our boy up at my sister’s and prepared for the long drive across country to Oregon.

Early on, while we were still in Minnesota, we hit this long, straight, empty patch of highway. And you know what a long, straight, empty patch of highway is good for? That’s right. Teaching the kid to drive. It was his first experience on the Interstate, and I can’t lie…it was pretty nerve wracking. I think we’ll put off Interstate driving for a while longer yet.

Aside from Minnesota at the start of our trip, and Oregon at the end, we drove through South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. Seriously, friends, our country is beautiful!

And these are the hats I wore along the way. Yes, that’s a tiara, Minnie Mouse ears, A sequined leprachaun hat, and my homemade Doctor Who fez (which is actually my old Halloween pic, because I forgot to take one on the trip). I’ve decided it’s time to make a big confession to you… It’s a very little known secret that I have a small big obsession, and collection, of tiny hats and fun headgear. Only my family really knows about it. And now you do, too. I prefer to wear them while baking, but they’re fantastic for road trips too.

There. I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Seriously, how can you not be happy when you have a tiny, sparkly green top hat on?

Anyway. We chased the sun West out of Minnesota and into South Dakota, where we stopped in Rapid City for the night.

The next morning we got up bright and early, and went to see Mount Rushmore, before heading west into Wyoming to see Devil’s Tower.

Devil’s Tower. You know…the big mountain-y rock plateau thing that they show in Close Encounters of the Third Kind? The one that Richard Dreyfuss builds out of mashed potatoes? Yep. That.

I’d like to announce here and now that Wyoming is just plain GORGEOUS. That is all.

No wait…that’s not all. It’s, like, really super seriously gorgeous.

And then there’s Montana. It’s not called Big Sky Country for nothing.

But for real, that big sky is kinda terrifying when it gets mad.

I don’t have any photos of Idaho or Washington, because this is how we were all feeling by then. We really just wanted to get there already.

Then, after what I can only describe as a terrifying drive through the Columbia River Gorge (seriously??? No guard rails off the cliff edge?? REALLY WASHINGTON?!), we finally crossed the narrowest, tiniest, see-through-iest little, scary bridge into Oregon! At last!!

That’s when the real fun began. It’s house hunting time!! House hunting is both one of the funnest and one of the most frustrating things ever.

In the end, our choice came down to this gorgeous city apartment with a tiny kitchen but amazingly gorgeous view…

…or this great house in the burbs with a wonderful kitchen and lots of room, inside and out.

The kitchen won. As did the yard…

…the fireplace…

…and this sweet little loft that I instantly claimed for my own. Won’t it make the best office EVAH?! I think so, too. 🙂

So, there you have it. Our long move and road trip in an Instagram nutshell. 🙂 Now all we have to do is wait for our furniture to arrive. In three to four months. But that’s okay…camping is fun, right? Right?!

Love you guys! Thanks for all your continued patience and understanding!! I’ll see you really soon with some food. Of the sugary variety. Promise.

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Comments

  1. Hi Darla – reading through your post really put a big smile on my face. It’s so nice to see someone so happy. Happy anniversary to you and your husband (my husband and I celebrated our 10th also this past weekend)! Your anniversary weekend looked amazing (seriously thoughtful gifts – way to go, hubby!). And your new home looks lovely. I hope you will all be very happy there. Here’s to lots of great baking and creativity in your new kitchen. : )

  3. Oh my goodness… I love that area! Unfortunately, we live about an hour away now. I miss it! But if you ever need advice on AWESOME places to go, don’t hesitate to ask! =D You guys will LOVE it! I hope “roughing it” in your awesome loft isn’t too tough on you!

  5. Great Pictures! Looks like you had a great Anniversary too! I feel ya on the moves, exciting and nerve racking. We transfer in a few months, my husband is looking at buying a second car and the sad part is I’m excited not for the car but the extra moving space so he can move a bunch of my cake decorating supplies in it! I hate waiting 1/4 a year for my stuff to get to where we got to be too!

  7. Heehee, hats! I only have a few small hats, but my favorite I made for a play when I was the ‘Miss Arizona’ pageant contestant. I dress as a sort of feminine cactus, so the hat is spiky and green and has a wee yellow flower on it. 🙂

    Nice to see someone showing Minnesota some love. Yay for Penzeys in Uptown!

  8. What a seriously fun post! So glad you and the hubby got to enjoy a fun anniversary. My hubs and I also drove across country, from Florida to Nevada, but the southern half of the States isn’t nearly so pretty! Then we had to rough it without all our furniture for a couple of months as well. Nothing like sleeping on an air mattress for weeks on end! The thing was so overused that by the end, I’d hit the floor every morning when the hubs got up, LOL!

    Thanks for sharing your adventure with us! And yay for fun hats!!

  11. Welcome to Oregon! Yes, the sky can be scary when it gets mad here and yes, the no guard rail thing is a major issue (the same problem exists if you drive down to California from here). I hope you come to love your new home! I’ve been living in Oregon all my life and it’s quite gorgeous, even when it’s soaking wet outside. Which is about 75% of the time 😉

  16. Congratulations to you & Michael on your decade anniversary! Thank you for sharing your road trips into your new adventures in Oregon! Love your beautiful anny gifts, all your cute hats collection & the great pictures! America is beautiful indeed! Oregon is gorgeous too and they are so much to do so don’t be stucked in the kitchen just to make yummilicious food for us! Although, I find that hard to do myself! ;-p Can’t wait to see your new office all done up & that natural light coming thru the skylight! Hope you enjoy Oregon as much as my SIL who has moved there a decade ago. Stop by at Mo’s in Lincoln City for a bowl of clam chowder for me! All the best and keep your wonderful postings coming! 😀

  17. Great photos of your cross-country drive! We made our way from California to the east coast when we were stationed in Newport, Rhode Island… very fun!

    Congrats on the new home… beautiful!

    House hunting will be the next thing on our “To Do List,” as my husbands orders for Oregon have us moving a year early from Hawaii, this summer : )

  18. Welcome to Oregon! I’m actually from Washington and know that drive up the gorge very well. Once in high school we were going to an away game…the bus driver decided to pull over and enjoy the view..on the cliff side! Very scary…but it’s so, so pretty. Whenever I leave…I come back to all of our green and am so thankful I live here.

  19. My aunt always packs sombreros in the trunk when we go on vacation. We pull them out and take a picture at every stop! During Christmas vacations, we take Santa hats, elf ears, and reindeer ears. We always get weird looks.

    Congrats on your move and new house! My husband and I are currently in the house hunting stage. Thus far it’s no fun, but we’re praying something good will happen!

  23. I have kitchen-envy! What a gorgeous place. And thank you for the pics of the western states. They were beautiful. Especially the big sky at night.

  24. How freakin cute! I looked at all the pics then re-read the post and not Im super excited for you. That looks like an adorable house – and the loft looks perfect! And that sparkly green top hat is awwwwwesome!

  25. AAAAAAH! Welcome back! The place looks so wonderful and I’m totally in love with your office/nook area! I can’t wait to hear more and/or see recipes coming up! Hope the rest of the move and unpacking and such goes smoothly.

  27. Congrats on all things, Darla! What a lovely anniversary band and it looks like you have a beautiful new home to match. My fiance and I have just bought our first apartment and are renovating the kitchen (and the rest of it, yowza) and can’t wait to put our dream kitchen together. Glad you’ve found yours 🙂

  28. Congratulations on your ten year anniversary!!! And WELCOME TO OREGON!!!! I hope you like it here, it is an amazing place!
    P.S. I am so glad you will be cooking again! I really missed your posts!

  31. So glad to hear about your move! You house is lovely and your trip sounded fun! Too bad you were to beat to stop in and visit me in Washington… but trust me, I understand. So happy fr you…

  34. Happy anniversary Darla! Your pictures tell a great story about your trip. I loved your comment about your scary ride on the Columbia River Gorge. I lived on that road and that was always scary for me. I never really got used to it. Your home looks beautiful. I can’t wait for you to get cooking again. Good luck. Enjoy!

  35. wow! what a long way! here, to drive from the northest to the southest point is like…..475 k”m !
    i enjoy reading ypur beautiful trip story/
    🙂 Lior

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