I received a phone call from my friend’s husband asking if I’d be willing to make a trip to Washington as a gift for his wife’s birthday. It took very little convincing – it took longer trying to figure out a weekend that worked for both of us. And as luck would have it, the only available weekend was just a week away, days after her birthday. So last weekend, Steve held down the fort while I made a quick trip up north to Washington (just outside of Portland). For the record – Arizonans should not travel to Washington in the winter time, our blood is too thin! As soon as the tickets were booked, I saw the weather forecast and remembered why people come to visit us in the winter time.

See that “Feels Like” temperature up there?! I’m happy to report, despite the frigid temperatures, with gusts of wind (I did end up buying a coat while I was there), I survived!! Not only that – we had the best weekend.

We were roommates in college almost 20 years ago and we cherish each time we get to see each other – and oddly enough, we dressed very similar to church on Sunday. 🙂

They have the most beautiful property adjacent to a Christmas tree farm and the bare winter trees created a beautiful silhouette.

I did wake up one morning to large snowflakes gracefully falling from the sky. Although we live in the desert, I grew up in snow, but somehow, the magic of falling snow never gets old – as long as you don’t have to drive in it!

I asked Stacey what home project she wanted help with. They just finished a massive remodel so I figured there must be some loose ends we could tie up and she chose the gallery wall. We cut out paper and taped them to the wall before making a run to Target to purchase all the frames. I don’t know if you’ve tried to create a perfectly straight gallery wall – its not for the faint of heart. But we did it. With an hour to spare before I needed to hop on the plane!

We made a pitstop on the way to airport – VooDoo doughnuts. I snagged a dozen doughnuts to bring home to share. I can’t count how many people commented on my carryon as we boarded the plane. And Steve is amazed that I sat with these fresh, amazing smelling doughnuts the whole way home and didn’t even sample one.

We had late night talks and cookie deliveries. Is there anything better? One of my greatest joys in life is having shared my journey with friends like this. Friends who support and love. And who you long to spend more time with. It’s just unfortunate we live so far away. We’re already making plans to come back and visit this summer. When the chance of snow is slim.