A Friday in Gig Harbor

Emma and I visited a friends’ shop in Gig Harbor this weekend while we were at the Hood Canal. It’s a coffee shop/wine bar/pottery painting studio. Basically, it’s AWESOMENESS x 3. It’s called Java and Clay Cafe.

I didn’t experience the wine bar part of it, because Emma was with me, and well, it was the middle of the day. Of course, that’s not to say I don’t enjoy a nice cold beer in the middle of the day, especially a tall cold Blue Moon with a slice of orange in it with lunch, mmmmmmm…..but for some strange reason, it feels weird to me to drink wine during the day. I can’t explain why. Just a quirk I guess. Oops, got side tracked there for a minute…..ok back to Java and Clay…. It’s right on the main drag through Gig Harbor (and not too far from my 2^nd FAVORITE place there, the Tides Tavern). They have a little lounging spot in the Coffee Shop, and tables. I so could have curled up on one of those chairs and sipped away on my coffee, but I didn’t think Emma would appreciate me ditching her in the paining studio….so I refrained.

They also have two large rooms used for the painting studio. ANDDDD there’s a fantastic deck where you can sit and watch the world go by when the weathers nice (I love to people watch too). I’d like to take advantage of that sometime this summer. Looks like a fun place for me and my laptop to blog away…..OH! And did I mention they have COFFEE? 🙂

I DID partake in the java (of course!), and in the painting of pottery. Two things I LOVE. Making stuff, and COFFEE. Pretty much a perfect combination. Emma had a hot chocolate. Both, were excellent! Here’s Em’s hot chocolate….

This was the first time I’ve been to a paint and take pottery studio. We have something similar in our area (sans the coffee shop/wine part), and I’ve been meaning to go ever since Emma was old enough to hold a paint brush, but for one reason or another, just hadn’t made it yet. So it was a new and fun experience for both of us. Oh yeah, and did I mention they have COFFEE there too? Ok, just making sure.

Emma chose a sea-turtle to paint, and I chose a plate (crazy and original, I know). We got the run-down of how it works along with some tips from the super nice gal that helped us, and got started. All the colors you can choose from, speckles or no speckles, all the different animals and other figures, mugs, plates, and just about anything you can think of to paint. It was there.

It can be dangerous for a person like myself, because I could EASILY spend the ENTIRE day there messing around, and could EASILY lighten my wallet by several hundred bucks too, I’m sure. It was a good thing we had plans to go to my Brothers house for dinner that evening. That put somewhat of a time limit on our stay. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have probably had about 20 other things piled up on the table to paint. When Em and I finished our first selections, we both decided we needed to do one more. Her next choice was a bunny, and mine was a tea-bag rest (yes, I was just in a wild and crazy mood ALL day). It was SO much fun tho! Emma totally dug it. I think she’s hooked too.

I started to feel a little guilty when I took my brushes and dirtied paint tiles and stuff to the sink at “someone elses” place. The idea is, that you just put all your dirty stuff in the sink, and the staff cleans them up. I get that it’s their job, but It just felt wrong to go put a bunch of dirty stuff in the sink and walk away . (We had quite the mess going on).

I did manage to pre-rinse though (I couldn’t help it). The gal that helped us just laughed and said “That just means your momma raised you right”. That was sweet of her to say. I never really thought about it before, but I suppose she’s right. THANKS Mom!

Now we just have to wait for our stuff to be fired in the kiln and then we can pick them up! We are both so excited to see what they will look like afterwards. They do give you the option to have it shipped when it’s done if you are not local, but we come to town often enough that we can wait (says the person with slim to no patience). 😉

Once we left Java and Clay, we headed to Port Orchard (a few miles away) to have dinner with my brother and sis-in-law (SIL), so Emma could get in some time with her 4 cousins. But first, had to stop to take a pic of the Harbor. It was such a BEAUTIFUL day!

We arrived at my Brothers house, and there were a million neighborhood kids everywhere, all playing in the street. Reminded me of how we played when I was a kid, you know before all of the child abduction, kidnapping, and murdering started getting “popular”. One of my nephew’s wanted to stay inside and read, but my SIL promptly kicked everyone OUTSIDE to play. So being the obediant nephew that he is, he takes a chair out to the middle of the lawn and sit’s down to read. I guess, yeah, he was technically OUTSIDE playing…… Floki (the dog) looks like he’s looking to the house saying “Uhhh, dad? That is NOT playing. He won’t throw my bone….”