I won a contest!!

Well, maybe not really a contest, since I was the only 'contestant' but still! I won a gift certificate to the Estate Store's Garage Sale!

And in order to really appreciate this, you have to know that  I had never even heard of this place until I visited Amy yesterday, and discovered that the Community Warehouse Estate Store is putting a space in at Found on Fremont! So how cool is that? Their post about this Rhyme Time game had a challenge to pen a poem with words rhyming to "Angry Beaver." And NO ONE ELSE took up the challenge!?!

Anyways, I was excited. And their comments back to me made me laugh!

Evening thoughts...

Last night as I was trying (desperately) to fall asleep at 11:57 pm, I wrote to my friend Amy: "I have to go to sleep now to get 10 points, but tomorrow i will use this email to remind me to blog about goddess yoga pose, lions at the beach, children, game on lessons, and random coffee that tastes like koalas. Yes. Koalas."

Then I tried to remember my other thoughts by chanting the name of my office co-worker and "Diet Coke."

Hoo-boy. It's pretty exciting in my head now and then. So I was trying to get to sleep before midnight because on the Game On diet we get 10 points for ditching an old habit - and my old habit is (was) to stay up way late, like til 1:30 am, messing around (chatting with Amy) on my computer... So now I go to bed before midnight. Goodnight, dogs... Goodnight, moon...

Let's see. What else was I thinking about? Oh. I like the goddess yoga pose. It's helpful for falling asleep.


Lions at the beach was about how James and I were hiking along the beach trail and I said, "Dude! How much would it suck to be hiking here and then all of a sudden have a lion that escaped from the zoo just bust out of the woods and eat you up!?!" He paused before answering, "WTF. Where do you come up with these things?" But wouldn't it? Wouldn't it bite to have an escaped lion just break up your afternoon hike? It would. You know it would.

Children... which reminded me of Halloween, and costumes. I've had nooooo time to work on my Dia de los Muertos mask, and the kids still need costumes. This is important. Halloween is of utmost importance. I *must* get to work on a vampire princess, cowboy/bee/tea/batman/spiderman (?) outfit (I don't know about that one - I hope he narrows it down a little before the big night) and a ghoul of some sort. Plus my Dia mask, and if I'm going to go to the Halloween party, I have to come up with a rockstar outfit. Themed. I'm still pondering that.

Game On lessons: 1) I ate too much. Smaller portions are better. 2) I didn't drink enough water. Headaches (without caffeine!) are almost all the way gone! 3) 20 minutes of exercise a day really isn't that bad. 4) I loved my fish tacos and glass of beer tonight, but I think I loved them more because they were eaten with purpose. Yay for meal off night! 5) turning a diet into a fun game is genius and I wish I thought of it. Then I'd be rich. oh, and 6) because of the info on fake sugars, I'm now out of love with Diet Coke and neuro toxins. *sigh*

The part about my co-worker was because she's going to read poems at her alma mater this weekend. And she writes awesome poetry. She's an awesome girl. And then that lead me to thinking about why she doesn't keep a blog, and then that turned into wondering if there are some super intellectual blogs out there that I'm missing (well, not *missing* but like passing by) and then I thought, but why? Why do I wonder about intellectual blogs when there are blogs like The Bloggess who makes me laugh until I can't breathe? Good times.

Which leads me to my final thought last night. The espresso (instant... cheap... previously delicious...) that I was in love with? Hrmph. It tastes like koala. So sad. Like a combination of stale fur, old trunks, and moth balls. That's what Koala smells like. And that's what my coffee tastes like. So I've gone back to tea.

That's all for now. 33 today. It was a good old normal day. Calm. Simple (except for the 4 hours spent on computer crashes...) and just the way I like it. Fish tacos and a glass of The Wise ESB for bday dinner. Tasty. And worth it.

Game On Update and other random stuff...

Today is the end of week one of the Game On Diet, and what a week it's been. I felt like I was detoxing from some terrible thing for the first three days - my body hurt, my eyeballs hurt, I had a headache... And I might have thought it was a flu, but that's where the symptoms ended, and my cohorts (one even in another country) described feeling similarly... So we chalked it up to tiny demons and toxin goblins trying to escape through our brains...

What if that's what all the bad food that people eat on a regular basis actually feels like? I mean, what if that *default* position is what results from the food that we eat every day and never even stop twice to question? Cheetos? Pop? Luckily I wasn't that kind of eater to begin with - although I have stopped drinking Diet Coke (you should see the list of chemicals...) and I sometimes miss my morning cup of coffee (but not too much)... And the biggest benefit has been that the children never even missed a beat - they too, are relatively healthy eaters (our extra parent-weight comes from not paying attention to portions), but they've embraced the fruits and veggies wholeheartedly - and their biggest splurge this weekend was locally made saltwater taffy!

I've discovered some difficulties (ahem) with the eating plan - mainly that I forget to eat when I'm eating nutritious food. Eating is no problem if it's mindless grazing on things like Wheat Thins, those multigrain chips from Costco, sliced swiss cheese... But when I have to sit down and plan out my meals, I often lose points because I forget to eat from all four groups (lean protein, whole grain carb, veggie AND fruit) and then to top it all off, I have to remember to eat every 2 - 4 hours.

*sigh*

I'm doing pretty well on finding exercise for 20 minutes each day - easy to do at the beach when you have two big dogs to walk! Also, except for last night, the new habit of 10 minutes of yoga before bed is kicking in... I've also managed to go to bed every night before midnight for a week. And for the most part, I have been drinking the requisite 3 liters of water per day. It does help to stave off the headache, but I usually get a headache around 3:30 each afternoon. I'm not too happy about that.

I didn't drink enough water this weekend - I think they dug a new well at the beach town where we were, because the water there sucked. It tasted like dirt and moss. It was so bad that even AFTER I boiled water for tea I could still taste it. I never did ask the lady at the market on the corner what was going on... Oh well. I hope it gets better, because it was just awful. We'll have to get a filter for the house!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am trying to get through all of the banners (I have lots. And by lots I mean I'm going to end up with about 25 Halloween banners total) so that I can list them on Etsy and be ready for the Grand Opening at Found that's happening on Saturday the 17th of October...


Kids took a new bus today to school - so they left at 8:15 instead of 8:00... My internal clock this morning is a little messed up. So now, on to daily routine... One meal down - all four groups present and accounted for... Here's hoping I can stick it out another week (or three). But I know I can, because I don't want to let Kate and Amy down!

Game On!

Game On Diet in full effect.

Well, ok. Maybe not *full* effect... But enough effect that I think I've had more vegetables today than in the last month combined, I drank enough water today to warrant building a tiny ark... and I *walked* up to the shop today to see Amy.

WTF?

Yes. I know. Vegetables; you eat them. Who knew? Apparently cheese is not a vegetable. Neither are cupcakes. But ok, fine. And those recurring dreams nightmares I have about how my legs don't work right and I end up walking weird with one leg always in front (like my stride is all funked up and I have to take three steps with my left leg first because I can't alternate my legs? and I can't run at ALL in the dream)? Turns out not to be true. My little legs work just fine. Hooray for walking!

And can I just say that I only missed my frothy microwaved milk with cheap imported instant espresso a little bit today? I'm gonna try it with almond milk tomorrow. Surely milk is allowed? And almond milk?

Plus, Hello, I drank 4 Baja Fresh cups worth of water. (and strangely enough I am thirsty right now. weird.)

We started with 6 players last week. We were all ready to go. One got pneumonia. One doesn't write to check in. One just dropped out. That leaves me, Kate & Amy. We have to decide how to play either all together, or all against, or a combo of the two. One for all and all for one?

I'm a bit cranky this evening, rather tired... Was short with the children. With good reason, mind you: the little manny was pulling his "Mama, I will tell you da troof... If I be nice to you, can I just way down on your bed and listen to pirate music?" spiel after I already said no, after I already read Skippyjon Jones and tucked him in... and the girl child blatantly disregarded my request for her to get into bed so that I could *finish* tucking the smaller one in and then come up to her. But no.

So, I came in my room and locked the door and did my 10 minutes of yoga. It's my new habit. Requisite for Game On diet is developing a new habit and losing an old habit. I'm trying to shake the never-go-to-bed-before-midnight-and-therefore-overextend-myself habit.

Yoga on the floor made me itchy. So now, in addition to yoga and drinking tons of water and eating these things people refer to as "fruits and vegetables," apparently now I will have to start vaccuuming too.

Sheesh. I knew dieting was bad for me.

Holy cow. It's been a long day!

I should have written earlier when I was thinking of it - I wish I could just call up and dictate a note to Blogger! I was cracking myself up with things earlier today, but I'll be darned if I can remember a single one now. Of course, there's the rub - either they were really funny, (like funny outside my head, too) or they sucked... So maybe it's a good thing that I *didn't* get it written down, because who knows if I'm the only one who is amused by my own daily minutiae...








Finished decorating the house for Halloween (on the inside only - we'll put pumpkins up in a couple weeks)... Went with the "spooky laboratory" look...



Went up to the store and stocked 92 bird/nest cards, then hung up 4 of 7 finished banners... The rest are all priced and ready to go in the overstock cupboard at Found...




Amy and her mom came over tonight, and I baked 6 dozen cupcakes! They were so funny, "What can we do?" but I have it down to such a science and my kitchen is practically designed for baking cupcakes, so it is super duper easy... With the convection oven it goes so quickly... All the cupcakes were done and out the door in an hour and a half. They're going to frost them tomorrow, so we'll see some pics I hope, later!

Now I'm off to read and sleep - I have 20 minutes until my self imposed bed time... Mooey dances a full day tomorrow, and Drew is off to the Portland Marathon with Gramma and Grandpa...

Finished Midnight at the Dragon Cafe last night by Judy Bates Fong... It was really good! Thanks to Dev for letting me borrow!

Whew!

Ruffles and tidbits...

Ohhhhhhhh... Lots of things on my mind these days. First, I have to say that I was thinking about sewing curtains for a friend's daughter's room - and as I was doing so, I stumbled upon the dresses in Kate Tower's portfolio - these are insane... (and she's based in PORTLAND!) Aside from the obvious wanting of this dress, in particular, they make me want to create curtains with crazy layers of ruffles at the top - or down the middle, one stripe of ruffles? How insanely cute would that be?


Secondly, I had a Lagunitas Hop Stoopid tonight. *sigh* It's like the nectar of the gods. How did they cram so many hops in there? I love it.


Thirdly, I've been working on these crazy-ass Halloween banners, and I love them. I think they're wicked cute. And I can't wait to get them ready and take them up to Found on Fremont's Grand Opening October 17... from 4 - 8 pm... To sell them. To spread Halloween happiness and festivity far and wide. (Shameless plug. I did the logo for the sweet ladies up at Found. The stuff up there is all ridiculously adorable. You'll want to go.)


K. That's all I have for now. Maybe more later after I work on the super cute banners some more.

Sparkling Blackberry Sangria

I had the girls over last night to craft our bouquets, and we had a nice, light summer menu of foods I'd prepared ahead of time... I made tortellini pasta salad with broccoli, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, and balsamic and crushed garlic dressing... We also had dried figs in marscapone cheese on toast points, black globe grapes with smoked gouda cheese, crostini with olive tapenade, vanilla and chocolate two-bite cupcakes, and sparkling blackberry sangria (a little bit of alcohol, but not much - it was too hot to have anything but a nice, light drink!)

Ingredients:

1 750 ml bottle of “REAL” Sangria (from Safeway)

2 1 L bottles of Blackberry/Raspberry “Clear” sparkling soda water

2 cups blackberries

½ cup sugar

1 cup water

Pour the sangria and soda water into a large plastic pitcher. Set in freezer to cool.

Stir blackberries, sugar & water into a sauce pan, on medium heat. Let come to a boil, then set to simmer for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Allow to cool, then pour into chilled sangria mixture, stir gently, and place back in freezer for about an hour to cool.

You could also make this ahead of time, pour into ice cube trays, and then place the sangria cubes into glasses of the straight REAL sangria if you like…

Pour into red wine glasses and float a nasturtium on top, if you’ve got any.

It's almost time...

Gathering up a bunch of books for the impending, annual, much-beloved trip to the coast... Can't wait to sit in the sun and read, read, read.

Picked up The Turtle Catcher by Nicole Helget, The Best of All Possible Worlds by Steven Nadler, a couple more home brewing books (plans are afoot with Christopher for the Vanilla-Jasmine Ale and Chesapeake Bay Revival Porter), and a Secret Portland book to help with some of the sightseeing planning for the Arg-Fest-o-Con 2009 happening in July.

Whew!

What a weekend! Starting with Thursday (technically not the weekend, but where the whilrwind began, both literally and figuratively) I went and visited a house that I love (where fun art abounds - it truly is a magic cottage...)

to pick up a friend that I love to go see another friend I love and her new baby...

That visit was cut short by the splitting in half of my old plum tree (which comes down tomorrow)...

New twin babies visited on Friday (so sweet, so pretty)...

And a solo-adult adventure to The Old Spaghetti Factory with four children under 11...

There was a dance competition,

visiting goats,

rabbits, chickens, and ponies at a friend's farm in Salem, home brews

that came to PDX from Seattle (the Rhuby Wit and Wit Gold that Chris and I brewed Mid-May, my first foray into home brewing!)... There were lagers and other beers tried at Gustav's (a flight of 6 beers [they were small.] shared with Mom and Cousin Tom), and 6 dozen cupcakes baked for my sister-in-law's thesis defense (if you bring them cupcakes, do they have to give you the Master's Degree?).

I am all worn out, but I wanted to get some of this up here so I didn't forget what a fun-tastic weekend this has been.

Contrapfabustricto OH! Procrastination.

Yeah, yeah! That's the ticket - procrastination. We have a pirate coming to dinner tomorrow night. And I *know* cognitively that the house must be cleaned. But darn it all if I'm not a lazy little monkey... And look! It's blog time instead of clean time.

I think there should be a sign posted outside my house - something like "Wouldn't you think there was something wrong with me if I worked two jobs, had three kids and two dogs, and didn't have a messy house?" I like to think that the house is messy cause we're busy doing other things! I spend my time doing design when I could be vacuuming; blogging, reading, and scheming when I could be doing dishes or laundry; and frankly, dusting is far less enriching or thought provoking as my interpersonal relationships and forays into cerebral territory previously unknown. I don't sit around watching Oprah and my evening soaps. I rarely laze about in bed. I'm a go-getter! I'm a doer! I'm just not a cleaner.

At any rate, there are some big projects that need to be attended to this summer, both inside and out. For the short term, a little weeding and pick up outside should do wonders, and inside, I really ought to run the mechanical sweeper around one or two floors. The bigger projects this summer loom very large. The dogs need to be moved to the other side of the house, and a kennel needs to be built for them. The yard they're in now needs to be rebuilt and redone with artificial turf or fresh sod. All of the flagstone patio and rockery need to be taken down and done over, and the plants need attending to. Meanwhile, life marches on inside, and I find myself becoming ever more present for interesting things like beer, and design, and friends...

And in the meantime, I just killed 7 minutes that I could have spent vacuuming. It's clearly all about freedom of choice in this house.

Van Halen: Debate on David Lee Roth vs. Sammy Hagar

Emily: I just wanted to let you know that if you want someone to discuss Van Halen (and the respective benefits/defecits of Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth as front men) then, I am here for you. Just FYI. Cause I hear that *someone* was less than receptive about your excitement and documentary watching... We can play "guess that band," and we can get J to drive us around in the truck while we listen to classic rock on KGON. No mullets required.

George: Oh dear dear Emily. I had to wait to respond to your suggestion that the band fronted by (gasp) Hagar was VanHalen because I was so upset. Let's set the record straight...The band that included Mr." I can't drive 55 " was called poop poo caca (aka VanHagar). The sublime VanHalen could only be fronted by one David Lee (hallowed be thy name) Roth. Let's try to move forward and put this nasty misunderstanding behind us.

Emily: Dearest GP: I hesitate to call your devotion to David Lee Roth out in public, but alas, sir, you leave me no choice. While I admit that musically, there are benefits to Van Halen's being fronted by DLR (certainly his *talent* lent a certain air of bubble gum snapping trailer trash to an otherwise musically serious classic rock band), there are multiple reasons for Hagar’s winningness as front man for Van Halen. I do acknowledge that their most popular album, 1984, with its (mildly obnoxious) poppy-rock was the epitome of Van Halen with David Lee Roth as front man.

Let me remind you, perhaps unnecessarily, that David Lee Roth was at first a financial means to the ends of Van Halen. While he had previously auditioned *unsuccessfully* for lead vocals, Alex and Eddie allowed him to come in despite that; their renting of sound equipment from him was more expensive than letting him sing and bring his own equipment. What a sad way to begin a proclaimed status as lead singer!

“Dude, we let you sing cause you have good sound equipment. Not ‘cause we think you’re a good singer.”

Secondly, as my dear man J so eloquently stated, Sammy Hagar, formerly of band Montrose, was coming off a wildly popular *solo* career. Hagar’s solo success has continued beyond Van Halen, as a sign of his enduring talent and inherent musical genius, whereas DLR is not, has not been, and will not be, a successful soloist. Really? He had to remake a Beach Boy’s classic, and his other song was entitled “Just a Gigolo.” How prophetic.

Additionally, and I feel that this is in itself a significantly sufficient reason to end the argument, during Hagar’s front of Van Halen, the band achieved wider audience, thanks in no small part to his additions of richer sound, varied musical instrumentation, and more complex and longer songs, resulting in further commercial and musical success.

I’m so sorry if I have brought you sadness… But after the denial, the anger, and the rage, you will ultimately come to acceptance, and you will be welcomed on truck rides, as we may then debate Roger Waters or David Gilmour as the pinnacle of Pink Floyd. I welcome your views, but hope you can admit defeat…

George: Wow...I can't believe you said it... Hagar (poop gasp gag) was better than Roth. Let me guess, new coke is better than old coke, you like the "colorised" version of old classic b&w movies, remakes, stand ins, rainchecks, artificial sweetener, polyester, BOB SAGGET's humor, and Safeway brand t.p. (one ply), and I bet you spend most evenings staring at the microwave watching your dinner spin round and round and the sound of the beep when it finally comes, makes you jump, giggle, AND salivate.
Clean the drool off your shirt , get your finger out of the light socket, and learn something.
With regards, gp

Emily: Oh George. I do not like new Coke better than Coca Cola Classic. I don't watch black and white movies OR their colorized versions, and Bob Saget? What a boob. Regular sugar is better than artificial sweetener any day, I'm a cotton kind of girl, and frankly my friend, your insinuation that I wipe my ass with anything less than 2 ply just hurts. I rarely use the microwave other than to make cocoa for the little one, though I heard your house had a bread machine in it. Do you still keep your perishables on a string in the creek out back to keep them cold and maintain a stable for your horses and buggy? And how's that hunting going with the rock?

Now if you'd like to continue along the lines of insult hurling, I think you should come up with some argument for DLR as a better front man than the fact that he was there first. While there are many things as originals that are tried and true, with well founded staying power, we all know, first is not synonymous with "better."

George: Why was Mr. Roth "better" than...oh don't make me say his name again.... I'll tell you why...one word: Charazzzma! Case closed, move along folks, nothing else to see here, we're done. Next !, fini.
And another thing, back in my day, youngens respected their elders and took what they said as gospel without question.
When my grandpa would say "go play in the street whats yer name", I did it, even when it was after midnight. You could learn from him.

Emily: I will give you that DLR had a certain "something" about him. Charisma? Perhaps... More likely coke-induced mania? Possibly... As for respecting one's elders, welllllll, I guess that would apply when one was sufficiently "older," like if you were some dude who was 80, and claimed to like DLR better than Sammy, hey, I would have given it to you for the sheer entertainment value. However, I suspect that somewhere along your innerworkings, you doth protest so loudly because you actually *KNOW* that Hagar was better for Van Halen. You just don't want to have to admit it.

George: I can see you have read far too many books from the "self help" clearance section of bookstores. Perhaps your - ahem - "wisdom" comes via your subscription to Cosmpolitan. Either way Miss E, you are pissing in the wind and your sox are wet.

As for your "coke induced mania" insinuation, I'm sure Mr. Roth enjoyed Moutain Dew (as do I, several times a day). Well, i'm off to see the dentist (gettin a whole new grill).

Emily: has recovered from her inability to be a smart ass. I maintain that Sammy Hagar was a better front man than David Lee Roth, and have formulated a lusty defense against naysayers.

Alethiea: you might need it...sorry

George: lame...no defense lusty or other, will stand. I say boo to you Miss. Good day.

Emily: Mr. P: I thought we had something. I thought the spirit of scholarly debate was alive and well. I see now that the scholarly part of our debate has been left sorely in the dust, and I say unto you, sir, I welcome your Boo. Good day to YOU sir, I bid thee GOOD DAY!

George: like Alethiea said...you need schoolin

Emily: so far all I see is a lotta mouth flappin and no backup comin for your ill-formed and hollow posturing that DLR deserves first billing... Facts? Figures? Intelligent argument? I've no trouble conceding to a well-crafted volley, but you, sir, are void to this point of argument!

My fweet boyfriend...

Well, it is because he's sweet, but also because he doesn't drink regular caffeinated coffee anymore that I was the recipient of these neato things from Starbucks (apparently you can't get these in P-Town yet... I must make a note to stock up when I go to Seattle!).

It's INSTANT Starbucks! Yum!

Ohhhhhhhhhh! It's gearing up for Garden time!

Went to Portland Nursery today. Got lots of plants.

Health Kick Tomatoes (x 2 plants)

Mystery Tomatoes (x 3 kinds)

Old German Tomato

Early Cascade Tomato

Yellow Pear Tomato (x 2 plants)

Imperial Star Artichoke

Violetta Artichoke

Salad Bowl Mix Lettuce

Sweeter Yet Cucumber

Japanese Long Eggplant

Ichiban Eggplant

Holy Mole Pepper

Sweet Bell Pepper

Sunburst Pattypan Squash

Buttercup Winter Squash

Sweet Kandy King Corn

Cannellini Bean

Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean

Golden Oregano

Cilantro

Mint Julep Spearmint

Golden Sage

Purple Sage

Dill

Peppermint

Oregano Thyme

Orange Thyme

Sweet Basil

Cinnamon Basil

Variegated Basil

Parsley

French Tarragon

Mammoth Russian Sunflower

Mammoth Grey Stripe Sunflower

Red Gladiolas

White Charlotte Gladiolas

Echinacea

So much I can't even remember! I'll have to look at the tags again tomorrow, but I know we got about 13 herbs and 17 vegetable plants, plus a few others... WAHOOOO! It's garden time!

Top Ten Highlights of May 10, 2009

For more detail later, but to not forget them now, the highlights of my "Mother's Day" as follows:

1) a coffee treat that tasted like tater tots.
2) a daughter, who despite living in this same house for 9 years, could not for the life of her remember where we kept the bags today, and glared at me ferociously for suggesting she look in the bottom drawer.
3) a discourse from a 4 year old on where pirate booty comes from.
4) a worm funeral (well, actually, an entombment in a yogurt container).
5) "remembering" that when said 4 year old was "a big guy" and I was "a tiny baby" that he made pie for me because I loved it. chocolate pie.
6) same 4 year old's outfit as he dressed himself for the second day in a row.
7) a trip to the nursery to buy more herbs and tomato plants than we really need, but the optimism to think we should get them anyways.
8) a trip to Costco where we got out for under $100.
9) staying in bed and lounging on the porch til noon reading.
10) the news that a friend's baby is coming today, her first! and it couldn't be a better day!

Here's what I am up to...

1) planning a trip to Vegas. Should be fun. Will post lots of crazy pictures when it finally happens and I return from yonder desert.

2) had the girl's bday party yesterday. It was hilarious. 18 children running around the back yard like squirrels. Plus, we tie dyed tshirts. If you want some nerve-wracking entertainment, I highly suggest a pairing of sugared-up elementary school children with permanent dye. Good times.

3) am still working on the adoption portfolio for my friends. It's beautiful. I love it. And when I finish, you better hope they love it too, cause I am taking great pains to make sure everything is just right. (Not that I don't do that on my other projects too, but this subject, the possible adoption of a child hinging on my design is making me especially picky.)

4) still planning the wedding. Got word that the friend of J's who is in a pirate band and ALSO ordained to officiate weddings will most likely be able to be the Officiant for us. So. Excited. This is going to be one hell of a party.

5) working. Like MAD. Mom broke her foot, so I'm trying to hold down the fort and do a bit of extra catch up around here.

6) trying to remember to eat well and drink tons of water for Operation 24 Inch Waist. So far, it's working. I'm down a size, into my smaller jeans with NO MUFFIN TOP. This eating lots of veggies, cutting out processed food, drinking lots of water, and exercising thing is GENIUS.

A Day of Wonder, A Trifecta of Amazement...

Huh. Today was kind of crazy. Spent some time on some good stuff, spent some time on some not so good stuff... Visited Ma (who is in bed with a broken ankle) and did a lot of running around...

In and among the running around I spotted some amazing things. Spectacle number one? A girl wearing a skirt that I think was meant for a person 10 years younger than she, as in an 8 year old... with bare legs all the way up to her arse, and pink Ugg boots. *sigh* Mom, for all the times you said to me "Um, are you going out looking like THAT?" I say unto you, I get it.

The second spectacle was the nonsense Mr. Harrison Ford apparently is causing around our neighborhood, from blocking whole streets off, to double parked trailers along the whole length of the park. What the hell, folks? Lemme see some action! Where are the actors? I only saw burly dudes standing around chatting, and a truck full of costumes, ostensibly for Mr. Ford? Will Ally McBeal/Mrs. Callista Flockheart Ford be joining us in P-Town?

Finally, the third spectacle was at dinner. It was called "dessert."

It was a thing of beauty, a rhubarb tart with a dollop of white chocolate mousse and a white chocolate shaving. I say it *was* a thing of beauty, cause when I chomped into it, I kind of smashed it all together. And it was good.

We followed dinner (at Fife, I had the Chinook salmon with French lentils and J had the buffalo hangar steak) with a date night at Costco, that warehouse of romance. I found several lovely things, but curtailed my purchases (ok, my spending of J's money) to ONE book (Pride and Prejudice, Austen, a classic, CLEARLY an approved investment in our personal library) and a copy of an instructional guitar DVD (one for me and one for my sister).

Oh. And at dinner, I tried to be brave, and so I ordered the Willapa Bay Oysters (supposedly fried, served with Bloody Mary sauce?) but... I acknowledge that I just really don't like oysters. They're too... floofy. And they tasted like the sea. Mo, fank you.

That's all the randomness I have this evening. I am halfway through My Mother's Wedding Dress, by Justine Picardie (?) but I put it somewhere and I can't find it, and so I picked up Marrying Anita by Anita Jain... But um, I am having some slow reading times (to be remedied by my upcoming trips not driving, YAY!) and my finishing of projects that are in current competition with my reading time.

Wedding Inspiration Board...

This has taken a bit to get together. We're eclectic folk. It's not easy to find inspiration for a Scottish themed wedding for people living in the Pacific NW. However, I have come up with some things that I and my beloved both are excited about, including our hidden meaning color choices... Behold, the inspiration board for William Morris/Vintage English meets Robbie Burns/Scottish Country wedding...

madness

If I've been absent lately, it's because life is madness right now.

Hosting out of town guests...

Working on costumes for the school play for the Irish Dancers...

Designing an adoption portfolio for a friend of mine and her family...

Planning a wedding for September...

And I just bought a wedding dress today.

Saraveza in NoPo

Went here for lunch today, was mightily impressed by the quaint setup and the sweet selection of bottles from which to swill.James chose a Belgian style (I think the little waitress lady said it was a Belgian and California IPA style blend?) that was pretty tasty - not too full of the esters, a little more cidery than other Belgians... It was good. Astringent. Not too bitter. Tasty. Called Le Freak.

Then we had us some pastys for lunch. I had the Nader Potater, James feasted upon the regular Nader (with beef) and mother had the special, which was pork sausage and sweet potato. Some funky little pickled vegetables came on the side, which may have tasted really lovely if I had all my senses, but the fizzy apple I bit into wasn't what I expected. Needless to say, I took another drink.

And then I admired the table art.This was a cool little place. Plus I met a darned beautiful (and blissed out sleeping) baby with red hair and a sweet little white sweater named Isla.

Get. Out. No, really.

I'm on a quest. James and I have set a date (September 5, 2009) to get hitched, married, joined in holy matrimony... and my friends, that means boots. Wedding dresses and boots.

Now, some may squawk at my footwear choice. But before you made any judgments, know this: I love me some cowboy boots. Two Christmases ago, James took me to Culpeppers. They were closing, and I'd wanted honest to God cowboy boots for some time. I tried on a whole bunch, and finally slipped this pair on. It was true love. James made me put them in the closet until the actual DAY of Christmas, despite my begging to wear them around the house. I did get a reprieve when he let me wear them to a party. But the rest of the time they sat cloaked in darkness, calling to me through the closed door...

I wear my boots about 90% of the time. Unless it's raining, and then I wear my black boots. Cause my brown ones have leather soles.

Ergo, the need for new cowboy boots. I fully intend to wear my boots as I march down the aisle. I'm not a delicate, strappy, white or silver shoe kind of girl. I like Birkenstocks, Uggs, Crocs, and boots. I hate my toes anyways, so even the thought of getting a pedi before the big day isn't enough to make me bare all. Especially on that day - a day when I will need to be on my feet, cruisin around, unstoppable. My wedding day will be trod in lovely boots. And I'll look fierce next to James in his kilt.

There are several awesome bootmakers - some of these boots cost more than I'm planning on spending on the wedding. But ohhhhh, look at them. Just look! The Tularosa Pintado, by Rocketbuster Boots? A mere $1595. They're my favorite. I would keep these boots forever and ask to be laid to rest in/with them.

The Thistle Boot in Shark skin? No price... But awesome. Made by Paul Bond.

The Wildflower by Stallion Boots... Unbelievable. Crazy beautiful.

These cherry finish boots by Luchesse? Drooling.