Taking the Bad With the Good

As gorgeous as Friday was Saturday was gross. It was that really inconvenient sort of drizzly rain that doesn't quite require an umbrella but is still wet enough to be annoying. And it was grey, grey, grey. But that night after work, on my way to pick up Tiger from Kevin's house where his mom had watched him, this happened. And even though Portland weather can be a pain in the ass sometimes it also makes for such a beautiful city. When I travel I often times realize that not everyone has trees and greenery in their city, like, in the actual city. I love that this is where I live.

The sun will come out, tomorrow.

We get a lot of rain here in Portland. I don't know what the official days per year count is but it's definitely up there. Sometimes when it's supposed to be Spring and it's just...not, it can be tough not to wonder if the sun will shine on our city ever again. But then, when it does, you remember why all the rain is worth it.

These were taken from my apartment. In the middle of the city. I don't live on some tucked away little street toward the center of Portland, I live right in the thick of it all. And still, I look out my windows and am surrounded by trees and green.

I love that about this place.

Quenched

I got the new Bon Appetit in the mail this week. On the cover was this:


And the second I saw it I knew that, yet again, Portland and it's awesome cuisine would be featured in a national magazine. In a cover story no less! Way to go P-town.





For future reference Bon Appetit, no one, and I mean no one, in Portland says 'Bro.'

A Second Helping

This is going to be another one of those full of lots of little bits kind of posts. Be warned.

Remember when I mentioned that a real life chef had offered to come cook with me? Well, it happened. She was really kind in asking me what I have trouble with so that we could work on that. I've never been able to make falafel that doesn't fall apart. It doesn't matter if I follow a recipe to the T, it just never works for me. Michelle came up with a whole Greek menu for us which was really fun and awesome of her to take the time to do. She taught me how to hold a knife correctly (which apparently I do not do), and she used lots of science-y words and explained things to me and we ended up making falafel that didn't fall apart. It was really fun and Michelle was wonderful to have over. We didn't even have one bit of awkward pausing.

One thing I think I learned about myself though is that I like the discovery aspect of cooking. Lana was asking me how things went and when I was telling her I sort of like not knowing how to do something she said "Right, you like figuring it out on your own, because that's fun." And she's right. I think I like making mistakes and learning from them and then finally having something be a success. It makes it that much more exciting when you're able to do it right. I think that's why even though I have tons of cookbooks I don't really read them. I like to look at the photos for inspiration or use them as reference but I don't really use them for their intended use. I am super stoked I know how to make falafel now though. And this spinach, currant, pine nut dish that was awesome.

I wanted to take pictures but I was also trying to not be super obviously excited and lame. I am a fan of this one of our tzatziki though. Which was amazing by the way.


Guess what came in the mail this week...both the Urban and Anthro catalogs! Free People should be here soon too. And since the 40% accurate groundhog decided it will be Spring in two weeks that means I need to get working on my Spring wish list.

This is already on it.


Lana and her friend Curtis, who is probably also my friend now since I invited him to my birthday six months from now, came over on Tuesday to make some food. We were going to make more pasta but since I broke my mixer that was a no go. We ended up using some store bought pasta to make a dish with carmelized onions, roasted potatoes, wilted spinach, and a rosemary cream sauce. We also had Lana's famous brussel sprouts on the side. Although I did have to restrain her from burning them since I'm pretty sure had I not stepped in she'd have been perfectly happy to serve them black.

At this point we hadn't added the spinach yet. Not because we forgot though...

I've been looking for a house to rent either on the Oregon coast or in the Puget Sound area for my birthday. I really want to just have a bunch of people stay there and be cozy and watch movies and play games and cook food. Everyone I've talked to about it is on board so I've searched on tons of sites for the perfect house. Mostly I've found a bunch of crappy houses someone thinks are worth $600 a night with a mandatory one month rental and I'm pretty sure if I had to live in one of these floral dust ruffle, jars full of sea shells, futon filled nightmares for a month I would kill myself. But, this search has been making me more thankful to live in the gorgeous Northwest. Yesterday I was driving and in the middle of everything, on a freeway overpass, this was my view.

I realize there is a not so gorgeous fence in the way there but there's also a glowing mountain if you didn't notice. I need to remember not to take this place for granted.

A Month of Photos: Days 7 & 8

Yesterday I spent the whole day being supremely unproductive and it was wonderful so I didn't end up posting my photo for the day. Which means you get two (and really it's three) today!

Day seven was supposed to be a photo that shows the real you. I guess to me that means something vulnerable. I have four tattoos but the ones that have the most significance to me are the ones on my wrists. One says 'live' and the other says 'heal.' I got the one that says live during a time in my life where I felt really stagnant. I think to some tattooing the word live on your wrist would be a reminder to do big things and take risks but for me it's more about doing things that challenge me but also being sure to work towards bettering my life and creating the way I want to live. It's a reminder to not be reckless.

When I got the word heal tattooed on me I was feeling a lot of hurt from a few things going on in my life and I needed a reminder to move on and get better and to grow from those things rather than dwell in them. I wanted to remember to learn from life rather than be brought down by it.

Both are in white ink so while they're out there for everyone to see few people actually notice them and it makes me feel as if I'm carrying around a secret. In a good way.




Day eight is "a picture that makes you laugh." So here it is.



UPDATE: These are what the tattoos look like today. Literally.

Portlandia

Someone just sent me a link to this. I'm pretty sure it's going to inspire a weekly viewing party. I already have the DVR set.

What I'm Wearing Today (Bonus Edition)

I haven't written about anything fashion or style related in a long time. Mostly because I've been putting my entire life into cardboard boxes and then sort of taking it out again except I also have to work and sleep and there just aren't enough hours in the day. Plus I was really excited about rugs for awhile before I actually started sewing them together.

Anyways, this is what I'm wearing today plus some other extras I'm wanting to write about but don't seem to deserve their very own posts.

I usually feel maxi dresses are reserved for really tall, statuesque girls but I like them so I've bought a few and reserved them mostly just for beach wear. But then I started hanging out with Lana and that girl is short like me. Plus she never wears heels and she can pull off a maxi dress like nobody's business so I decided to give this trend a go. And I have to admit I like it a lot. Mostly because it's really ridiculously comfortable. It does sort of make me feel like a homeless lady but in a really chic way so I guess that's okay.

I ordered this dress online and it's weird. The seem that creates the top of the ruffled portion is really far down which I didn't pay attention to at first. So it makes your torso look really long and your legs look really short (not a desirable look) but this morning I couldn't really find clothing because I am living in a sea of cardboard and I need to buy more hangers before I start ripping into my clothing boxes. I also probably need a steamer as well.

So, anyways, I couldn't find any clothing, but I could find this package I had received so I decided I was going to try to make this thing work. I grabbed a medium width cognac colored leather belt and belted the dress just slightly higher than my waist but not empire style. Then I sort of pulled the dress up a bit so it created a loose top above the belt. I have to say for something that started out not working at all I made it fairly awesome. Also it's really soft so I sort of wanted to keep it no matter what.

Move West Maxi Dress by Free People in Mocha

I'm also wearing this sweater which I am in love with and want to wear all the time.

Cross my Heart Cardigan by Free People in Beige

I threw on some black tights and one of my favorite pairs of boots as well.

Belle Starr Boots by Corso Como

And now for the "bonus" portion of this post.

I now have wood floors which means my feet are always picking up tons of dust and nonsense. Which I guess is better than it being mushed into my carpet but still, it's gross. And I know I could sweep except I actually can't because there is too much stuff in the way. So I decided that even though I love being barefoot I would need to get some slippers.

Cadee Bootie Slippers by Target (?) in Brown

I'm not even going to pretend these aren't ridiculous in real life but they're soft and super comfy and they have a hard-ish sole so if I need to leave my apartment and walk a block to order and pick up pizza with Craig because the pizza place apparently has no real phone number, I can do that. Plus I sort of like looking like an Eskimo.

The new Free People catalog came out and I'm really loving these pieces. Plus with my new gigantic closet I will have plenty of room for them.

Desert Florals Maxi Skirt by Free People


Burnout Dress by Free People in Army

Other non-fashion related bonuses:

My cat has a cold. Which is adorable. I tried to video tape him sneezing but it just turned into a video of him turning his back on me and refusing to sneeze while I spoke in the really obnoxious voice I use to talk to him.

My city is flooding. Not really but there's a ton of water on the road and everyone is freaking out except it's Portland. And this happens every year. So calm down everyone and drive your cars. I did have to take off my shoes though and tip toe through a six inch deep pool of water to get to my car yesterday though so I guess maybe some freaking out is justifiable. I would have taken a picture but I was too busy trying not to drop my shoes or laptop. My boss had offered me some boots of hers because "What if there's glass in there? Or a snake?" but the water was in her driveway where there has never been broken glass or a snake so I figured that was pretty unlikely I am badass so I chanced it.

I was looking for a tray to fit my new ottoman so it could be used as a coffee table and basically the size I want doesn't exist. Unless I spend $650 and since I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen I'm not going to be getting one of these incredible custom made lucite trays. There are actually other sizes that are less expensive but I can't even think of a reason I would need another tray and as the queen of justifying purchases that's quite a feat. They're awesome though so check 'em out.

Sunny With a Chance of Gorgeous

This is my drive to work. One of the things I love about Portland is how green or, um, red/yellow/brown it is. Basically I love all the trees. I once had a friend from out of state visit and while on the freeway she said "It's like driving through a rainforest!" Whenever I leave town I notice how few other cities have trees in the city, lining the highways, and just generally everywhere.

The best part though, is how lovely they smell this time of year.

When seperating wants and needs becomes difficult...

This weekend I went shopping with a friend. One of our stops was the most amazing Twist on NW 23rd. Twist is mostly a jewelry store but there are also some home things as well. As soon as I walked in I saw a wall of animal pillows. I wanted them all but I knew I could only have one. Because really, how crazy is a studio apartment full of animal pillows going to look? I'll keep my crazy slightly more under the surface thankyouverymuch.

So, out of all the animal pillows I chose a baby bird of some sort (there's some debate over whether it's an emu or ostrich).





You can see why I want every single one of these here.

Music I am Loving

After spending a week at Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls and hearing not only all the awesome campers but also the bands that came to play at lunch every day I was in need of an influx of new music to my library. You know when your self just craves creativity or air or whatever it is that makes you feel good? That's what this was. This was no casual want, this was a bona fide need.

Magic vs. The Machine, Nextdoor Neighbors



There was a band that played at camp one day called Nextdoor Neighbors. It's made up of two local girls and is a keyboard/electronic band. I swear, as soon as I heard them I knew I needed to hear more. I stood around awkwardly hovering waiting for all the kids to be done getting autographs so I could ask if they had an album for sale. They didn't have one with them so that very evening I went to a local music store here, Music Millenium. They didn't carry it either so I ended up purchasing it on iTunes. I've been listening to it over and over with only brief breaks for the rest of these albums.

Mines, Menomena



While I was at Music Millenium I saw Menomena had a new album. This is a local band as well but they're fairly well known in places other than Portland as well. I can't even explain how amazing this band and this album is. It's melancholic and achingly beautiful without being depressing. And every single track is perfect.

She & Him



So, pretty much everyone knows about She & Him. If not, it's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Zooey sounds pretty much the same as she did in Elf, 500 days of Summer, and that Cotton commercial. Together they have a very sweet 50s sound that makes me want to dress like a Stepford wife and go dancing in between martinis and playing with my pearls. Their first album was wonderful and this one doesn't disappoint either.

Witching Hour, Ladytron



The other day I was getting frozen yogurt at this place I love but for some reason is always playing rave music. I seriously don't get it. There are always different people there so I don't think it's their choice but I'm not sure what the company is trying to achieve with their music selection because it doesn't sound cool, it just sounds way too intense for frozen yogurt.

Anyways, I heard a Ladytron song and I know this album isn't anywhere close to new or current but I forgot how much I like it. I started listening to it in my car and it's upbeat without being too electronic, which is a thing.

Last Thursday

We have something here in Portland called First Thursday. It takes place on the first Thursday of every month in The Pearl and involves lots of wine, art galleries, happy hours at pretentious restaurants and saying "Dahling!" before participating in the double cheek kiss.

That's not completely accurate but it will provide a sufficient mental picture for comparison.

Last Thursday is quite different. It's a super energetic street art festival that takes place the last Thursday of every month in the Alberta arts district. The street gets shut down to cars and everyone wanders about watching street performances, eating from food carts, participating in installation art, and purchasing handmade goods. It's fantastic.

The whole thing has an environment that can be really hard to explain so I give you photos, which I hear are worth thousands of words. These are from my birthday.


A giant rocking horse.


People selling baskets.


Some guys teaching each other break dance moves.


A woman selling toasted marshmallows.


Some chairs making up a face.


Music!


A traveling fountain.


Giant hula hoops around adorable people.


This...


and this...


live here where you can pay a small fee to help decorate this lovely gentleman's vehicle.


You can pick designs here and have a shirt screenprinted for you to your exact specifications.


A place to tell your secrets.


And my favorite, the photo booth.

Ink

I very clearly remember having a conversation with my then-boyfriend and his mom when I was about 18 about how tacky I thought tattoos were. Both then boyfriend and I would never get a tattoo. His mom thought we were being a bit judgmental but we were 18 and knew everything.

Fast forward six years and now I have four tattoos. To be fair I'm not brave enough for color so all mine are in white ink but, with my beyond pale skin that actually ends up looking pretty cool. My most recent one is of the Portland skyline. I was inspired by the lovely Lana's Philly skyline tattoo. I've wanted a Portland tattoo for awhile but couldn't really decide on anything. Once I saw Lana's amazing ink though I knew that was what I wanted. So, with her blessing I went forward.

I sketched what I wanted using this photo. Sean Lanusse at Infinity Tattoo took my very rough drawing and turned it into what is now permanently on my arm. And I love it.