Tuesday, August 31, 2010

and the rain begins

rain.

yesterday i woke up to the smell of rain.  there is something about the smell of the first rain...

everything began to smell so clean.

it was only mildly drizzling but enough to leave me soaked after walking the dogs.

i guess it's time to invest in some rain gear....

because today, the rain was much worse.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

went to the doctor today.

figured it was time to find one here in case i get sick.  plus i needed to get my vitamin b12 shot.

on a recommendation, i went to this PA that is associated with OHSU where lee is in school.


the nurse said that the PA had a student with her and would i mind her tagging along.

i had a feeling lee would know her.

of course the girl was in lee's class.  what a small, small world.  she was great though.

i have to say it was the most thorough doc visit i've ever had.


i got a b12 shot and a tetanus shot, one in each arm.

ouch.  both arms are killing me tonight.

but at least i'm vaccinated against whooping cough.  who knew there was an epidemic in oregon?

Saturday, August 28, 2010

lazy hiatus

apparently i'm on a lazy hiatus.

i think it's the new tv's fault.

or perhaps comcast cable?

they are equally to blame.

so there are no real adventures to report.  i did venture out today to get some jewelry making findings.    before i left the house though, i looked up and saw a rainbow in the clouds.



i made a list of jewelry places to hit and only managed to hit one.  they were all in different sections of town and of course i didn't get out of the house before 3:30 and that equals bad traffic.  oh well...there is always another day.

i did end up crossing the steel bridge that i've photographed many times.  it crosses over the willamette river.



it's crazy because the rail passes right beside you.  


all of this to say that i made it to a jewelry supply store in the NE section of town to get some jump rings.

one good thing about my new tv/cable.....i make more jewelry.  hope to add new pieces to etsy soon...

Sunday, August 22, 2010

i broke down...

i did it.

i broke down.

i broke down and bought a new tv.

i've been on a tv detox for about 9 weeks.

it's been good for me but damn i've missed it.

my sweet, sweet tv.

i got an inexpensive flat screen for my room and tomorrow, mr. cable man is set to arrive between 8am-10am.

i'll believe it when i see it.  have they ever been on time?  ever even made it in the window they promised?

i don't care when he comes.

as long as he brings my beautiful cable box with free dvr for a year.

bring it, comcast!

Monday, August 16, 2010

inspiration

woke up today uninspired.

so i went in search of some inspiration and once again ended up taking another look at ann humphreys hooping videos.

she's a badass with a hula hoop.  and she's a chapel hill girl.

i so wish i could do this...here is one of my faves...



and this:



simply amazing....

Sunday, August 15, 2010

sweltering...

heat.

sweltering heat.

the last few days have been unbearable.

yesterday - 98 degrees, today - 100 degrees.

all would be peachy if we had AIR CONDITIONING.

but no....no we don't.

so our little apartment turns into an oven.  an oven that doesn't cool down until 2am.

tomorrow the heat advisory is ending in the evening and it can't come fast enough.

for reals.

the weather gods are trying to kill me.

i finally couldn't take it this afternoon and i ventured out.




i went to the SW section of portland in hopes of finding a restaurant that had cold drinks and even colder a/c.

i ended up at kenny & zuke's delicatessen.


i've heard about it but never been.  it's a jewish deli that serves RIDICULOUSLY sized portions of traditional jewish fare and then some.

they did not disappoint.

everyone working there was young and very attractive.  and they were all men.  delicious.

back to the food.

i decided to try a pastrami reuben because, hey, that's what they are known for.


it was enormous and i could not even eat half.  no wonder the sandwich costs $12.95.  other sandwiches i saw were much bigger....

it was fantastic and tender and melt-in-your-mouth.  sinfully delicious.

while sitting there, i noticed snowboarder/skateboarder shaun white.  it's hard to miss his hair.

flaming red and very curly.

he was in town for the dew tour and apparently won the vert title right before going to eat.  he's got mad skills and is amazing to watch.  and he can crush a sandwich.

then it was back to the oven....

Saturday, August 14, 2010

tv detox

i admit it.

i love tv.

i really do.

i like watching it before bed.   while i'm making jewelry.  or just when something good is on.

i like the option.

i decided to leave my tv behind when i moved.  p. and i bought it before we moved to LA and that was in 2003.  and let's just say it wasn't top of the line.  it's been a fine tv but lately, it's been losing it's color.

so hauling it wasn't worth it.

i admit i had hopes of buying a new flat panel tv once i settled in.  but too many other bills have had to be paid.

oh how i miss my sweet, sweet tv.

so it's just me and my laptop.  and my itunes.

i've taken this lack of tv opportunity to watch some new shows.

that's how i arrived at "dexter".

and i'm hooked.

i've been watching it at night before i go to bed and often times falling asleep on an episode.

not the best images to have in your mind before you drift off to sleep.

you see, dexter is a serial killer.  a charming one, but still a serial killer.  you get the drift....

before, i was falling asleep to "ncis" and having delightful dreams about mark harmon.  now i dream of michael c. hall and bloody crime scenes.

might be time for a new bedtime show....but damn i love it.

Friday, August 13, 2010

my earrings made it to the front page of etsy!

i found out that a pair of my hardware earrings made it to the front page of etsy.

of course i was a little late in finding out as no one tells you that.  but exciting nonetheless.

here is a screenshot of the front page.


Wednesday, August 11, 2010

from bad to worse...

that describes my day.

i rolled over in bed this morning to find my sister's golden retriever heavily panting and acting weird.

it was 5am.

even though she is weird to begin with, this was extremely weird for her.

i figured she needed to go out.  i got up, opened the door and she ran faster than i've ever seen her run.

yep, she got sick.

a big ol' pile of sick.

at least it wasn't in the house...

and of course i tried to go back to sleep but my sister's lab wouldn't leave me alone.  his tail, that i swear, is made of lead would not stop beating on everything.  so no sleep.

decided to run some quick errands before showering.

bad idea.

i pulled over to answer the phone because my hands-free thing wouldn't work.  talked a bit and responded to 2 emails.

then i went to crank my car.

nothing but clicking.  dead battery.

SHIT.

why!??!

the battery is 2 years old.

then i realized i'd left the lights on and the gps plugged in while i pulled over.  ugh...

since i do not have AAA anymore on my car, i looked them up on my iphone.  called a number that kept giving me the runaround with the "press 1 for..... press 2 for ...." crap.

finally, someone answered.

i explained that i wanted to sign up and get my car jump started.

after a million questions and giving him my info, he said he needed to transfer me to new accounts.

what part of I WANTED TO SIGN UP FOR AAA DIDN'T HE UNDERSTAND??

put on hold and transferred to another annoying "press 1....".

finally another person.  repeated the same info.

disconnected.

WTF?!?

called back.

more "press 1 for ..." crap.

finally another person.  repeated the same info.

she said they had transferred me to the california AAA.  i needed the oregon/idaho one.

WTF AGAIN?!?

i was beginning to think no one was listening.


called back.

more "press 1 for ..." crap.

finally another person.  repeated the same info. 

DISCONNECTED AGAIN.

i was flipping out at this point.  it went on like this for awhile before i finally left an angry message for some supervisor.

back to square 1.

walked down the highway to a service station.  

waited a while and was told they couldn't help.

kept walking to another.

waited forever while the dude was on the phone.

he said it would be $55 for a jump and i'd have to wait till his partner came back.  

fine.

i had to walk further down the road to the ATM to get cash.

hitchhiked back.

finally lady arrives back.  she agrees to give me a ride to my car and jump it for me.

a ridiculously long story....blah blah blah...it cranked.  and i'm out $55 and 3 hours.

made it home.

more sick dog.  

more annoyances.

curtains keep falling down in bedroom.  they are too heavy for the rod.

cleaned the shower and proceeded to scrape my knuckles across the rusty shower knob and bled everywhere.

broke the toilet seat when i tried to tighten the screws again.  broke the cheap plastic bolts right off the seat.  had to buy another one.

that's enough for now....

needless to say the day has not gone how i had planned.

do over?

portland love #1

oregon has a law.  a law that requires someone else to pump your gas for you.

i love this law.

there is nothing i hate worse than that germy gas nozzle and the smell that gets all over my hands.

so leave it to oregon to have a law that allows me to enjoy my overly scrubbed OCD hands.

and to top it all off, the gas attendants clean your car windshield in the meantime.  

love.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

wall of hope

since june i've been hearing about a missing kid named kyron horman.

a 7 year old boy from portland oregon.

he went missing from his elementary school while in the care of his stepmother.

then i moved to portland and since then, it's everywhere.  posters, signs, flyers, billboards and non-stop news on the story.


i kept hearing about the "wall of hope" that people began at his elementary school.  so i decided to check it out.


the school is in the country.  surrounded by cows and barns and fields.

the school and the wall are hard to miss.



people from all over have written messages and left gifts.




someone began leaving origami cranes there.



the origami crane has a huge importance in japan and it is tradition to fold 1000 cranes to wish long life, prosperity and good health.

i remember when i went to hiroshima in japan and visiting the memorial park and seeing thousands of them on statues.  they are colorful and quite moving.  the cranes were begun by a 2 year old japanese girl named sadako who believed if she folded 1000 cranes she would be cured.  but she died from the results of radiation poisoning at the age of 12 from the bomb.

hopefully they will work for kyron.

a grilled cheese never tasted so good

until i went to the grilled cheese grill.


it's a food cart in the NE alberta arts district that has an old converted school bus for it's dining room.


i now know why it is packed every time i pass it and why the line was so long.  it's nothing fancy but it was deliciously melt-in-your-mouth good.


i got the pops which is havarti, tomato, honey mustard on dave's killer bread.  amazing.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

gluttony goodness

today was lee's last day in portland so we decided to go have a last meal.  and it was a feast to say the least.

let's be honest....we crushed it.

we went to pine state biscuits.


a place that comes with high recommendations.  first, 3 dudes from NC own it and many of my friends know them.  second, i see the name a lot.  third, i've passed the locations a couple of times.  and lastly, lee's talked about it.

we thought we should go and go out with a bang.  needless to say, i'm still so full i don't want to ever eat again.


we both ordered the reggie deluxe, the most ridic thing on the menu.


the reggie deluxe consists of an extremely large homemade biscuit topped with a piece of freshly fried spicy chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, and a fried egg all slathered with sausage gravy.

yes, that is what i said.  if you don't believe me, watch this.

we should have stopped at one and shared it.

but if that wasn't sinful enough, we ordered the plate of hash ups.


the hash ups consist of hash browns topped with country ham, onions, and melted cheese.

and we washed all of that down with a giant jar of sweet tea.


it might have been the most delicious sandwich i've ever had.  each item was bursting with flavor.  pure insanity.  and of course you had to eat it with a knife and fork.  there was NO picking that thing up.

here is the carnage.


and the aftermath.


the walk back to the car was quite painful.

but it was worth it.  damn you reggie deluxe.  it was good while it lasted but we have to break up.


seen on the way back to the car...

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

dmv

portland.

so i'm officially a resident of oregon.

or at least the $70 i shelled out to the dmv to get a driver's license tells me so.

the dmv.

what can i say about the dmv that hasn't been said before?

it's a nightmare.



today i decided i wasn't leaving without a license and luckily i pulled it off.



it's a lot of waiting in line, talking to someone, going to sit down, being called back up, going to sit back down, etc.  the test is hard but i studied.  a lot.



4 hours later, i left minus $70 and with a piece of paper that is my temp license.

now on to trying to get my car registered here.  i have to mail a lot of paperwork to the people that i have my loan with for them to release the title to oregon.  needless to say, it's a pain in the ass and takes a long time and a bunch of money.  but the process has begun.

2 things checked off the list.

now on to changing my car insurance, health insurance and bank account.  i hadn't planned to change any of it but it has proven to be a hassle so i'm biting the bullet.  making the commitment and LIVING here.

sweet.

Monday, August 2, 2010

city view

i had planned a productive day today.

it didn't happen.

partially from having work to do.

and partially from having no real excuse.

i did have to take lee's white doctor coat to her at the hospital in between rounds.

she left it at home.  i know, that's a shock.  lee left something at home.

in all actuality, she always forgets something.  let's be real.

on my way home from the hospital, i pulled over and took a few photos with my iphone.


the hospital is up on top of the hill.

yes, on top.  which means, people and ambulances that need to rush to the hospital have to take these tiny winding roads to get to it.

smart, right?

it's got a great view from the top though.


and here is me playing around with a new iphone photo app.


yeah, it didn't turn out right.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Washington adventure...

or lack there of?

lee has been looking for a car top box for her car rack and discovered one on craigslist today thinking it was the score of the century.

after many hours of waiting to make a plan with this guy, we headed out to vancouver.

and yes, that is vancouver in washington state.

we wasted time in our beloved fred meyers waiting for the dude to get there.

the guy showed up and unloaded a box the size of a CASKET.

there was no way that thing was fitting on lee's honda crv.

and it didn't.  you couldn't open the trunk with it.

so we headed back to pdx.

luckily there was a beautiful pink sunset to view as we passed over the bridge between washington and oregon.


and as we rolled into portland.

e l e m e n t 7 5 bracelet featured in another etsy treasury

sweet!

check it out here.
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