saturday

So much to write about. So many wonderful and positive things on my mind! Where do I even begin?

Our time with Ben and Dana was so fabulous. We dropped them off at the airport last night around 8:00, and I am happy to report that there were no tears! Although I really was very sad to see them go. We had a blast with them, and I learned so much from them both. Some of my favorite moments/memories are as follows:

-listening to The Album Leaf, a band Keith and I had surprisingly never heard of, on the way home from the coast, while driving through the Tillamook State Forest.
-watching the Christian Bale flip-out remix for the first time, and then countless times after.
-the yoga practices Dana and I shared at Yoga Pearl, led by the amazing Kathryn Budig.
-my Manzanita headstands, and the incredibly powerful loving encouragement the Benanas gave me, which I will never forget.

There are too many to list, really. I am so grateful for their friendship. It's so crazy to think that Dana and I met by chance, two years ago in Norfolk at a yoga teacher training. I am so happy that we've kept in touch and remained so close. I already can't wait to see them again! I think their visit made a huge impact on me, and will continue to mold me into the kind of person I want to be. Perhaps that sounds a little dramatic to you, but let me explain. Keith and I live out here with no family anywhere nearby. Having Ben and Dana out here to help set us on track as a newly married couple was a tremendous blessing. Ben hung curtains for us, which neither of us really knew how to do, Dana taught me some simple vegan recipes, and also the value of a houseplant. She also taught me that you should own six of everything, so that you can entertain two other couples, that you should nuke your sponges for a minute once a week to kill germs, how to saute vegetables, that I can throw my curtains in the dryer with a damp towel for a few minutes to get the wrinkles out, that you should always buy organic apples, or at least peel the skin off non-organic ones, that rice cakes with raw unsalted almond butter and unsweetened applesauce taste amazing, and so much more! She is like the big sister I never had. (Except I imagine if I really did have a sister, she wouldn't be into yoga and organic health foods, being that I seem to be the "different" one in my family). She and Ben are just one of the sweetest, most down to earth, kind, loving and generous couples I have ever known. I can't say enough good things about them. They are as sweet as a tiny pumpkin cupcake.

Speaking of sweet couples that I love, our camping trip with John and Julia is coming up at the end of next month! After freezing my backside off in Manzanita recently, I have definitely learned the "summer in Oregon can be cold" lesson and will be packing lots of warm clothes and blankets. There are few things worse than being cold! And as silly as this sounds, I do like to look as cute as possible, and when you find yourself layering up in whatever you can find that was randomly thrown in the trunk of the car (ie: dirty work shirt belonging to husband), you don't feel very cute. Dana came prepared, with a cute jacket and scarf, and I felt like a total dweeb. I will definitely be packing my arm warmers, scarf, jacket, Holly socks and anything else I can think that will keep me feeling warm and looking cute for the trip to Crater Lake. I'll also be waxing my eyebrows before the trip. Dana will understand that one, and so will Julia if I don't do it.

Tonight I went to the gym and had a nice workout. That was one thing I did miss when Benana was here. I think I subconsciously allowed myself a break. It wasn't that I felt like I had to entertain them constantly (though I could have, since I have six of everything!), I just skipped out on the gym more days than I would normally allow myself. But, to be fair, I did do take those intense Kathryn Budig workshops and dance/skip/gallop on the beach quite a bit. And on the flip side of that, I drank more wine than normal, too. Oh well! I had fun.

One thing I meant to mention earlier is that the Benanas and the T-Kaps (that's Keith and me) went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way home from Manzanita. It was crazy touristy. Lots of screaming kids and parents and grandparents. We stayed long enough to eat some greasy food, fresh ice cream cones (mine was pumpkin and the size of my head), and do some cheese tasting. Keith was in heaven. I, however, do not like cheese very much. Actually, I'm not much of a dairy-lover, in general, but that pumpkin ice cream sure was a delight. My favorite cheese, and the only one I actually tasted, was the vintage extra sharp white cheddar. We were going to buy a block to have at home that night with some wine, but the line was about a mile long so we decided to pass. People were buying so much cheese I could not believe it. Doesn't that stuff go bad? Some of these folks had to have been spending upwards of $100 on cheese. They won't be pooping before Christmas, eating like that!

I think I may have said this a time or two before, but I have a friend in Salt Lake City who keeps a seriously entertaining blog. Check it out. www.multiculturalanimalfarm.com

I either don't have anything else to say, or I have a whole overwhelming lot of stuff more to say, I can't decide which. Either way, I think I should smother myself in lavender oil and call it a night.

xoxo-
T

sunday

Happy Sunday! I am very pleased to report that I actually slept last night. For over ten hours. This is a huge deal because recently I've been battling insomnia and it's really been affecting me. I would lay in bed for two or three hours before I could finally fall asleep, when I did fall asleep it was never hard, and I would wake up a couple hours before I needed to. So I was generally getting four-ish (poor) hours of sleep each night. This is not okay for the girl who needs her ten hours of sleep per night. I almost blogged about my hopes for a peaceful sleep last night, but then I decided not to even throw the negative energy out there, and it worked! Well, that combined with the fact that I'd had a glass of wine, a very intense yoga practice, an hour long massage, and I was still covered in ylang ylang oil from that. But it worked, nonetheless.

Also, I think my very happy home space contributed to my restful evening. Ben and Dana have been so kind and so good to us since they've been here! They've helped us hang curtains and pictures, and Dana has been helping me arrange my kitchen in a really organized manner (since we got some new kitchen gadgets and essentials for our wedding, I really wasn't sure where things should live). I also got a bamboo jasmine soy candle that sits in my window, where the cool breeze blows the heavenly scent all around my home. It's a very nice place in here now. I'm looking forward to having some of my Portland friends over soon. I can make dinner! Quinoa salad, anyone? Dana taught me!

I am still very sore from all of the yoga (and truthfully I think I was a little sore even before all the yoga). My traps are extra sore and it hurts to lift my arms above my head. Owwie! But that's okay. At least I got some SLEEP!

xoxo-
T

saturday

I am a yogi.

If I learned anything in the five hours I spent with the amazing Kathryn Budig, it is that. She would put us in these seemingly impossible asanas, but not without first saying: Remember- you are in a community that wants to see you succeed. She was so inspiring. And lucky me- I got the chance to talk to her after our Friday night workshop. Her words will stay with me forever. She has the sweetest, most kind, gentle and loving soul. And having Dana next to me through it all was just the icing on the cake. What an amazing experience.

That being said, I am so sore I don't think I will be able to move tomorrow! I decided to do something tonight for myself that I very rarely do: I got an hour long massage at Dosha Salon. The Benanas are in Hood River for the night and Keith is at work, so I figured, why not? Now I'm sitting here in my lovely apartment with a glass of wine and taking in this beautiful evening.

xoxo-
T

thursday

We've been having a blast so far with Benana! Yesterday we walked up to the Rose Garden and went to the Japanese Gardens, today we did some shopping and at vegan pizza at Rocco's, and currently the Benanas are out with Keith seeing The Quick and Easy Boys play! So much excitement and it's only day two! I'm loving this. And yesterday morning, I woke up to this sweet little gem of a picture text from my sister in-law...

xoxo-
T

breaking news

I just baked chocolate cupcakes from scratch. This marks the first time I've ever baked anything from scratch and I'm pretty happy about it! Here's the recipe:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/one_bowl_chocolate_cake.html

duvet

I was just perusing the West Elm website and I had a few thoughts. They were all along the lines of, 'I want that', or 'When did it become acceptable to charge $700 for a rug?', or 'Maybe I should finally get rid of my pink bedding since I've been living with a man for over a year and I'm now married?'. Keith never complains about my pink sheets, or my pink and orange comforter. Those are nice sheets, and the comforter isn't so bad either. I got it at West Elm when I was living on Monument Avenue and I waited forever for that sucker to go on sale. When we were at The Wynn I was dreaming of my pink comforter. It is so soft and plushy. But I think it's time that I work toward gender neutralizing my home. I also would like to purchase matching furniture and some decor that doesn't involve pin-up girls sitting in martini glasses. When I really start thinking about tackling this project, I get overwhelmed. Where do I start? I guess I could pick a room and start there? I also guess I could think more about starting this project when I work more than two days a week? Or when Keith becomes a famous director? We'll see, I guess. I also want to paint our bedroom. A sunshiny happy yellow, or maybe a serene seagrassy-type green? Oh, yes- green paint with chocolate furniture and crisp white bedding.

Speaking of bedding- how much of a pain in the rear are duvet covers? I've got one, and it's great, in theory. A few years ago, I decided that I was going to ditch the pink bedding in favor of something more neutral, so again I went to West Elm, picked out exactly what I wanted and waited for it to go on sale. When it finally did, I snagged it up. I paid a million dollars for a white comforter (that I didn't even bring to Oregon with me) to stuff inside of the swanky duvet cover. Every time I wanted to wash the duvet cover, it was such a production to get it back on the comforter. I had to lay it out on the floor and crawl inside of it to get it to lay flat, and then after sleeping in the bed for about five minutes, the comforter would get all balled up inside. So frustrating. There are tons of duvet covers I've fallen in love with over the past several years, and West Elm generally has some great deals on sale ones, but I simply refuse to buy another one and deal with that circus every time I want to change/wash it. If anyone has any duvet cover tips, please share. Until then, I guess my pink comforter is here to stay.

I have got to hit the sack if I'm going to wake up and meet Shannon in the morning. Why am I still awake?! It's 11 pm and everyone knows that's way past my bed time. Good night, friends!

xoxo-
T

sweetness

Tomorrow morning I've got a date with Shannon at Sweetness Bakery. I can't put into words how excited I am for this. I've been hearing about Sweetness ever since I met Shannon a year ago, and she was kind of enough one time to share some of her raspberry bar with me and I nearly fainted, it was so damn good. So I get groupon emails every day. Generally I find them annoying, but the other day I got one for Sweetness Bakery. $7 for $15 worth of treats. I bought it and then immediately scheduled a time for S and I to go. I...can't...wait.

sunday pt II

This happens often. I blog religiously for a while, sometimes even two or three times a day. And then it stops. Life happens and I don't always have the mental or creative energy to sit in front of a computer and tell you what's happening in my life. Today is not one of those times. I love blogging and today I shall do it twice. Perhaps even a third time, the day is still young.

So I need to vent about people who let their kids act like senseless orangutans in public. This is not okay and I wonder what kind of values people think they are teaching their kids by saying nothing more than, "oh, those are pretty, sweetie!" when the kid picks up a pair of $120 patent leather shoes and clinks them together just before throwing them on the ground, and then repeating the cycle before even cleaning up the first mess that was made. I felt like saying, "Well, mom, I'm glad you think those are pretty because you'll be buying them if your kid continues to beat them up." Instead I said, "NO!". Hey, parents! There's your cue that your child's activity is not appropriate. Instead of taking the cue, these parents continued to pay more attention everything but the kid. I feel awkward about correcting other peoples kids and I generally avoid it at all costs. But these parents were so negligent. Their kid was also smacking her hands against the mirror and getting fingerprints all over it. No big deal. Annoying, but that's what Windex is for. I was so glad when they left.

Tonight Keith's film is showing at McGillacuddy's. I'm looking forward to it because I like ninkasi and they have it. Also, because there won't be any kids there. And most importantly- I'm so excited for the world to see Keith's work. He has submitted to three film festivals this fall (all in Oregon), and we'll see where it goes from there. He also just finished a new script that he's been working on for quite some time. I admire his drive and dedication and am honored to be along for the ride. It is fun to be married to someone who you think is super cool! I am hoping with all of my heart and soul that we can get decent funding for the next film. People should know that The Corners was not a low budget film, it was a no budget film. Filmed entirely with borrowed equipment, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the cast and crew who worked tirelessly for free all through the night, and an insane amount of passion. I hope someone (with lots of money and/or rank) sees this film and says, "If these guys made this with nothing, imagine what they could do with $___,___.__)!

Ben and Dana will be here Tuesday night. I am thrilled beyond words! I remember last time Dana visited, I cried when she left. I lurve her! The plus side to working two days a week is that I have plenty of time to spend with them while they're here! Dana and I are taking two of Kathryn Budig's workshops at Yoga Pearl, which I am literally bursting at the seams over. I love Kathryn Budig. Adore her. I've been wanting to meet her and practice with her for probably three years now. B & D are also going to Hood River while they're here, which holds a special place in my heart. Everyone knows I love Doppio Coffee+Lounge. For Pete's sake I've driven the 60 miles to Hood River before just to sit in this place with a cuppa'joe. It's that good. However, I'm not sure if I/we will get to go with them. Depends on whether or not they spend the night. We'll see. Also, I should take into consideration that they may want a little alone time! We're supposed to be going to Manzanita for an overnight trip, too! I could stay in Manzanita for a week and not get bored, I think. They have the sweetest little yoga space there. It's such a beautiful place. Also I am looking forward to our work party on the 25th! John and Julia are riding with us. I hope J&J can meet B&D because I think everyone would get along nicely and have a good time. I love having such quality people in my life! In addition to all this great friend time, I'm also looking forward to camping at Crater Lake with J&J, and hopefully soon a BBQ with J&J and K&K! (K&K? Kyla and Kelly!).

I feel like I'm finding my niche. Finally starting to feel the dark cloud that's been looming begin to lift. There's still a pretty big storm cloud hanging over the financial aspect of my life, but other than that I feel happy. The sun is out, the weather is nice, I married the man I've wanted to marry since I was sixteen, I spent lots of time with Stormy, I ran around the desert like a maniac with my best friends, I'm teaching yoga to countless beautiful souls several times a week, and that's just the beginning of what is shaping up to be an amazing summer.

xox0-
T

sunday

Last night was the perfect Portland night. Fingers are crossed for a series of nights like last night for Ben and Dana next week. Keith was working this new catering job and had a gig at Mt. Hood. Lucky him! I bet it was so gorgeous. I worked until 6 and then decided to go to the gym. I was so on the fence about it and I really didn't want to go, but I got dressed and went anyway. For 5 minutes. Then I wondered what I was doing inside on an elliptical machine when it was so beautiful outside? I left the gym and went for a walk. That didn't last long either because I saw a wedding party taking photos in Tanner Springs Park and I had to park it on a bench and check out what was going on.

The bride looked like a cake topper and she looked perfect and lovely. Her bridesmaids were wearing really classy light yellow dresses and they were all carrying yellow flowers. The guys were all wearing light gray suits. It was a perfect looking summer wedding. While I was able to appreciate the cake topper dress, I still know that I made the right choice with my more simple and more understated dress. First of all, I didn't have the money to afford myself a lot of options when it came to my dress. I had to decide what was more important to me- a high quality, more simple dress, or a big frilly cupcake dress from a chain. Easy peasy. I choose quality. (How did this turn into a blog about my wedding dress?!) So anyway, I don't know who reads my blog. I know my mom, Julia, Shannon, I see that Monique and Emily are now followers, Dana, maybe Ina? Cora, are you still out there? All of these people already know about my dress and probably heard more than they needed/wanted to hear about my dress. But in case any creepers from my facebook page read this and care to know the deets on my dress, here they are: I got it at a boutique on NW23rd. Thanks to Miss Melanie, who used to be a coworker of mine and has since moved back to the V-A, I discovered this cute little shop called Lena Medoyeff. When Keith and I were first engaged and keeping the news to ourselves, she said, "If I ever get married again I know where I'm getting my dress!" And she told me about this place, which she didn't know the name of, on NW23rd. I assumed I couldn't afford it, but I wanted to find it anyway. One Saturday, while working with Ina, I took a Fat Straw run. To my surprise, there was a little dress boutique on the way and it happened to be the one Melanie was talking about. I popped in just to check it out for a minute. I saw a dress. It was 'the' dress. They asked if I wanted to try it on. I couldn't believe it, because I was dressed down and didn't even have a ring on my finger at this point. So I quickly tried it on and of course fell in love with it. It was silk and it was perfect. The price was $752 and it needed a sash that was $163. On top of that, you needed some special panties and boobie stickers that would have been who knows how much more. I knew right away that I couldn't even consider that dress. Yes, I know that's not much for a wedding dress. Some people spend upwards of one and two thousand dollars on their dresses like it's nothing. I get it. But I was buying this myself, and my parents are simple folks who got married in jeans while standing in their living room. My father would fall out of his chair if I asked him for $1,000 for a dress. I didn't even ask. I went back into the store several times and tried the dress on again. Maybe hoping it would go on sale? "These dresses you are looking at will never go on sale." Great. One last time I went in the store, and the store was a wreck. There were racks of dresses in the middle of the tiny store. They were setting up for a sample sale. I browsed the racks and saw mostly 'mother of the bride' type dresses. And then I my dress. They hadn't marked prices down yet and I saw that the price tag said $852. And I was thinking to myself, "Lord have mercy, that is even more than the one I originally wanted!" The sales girl then informed me that tomorrow that dress would be $300. I tried it on. Sold! I was so happy. It was made with 100% raw, organic, unbleached fair trade silk. The designer was a local Portlander who learned to design dresses while she was in the Peace Corps, and it was put together by a local seamstress. All of these things were very important to me. All that I really cared about when it came to the look of the dress was that it wasn't strapless- and it wasn't. I will never see a girl I went to high school with on facebook wearing that dress on her big day and I love that. Nobody is going to say to me, "My friend wore that dress too!" It's mine, all mine! And I love that.

Good grief. I guess I'll have to write about the rest of my night later!

xoxo-
T

saturday

I love our new coffee maker! There is nothing better than waking up to the aroma of coffee. For some reason, I am having a hard time waking up this morning. I haven't been sleeping well recently, but for the last two nights I've slept like a rock. Thank goodness. It's hard to function without good sleep.

Yoga was fun last night! I felt like I had an extra great class. It was funny because at the beginning of class, I asked if anyone objected to a plank-heavy practice, and someone actually said they objected! When I asked her what was up, she pretty much said she just didn't like them! I was expecting her to have a wrist issue, or something else that prevented her from doing planks, but no, she just didn't like them. So I said "ok, you can do every variation from your knees if you want, but I used to hate plank too and I've grown to like it. Give it a shot!" I watched her during the practice and she did great! I guess her objection lead me to believe she didn't like plank because she didn't have the upper body strength? Not the case. Girlfriend rocked it. Maybe last night I was her Arlene? Pulling strength from her that she didn't know she had?! I can only hope.

After yoga, Keith and I had a date night. We went to Trader Joe's for dinner stuff and wine, then we rented An Education from the redbox. It was a superb evening, really. For dinner we had fat free refried beans from TJ (really extra good because there are some whole beans thrown in there), with taco seasoning mixed in, along with TJ salsa autentica and a dollop of light sour cream on top. We ate it with reduced guilt chips! I love how I'm explaining this like it's some gourmet meal. In truth, it's one of my favorite meals. I used to eat it practically every single day for lunch when I worked for SyCom and could drive home for my lunch break. And because I really don't cook, this is about as good as it gets for me. Trader Joe's also has a really good Oregon pinot noir for like $5, and we have new wine glasses that we got on clearance at West Elm, so that was super fun. It was our first time using them. They're hard plastic, which is nice because we have a tendency to break wine glasses (we've broken every one we've ever had), but they look really nice (like glass). They have a greenish tint to them. I got four of them instead of two so that when I have the girls over for cupcake night we have fancy glasses to drink from! Also, when Ben and Dana visit we can all have wine glasses. The other night (pre-wine glasses) we were drinking from paper cups that my mom sent for my bridal shower! This paragraph makes it sound like I drink frequently. I don't.

So, about the movie... it was so great. Have you seen it? You should see it. I thought it was going to be one of those boring and serious movies. You know how sometimes when a movie is nominated for an Oscar and people keep raving about the performances and the director? Sometimes I mistake that for being boring and serious. I shouldn't do that. I wanted to rent Valentines Day, but one- I've already seen it, and two- Keith revoked my movie picking privileges for the next time or two because they last couple I've picked out have been girly and super horrendous. The Bounty Hunter was one, and the other was so bad I can't even remember it's name. So if you remember, many blogs back I was writing about the best picture noms and how I was trying to see all of them. Up until last night, I thought I'd seen 9 out of 10, but it turns out I'd only seen eight. I still have to see District 9, which I'm not so sure about. It was about aliens and Keith loved it. He loves alien movies. Cloverfield? Total crap. He loved it.

I feel musically challenged this morning and I could really use the help of pandora. I was listening to the Devotchka station before the internet starting acting crazy and it stopped working. Now I'm listening to Taylor Swift on itunes, for probably about two more minutes. I take that back. I'm changing it now. Velvet Underground. Now that suits my mood a little better.

I have all sorts of places I want to take Ben and Dana when they get here. Portland City grill, but only for the view. M Bar because it's cute and tiny. Their menu is simple, only beer and wine- nothing else. And it's good beer. And good wine. I don't think you'll find a Miller Lite on this menu. Henry's, because they have like 100 beers on tap. Elysian night owl was my favorite last fall- pumpkin beer. Yes, I still love everything pumpkin. If someone made a pumpkin toothpaste, I'd probably buy it.

I should go get ready for work now. My hair looks so bad I wouldn't even wear it like this to my early morning yoga class. Yikes!

xoxo-
T

gift card dilemma

In my last post, I discussed my gift card issue. This is an issue I don't mind having. How do we spend our gift cards?! Today I got a piece of mail from Target. It's a card that we can use to save 10% on every item left on our registry, even items we've added after our wedding. This is great because we can add items, and then go to Target and buy them off the registry at 10% off. This is super exciting to me! We've got a hefty little chunk of gift card- we could get pretty much everything else we need for our kitchen. A microwave, cake pans, hand mixer, pyrex food storage containers, garlic press, can opener, and other miscellaneous items. I asked Keith today what he thought about me doing this and he thinks we should wait. He is holding out for a tv. My official opinion is that the television can wait. It's either wait a few months and save extra dollars for the tv, or get all these kitchen essentials now. I like instant gratification.

Today I went to Sequel Apparel to see what I could find. I've had a store credit for quite some time and I've been holding onto it waiting to find the perfect thing. Well, I found it! It's the cutest little dress I've ever seen. I can't wait to wear it. I hope someone has a gathering soon so I can show up with home-baked cupcakes while wearing this dress.

Yesterday I found out from Dana that their dog, Barkley, is sick. This dog is their baby, which I can understand because I feel the same way about my sweet orange nugget. I hope that he will be okay. Everyone send your loving energy to Barkley, and his mommy and daddy (Ben and Dana!).

I've taught two classes so far today, and I'm teaching a third in a little bit. I've been doing lots of planks recently. 10 breaths at a time, maybe two or three times throughout class. Holding plank like this always reminds me of Arlene. I remember the first time I took her class. It was at American Family in northside with Iffet and Erica. The first time I saw her she was practically doing the splits mid-air. Her class was the hardest class I had ever taken, but she had such a sweet spirit and was always so encouraging. Her classes always made me want more. She always pushed and had a way of being able to pull strength from you that you didn't even know you'd had. When I first started practicing with her, I could not hold plank for 10 breaths. Now I can. Here's my point: Practicing yoga is the coolest thing ever, because once you stop thinking so hard about something, it will come to you when you least expect it. One of my favorite things about teaching yoga is seeing the progress that people make. And seeing the look on their face when I say, "Hey, I was watching your sun salutations today and you're getting so strong!". I love practicing yoga, and teaching it too!

xoxo-
T

monday.

Well. It's been a while since I've last written! The most obvious thing for me to write about is my wedding. I got married! The cupcake and champagne party I last wrote about was nothing more than a top secret bridal shower, which by the way my friends and Stormy were so good to me! We got a huge chunk of gift card that we're holding onto until we really decide what we want to do with it. We need a microwave, so that almost seems like the most logical way to spend it. But we want a big flat screen tv with a swanky stand, in which case we would have to save a little more to throw on top. So because we can't quite decide, we will sit on it for a while longer. And speaking of gifts, we woke up this morning to two huge boxes from Target at our front door. One with a coffee maker and food processor inside, the other with a cupcake take n' bake thing and a set of Pyrex mixing bowls. Not to mention the air mattress from Benana, beautiful art from Julia and Melissa, and more! We are blessed.

Our wedding was perfect and sweet. Just like the glittery red velvet cupcake we shared the next day! I don't feel like writing about it right now, but it was one the three best decisions I've made thus far in life. The other two decisions being my yoga teacher training and my big move out west.

I promise to write more later, probably chapter-style because I have so much to say!

xoxo-
T